The “great and notable day of the LORD” is referring to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. While any expression in any given connection should yield but one meaning, there does seem to be a similarity in God’s judgments, as Jesus said, “As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.”
From the New English Translation of the Septuagint, 2014
And it shall be after these things, I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out of my spirit. I will give portents in the sky and on earth: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and notable day of the LORD comes. And it shall be, everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved, because in Mount Sion and in Jerusalem there shall be one who escapes, as the LORD has said, and people who have good news announced to them, whom the LORD called. (Joel 2:28-32 LXX)
And behold I am sending to you Elias the Thesbite before the great and notable day of the LORD comes, who will restore the heart of the father to the son and the heart of a person to his neighbor so that I will not come and utterly strike the land. Remember the law of Moyses my slave, as I commanded him at Choreb with ordinances and statutes for all Israel. (Mal 4:5-6 LXX)
From the King James Version
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of 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: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:16-21)
Observations:
The phrase “before the great and notable day of the LORD” is found only twice in the OT
The phrase in Joel and in Malachi is identical, and the LXX is what is quoted in the KJV
In Malachi, the timing is when Elijah appeared, referring to John the Baptist
Joel refers to escapes from Jerusalem, which was in the lead up to 70 AD, Matt 24:16
The apocalyptic language used in Joel is similar to that used in Matthew 24:29, for 70 AD
A description in Joel 2 is quite similar to that found in Matthew 24:21
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. (Joel 2:2b)
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matt 24:21)
In years past, it was not uncommon to see all 3 occurrences of “the great and notable day of the LORD” as referring to the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. So, do ALL the acts or gifts of the Spirit seen before 70 AD continue through all of the New Covenant Dispensation up to today?
From the New English Translation of the Septuagint, 2014
And it shall be after these things, I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out of my spirit. I will give portents in the sky and on earth: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and notable day of the LORD comes. And it shall be, everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved, because in Mount Sion and in Jerusalem there shall be one who escapes, as the LORD has said, and people who have good news announced to them, whom the LORD called. (Joel 2:28-32 LXX)
And behold I am sending to you Elias the Thesbite before the great and notable day of the LORD comes, who will restore the heart of the father to the son and the heart of a person to his neighbor so that I will not come and utterly strike the land. Remember the law of Moyses my slave, as I commanded him at Choreb with ordinances and statutes for all Israel. (Mal 4:5-6 LXX)
From the King James Version
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of 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: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Acts 2:16-21)
Observations:
The phrase “before the great and notable day of the LORD” is found only twice in the OT
The phrase in Joel and in Malachi is identical, and the LXX is what is quoted in the KJV
In Malachi, the timing is when Elijah appeared, referring to John the Baptist
Joel refers to escapes from Jerusalem, which was in the lead up to 70 AD, Matt 24:16
The apocalyptic language used in Joel is similar to that used in Matthew 24:29, for 70 AD
A description in Joel 2 is quite similar to that found in Matthew 24:21
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. (Joel 2:2b)
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matt 24:21)
In years past, it was not uncommon to see all 3 occurrences of “the great and notable day of the LORD” as referring to the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. So, do ALL the acts or gifts of the Spirit seen before 70 AD continue through all of the New Covenant Dispensation up to today?