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| Holy Spirit Notes |
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| August 25 |
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The Activity of the Holy Spirit in the
Messiah
Jesus: Incarnation, Hypostatic
Union, Kenosis
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His
Birth
Mary was told
that her son would be conceived "from the Holy
Spirit."
"Before they came together, she
was found to be with child through the Holy
Spirit." (Matt.1:18)
An angel appeared to Joseph in
a dream and said, "what is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit." (Matt.
1:20)
Mary was told by Gabriel, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you. So the
holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God." (Luke 1:35)
The Holy Spirit
was active in the creation of a "new
humanity" in the conception of
Jesus. He was unrelated to Adam's sin
nature but a descendent of Adam's
humanity. Jesus had no father from Adam's
line, but did have a mother from Adam.
This gave him humanity but no human sin
nature. He was born holy as a creation
direct from God as a second
Adam.
The Person of
Christ
Isaiah prophesied the
coming of the Messiah as the God/Man:
"For to us a child
is born (this refers to the
humanity of the Messiah, he was conceived and
born and so had a beginning as all humans
do),
to us a son is
given (this refers to the deity of
the Messiah, he was given for he is eternal).
Isaiah
9:6
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The Council at Chalcedon
in 451 AD formulated a statement
to explain this for orthodox Christianity.
It says:
"Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all
with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and
the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
at once complete in Godhead and complete in
manhood,
truly God and truly man,
consisting also of a reasonable soul and body;
of one substance with the Father as regards His
Godhead, and
at the same time of one substance with us as
regards His manhood;
like us in all respects apart from sin;
as regards His Godhead, begotten of the Father
before the ages, but
yet as regards His manhood begotten, for us men
and for our salvation, of Mary the virgin, the God
bearer;
one and the same Christ, Son, Lord,
Only-Begotten,
recognized in two natures, without confusion,
without change, without division, without union,
but
rather the characteristics of each nature being
preserved and coming together to form one Person
and
subsistence, not as parted or separated into
two Persons, but
one and the same Son and
only begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ;
even as the prophets from earliest times spoke
of Him, and
our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us, and
the creed of the fathers has been handed down
to us."
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Charles Ryrie in "Basic
Theology" summarizes this portion of the
Creed of Chalcedon as:
"More concisely one may
describe the person of Christ incarnate as being
full Deity and perfect humanity united with out
mixture, change, division, or separation in one
person forever. The key components of the
description include 'full Deity' (no diminution of
any attribute of Deity), 'perfect humanity'
('perfect' rather than 'full' in order to
emphasize His sinlessness), 'one Person' (not
two), and 'forever' (for He continues to have a
body, though resurrected, Acts 1:11; Rev.
5:6)"
This union of the nature
of God with the nature of man in one person is
called the hypostatic union (or, the one person
union).
Jesus is the unique being in the
universe. So you have Deity and perfect
humanity living unmixed in one person.
The nature of God and the nature of man belong
to Jesus.
The attributes of these two natures can not be
mixed or else the nature of God would take on
human attributes or the nature of man would take
on divine attributes. Meaning if the human
nature had divine attributes the human nature
would no longer be human.
So these two
natures exist unmixed in one person.
Jesus could and can speak, act, or think from
the perfect human nature or from the nature of
deity. Or, both natures could be involved,
yet unmixed, in his speech, actions or
thinking. |
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Some false doctrine
concerning the incarnation of
Christ:
Docetism
150
AD
Christ only appeared to be a
man
Ebionism
100's AD
Christ was the natural son of Joseph and Mary but
was united with the eternal Christ at his
baptism
Arianism
325
AD
Believed that Jesus, the second member of the
trinity was produced by the eternal God in
eternity
past.
Apollinarianism
380 AD Taught that Jesus had a human body and a
human soul but had the divine Logos instead of a
human spirit.
Nestorianism
400's AD The two natures were
separate forming two people in
one
body.
Eutychianism
400's In
response to Nestorianism said there was only one
nature.
The divine nature was part divine but
not full nor was the human nature full. Result:
one mixed nature
Kenosis:
Self-Emptying of
Christ
"Kenosis"
is the verb in Phil.2:7:
"Your attitude should be
the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in
very nature God,
Did not consider equality with
God something to be grasped,
But made himself
nothing, (Literal: "but
himself emptied") taking
the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness.
And being found in appearance as a
man,
He humbled himself and became obedient to
death. . ."
(Philippians
2:5-8)
The Linguistic Key says
this about the word "ekenwsen" (the
aorist active indicative of "kenow", or
"kenosis"):
"to empty, to
make empty, to make of no effect. The word
does not mean He emptied Himself of His deity, but
rather He emptied Himself of the display of His
deity for personal gain. The word is a
graphic expression of the completeness of His
self-renunciation and His refusal to use what He
had to His own
advantage."
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The concept is he left his position but not his
nature.
He became a servant, but he maintained his full
attributes of deity.
As God, he served man.
He left glory to go
to the cross.
