THURSDAY October 6, 2022 

Prophecy, Visions and Dreams 

“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.”
Acts 2:16-18

When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, used the term all flesh, which refers to every living person. In the Greek language, the term all flesh actually means “to enlighten.” In the Last Days, God’s Spirit has enlightened people about the truth of the Gospel and about the Person of Jesus Christ. You and I have come to know the truth because we have been enlightened. 

The Spirit of God has been poured out upon our sons and daughters, young and old men, and servants––everyone in the world! In Jewish culture, a male of 33 was still considered to be a young man. Luke mentioned servants. At this particular time, many people were servants, and some served their masters by choice. Historically, the Holy Spirit was poured out when the Romans occupied Israel. Think about it. For the last 1,900 years, the Spirit of truth had been moving; He continues to do His effective work in the lives of people today (John 16:13). 

Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, some people received the gift of prophecy. This is not foretelling of a future event. The gift of prophecy is speaking the Word of God. In reference to visions the young men see, the English word visions in the Greek language means, “the act of gazing.” 

Remember, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward Him, he said: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The word saw is “to gaze.” John gazed upon Jesus. He could not get his eyes off of Jesus as the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus to him. 

The old men, those over the age of 33 years old, dreamed dreams––as men become old, they did not have visions; they just dreamed. I like that. 

We do not need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come: He came on the Day of Pentecost. He has never left the Church.
~John Stott~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!