In The Last Days

Acts 2.17-18

“In the last days it will 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.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.”

What is remarkable about Joel’s prophecy is that God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, and not as it had been, upon prophets, priests and Kings only - upon specific individuals who represented the community of God’s people and represented God to the same. Joel speaks to the democratisation of the Spirit – something virtually unheard of, and as was the case in Acts 2, not easily accepted, especially by those in authority. 

This prophetic fulfilment was a shock, as it included young women as well as young men, and female slaves as well as male slaves. The latter is an affront to modern sensibilities, but it may well have been fulfilled in the number of slaves who became believers in Jesus, throughout the Roman Empire. Whatever the case, there was no gender preference when it came to the wonder of God pouring out his self in his presence, even though social categories and inequities persisted.  And because of the nature of the Word, it is unsurprising that the sign of God’s Spirit filling people was vocal articulation – they spoke, they prophesied.  

Embedded in the middle of these verses, and not referring specifically to prophecy, is the proclamation that young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams. 

What is the difference and why? Could it be that Joel and Luke see something of ‘stage of life’ in this prophetic utterance, so that not only are they seeing something different but that the difference is an expression of how the young and the old differ. In other words, this is not just something that has supernatural implications but something that accords with age and the different perceptions inherent in the older and the younger. 

Young men see visions – they and looking and seeing forward, they see future, possibilities.  They are future oriented.  

Old men dream dreams – they (we, in my case) are looking back at those who are looking forward. It is not uncommon for the old to receive in dreams warnings and insights into the lives of those for whom they are responsible, those that are the benefactors of their sagacity (provided the young possess the humility to both ask and listen). 

It is vital that the old allow the young the space to see, and vital the young allow the old to speak to them –advice, encouragement and warnings. 

On both hangs the future – in the last days.