He did not leave the nature of
deity.
Philippians 2:6 makes it clear he
maintained full deity: "being in very nature
God."
Christ continued as God on the
earth.
Compare "very nature God" to
"taking the very nature of a
servant."
These are the same phrases used
to describe His divine nature and his human
nature.
If he was not God on earth, then he was not a
servant on earth either.
The "kenosis", or
self-emptying, refers to His taking or
accepting "the very nature of a
servant."
Even in the form of a servant He maintained his
deity.
The glory was veiled due to his nature
as a servant, but it was with Him.
His deity
was with Him, available to Him and used by Him
while on the earth in the form of a
servant.
"Made in human likeness" means two
things:
1) He was really man.
2) He was
different from men.
"The self-emptying
permitted the addition of humanity and did not
involve in any way the subtraction of Deity or
canceling the use of the attributes of
Deity. There was a change of form but not of
content of the Divine Being. He did not give
up Deity or the use of those attributes; He added
humanity. And this in order to be able to
die."
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Points:
1) Christ's
Deity was veiled, but only in the sense that people
naturally saw his humanity with their eyes. His
Deity was always operational because it was always
there and available.
a. Matt 17:1-8, The transfiguration.
b. John
1:14, "The word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory
of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of
grace and truth."
c. John 17:5, "Father,
glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with
you before the world began."
d. Luke 4:34,
"Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I
know who you are - the Holy One of God."
e. Luke
4:41, "Demons came out of many people, shouting,
'You are the Son of God!' But he rebuked them and
would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was
the Christ."
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2) Occasionally Jesus voluntarily
choose not to use his divine attributes, but often
choose to use his divine attributes.
Sometimes he acted out of His new human nature and
other times out of His divine
nature.
a. John 1:48, " 'I saw you while
you were still under the fig tree before Philip
called you.' Then Nathanael declared,
'Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King
of Israel.' Jesus said, 'You believe because
I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You
shall see greater things than that. . . you shall
see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending on the Son of Man.'" (the
angels even appear when Jesus was born.)
b.
John 2:24, "But Jesus would not entrust
himself to them, for he knew all
men. He did not need man's
testimony about man, for he knew what was in a
man."
c. John 16:30, "Now we can see
that you know all things
and that you do not even need to have
anyone ask you questions. This makes us
believe that you came from God."
d. John
13:3, "Jesus knew that the Father had put
all things under his
power, and that he had come from God
and was returning to God."
3) Jesus did miracles in
the power of the Spirit, but sometimes in His own
power.
a. John 11:25, 40, 41, 43, "I am
the resurrection and the life. . . Did I not tell
you that if you believed, you would see the glory
of God? . . Father, I thank you that you have
heard me. . .Lazarus, come out!"
b. John
5:25, "I tell you the truth, a time is coming
and has now come when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who hear will
live. For as the Father has life in himself,
so he has granted the Son to have life in
himself. And he has given him authority to
judge because he is the Son of Man."
c.
John 18:6, "When Jesus said, 'I am he,' they
drew back and fell to the ground."
Kenosis in Philippians 2 is not a
discussion concerning how much of Christ's divine
attributes were laid aside or tell us that these
divine attributes were restricted.
Philippians 2 is telling us that the second
member of the trinity humbled himself and added to
himself the "very nature of a servant",
which means he became a man.
By becoming a man he did not become less God or
have to conceal his deity.
By becoming a man he
could think, speak and act as a man, but
By
being God he could continue to think, speak and
act as God.
Philippians 2 tells us Jesus
became a man in order to die as a man for the sins
of
man.
| Reference Book: "Basic Theology" by Charles
Ryrie
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| August 18 |
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Holy Spirit
Between Old Testament and New
Testament
Old Testament Prophecies of the
New Covenant
1. The Holy Spirit
will be poured out upon all flesh.
“And afterward, I will
pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. Even on my
servants both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit
in those days.” Joel
2:28-29)
2. The Holy Spirit
will be poured out on Israel
“For I will pour water on
the thirsty
land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out
my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your
descendants.
They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like
poplar trees by flowing streams.” Isaiah 44:3;
“I will no longer hide my
face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the
house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel
39:29
“I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh. And
I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my
decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26,
27
“From the west, men will
fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the
sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come
like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord
drives along.
‘The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in
Jacob who repent of their sins,’ declares the Lord. ‘As for me, this
is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit,
who is on you, and my words that I have put in your
mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the
mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their
descendants from this time on and forever,’ says the
Lord.”
Isaiah 59:19-21
3. The Spirit then
will remain forever (Isaiah
59:21, above, “My Spirit. . .
forever.”)
4. The Spirit will
live in the heart of man to renew it and sanctify it.
“Then you, my people, will
know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and
bring you up from them. I will put my
Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you
in your own land.
Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken,
and I have done it, declares the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:13-14
(Ezekiel 36:26,27,
Above)
“ ‘This is the covenant I
will make with the house of Israel after that time,’
declares the Lord.
‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on
their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my
people. No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his
brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all
know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’
declares the Lord.” Jer.
31:33
5. The Spirit will
rest upon the Messiah who is the Mediator of this New
Covenant.
“A shoot will come up from
the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will
bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the
Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of
counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the Lord.” Isaiah
11:1-2;
“Here is my servant, whom
I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put ,y
Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the
nations. He
will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the
streets. A
bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he
will not snuff out. In faithfulness
he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be
discouraged. Thill he establishes justice on earth. In his law the
islands will put their hope.” Isaiah
42:1-4;
“The Spirit of the
Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for
the captives and release for the prisoners. To proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who
grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of
mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair.”
Isaiah 61:1)
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The Old Testament spoke
of:
1)
Messiah who would
be anointed with the Holy Spirit and do a work among the
people.
2)
A people who
would respond to the Messiah and receive this same Holy
Spirit.
They all would:
a) be given a new
nature
b) supernaturally
manifest the Holy Spirit that was in them
c) live obedient
lives of holiness.
Closing of the Old
Testament
Zechariah, 520
BC, the second to last book of the OT, says that all
God’s works are by his Holy Spirit and not by the
efforts of man.
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might,
not by power, but by my Spirit.,’ says the Lord.”
(Zech.4:6)
Zechariah’s prophecy gives a
comprhensive view of the future history of the Jewish
people from 520 BC through the coming of the Messiah
until the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the
earth. (The
church age was still a hidden mystery at this
time.)
Malachi,
(430) a contemporary of Nehemiah, lived at a time when
Israel had returned from captivity, resettled their
land, rebuilt the temple and where once again
functioning from Jerusalem under an operating
priesthood.
He is appealing to the Jews to return to the Lord
in:
a)
proper ritual
obedience to the Law of
Moses
b)
a righteous
attitude toward God.
If they did not return to God, he
would not return to
them.(3:7)
The closing comments of his book
are:
a)
Remember the
Law of Moses (4:4)
b)
“I will send
you the prophet Elijah. . .”
(4:5)
Elijah was to be the next man to
be anointed with the Holy Spirit to bring a message to
the people from God. This man was
John the Baptist.
Matt. 11:14, “If you are willing
to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to
come.”
Matt. 17:12, “To be sure,
Elijah comes and will restore all things. I tell
you,Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize
him, but have done to him everything they
wished.”
Luke 1:15-17, “He will be filled
with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the
people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their
God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit
and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord.”
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The Concept of the Holy Spirit
Between the OT and NT
Judaism at this time developed
the concept that the spirit of prphecy had ceased within
Israel with the last of the biblical
prophets.
First Maccabees 4:45, 46, “They therefore
pulled down the altar, and stored away the stones in a
suitable place on the temple hill, until there should
arise a prophet to give a decision about
them.”
First Maccabees 14:41, “The Jews and their
priests confirmed Siomon as their leader and high priest
in perpetuity until a true prophet should
appear.”
Psalm 74:9, “We cannot see any
sign for us, we have no propohet now; no one among us
knows how long this is to
last.”
The people of this time lived in
a state of continual hopeful expectation of the arrival
of a prophet.
Many men and groups stepped up in hopes of
fulfilling this position.
“But a Pharisee named
Gamaliel a teacher of the law, who was honored by all
the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that
the men be put outside for a little while. Then he
addressed them: ‘Men of Israel, consider carefully what
you intend to do to these men. Some time ago
Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about
four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed,
all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to
nothing.
After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the
days of the census and led a band of people in
revolt. He
too was killed, and all his followers were
scattered.”
Acts 5:35-37
A religious sect of Judiasm known
as the Qumran community understood Isaiah’s promise of
the coming of “Elijah” as a reference to themselves. “A voice of one
calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the wilderness a highway for our
God.”
(Isaiah 40:1) They moved into
the wilderness of Judea near the Dead Sea to fulfill
their work of preparing the way for the Lord. They were one of
the popular sects of Jesus day along with the Sadducees
and the Pharisees.
They do not appear in the scriptures as clearly
because they were in the wilderness preparing the way
for the Lord.
The Dead Sea Scrolls come from
their communities.
In Qumran literature “the spirit
of prophecy” begins to be identified as “God’s Holy
Spirit.”
The title “Holy Spirit” appears
in Judaism in IV Ezra (14:22)and in the Ascension of
Isaiah (5:14).
In these writings and in the writings of the
Rabbis the Holy Spirit is a reference to “God’s spirit
of prophecy.”
The people of this time did not
look for the Holy Spirit nor anticipate his work because
it was their assumption that the spirit was the spirit
of God in a prophet. Indeed, the
prophets had ceased, but the Spirit continued his
work. This
was not identified in their theology since they could
only understand the Spirit of God as he appeared in a
prophet.
In a sense, they believed the
Spirit’s power and disappeared along with the office of
the prophet.
