BAT/MAT221

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Rev. Stan Armes

stan.armes@gmail.com

MINTS International Seminary,

14401 Old Cutler Road Miami, Florida 33158 USA

Tel. 786-573-7001, www.mints.edu

Lesson One – The use of the word “Spirit” 8

Questions for Lesson One 16

Lesson Two – The General Work of the Holy Spirit 17

Questions for Lesson Two 28

Lesson Three – The Holy Spirit as a Person 29

Questions for Lesson Three 37

Lesson Four – Deity of the Holy Spirit 38

Questions for Lesson Four 47

Lesson Five – Inspiration of Scripture in the Old Testament 48

Questions for Lesson Five 59

Lesson Six – The Holy Spirit’s use of Non-Prophets 60

Questions for Lesson Six 76

Lesson Seven – The Holy Spirit and the Prophets 77

Questions for Lesson Seven 90

Lesson Eight – The Longevity of the Holy Spirit working in People 91

Questions for Lesson Eight 102

Biography 103

Bibliography 104

Appendices 106

Suggested Additional Topics 109

Instructor’s Manual 110

Appendix B use of the word spirit in the Old Testament 121

Course Content

The course is divided into eight chapters. Chapter one begins with the use of the word “spirit.” It can be confusing to readers when spirit can be used differently if various contexts. The use of language is dynamic and not molded into concrete. The second lesson moves to the general work of the Spirit. It is important to know that the Spirit is more than just energy or force. Thus the next two chapters instruct us in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit. The deity of the Spirit is absolutely necessary for our understanding of the Bible’s inspiration. As we come to the final lessons we will study how the Spirit works in the prophets and non-prophets. It may come as a surprise that a person does not have to be regenerated for the Spirit to work in him. Finally we must study whether the Old Testament teaches the permanent residency in people.

Course Materials The lecture notes are the complete instruction for the class. The students are required to read them in their entirety. There will be some additional reading resources that are required. It is understood that some students my find themselves in an environment where there are limited resources such as books and the internet. Therefore it will be up to the instructor to find appropriate ways to get resources to the students.

Course Objectives To understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit; To help the student to be aware of the limitations of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament; To caution students against forcing New Testament understanding of the Holy Spirit on the Old Testament people; To understand the seeds of theology of the Holy Spirit are found in the Old Testament.

Course Requirements 1. Attend the class for fifteen hours of common teaching time. 2. Complete answering the ten questions at the end of each lesson. 3. Read 300 or 600 pages from the recommended reading list. 4. Write a sermon on the teaching of the Old Testament’s teaching of the Holy Spirit.

5. Write some short essays from the required reading. 6. Complete an exam based on the questions at the end of each lesson. Reading BA- The Holy Spirit by Sinclair Ferguson

MA-The Holy Spirit by Sinclair Ferguson and The Mystery of the Holy Spirit by R.C. Sproul

Essay Requirements The student must remember that the important thing to keep in mind in all of these assignments is understanding the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Points will be taken off if you write more or less than the page amount. More words do not impress the teacher.

a. The students writing for a BA must choose one of the following passages to write a 6-7 page sermon. (Spacing between lines is 1.5) I Isaiah 11: 1-19; Exodus 36: 1-8; Joel 2:28-32. These sermons must answer the question, “What does the passage tell us about the activity, person or work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?” Any supporting passages (including New Testament) must directly support the chosen passage. If you chose to use some New Testament passages and then get sidetracked and spend too much time on that passage, marks will be deducted. b. (1) The student writing for an MA must choose one of the same passages mentioned above to write a 10-12 page sermon. (spacing between lines is 1.5) (2) In addition to this the student must write a minimum two page essay (not more

than 4) on the following articles:

a) Read https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/divinity-holy-spirit/systematic-theology-ii/bruce-ware “The work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.” In your conclusion clearly number at least three conclusion that you come to. b) Read http://www.bible-researcher.com/warfield3.html Your paper must be on the work and person of the Holy Spirit especially as he is mention in the Old Testament. c) Read https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/how-believers-experienced-the-spirit-before-pentecost In your own words summarize the 10 ways Piper describes the work of the Holy Spirit especially in the Old Testament. d) Louis Berhof’s Systematic Theology. https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/systematic-theology-louis-berkhof You can find this online pp. 467-477.

