Such an assembly is a great blessing, something that should not be missed.

The Holy Land is God’s land. Cf. Isa. 8:8 and note Isa. 8:8¹.

The rain in the Scriptures signifies the Spirit of God sent by Him from the heavens to water His people (cf. Gen. 2:5; Deut. 11:14). The outpourings of the Spirit referred to in vv. 28-29 and in Zech. 12:10 are the fulfillment of the early rain (the autumn rain) and the late rain (the spring rain). See note Hosea 6:3¹ and note Joel 2:28¹, par. 1.

This fast was not to be common; rather, it was to be sanctified, separated for God.

To blow a trumpet is to make a declaration in a triumphant spirit.

The meal offering and the drink offering are blessings to Israel. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, Israel lost the place appointed by God where they could offer their offerings to God (Deut. 12:5-6). Also, God’s army of locusts (v. 25) destroyed the produce of the land, leaving no grain to make a meal offering and no grapes to make wine for the drink offering. Thus, Israel lost both the ground and the materials to offer the meal offering to feed God and the drink offering to cheer God. Today both God and Israel are still suffering the loss of this blessing.

This prophecy concerning the pouring out of God’s Spirit as the early rain for Israel’s salvation was fulfilled as a foretaste by the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 16-21), and it will be fulfilled as a full taste by the pouring out of the Spirit a second time, before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), for the salvation and regeneration of many of the returned Israelites. This second outpouring is different from the pouring out of the Spirit as the late rain on the last day of the tribulation for the salvation of the remnant of the Jews under Antichrist’s besieging (Zech. 12:10).

In the Bible and in the Minor Prophets four things are unveiled: God’s chastisement on His elect people, God’s punishment of the nations, the manifestation of Christ, and the restoration. These four matters are covered in Joel, a short book of three chapters. First, God sent the locusts to consume Israel (Joel 1:2-20; 2:1-11). This was God’s chastisement because of Israel’s great evils. Then, this book reveals that God will punish and judge the Gentile nations because in their consuming of Israel they are excessive, acting without regard for justice (Joel 3:1-16, 19). God’s chastising of Israel and His punishing of the nations issue in the manifestation of Christ. Regarding this manifestation, Joel speaks here concerning the outpouring of the processed, consummated, compound Spirit, i.e., the Spirit of God compounded with Christ’s humanity, Christ’s death and its effectiveness, and Christ’s resurrection with its power (see note Exo. 30:25¹). This is the Holy Spirit, who was poured out on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 16-21), and this Spirit is the consummated Triune God and the realization of Christ for the manifestation of Christ. This manifestation began with the incarnation of Christ and has been confirmed and strengthened by the outpouring of the Spirit, for through that outpouring the individual Christ became the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13), the church as the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The church as the manifestation of Christ will bring in the glorious day of restoration, the age of the millennial kingdom (Joel 3:16-21), in which Christ will be manifested in a fuller way. The restoration will consummate in the fullest manifestation of Christ in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1-2). See note Joel 1:4¹.

As revealed in vv. 30-31a, God’s saving of the returned Jews by pouring out His Spirit upon them the second time (see note Joel 2:28¹, par. 1) will be accompanied by the natural calamities of the sixth seal and the first four trumpets (Rev. 6:12-17; 8:7-12) on the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth as a prelude to the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21). It will take place before the fifth trumpet, the first of the three woes (Rev. 8:13 and note Rev. 8:13^1c), which are the major structure of the great tribulation, in the great and terrible day of Jehovah (v. 31b). See note Rev. 6:12¹.

In spite of such an outpouring of the Spirit, many of the returned Jews will not believe but will continue to be stubborn. Eventually, during the tribulation, Jerusalem will be surrounded by the Gentile armies under Antichrist, whose intention will be to destroy Israel entirely (Zech. 14:2; Rev. 16:13-16). At that juncture the Lord Jesus Christ will descend with His overcomers, His mighty ones (3:11). Furthermore, according to Zech. 12:10, at that time the consummated Spirit will again be poured out, and the remnant of the children of Israel will be saved. Thus, the three outpourings of the Holy Spirit — on the day of Pentecost, just before the great tribulation, and at the Lord’s second coming — work together for the salvation of Israel.

See note Joel 1:15^1a.

This indicates that God’s elect people will be saved through their calling on the name of Jehovah, which in the New Testament is equivalent to calling on the name of the Lord Jesus (see note Matt. 1:21^1b). The great outpouring of the Spirit as the consummated Triune God will be upon those Jews who call upon the name of Jehovah and who thus are regenerated to become part of the church for the manifestation of Christ. See notes on Acts 2:21.