They believed this spirit,
or the Holy Spirit, would appear again in the new age to
a purified Israel along with the Messiah who also had
this spirit.[i]
[i] Evangelical Dictionary of
Theology
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The Prophets Had Ceased, but The
Spirit Had Continued
The biblical teaching on this
time period would say that Judaism was waiting for
Elijah to come and restore the office of the prophet and
introduce the
Messiah.
Also, the biblical teaching would
include a continuation of the work of the Holy Spirit in
the lives of believers. Remember, the
Holy Spirit is the communicator. His ministry of
communicating to people has always been a functioning
office. The
Spirit’s use of people as judges, kings, prophets,
craftsman has been in a divine season and at random to
the human view.
Consider these people of this
time period who lived in the Old Testament time and
between Malachi and John the Baptist
(Elijah):
Simeon in Luke
2:25-35
Anna, the prophetess,
in Luke 2:36-38
Also, consider the spiritual
utterances of Elizabeth, Mary, and
Zechariah:
Elizabeth – Luke 1:41, “When Elizabeth
heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice
she exclaimed: . .
.”
Mary – Luke 1:46, “And Mary said: . .
.
Zechariah – Luke 1:67, “His father
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and
prophesied: . .
.”
Jesus Reveals the Holy
Spirit
When Jesus began to teach he
taught the idea that the Holy Spirit was a
personality.
He showed that the Holy Spirit was God and that
the Holy Spirit would work in the church and in all
believer’s lives.
John
15:26
John
16:7
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| August 11 |
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Holy Spirit in the
Men of Israel
Points of Doctrine concerning
Holy Spirit in Men in the Old
Testament:
1) The Spirit was
not given to all
people.
a)
Individual’s received the Spirit at some level to
do the work he assigned to them.
It is never said that all of
Israel received the Holy Spirit.
b)
The Spirit of God came on those he choose for
special ministries:
i)
Bezaleel, Exodus
31:3
ii)
Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, Judges 3:10; 6:34;
11:29
iii) David, 1 Samuel
16:13
iv) Prophets, 1 Peter
1:10-11
2) The Spirit was
temporarily given, and could be
withdrawn.
a)
Samson
i)
Judges 13:25, the Spirit of God came and stayed
until it departed
“The Spirit of
the Lord began to stir him while he was in
Mahaneh Dan.”
ii)
Judges 16:20, the Spirit of God withdrew from
Samson:
“He did
not know that the
Lord had left
him.”
b)
Saul
i) 1
Samuel 10:10, “When
they arrived at Gibeah, a procession
of prophets met
him; the Spirit of
God came upon
him in power, and he
joined in their prophesying.”
ii)
1 Samuel 16:14, “Now the
Spirit of the Lord had
departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from
the Lord
tormented him.”
c)
Ezekiel
i)
The Spirit entered Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2:2,
“As he
spoke, the Spirit
came into me and raised me to my feet, and I
heard
him speaking
to me.”
ii)
The Spirit enters Ezekiel again in Ezekiel 3:24,
“Then the
Spirit
came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke
to
me and said: ‘Go,
shut yourself inside your house. . .’
”
d) David pleads
with God not to withdraw His Holy Spirit
after he had sin
with Bathsheba and killed Uriah in Psalms 51:11,
“Do not
cast me from
your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
This kind of prayer is never
found in the New Testament, in fact John 14:12-17 says
this:
“I tell
you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I
have been
doing. He
will do even greater things than these, because I
am going to the
Father.
(NOTE: This is a
reference to Jesus being glorified
which John says
will occur before the Spirit is given in John
7:39) And I
will
do whatever
you ask in my name, (NOTE: We
are told in Luke
11:13 to ask
the Father to give the
Holy Spirit) so that
the Son may bring glory to
the Father. (Note:
The Spirit brings glory to Jesus in John
16:14) You
may
ask me for
anything in my
name, and I will do it. If you love me,
you
will obey
what I command.
And I
will ask
the Father, and he will
give you another Counselor to be with you
forever—the
Spirit of
truth. . . You know him, for he lives with you
and will be in you.”
The Spirit came
on David when Samuel anointed him with oil in 1 Samuel
16:13,
“So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him
in the presence of
his brothers, and from that day
on the Spirit of the Lord came
upon
David in power.”
e) 1 Samuel
19:20, “. . The Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men
and they also
prophesied.”
f) 1
Chronicles 12:18, “Then the Spirit came upon Amasai,
chief of the
Thirty, and he
said. .
.”
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g) 2
Chronicles 20:14, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jahaziel son of
Zechariah, the son of . . As he stood in the
assembly.
He said . . .”
3) Before the
cross and Pentecost the Spirit could not do in men what
He does now:
a)
He could not raise them up with
Him
b)
He could not make them members of the Body of
Christ
c)
He could not baptize them into one
Body
d)
He could not live eternally within
them
Jesus death on the cross and his shed blood has
purified us from sin. Since the
atonement has historically been accomplished, the Spirit
of God can now in history live in men. Before the
historical occurrence of Jesus death and resurrection,
the Old Testament saints could believe in it or have
faith in the coming Messiah and so secure for themselves
a place in the kingdom of God and be called
believers.
