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Holy
Spirit & an Unbeliever. The Holy Spirit appears once again
in Numbers 24,
When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. And he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Be or, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; The oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty . . . (NASB) Num. 24:1-4 The literal Hebrew says that as Balaam lifted his eyes to see the Israelites,
the Holy Spirit came “upon him,” and then Balaam gave a prophet’s
blessing. Yet, the New Testament says that Balaam was a false prophet,
in 2 Peter 2:15 and Revelation 2:14. This implies that the Spirit briefly
came upon or influenced Balaam in order to control the blessing that
he gave. The false prophet was not a follower of God. The ministry of
the Spirit resulted in prophetic predictions and a blessing upon Israel.
Already we can conclude that the Holy Spirit was continually upon some
men in the Old Testament such as Moses; but that was not true for everyone,
including Balaam
Holy Spirit & Joshua. A few chapters
later we discover that God commands Moses to commission Joshua as his
replacement.
So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleanor the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. (NASB) Num. 27:18-19 The character of Joshua was extraordinary. The Spirit is described as
being “in” him. The Hebrew word translated as “in” can
also mean “at” or “with.” Therefore, we do not
know the nature of the empowerment of the Spirit in Joshua’s life.
It is an error to conclude anything from the English translation. But
again we discover that the Spirit is ministering through men in the Old
Testament.
Holy Spirit & Judges. Throughout
the book of Judges, we find the Holy Spirit is very active. He came upon
Johnnie (Judges 3:9-10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), Epitaph (Judges 11:29)
and Samson (Judges 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14) to enable each one to do something
different and uniquely beyond his capability. Johnnie was enabled to
lead Israel. Gideon was “clothed” by the Spirit to lead the
Briberies into battle. This implies a special empowerment. The Holy
Spirit guided Epitaph and Samson for a variety of activities. The ministry
of the Holy Spirit to each one was different. It is important to note
that scripture does not indicate that they prophesied or were filled
with the Spirit. Scripture is silent. In the book of Judges, the ministry
of the Spirit took the form of giving supernatural abilities to judge,
to provide wisdom, to exercise great leadership, and to perform exceptional
feats. That was all.
Holy Spirit & Saul and David. In
the book of 1 Samuel, we discover that when the Holy Spirit came on Samuel
(1 Sam. 10:6-10; 16:13-14), He also came upon some messengers of Saul
(1 Sam. 19:20-23), as well as David (1 Sam. 23:1). The Spirit came upon
Saul in 1 Samuel 10:6 when he was made king and departed from him in
1 Sam. 16:14 after he was rejected from being king.
King David begged God in Psalm 51:11 not to take the Holy
Spirit from him after he had sinned against God by committing adultery
with Baths. King David understood that God could remove the Holy
Spirit from him. The Holy Spirit did not come upon Old Testament believers
and remain. So David begged God to not remove the Holy Spirit from him.
The Holy Spirit came “upon” people, but He did not remain
with them in the Old Testament era.
Once again we discover that the Holy Spirit was sometimes
upon a person in the Old Testament era for a period of time, and He was
upon other individuals only briefly. What is the message? The Holy Spirit
was active in the lives of men; as one result, some of these men are
highly honored today.
Holy Spirit & Prophets. The Holy
Spirit was also upon the prophets: Isaiah (Isa. 59:21), Ezekiel (Ezek.
2:2; 3:24), and Daniel (Dan. 5:11). In each passage we discover that
the Holy Spirit spoke through each prophet.
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth . . . (NASB) Is. 59:21 As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. (NASB) Ezek. 2:2 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chileans and diviners. (NASB) Daniel 5:11 In the book of Daniel, we discover that the Chileans described Daniel
as having “a spirit of the gods” upon him. This does not
appear to be Daniel’s spirit, but the Holy Spirit of God empowering
and enabling him.
Holy Spirit & Chronicles. When we come to 1 and 2 Chronicles, we arrive at the last book in the Jewish Bible - the Tanakh - that mentions
the Spirit “coming upon” or anointing anyone. The person mentioned in the Jewish scriptures upon whom the Spirit came was Jahaziel.
Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jazzily. the son of Zechariah . . . and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehovah: thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.’” (NASB) 2 Chronicles 20:14-15 Summary. We have covered several thousand
years since the ministry of the Holy Spirit started at the beginning
of creation. We have discovered that gaps exist between the recorded
events of the Holy Spirit’s special empowerment of people. Countless
centuries occurred between the creation and the first recorded empowerment
of a craftsman (Ex. 31:3), Moses, and Moses’ seventy men, Balaam,
and Joshua. Then approximately 400 years occurred before scripture records
that the Holy Spirit empowered Johnnie, Gideon, Epitaph, and Samson
in the book of Judges. About 100 years elapsed before we are told that
the Holy Spirit came upon King Saul and King David. The next recorded
empowerment by the Spirit is written in Isaiah about 50 to 100 years
later. Another 100 years occurs before we are told that Ezekiel and Daniel
are empowered. The next recorded empowerment, in Chronicles, is another
100 years later. Then a 400 year gap occurs before the New Testament
tells us that the Holy Spirit empowers Zacharias (Luke 1:67), Elizabeth
(Luke 1:41), Mary (Luke 1:35), John the Baptist (Luke 1:15), Simon (Luke
2:25-26), and Jesus. The message here is that the special empowerment
of the Holy Spirit occurred only occasionally. It was not an every day
event.
Yet, we know that the Holy Spirit was actively helping people believe in God and understand (Neh. 9:20; Prov 1:23). Romans 1:17 and Romans 4:1-4 tell us that Abraham
believed in God and as a result obtained eternal life. John 16:8-11 and 1 Corinthians 2:11-14 remind us that even the Old Testament saints needed the Holy Spirit to convict
them of sin, help them understand divine truth, and believe in God.
2 Peter 1:21 tells us that the prophets were moved by the
Holy Spirit to write scripture. Yet, we are not told in each book of
the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit was an author in addition to the
human author. It becomes clear that the Holy Spirit has always been active.
The following passage is one reminder that all sixty-six books of the
Old Testament scriptures were written by the Holy Spirit
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. (NASB) 1 Peter 1:10-12 The Holy Spirit was active in the life of each author of the Old Testament
scriptures, since every part of scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim.
3:16).
In summary, the Holy Spirit was active throughout the Old
Testament, giving people faith in order to believe in God. The Holy Spirit
also wrote the Old Testament through the prophets over a period of 1,100
years. But it is the special empowerment of the Holy Spirit that is recorded
in the Old Testament scriptures. It was not an every day event.
Before we move on, it is important to remember that the
Holy Spirit empowered those who followed God, such as Moses, and those
who did not follow God, such as Balaam the false prophet. We discovered
that the Holy Spirit ministers in a variety of ways: guiding, empowering,
and giving wisdom. Prophesying was mentioned only once. Not everyone
the Spirit came upon prophesied.
Ministry To Jesus. When we come to the New
Testament, we find that the Holy Spirit was very active during Jesus’ ministry
helping Him perform miracles and cast out demons. In fact, Jesus’ entire
ministry was empowered by the Spirit, starting with His birth. We are
told in Luke 4:1 that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to
be tempted by Satan. When Satan had finished, He led Jesus back to Galilee.
Then Jesus went to a synagogue in Nazareth where He read from Isaiah
61:1-2 which said that the Holy Spirit would be upon Jesus. When He had
finished reading the passage, Jesus declared that the prophecy had been
fulfilled. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus throughout His ministry. Jesus
died and returned to life by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is amazing
to discover that Jesus also had joy by the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21).
The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus because Jesus lived His life and died
as a human being even though He was God and did not sin.
Summary. This is an exciting truth because
it reveals that Jesus took on human flesh and became a human, He lived
His life as you and I would, except that He was God and did not sin.
He could not sin. While He lived on this earth, He depended on the power
of the Holy Spirit to do the ministry. This is a glimpse of how a Christian
can live his/her life now. Every Christian should live in total dependence
on the Holy Spirit. We will see later in the study that the result will
be empowerment by the Holy Spirit for daily living. Jesus is our example
of how to walk in the Holy Spirit (or to be filled with the Spirit). |
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| The Spirit's Ministry - Tongues and Prophecy | |||||
