The phrase, “great and notable day” appears in Acts 2:20 (KJV) and was a part of the first recorded Gospel sermon, which was preached by the apostle Peter (Acts 2:16-21). Peter quoted from the Old Testament prophet Joel (2:28-32).
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. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:16-21 NKJV; cf. Joel 2:28-32)
It is obvious that both Joel and Peter were using figurative language. The apostle Peter preached that the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy was the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles (Acts 2:1-4) and the subsequent miracles by which the apostles were able to speak in the native languages of the 15 nationalities of Jews who were present on that Pentecost (Acts 2:5-11). Neither Joel nor Peter referred to either natural or supernatural disasters in the physical universe, but those references were figurative and referred to the magnitude of the Pentecost day in Jerusalem when the Lord’s church was established and about 3,000 souls were added to it (Acts 2:38, 41, 47).