They could not have the historical effects in
their lives, namely the personal presence of the Spirit
of God in their life as a historical response to the
finished work of Christ on this side of eternity. Regeneration,
baptism, indwelling, sanctification are all New
Testament terms for New Covenant realities of which we
have experienced now in time. Non were true
nor available in the Old
Covenant.
The Holy Spirit could be with
individuals, or clothe them, but he could not live in
them and change their nature. Not yet. They had not
been made holy by the blood of the Lamb of God, though
they could be “saved” since they were believers in the
future work of Christ. Yet, they could
not be made holy in their inner nature. Some
examples:
i) Numbers 27:18, “Joshua . . .a man in whom is
the Spirit.”
ii) 1 Peter 1:11, “The Spirit of Christ which was
in them.”
iii) Exodus 31:3, “I have filled him (Bezaleel)
with the Spirit of
God.”
iv) Micah 3:8, “But as for me, I am filled with
power, with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob
his transgression.”
v) Luke 1:41,
Elizabeth
vi) Luke 1:67,
Zacharias
vii) Numbers 11:25, “The Lord . . took of the
Spirit that was upon him (Moses)
and put it upon the seventy
elders.”
viii) What about 1
Samuel 10:9, “As Saul
turned to leave Samuel, God changed
Saul’s heart, and all these signs were
fulfilled that day.
When
they arrived
at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit
of
God came
upon him in power, and he joined in their
prophesying.”
POINT: This indeed says
God changed his heart, but that does not mean he was
regenerated.
4) The Spirit
worked within the nation of Israel, but did not unite it
as one body as the Spirit of God does when church age
believers are placed into one spiritual body
(church).
a) The Spirit was
with Israel.
Haggai 2:4,5, “ ‘Now be
strong,
O Zerubbabel, . .
.Be strong, O
Joshua . . .Be strong, all you
people of the land. . .and work. For I am
with you,’
declares the Lord
Almighty.
This is what I covenanted with
you
when you
came out of Egypt.
And my Spirit remains among you.
Do not
fear.”
b) Nehemiah 9:20,
30, “You gave
your good Spirit to instruct them. .
.
For many
years you
were patient with them. By
your
Spirit you admonished
them through your
prophets.
Yet they
paid no
attention, so you handed them over. .
.”
c) Isaiah
63:10-11, 14, “Yet they
rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he
turned and became their enemy. . .Where is he who set
his
Holy
Spirit among them, who sent his glorious arm of
power to be
at Moses’ right hand, . . .they were given rest by
the
Spirit of the
Lord.”
The Spirit of God worked in
Israel but it was a limited work before the cross, just
as he worked in the individual lives of believers but in
a limited way.
The death of Christ and his cleansing work would
make all the difference in the world to the individual,
to the body of believers and eventually to his work in
Israel.
John 11:51,
“He prophesied that Jesus would
die for the Jewish nation and not only for that nation but
also for the scattered children of God, to bring them
together and make them one.”
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5)
The Spirit of God acts in sovereignty in the
lives of people in the Old
Testament.
God
is sovereign.
The Spirit of God is sovereign. He moves in
believers but if it please him he moved in and spoke
through unbelievers. An example is
the prophecy above in John 11:51. This was a
prophecy from the Spirit of God through the unbelieving
high priest Caiphas, the one who had Jesus
crucified.
a)
Balaam in Numbers
24:2
b) Saul and his
soldiers prophecied by the Holy Spirit as they tried to
find
and kill
David in 1
Samuel 19:20-23.[i]
[i] Systematic Theology, vol. 6, Lewis Sperry
Chafer
Imparting of Powers
for Service
Most of the Old Testament
passages that mention the Holy Spirit deal with people
being empowered for
service.
When these verses are studied we
find the Holy Spirit empowering his chosen people.
It is the Israelites in their
mission to establish the kingdom for God that these
powers were
manifested.
The Spirit communicated with the
Gentiles before Abraham, but in Israel people were
empowered.
This empowerment for acts of
service falls into three
areas:
Powers given to judges and
warriors.
Wisdom and skill given for
various purposes.
Prophecy for encouragement,
direction and
revelation.
1. Old Testament
Powers to judges and
warriors
1) Othniel, Judges
3:10, “The Spirit of Jehovah came upon him and he judged
Israel.”
a.
When the Spirit came the men did something. Here the Spirit
came and Othniel began to
judge.
b.
The Spirit did not come upon someone for no
reason and with
no
reason.
c.
Gideon, Judges 6:34, “The Spirit of Jehovah came
upon
(literally
‘clothed itself with’)
Gideon.”
d.
Jephthah, Judges 11:29, “The Spirit of Jehovah
came upon Jephthah.”
e.
Samson, Judges 13:25, “The Spirit of Jehovah
began to move.”
f.