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old TestamentPrefaceThere are four main reasons why this course was written. The first reason was over 40 years ago when a young man was being examined before Presbytery for ordination. The young

ministerial candidate was asked by a presbyter, “What is the difference between the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament?” That young man said, “I don’t know. Can you tell me?” The questioner responded with a hearty laugh that everyone could hear and replied, “I don’t know either.” That young man was me. Ever since that day this topic has always been in the back of my mind. There has always been that idea, “I ought to do something about that deficiency in my knowledge.” Since that time I have found out that there are other preachers who have the same question. Secondly, throughout my life, I have heard some amazing but doubtful things that people say about the Holy Spirit. One man told me that a preacher was preaching so fervently in the Spirit that he literally burned up on the church platform. All that was left was a pile of ash on the floor.1 Another person said he saw people flying over the pews of the church. In our “Star Wars” world, there are many people who think of the Holy Spirit as no more than “The Force.” Our personal experience and culture hasve defined who the Holy Spirit is rather than the Bible. He is no more than some impersonal entity out there who will help anyone who will ask for help if he feels like it. Fantastic visions, dreams, and miracles have all been attributed to the Holy Spirit. What muddles our thoughts is that some of these actions are recorded in the Bible. We are confused in our minds as to what is biblical and what is not biblical.

Thirdly, I have not heard very many sermons preached about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. I have not readily seen or read many books on this same topic. It is as if some people have never connected the Holy Spirit with God working in the Old Testament. There is no overt denial of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament but the lack of information seems to contradict this denial. We will see later that other authors agree with this assessment.

Fourthly, at the outset of this course there is a huge conflict within me in writing this course on the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. As a person who lives after the death and resurrection of Jesus it seems to do violence to the Holy Spirit when I do not include everything I know about him. This includes the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. It is possible that the readers may also be thinking the same way. However we must ask a very important question, “Did the Old Testament people understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the same way as we do today? If a person were to say to me, “In the New Testament we are taught that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, he is our comforter and guide.” My immediate response would have to be, “Did the Old Testament understand this to be so?” We are also taught that the Holy Spirit is divine (Acts 5:4). He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14), omnipotent (Luke 1:35), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7), omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10, 11), is God (Acts 5:3, 4), and Creator (Genesis 1:2). With the exception of two places all of these references come from the New Testament. The same question would apply to many other characteristics of the Holy Spirit such as a guide and comforter.

1 While this is very unlikely, there are unexplained incidences of human being burned up. There are several websites where you can find this information. A good explanation, not proof of spontaneous human combustion (SHC), is found at. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion.

Throughout my whole life I have been taught the doctrine of the Holy Spirit from the New Testament perspective. It goes against the very grain of who I am to limit this knowledge to information given in the Old Testament. Yet if we are to know the truth of what Scripture says about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament we must override anything of who I am or what I personally believe and look at the information given to us.

IntroductionThe purpose of this course is to define the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. A subpoint would be the question, “Are there any differences between the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments? If there are differences, to what degree?” When we talk or think about the differences of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, I feel some hesitancy to actually voice such ideas because in my mind there is the idea that people will think I am teaching a different Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Perhaps they think that I believe that the Holy Spirit is not as powerful or interested in human events as the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Since we believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the godhead, I do not believe that there is any difference between the Spirit of the Old Testament and the Spirit of the New Testament. The differences seem more to be in the manner and in the frequency of his work.

People have avoided serious study of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. It is understandable that often the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament has not been stated very clearly. Unfortunately people have thought that the work of the Holy Spirit is unimportant or at least not worthy to be scarcely mentioned. Many people may agree with Welker who says, “The Holy Spirit has traditionally been the “shy” or “silent” member of the Trinity and therefore more or less absent or marginalized in the history of Christian thought is also applicable to the theology and science dialogue that has occurred over the last few generations.”2 With this so called silence, it would seem that the Old Testament people would have difficulty understanding the work of the Holy Spirit in forming the character of a person, restraining sin, regeneration, sealing and sanctification. This is not an entirely correct perception and we will understand more of this as we study.

