Joel said that Jehovah is willing to save Israel by pouring out His Spirit as the early rain upon them (vv. 28-29). This prophecy was fulfilled as a foretaste on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 16-21), and it will be fulfilled as a full taste before the great tribulation for the salvation and regeneration of many of the returned Israelites. This outpouring is different from the outpouring of the Spirit on the last day of the tribulation (Zech. 12:10) for the salvation of the remnant of the Jews under Antichrist’s besieging.
The Spirit poured out on the day of Pentecost was the Spirit of God compounded with Christ’s humanity, death, resurrection, and ascension. This compound Spirit, who has been poured out, is the realization of Christ and the consummation of the Triune God. There will be a great outpouring of the Spirit as the consummated Triune God upon those Jews who call upon the name of Jehovah and who thus are regenerated and saved for the manifestation of Christ. At that time, God’s elect will be saved through their calling on the name of Jehovah (Joel 2:32). The equivalent of this in the New Testament is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus.
Finally, Joel spoke regarding Christ’s reign in Israel in the age of restoration (3:16-21). After the defeat of Antichrist, Christ will reign in Israel on the holy mountain of Zion within Jerusalem. As Christ reigns in Jerusalem, He will be a shelter and a stronghold to the children of Israel. Therefore, no one will be able to harm Israel anymore.
Verse 18 speaks of the rich situation in the restoration. The mountains will drop down fresh wine, and the hills will flow with milk. There will be no shortage of water, for all the waterways of Judah will flow with water. Wherever there is a waterway, there will be a river full of water. A fountain will go forth from the house of Jehovah, the temple, to water the entire Holy Land. This verse refers to the blessed situation of the land of Israel in the earthly part of the millennial kingdom.
Amos prophesied, “In that day I will raise up / The fallen tabernacle of David, / And I will wall up its breaches / And raise up its ruins / And build it up as it was in the days of old; / That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations which are called by My name, declares Jehovah who does this” (9:11-12). This portion of Amos is quoted by James in Acts 15, when the apostles and the elders were gathered together to resolve the problem of circumcision (vv. 16-18).
The tabernacle of David is the kingdom and the royal family of David. In ancient times it was hard to separate the royal family from the kingdom. Actually, these two things are one. David’s kingdom was David’s royal family. That kingdom, that royal family, fell when Nebuchadnezzar captured the nation of Israel, devastated the land, burned the city, destroyed the temple, and carried off the king. However, in Amos God came in to promise that one day He would come back to restore the fallen kingdom of David. In that day the kingdom of David and the family of David will be restored, and all the nations will be called by the name of Jehovah.
This prophecy in Amos indicates that when Christ comes back, in His last appearing, He will be the real David to restore His kingdom and His royal family. That will be the millennial kingdom, in which all the nations will be called by the name of Jehovah; that is, all the nations will belong to God. Based on this prophecy, in Acts 15 James told the Jewish believers not to be bothered by Peter and Paul going to the Gentiles, because in the restoration all the Gentiles will belong to God, just like the Jews. This is a great item in Amos’s prophecy.
In Amos 9:14 the prophet said that Jehovah will turn the captivity of His people Israel. They will build the desolated cities and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them, and they will make gardens and eat the fruit from them. Eventually, Jehovah will plant the people of Israel upon their land, and they will not be plucked up again from their land, which He has given to them (v. 15).
The prophet Obadiah prophesied that the house of Jacob will possess Edom’s possessions: the mountain of Esau, the land of the Philistines, the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria, Gilead, as far as Zarephath, and the cities of the south (vv. 17, 19-20). This indicates that during the restoration Israel will enlarge their territory—the kingdom of God on earth.