Samson, Judges 14:6, “The Spirit of Jehovah came
mightily upon him.”
g. 1
Samuel 16:14, “The Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul,
and an evil
spirit from Jehovah troubled him.”
h. 2
Kings 2:16
i.
Ezekiel 2:1
j.
Ezekiel 3:12
Point:
a) Special powers
were given to men
b) It was not
necessary that these men be moral in character to
receive the
empowerment
c) The purpose was
not personal but
concerned:
1. the
theocratic kingdom, “the end in view is not personal,
merely to the agent, but concerns the theocratic
kingdom.” (International
Standard Bible
Encyclopaedia)
2. involved
the covenant between God and
Israel
It was God fulfilling his end of
the covenant.
Wisdom and skill bestowed for
various purposes
We see a combination of thought, wisdom and skill
coming from the Holy Spirit
1)
Bezalel filled with Spirit for wisdom and
understanding as a metal worker in
Exodus 31:2-4;
35:31
2)
In making Aaron’s garments in Exodus
28:3
3)
Builders of Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings 7:14; 2
Chron. 2:14
4)
Joshua was given leadership ability in Numbers
27:18
a)
Joshua received the Spirit from the laying on of
Moses hands
(Nu.27:18; Dt.34:9)
5)
Daniel could interpret dreams and received
governmental authority because of
the Spirit
in
Daniel 4:8; 5:11-14;
6:3
6)
Zerubbabel could build the temple by the Spirit
in Zecariah
4:6
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The Spirit in the Old Testament
Prophets and Prophecy
This was the
Spirit’s most common and productive work in the Old
Covenant
Early in the Old
Testament the man who spoke by the Spirit was a “seer”
(“roeh”) later
they were called “prophets”
(“nabhi”)
A “prophet” is one who speaks for
God. (Not one who hears from God. Many heard from
God but were not
prophets.)
They began there message with
“This is the word of the Lord”, or “The Lord
says.”
In Hosea the prophet is called,
“the watchman over Ephraim.” (Hosea
9:8)
The focus of the prophets
ministry was to the Nation and not to the
individual.
In the earlier days (1 Samuel)
the prophets spoke from ecstasy and accompanied by
musical instruments.
1 Samuel 10
2 Kings 3:14,15, “Now bring me a harpist.” While the
harpist was playing,
the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha and he
said. . .”
In the later days the prophetic
focus was on teaching and drawing the people back to
the
Law of Moses.
The earlier days required action,
deliverance.
The later days required a
teaching and a call to
righteousness.
The Holy Spirit Led People to
Holiness in Character
The very name, Holy Spirit, gives the main focus
of his work.
The Holy Spirit was called “holy” in Psalm 51:11,
Isaiah 63:10.
The inward nature of the Spirit was God’s nature
or character.
He is called:
a) “good Spirit” in Neh.
9:20
b) “Your Spirit is good.” in Psalm
143:10
c)
The Spirit is good because it teaches God’s will
(Ps. 143:10
d)
The Spirit gives fear of the Lord (Isaiah
11:2-5”
e)
Righteousness in Isaiah
32:15,16
f)
Devotion to the Lord in Isaiah
44:3-5
g)
Repentance and prayer in Zechariah
12:10[1]
Old Testament Prophecies of the
New Covenant
1. The Holy Spirit
will be poured out upon all flesh. (Joel
2:28-29)
2. The Holy Spirit
will be poured out on Israel (Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel
39:29)
3. The Spirit then
will remain forever (Isaiah
59:21)
4. The Spirit will
live in the heart of man to renew it and sanctify it.
(Ezekiel 37:14; 36:26,27; Jer.
31:33)
5. The Spirit will
rest upon the Messiah who is the Mediator of this New
Covenant (Is. 11:2; 42:1;
61:1)
[1] The International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia
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Holy
Spirit
Holy Spirit in the Old
Testament
The Hebrew word for spirit
is “ruach”
It is a word that refers
to the atmosphere and notably to the wind.
The “ruach”, or wind, is
an invisible, irresistible power, sometimes harsh and
destructive and sometimes gentle and
beneficial.[i]
“ruach” means “breath,
wind, breeze.”
The verb form means “to
breathe”, “to blow.”
A kndred verb “rawah”
means “to breathe,” “having breathing room,” “to be
spacious.”[ii]
Recognition of God’s
Spirit
Just as man was
given and possesses a “breath” or “ruach”, God was
described as having “breath” or
“ruach.”
Old
Testament Phrases or Names that Identified the Holy
Spirit[iii]
1)
The Spirit of the Lord was an
expression for God’s power. It was the
extension of himself that resulted in many of the might
deeds of God in the Old Testament
a.
Judges 14:6, “The Spirit of
the Lord came upon him in power so that he tore the lion
apart with his bare hands as he might have town a young
goat.”
b.
1 Samuel 11:6, “Then the
Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard
these words, and he became very
angry.”
2)
The hand of
God
a.
Psalms 19:1, “The heavens
declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of
his hands.
Day after day they pour forth
speech.”
b.
