By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé
The Holy Spirit has been the center of many of Michael’s and my conversations both recently and over the past few months. We agree that the Holy Spirit or “part of the three pieces to the puzzle of God,” as Michael calls Him, has often been overlooked. This is surprising yet true. Then, last week, Michael and I were talking about guardian angels when he pointed out that we have no protector like the Holy Spirit, the ultimate guardian angel and so much more, as he is one-third of the Godhead. We both feel that much of the confusion regarding the Spirit arises from some basic misunderstandings about just who He is. This week’s blog concerns these and how, through particular passages of Scripture, we can better perceive His purpose, personality and power. May He who guides the two of us each week in writing the blogs, reveal Himself more clearly, so that we can elucidate His mightiness and indwelling presence which is essential to our lives best lived.
Many are operating under the idea that the Holy Spirit is mostly about the New Testament Book of Acts and, specifically, the amazing role of the Spirit at Pentecost. Our earlier blog regarding this momentous occasion for the Church, made clear His role in the supernatural events of that day of days. It is, of course, a well-founded belief that the promised pouring out of the Spirit is prominently featured by looking at this portion of the Bible. Having said this, however, we must add that, as dramatic and compelling as Pentecost was, there is just so much more to this Holy Spirit. Some might say that, surely, this “much more” will lead us even deeper into the New Testament, and certainly we will go there. Nevertheless, it is critical to somewhat counterintuitively not start there at all. The Holy Spirit is authoritative and ubiquitous in the Old Testament and a sharper understanding of Him is well served by, instead, beginning here. This, we will do.
As evidenced by Genesis 1:1-2, and other verses, a major theme running through the subject of the Holy Spirit is that of Creation:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS. (emphasis added) KJV
The Message translation says,
“God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.”
To digress for a moment, this bird simile is repeated later after Jesus is baptized:
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
(Matthew 3:16) NIV
To return to the Creation theme, we turn to Psalm 104:30:
“ All creatures look to you…When you send your Spirit, they are CREATED.” (emphasis added) NIV
Nowhere is the Creation aspect of the Holy Spirit more vivid than at the conception of Jesus:
“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His Mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. (emphasis added)…Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT.” (emphasis added)
(Matthew 1:18,20) NIV
The Holy Spirit is involved in The Creation, creating creatures and animals and in the creation of Jesus himself.
Mary questioned Gabriel about how Jesus could be conceived as she was a virgin:
“The angel answered, ‘THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME ON YOU…” (emphasis added),
(Luke 1:35) NIV
More tangentially, but still important, is the creation by the Holy Spirit of the power in us to carry out God’s plans for our lives. Such was apparent in several Old Testament instances.
With regard to the immense empowerment of Moses, there is a story in Numbers of the same power being transferred from Moses to others when Moses was exhausted and at his wits’ end while leading the Israelites:
“The LORD said to Moses:‘Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders…I will take some of the POWER of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them…’ When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied…” (emphasis added)
(Numbers 11:17,25) NIV
Once again, in the Old Testament story of Gideon, a creation of leadership is displayed when this once-cowering victim of the enemy Midianites’ intimidation experienced the power of the Spirit:
“Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet summoning the Abrezrites to FOLLOW HIM.” (emphasis added)
(Judges 6:34) NIV
Later, David, weak like Moses and Gideon had momentarily been, and also on his deathbed, was enabled to speak with power and authority:
“These are David’s last words:
The voice of the son of Jesse,
the voice of the man God took to the top,
Whom the God of Jacob made King…
‘God’s SPIRIT (emphasis added) spoke through me, his words took shape on my tongue.”
(2 Samuel 23:1-2) NIV
When failing, these three Bible heroes had created in them and, in the case of Moses, for them, the very words of the one and only Spirit of God. All this and much more, was done by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament before Pentecost came to be.
Does this kind of Old Testament rendering apply to us today? Definitely! In the iconic Psalm 139, verse 7, David writes of something as applicable in our time as then:
“ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.”
(Verses 7-10) NIV
The Holy Spirit will guide us at home, at work, at play, in our country, in foreign countries – there is no place that is beyond his blessed reach.
Sometimes, in Scripture, the Holy Spirit will brilliantly span both the New and the Old Testaments. Such is the case with the prediction of the Messiah’s coming, as written by Isaiah, and then the announcement by Jesus in Luke that he is the Messiah Isaiah was speaking of. As Michael says, “It is of decisive importance to remember that the Israelites were focused on the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament. Nothing was more central in their minds.”
In about 621 BC, Isaiah wrote,
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor,
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
To proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor…”
(Isaiah 61:1-2) NIV
Before we go on, it is important to remember two things:
1) These verses are predictive of the Messiah.
2) These verses from Isaiah were very well known to the Israelites of Jesus’ day as predictive of this.
Now, we fast forward several centuries to Jesus’ time. He had begun his public ministry and had successfully resisted Satan’s temptations in the wilderness. First, the context:
“Jesus returned to Galilee IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT…(emphasis added). He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read and the scroll of Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the LORD is on me,
because he has anointed me
To proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing .”
(Luke 4:14-21) NIV
Have you ever heard anyone question whether Jesus SAID that he was the Messiah? Not whether or not they believe he is the Messiah – Everyone must make that determination for himself. But whether or not he actually announced that he is the Messiah? The people within earshot that day knew what he was saying. As stated earlier, they had probably memorized Isaiah 61:1-2 and knew exactly what it was about.
Remember how we cited that, when he returned to Galilee, he was IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT? (emphasis added) (Luke 4:14) NIV When speaking under the power of the Spirit, what follows is God’s revelation to another. This was true 2,000 years ago and it is true today. When John starts the Book of Revelation, itself, reminiscent of Jesus, he writes,
“On the Lord’s Day, I was in the Spirit.”
(Revelation 1:10) NIV
What followed was this Revelation, an awe inspiring blueprint of our spiritual future.
Michael, wisely, and led by the Holy Spirit, decides the subject matter for these blogs. With regard to this one and to “Glory,” I hesitated as to whether they lended themselves well to blogs. Both times, I was wrong. We wrote two blogs on “Glory,” and we will write two on the Holy Spirit.
Until next week, then…Please pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all of us, without whom there can be no revelation, no guidance, no leading – ad infinitum.