In Acts 2:17-21, Peter quotes the prophet Joe who described the new season of God that arrived when Jesus was raised to life. He says,
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
We are in “the last days” and have been ever since Jesus rose from the dead. “The great and glorious day of the Lord” is when Jesus returns. The initiation of the last days was the Holy Spirit being sent to earth. One of the byproducts of the Holy Spirit was that, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” I like the emphasis on “Even on my servants, both men and women,” no one is excluded from this. If you are alive in Christ you are one with Christ. There is no slave or free, or Jew or Gentile, male or female, all are one in Christ.
Joel lists three things that will happen when the Spirit is poured out on all people (interesting to note “all people”), some will prophesy, some will see visions and some will dreams dreams. All three of these things speak of the future. Prophecy is foretelling – predicting and declaring what is to come. Vision is a picture of the future you see when you are awake. Dreams are the pictures of the future you seen when you are asleep (this is a very basic breakdown of prophecy, vision and dreams).
God gives us insights into the future so we can co-labour with him. God gave Pharaoh a dream but he didn’t understand it. Joseph interprets the dream in which the meaning gave insight into the future. With this insight they were able to plan and prepare for the future famine.
When the people of God know what God is doing they know what to do. When the people have no idea what God is doing, they have no idea what to do. Which is why is says in proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.
The Holy Spirit gives us insights into what God is doing so we can participate, not sit on the side lines.