As it was mentioned in the preface, it has been my experience that people have looked upon the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament as not as important as his work in the New Testament. This idea is more of an unspoken impression or thought rather than outright statements. If this idea was spoken or written about directly, I am sure there would be immediate repercussions from the conservative realm. From the start we need to understand that the frequency or infrequency of references to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament does not make the doctrine of the Holy Spirit any less important. For example, the Spirit is mentioned in Numbers but not in Leviticus, in Judges not in Joshua, Nehemiah not in Ezra or half of the Minor Prophets. We need to understand that the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit mentioned in a book does not affect its inspiration.

2 Welker p. 183

As opposed to some who think contrarily, the Holy Spirit worked in the Old Testament and he is a real person. There is a lot of information about the Holy Spirit in the New Testament and we cannot avoid all references to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. In the normal course of human events when we meet a person we want to know who he is, where he came from, his relationships with known entities, and with other people. It is not proper to walk unannounced into a court room when court is in session. Serious consequences will occur if a person thinks he can run into a presidential palace without first being introduced in the proper way. It is the same way with the Holy Spirit. Before we can talk about him we need tell you who he is. We need to describe to you his person and work in the world so you can appreciate him a lot more. You need to understand his authoritative role so that you will listen to what he says and understand the consequences of disobedience.

We need to state that this course is not a definitive end to the study of the Holy Spirit. Walvoord states, “The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is not complete until viewed as a whole from eternity to eternity.” and “It is fundamental to any doctrine that it be related to the sovereign purpose of God.”3 It is impossible to know the full efforts of the Holy Spirit in this life. The only time we will be able to know the complete work of the Holy Spirit is after Jesus comes back again. Until then the Spirit continues to work and reveal God’s will to us. Walvoord’s statement brings up several ideas that are not within the purpose of this course but would be interesting topics to pursue. John says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (3:2). 4 John says, “We shall be like him” but at the same time we are not God. Eternity has no end and so the question is, “Will we ever know the full work of the Holy Spirit?” Does, “We shall be like him”, mean that we will have the same knowledge as Jesus?

Appendix BA, which includes more than 200 verses that mention the Spirit in the Old Testament, is found in the Instructor’s Manual. It does not have to be printed for the students. However the instructor needs to let the students know that this information is available if they desire to have a copy.

3 Walvoord p. 304 Unless otherwise noted the New American Standard Bible will be used (NASB).

Lesson One- The Use of the word “Spirit.”

In this lesson the student will:1. Various uses of the word spirit 2. That heart and spirit can be used in the same way. 3. That God and Lord are synonymous. 4. The infrequent use of the name Holy Spirit

Who is the Holy Spirit? The Westminster Standards were written in the 1640’s to be the basics of our belief as they are taught in the Bible. Today these standards continue to be the foundational theology for many denominations. The Westminster Shorter (S) and Larger (L) Catechisms do not have a specific definition of who the Holy Spirithe is. There are several questions that describe the Holy Spirit’s person and work. However as he is being God and equal with God in all aspects, including being such as infinite, eternal and unchangeable, we need to apply all the characteristics of Ggod to the Holy Sspirit. tTherethere are several questions (Q) that describe the Holy Spirit’s person and work. The Larger Catechism explains the Holy Spirit’s work in several ways. We read of his being included in the Trinity (LQ. 9), his calling (LQ. 68), his work in sanctification and justification (LQ. 77, 78), and his work in prayer (LQ. 182). The Shorter Catechism does no better but teaches that we are partakers of redemption (SQ. 29, 30), he participates in our effectual calling (SQ. 31), and assures us of the benefits we have as Christians (SQ.36). T

The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) does not gives the followinggive a definition of who the Holy Spirit is. The Confession describes the Holy Spirit as “One substance” with God the Father and God the Son and is “Eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son”5 Again we read of the Holy Spirit’s equality with God the Father and God the Son.

