DAILY TEXT, Today Thursday September 1, 2022, Then I will pour out my spirit on all kinds of people (Joel 2:28).

DAILY TEXT, Today Thursday September 1, 2022

Let's Examine the Scriptures Every Day 2022

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Then I will pour out my spirit on all kinds of people (Joel 2:28).

Peter used slightly different words when quoting from Joel's prophecy (Acts 2:16, 17). Instead of beginning the quote with the word "after," Peter said that "in the last days"—in this context, the last days of Jerusalem and its temple—God would pour out his spirit "on all sorts of people." This indicates that it was a long time before Joel's prophecy was fulfilled. After God poured out his spirit on Christians in the first century, preaching began to make remarkable progress. By the time the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians around the year 61, he was able to say that the good news had been preached “in all creation that is under heaven” (Col. 1:23). By “all creation,” Paul was referring to the parts of the world that were known at the time. In our day, thanks to Jehovah's mighty holy spirit, the preaching work has become much more widespread, reaching “to the most distant parts of the earth.”​—Acts 13:47. w20.04 6, 7 paras. 15, 16

Who do the locusts of Revelation 9:1-11 represent? (See cover images.)

(Read Revelation 9:1-11). Let's look at the fourth reason. In the past, we said that the plague of locusts that Joel talks about represented our preaching because there is a similar prophecy in the book of Revelation. In it appears a swarm of locusts that have human faces and “on their heads a sort of golden crown” (Rev. 9:7). They torment “those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads”—that is, Jehovah's enemies—for five months, which is the life of a locust.—Rev. 9:4, 5. This does seem to be a description of Jehovah's anointed servants, for they boldly proclaim God's judgments against this evil world, which makes their supporters very uncomfortable.

What important differences are there between the locusts that Joel saw and those that Juan saw?

It is true that the prophecy of Revelation and that of Joel have some points in common. But they also have important differences. For example, the locusts in Joel's prophecy ravaged vegetation, but those in John's vision “were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth” (Joel 1:4, 6, 7; Rev. 9: 4). The ones Joel saw came from the north, but the ones John saw came out of an abyss (Joel 2:20; Rev. 9:2, 3). In Joel, Jehovah says that he will take the locusts far away, while in Revelation he allows them to finish their mission. There is nothing to indicate that the latter do not have God's approval (see the sidebar “The Locusts of the Prophecies: Similar, but Different”).

All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2020 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania JW.ORG.