Joel and Pentecost: In those days I will pour my Spirit on my servants, on both men and women. They will speak what God has revealed. Acts 2:18

Jesus spoke to his disciples in parables, and compared the Kingdom of God to a pearl of great price and a hidden treasure, but the disciples did not have the wisdom to understand this and wondered among themselves what it all meant. The disciples did not understand that this Kingdom is a gradual, progressive dominion or empire, and that it begins with the simplest decisions. And finally, what had to happen happened. After the departure of Jesus, the seed planted by Jesus in the hearts of his disciples, which grew gradually while he lived in the world, finally transformed into the tree that bears fruit at Pentecost, with the arrival of the Holy Spirit.
And it was with the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that, according to the Christian faith, the ancient prophecies of Joel were fulfilled. The Book of Acts relates that the disciples were all gathered together and that the Spirit descended in tongues of fire upon each of them, granting them the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and spiritual discernment. And just as Jesus had prophesied, the disciples received their baptism in salt and fire.
And the Book of Acts relates that a crowd of people, drawn by the noise, gathered at the place, and Peter gave a speech quoting words of the prophet Joel: "In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour my Spirit on my servants, on both men and women. They will speak what God has revealed" Acts 2:17-18. Joel was a minor prophet who prophesied when the Second Temple of Jerusalem had been built, and the Persian Empire ruled the Middle East, and his God-inspired words had a profound impact on the birth of the early Church. Joel foretold the arrival of a new time in which the knowledge of God would give a new direction to humanity. A time when the law would no longer be necessary because men would follow the guidance of the spirit and its gifts. This is why Joel is the quintessential prophet about the arrival of the Holy Spirit with his gifts.

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