The Nicene Creed says, “And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.”6

Who is this Holy Spirit? Both of the words “holy” and “spirit” are hard to define. Neither one of them necessarily describes a physical thing. The word “holy” means “set apart” for a special or religious purpose. Spirit can be used to describe some kind of disembodied being or even a state of mind. If these words are difficult for us to appreciate separately then how are we to understand them combined? R.C. Sproul helps us by combining three main ideas to form who the Holy Spirit is.7 The Holy Spirit is the divine third person of the Trinity, who calls us into a personal relationship with himself and who performs personal tasks. This may seem to be a rather simple definition yet the rest of the course will be spent in understanding what this means. When referring to the Holy Spirit, God uses the personal pronoun “He”. “When He, the Spirit of truth has come…” (John 16:13). We are commanded to believe in the Holy 5 Clark p. 326 Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics7 Sproul pp.17-20.

Spirit and to be baptized into his name and thus have fellowship with him. 2Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” It is not possible to have fellowship with things. The Holy Spirit can be pleased, obeyed, offended or be grieved. Finally, the Holy Spirit is capable of performing personal tasks. We find multiple places in the Bible where he has intelligence, has a will, feelings, and power.

So the challenge in this course is to study this tension between the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and what we know about him in the New Testament. Most of what we study will be found in the Old Testament. Today, after Jesus sent the Comforter, we know a lot more about the Holy Spirit than the people of the Old Testament. We often “read into” the Old Testament passages what we know of the Holy Spirit. This is the error of eisegesis. Of necessity there will have to be some New Testament references to the Holy Spirit especially when we read about the New Testament quotes of the Old Testament. A special concern here is what did the Old Testament people know about the Holy Spirit? Another topic of interest is how did the New Testament writers understand what the Old Testament writers knew about the work of the Holy Spirit?

There is confusion in the minds of the people about what and to whom the word spirit is referring. Therefore it is necessary to talk about the word spirit and how it is used in the Bible. After we clarify this we can turn to the topic of the Holy Spirit. The concept of spirit is used in several ways. If you want to read or look at over 240 places where the word spirit is used, please go to the appendix at the end of this course.8

After studying the Old Testament references to the sspirit, it was found that the word spirit .ruah can be interpreted several different ways 9רוח VanGemeren says the word for “spirit” appears 387 times in the Old Testament.10 The basic understanding of spirit is a blowing, air in motion or wind. VanGemeren says the word for “spirit” appears 387 times in the Old Testament.11 Due to the various interpretations it is impossible to apprehend the whole meaning of spirit in one sentence or phrase. Sometimes the word stands for an event without essence, intangible or unseen, energy, and life essence of a person or movement of air. It is imperative that we note the adjectives used to describe the spirit. Thus we have examples of the good, evil, free, contrite, trustworthy and steadfast spirit. Sometimes these adjectives refer to God and other times reference a person. We are very familiar with the words “Holy Spirit” but those two words occur only three times in the Old Testament.

8 See appendix A Various versions of the Bible will translate spirit in different ways. Sometimes the Hebrew word is not connected with spirit. Although there has been a serious attempt to find every time spirit is used in רוהthe Hebrew, there is no guarantee that every time the word spirit is used in the Hebrew Bible, it is mentioned in this chart. 9 Font Ezra SIL will be used throughout the course in order to make the Hebrew letters more readable. Remember Hebrew is read from right to left. 10 VanGemeren p. 1073. This number can change in different translations depending on how the the word spirit is used. 11 VanGemeren p. 1073. This number can change in different translations depending on how the the word spirit is used.

Adjectives can also delineate the kind of work the Spirit does, the disposition he inspires, and the nature of his activities.

This kind of understanding should not take us by surprise. Welker states, “From earliest Hebrew thought the term ruah had various meanings, all more or less equally prominent. 1. Wind, an invisible, mysterious powerful force (Gen.8:1; Ex.10:13, 19; Prov.25:23; Hos.13:15; Jonah 4:8) 2. Breath or spirit…seen as the life and vitality of human life…3. Divine power…when individuals seemed to be carried out of themselves.12

The biblical authors will use the word “spirit” in different ways depending on the context. For example Ezekiel 37:9 says, “Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” Here “breath” is associated with “come to life” indicating a life essence. Then in Ezekiel chapter 36 we read definitely of the referral to God’s Spirit. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (v.27). Both verses use the same word spirit.