Psalms 102:25, “In the
beginning you laid the foundation of the earth, and the
heavens are the work of your hands.”
3)
The word of
God
a.
Psalm 33:6, “By the word of
the Lord, were the heavens made, their starry host by
the breath of his mouth.”
b.
Psalm 147:15, “He sends his
command to the earth; his word runs
swiftly.”
c.
Psalm 147:18, “He sends his
word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes and the
waters flow.”
4)
The wisdom of
God
a.
Exodus 28:3
b.
1 Kings 3:28
c.
Job 32:8
5)
The spirit of prophecy in
that the Holy Spirit was the motivating force that
caused the prophets to hear and speak.
a.
The Holy Spirit brought them
revelation
b.
This is identified by the
prophets familiar opening statement: “Thus saith the
Lord.”
c.
Numbers 11:17
d.
1 Samuel
16:15
e.
Micah 3:8
f.
Ezekiel 2:2
[i] The Zondervan Pictorial
Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol 3,
Zondervan.
[ii] The International Standard Bible
Encyclopaedia, Vol. 3, editor James Orr, Hendrickson
Publishers, Peabody Mass.
[iii] Evangelical Dictionary of
Theology, Edited by Walter A. Elwell, baker Book House,
Grand Rapids,
Michigan.
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In
Creation
Genesis 1:1,2 “In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth
was formless, and empty, darkness was over the surface
of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters.”
“hovering” is a term
that gives the figure of a brooding or hovering bird
over its nest of hatching eggs.
The Spirit was
moving like a wind on the dark, empty, dead earth.
The Spirit was working on
combining, arranging and preparing the chaotic elements
for the recreated earth.
This event is in Paul’s
mind when he writes to the Corinthians:
“For we do
not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and
ourselves as your
servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who
said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,”
made his light shine in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:6, 7
Other verses that identify
the Holy Spirit in the act of creation:
“The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Job 33:4
“When you send your Spirit, they
are created, and you renew the face of the
earth.”
Psalm 104:30
“If it were his
intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, all
mankind would perish together and man would return to
the dust.”
Job 34: 14, 15
From Adam to Abraham [i]
In the first 11 chapters
of the Bible, the days known as the age of the Gentiles,
there are 5 direct references to the Holy Spirit. It was during
this 2,000
year period before Abraham and the Jews that some
foundational truths of the Spirit of God was revealed
and recorded.
These next verses indicate
what had been revealed and understood about the work of
the Holy Spirit from the beginning of time.
1)
Genesis 1:2
a.
The truth that is seen here
is the Holy Spirit was involved in:
i.
Recreating the earth
ii.
Changing ultimate chaos into perfectly arranged
order
iii.
Bringing life and hope to death and
darkness.
2)
Job 26:13, “By his breath the
skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding
serpent.”
a.
The book of Job occurred near
the time of Abraham. There are three
references to the Holy Spirit in the book of
Job
b.
“skies became clear” is a
reference to Genesis 1:2
c.
“gliding serpent” is a
reference usually taken to refer to the Milky
Way.
d.
This shows the Spirit’s
direct hand in the work of the material
universe.
3)
Genesis 6:3, “Then the Lord
said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for
he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty
years.”
a.
In the days of Noah the
Spirit of God was trying to draw all men back to
him. The
Spirit did this in a variety of ways that we
know:
i.
The preaching of Noah (1 Peter
3:19,
20)
ii.
The inward checks and the law written on their
hearts (Rm. 2:15)
b.
Point One: The Spirit
strives with sinners to turn them to
God
c.
Point Two: The Spirit will
eventually stop calling each individual and group back
to himself.
There is a ending point to the Spirit’s work of
urging men to repent.
i.
“The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn
heifer. . .Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him
alone!”
Hosea 4:16,17
d.
Point Three: Man is mortal
(also translated, “flesh”) and is naturally opposed to
the immortal Holy Spirit. It is simply
natural and must be accepted that many men will resist
the Spirit’s work.
Grace is not an eternal option. In every case
the day of opportunity passes.
e.
“contend”
(NIV) also
means “strive” with, “rules” in or is “humbled”
in.[ii] In his 1870 book
“Old Testament Word Studies,” Wilson gives the meaning
of this Hebrew word as “to judge, contend, to be at
strife.
Most of the ancient versions give it the sense of
remaining or dwelling. . . .Gen. 6:3 may be translated,
‘My spirit shall not always be despised by man, i.e. I
will not suffer my spirit, admonishing them and pleading
with them by the prophets, to be perpetually neglected,
I will punish them.”[iii] More modern
studies of etymology show the meaning of “contend” to be
better translated as “continue” or “last”. The Septuagint
and the Vulgate confirm this. This makes more
sense of the context and fits the whole theology of the
Holy Spirit than the word “strive.”[iv]
4)
Job 27:3 and 33:4, “As long
as I have life within me, the breath of God in my
nostrils. . .The Spirit of God has made me; the breath
of the Almighty gives me life.”
a.
