Acts 2:14-22 — Dream Dreams, See Visions, and the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord

In Acts

On the day of Pentecost….. “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know —“ Acts 2:14-22

In Joel

28   “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30   “And I will give portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that all who call upon the name of the LORD shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:28-32

The Last Days

You have been told that we are living in the “last days.” According to the Apostle Peter, he and those with him were living in the “last days,” and what Joel meant was the time of Peter himself. In the Bible, the term “last days” refers specifically to the final period in the context of the audience being addressed.

Dispensational Futurists often argue that these last days are yet to come for us today. Historically, however, when the phrase was used in its biblical context, it signified Judah’s last days — marking the end of a particular era for that nation.

Or was Peter wrong?

The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers. 1Pet. 4:7

They did indeed have dreams and give prophecies, which we see all through the book of Acts, and in the Epistles. Finally ending with The Revelation written by the apostle John.

Dream Dreams — They Did

They did indeed have dreams and give prophecies, as we see all through the book of Acts and in the Epistles, finally ending with The Revelation written by the Apostle John.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Mana-en a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Acts 13:1

And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them. Acts 15:32

While we were staying for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Acts 21:10

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. 1Cor. 12:28

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 1Cor. 14:29

And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, Eph. 4:11

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. Rev. 22:6 

The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord

Many teachings about the “Day of the Lord” frame it as a future event, primarily because these interpretations have not thoroughly examined every reference to this concept throughout the entire Bible. Instead, they rely on their own understanding — a practice that could be called “ego-centric exegesis.” They want the term to mean “the Return of the Lord.” Their ego interprets the text in such a way that one introduces presuppositions, agendas, or biases, rather than allowing the text to speak for itself.

Proper exegesis, on the other hand, is the process of explaining how one arrived at an understanding by carefully considering the historical, grammatical, and cultural context of the passage. This method ensures a more accurate and comprehensive interpretation.

Blood, Fire, and Columns of Smoke

The historical, grammatical, and contextual evidence is that Jerusalem would shortly be destroyed, ending Jewish polity. And indeed, in 70 AD the Roman army laid siege to the city.

Sun, Moon, and Stars.

From the first time we see the celestial orbs in Joseph’s dream [Gen. 37:9-10], they always signify a change in the political order. Though Joseph was the second-to-youngest child, he became head of the house. In this case, the imagery points to the complete fall of Jewish polity.

FYI: Comparing references between the Hebrew Bible and English translations can be difficult, as the numbering systems do not always match.

The judgment of the four things goes all the way back to Leviticus 26. From a Historicist viewpoint, the four kinds of locust — or worms, depending on your translation [Joel 1:4] — are the same as the four beasts in Daniel. They come and eat up, or take over, the Land and its people. Historically, there have been four kingdoms that conquered, divided, or ruled over the Land, starting with the Babylonian exile: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and finally Rome.

The people of Judea did come back to the Land after their exile in the 5th century BC. However, they were never again an independent nation. They were always under someone else’s rule until finally, in 70 AD, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the Jews were dispersed.

This dispersion lasted until the “Times of the Gentiles” ended in 1948. [See also: Seven Times]

Conclusion

Peter was not mistaken, and he was not postponing Joel’s prophecy to our future. On Pentecost, standing with the eleven, he declared, “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” [Acts 2:16]. The “last days” were his last days — the last days of the Old Covenant age, the last days of Judah as a covenant nation.

That age did exactly what Joel said it would do. The Spirit was poured out, and as Luke records throughout Acts, sons and daughters did prophesy, young men saw visions, old men dreamed dreams, and prophets like Agabus, Judas, Silas, and John spoke until the canon was sealed [Acts 13:1; 15:32; 21:10; Rev. 22:6]. The charismatic outpouring was not a sign that the end was far off, but that it was at hand [1 Pet. 4:7].

So was the “great and terrible day of the LORD” [Joel 2:31]. In prophetic idiom, from Joseph’s dream onward, sun, moon, and stars are never about the literal collapse of the cosmos; they are the political lights going out. Blood, fire, and columns of smoke were not distant, future phenomena — they were what Jerusalem saw in 70 AD when Rome laid siege and the Temple burned. That was the Day of the Lord for that generation: the end of Jewish polity, the final judgment of the four destroyers foretold in Leviticus 26 — sword, famine, pestilence, and beasts — which history identifies as Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

The people who called upon the name of the Lord in that day were delivered, just as Joel 2:32 promised: those in Mount Zion who fled when they saw Jerusalem surrounded escaped. The rest were dispersed, awaiting the close of the Times of the Gentiles.

Peter’s Pentecost sermon therefore leaves us with no unfinished business. The Last Days came, the Spirit came, the dreams and visions came, and the Great Day came. We are not living in the last days of Judah, waiting for blood moons. We are living after those days, under a New Covenant whose foundation was laid when the old house fell.