VanGemeren suggests that there are six main ideas that the word spirit conveys depending on the context of the passage. 1. Wind, 2. A compass point, 3. Breath, 4. Disposition, 5. Seat of cognition and 6. Spirit.13 Within each of these six ideas are variations that we cannot take the time to mention completely but we will mention a few.

First is “wind” as a force of nature. Isaiah speaks of David and “His heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind (7:2). In 2 Kings we read, “For thus says the LORD, 'You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts” (3:17). There is reference to futile work that is like corralling the wind. “I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). The prophet Isaiah makes a very interesting comparison between worshipping idols and trusting wind. "Behold, all of them are false; their works are worthless, their molten images are wind and emptiness” (41:29). So we have the spirit described as a force of nature that can’t be contained and trying to do so is utter futility.

Second, is the unexpected use of spirit as a compass direction. Ezekiel 5:9, 12 says, “And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again. One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.” Ezekiel is speaking to the people of Jerusalem. God is telling them that since they have disobeyed him, he will scatter them to “every wind.” The natural interpretation is that God is going to dispel the Jew in every direction. Jeremiah uses wind in the same sense. “I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven, and will scatter them to all these winds; and there will be no nation 12 Welker p, 613 VanGemeren pp. 1073-77

to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.” Again the common sense of wind in this context is that people will be dispersed in all directions of the compass.14

Another variant of רוח is found in Ezekiel 42: 16-29 where he is describing various parts of a house as facing the East, West, North and South sides. Literally the word is East wind, West wind and so on. Thus far we have seen the use of “wind” in two contrasting uses, the force of nature and a compass direction.

The third use of ruah is explaining a life sustaining function or the essence of life. Genesis 6:17 speaks of the “breath of life.” "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.” In this sense the “breath of life” represents the very life of a person or animal. Take this breath away and the person and animal no longer exist. 15 It is obvious that this breath is God given and when he takes the breath away the being is dead. Another passage like Genesis 7:22 says, “Of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.”16

Describing those who disobey Job says, “By the breath of his nostrils are they consumed” (4:9 KJV). The other word used in translations is “blast” but both of these words “nostrils” and “blast” are closely associated with wind that emanates from a person. The wind in this context is associated with God’s anger and discipline.17

The fourth use of ruah is more people oriented. In the following descriptions and interpretations the word has to do with a group or individual’s disposition. Isaiah describes, “The spirit of the Egyptians [who] will be demoralized within them” (Isaiah 19:3). 1 Kings 21:5 describes Ahab as being discouraged. He has lost heart and no longer had a will to fight back. Sometimes translations do not explain the actual word but rather the concept that is being transmitted. Such is the case in Genesis 26:34 and 35, “When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” The phrase, “They brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah” literally means “who were a grief of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah.” Thus it would be correct to understand that Isaac and Rebekah had a grieving spirit. Speaking of people, Proverbs 14: 29 is translated, “Quick tempered” but literally says, “Quick or hasty of spirit.” Chapter 16 uses adjectives to describe a proud and humble spirit (vss. 18, 19). 18

The unfaithful spirit or “spirit of prostitution” is found in Hosea 4:12. As a husband is unfaithful to his wife and goes after other women, Israel has constantly gone after other gods and not remained faithful to Yahweh (Cf. 5:4). Then there is the Hebrew that is translated “trustworthy” mentioned in Proverbs 11:13. The word “spirit” is not mentioned in some bible

14 Zechariah 2:6; Daniel 7:215 Job 12:10;Isaiah 38:1616 Cf. Job 17:1; Ezekiel 37:5-917 Exodus 15:8; 2 Samuel 22:1618 Isaiah 66:2

versions such as the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the New International Version (NIV) but literally “faithful spirit” is what is written. This is a good reason to learn Greek and Hebrew. It takes an incredible amount of time, effort and determination to do this but in the end it is worth it.