Human life is totally
dependent upon the Holy Spirit of God.[v]
[i] Systematic Theology, vol. 6,
Lewis Sperry Chafer
[ii] The International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia
[iii] William Wilson (1783-1873), Old
Testament Word Studies, Reprint of 2nd
edition from 1870
[iv] New International Dictionary of
Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, vol. 1, Zondervan,
1997.
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The
Revealer of Truth
As we will study the
Spirit of God is the source or the written word and the
understanding of that written word.
We will understand now
that the Holy Spirit is the one who produces and
provides all communication from God to men.
God spoke to men during
the days of Adam to Abraham.
1)
God spoke with
Adam
2)
God spoke with
Cain
3)
God spoke with
Noah
4)
The knowledge of why Abel’s
offering was acceptable and Cain’s was rejected had been
previously taught and communicated to the first
generations on earth.
5)
The book of Job has many
highly developed truths of doctrine including Creation,
redemption and the Redeemer, righteousness, and end
times. This
is the first book written. Meaning, all
these doctrines had been known and developed but
scripture was not yet available. How? The Holy
Spirit.
6)
Melchizedek, a Gentile priest
and king, approached Abraham with wine and
bread.
7)
Genesis 26:5 says, “Abraham
obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my
decrees and my laws.” Have you ever
wondered how he knew them? Moses wasn’t
going to live for another 600 years. This is from the
26th chapter of Genesis and Genesis had not
been written down.
8)
Noah, in the sixth chapter of
Genesis, and the 10th generation was a
preacher of righteousness.
Lewis Sperry Chafer
writes: “A distinction should be made
between:
1) a thing revealed
from God which calls for no proclamation of it
and
2) a revelation
from God which anticipates its publication.
“God spoke to Adam, to Cain, and to Noah, but
with no instruction that it be
transmitted to others and preserved as revelatory
truth. But
to the prophets He
spoke with the expectation that the message would
be conveyed somehow to others. Of this
distinction Kuyper writes: ‘God spoke also to others
than prophets
e.g., to Eve Cain, Hagar, etc. To receive a
revelation or a vision does not make
one a prophet, unless it be accompanied by the
command to communicate the
revelation to others. The word ‘nabi,’
the Scriptural term for prophet, does not
indicate a person who receives something of God,
but one who brings something
to the people. Hence it is a
mistake to confine divine revelation to the
prophetic
office”[i]
The Spirit of God is
the source of Scripture and the full revelation of God
as recorded in Scripture.
But, the completion of the
Scripture does not change the Holy Spirit’s ministry of
communication nor does it confine the Holy Spirit to
speak only through the Scripture.
If this was so, it would
be the only time in history that the Spirit was not
directly communicating with people. And, this is the
age of the Holy Spirit.
It would appear to
be accurate to say that no man will again be called on
to receive a revelation from God that should be
published along side the Scriptures.
But, it also would appear
to be accurate to say that people will always be
communicated to by the Holy Spirit in a variety of ways
to reveal to them things they need know but are not
intended for proclamation or publication.
Imparting of Powers for Service
Most of the Old Testament
passages that mention the Holy Spirit deal with people
being empowered for service.
When these verses
are studied we find the Holy Spirit empowering his
chosen people.
It is the Israelites in
their mission to establish the kingdom for God that
these powers were manifested.
The Spirit communicated
with the Gentiles before Abraham, but in
Israel
people were empowered.
This empowerment for acts
of service falls into three areas:
1)
Powers given to judges and
warriors.
2)
Wisdom and skill given for
various purposes.
3)
Prophecy for encouragement,
direction and revelation.
Old
Testament Powers to judges and
warriors
1)
Othniel, Judges 3:10, “The
Spirit of Jeovah came upon him and he judged
Israel.”
a.
When the Spirit came the men
did something.
Here the Spirit came and Othniel began to
judge.
b.
The Spirit did not come upon
someone for no reason and with no
reason.
2)
Gideon, Judges 6:34, “The
Spirit of Jehovah came upon (literally ‘clothed itself
with’) Gideon.”
3)
Jephthah, Judges 11:29, “The
Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah.”
4)
Samson, Judges 13:25, “The
Spirit of Jehovah began to move.”
5)
Samson, Judges 14:6, “The
Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon
him.”
6)
1 Samuel 16:14, “The Spirit
of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from
Jehovah troubled him.”
7)
2 Kings
2:16
8)
Ezekiel 2:1
9)
Ezekiel
3:12
Point:
a)
Special powers were given to
men
b)
It was not necessary that
these men be moral in character to receive the
empowerment
c)
The purpose was not personal
but concerned:
1.
the theocratic
kingdom
2.
involved the covenant between
God and
Israel
a.
It was God fulfilling his end
of the covenant.
[i] Systematic Theology, vol. 6,
Lewis Sperry Chafer and The Work of the Holy Spirit, p.
70, as cited by Walvoord, The Doctrine of the Holy
Spirit, p.
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