The fifth use of ruah has to do with a person’s, reasoning, ability or volition. Perhaps one of the most well-known passages is Exodus 31:1-5 that says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills-- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” Bezalel had the remarkable ability to do artistic work. It is obvious that it was the Spirit of God who gave that ability to him.19 Oswalt gives us a very helpful understanding of the Spirit of the Lord when he says, “to say that god’s spirit was upon someone became almost a code phrase for saying that the person was acting out of a capacity which was more than merely human.”20

Isaiah speaks about people who are, “Wayward in spirit” (29:24). This use of the spirit could be understood as the disposition of the people but the later part of the verse says, “Accept instruction.” In my opinion this would indicate that Isaiah is speaking about the mind of a person that will change. The mind of a person must change before there is any change in behavior. Many bible versions translate Ezekiel 11:5 as, “Things that come into your mind”, “going through your mind” or “for I know your thoughts.” While these are accurate ideas the literal translation is “And the things that come into your spirit.” The point being is that unless we read this in the Hebrew, we would not know the use of the word “spirit” in this passage.21

The words “heart” and “spirit” are used as synonyms in Psalm 77:6 “I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders.” The first couplet of words “meditate” and “ponder” and the second couplet “heart” and “spirit” are the parallels with each other. To make this sense plain “meditate” and “ponders” are describing the same kind of action. Thus “heart” and “spirit” convey the same thing. The Bible has many examples of this use of language. So we read, “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them” (Ezekiel 11:19).22

Isaiah 65:14 tells us, "Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, But you will cry out with a heavy heart, And you will wail with a broken spirit.” Not only do we have the adjective “broken” used with “spirit” but we have the idea that people have a heavy heart. So we have the words “heart” and “spirit” as related ideas and meanings with the adjectives “broken” and “heavy.” One of the non-negotiable principles of hermeneutics is that scripture interprets scripture. The previous verses are excellent examples of this rule.

19 Exodus 28:3;35:31; Isaiah 11:2 (Jesus)20 (Oswalt, 1986, p. 279)Oswalt, 1986, p. 27921 Ezekiel 20:3222 Ezekiel 18:31;36:26, 27

More than one use or combination of ideas could be applied to the work of the Holy Spirit in the following verses. Psalm 51:10, 11 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” Also, Isa 63:10, 11 tells us, “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them?”

In the first passage there is an implied restraint. David knew he had sinned and was asking God to help him remain firm against the temptations of sin. The second set of verses informs us that the Holy Spirit fought against Israel instead of preserving them. This judgment came due to rebellion against the Holy Spirit. Since this is the work of the Holy Spirit we can understand the Spirit referring to the Spirit of God, to people in general or to effecting society in making correct choices.

We come to the sixth and most important use of ruah which has to do with the Spirit of God. These are verses that refer to the Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of God. These references seem to have a more direct reference to the Holy Spirit or a more direct relationship with God.

Is the Bible speaking of the same Spirit when it refers to the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord? It is obvious that whenever we read, “The word of the Lord came to… (prophet) or “God spoke to… (a person) it is referring to the same God. God does not have two Spirits so either phrase using Spirit or God speaks of the Holy Spirit.

God and Lord are used interchangeably and are easily understood by the following two verses. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Psalm 33:6 cries, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” Indeed the words “Lord” and “God” are brought together into one name. Isaiah states, “And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and His Spirit” (v.16). Here is the reasoning. “Lord” and “God” is the same person, “His Spirit” is referring to the same God and therefore the Spirit can be used interchangeably as the Spirit of the Lord or the Spirit of God.23

It is safe to say that when the Old Testament writers refer to “My Spirit,” “The Spirit of God” or “The Spirit of the Lord” that they are referring to the same Holy Spirit. These phrases use the preposition “of.” It has the meaning of possession or belonging to or even associated with someone or something. In Hebrew grammar there is a “construct” description which indicates owner ship.24 Therefore the word for Spirit is the Spirit that belongs to the Lord. Since “Lord” and “God” are assumed to be deity, the Spirit which is so closely associated with “Lord” and “God” must also have the qualities of deity. While not written expressly, it would seem that the writers of the Old Testament would have the assumption that the Spirit is 23 Cf. Amos 4:13 The one who reveals his thoughts to man is theis the “Lord God.” Exodus 31: 1-3: Isaiah 61:1-324 Harris, Introductory Hebrew Grammar p. 13

divine. The longevity of human life had ceased.25 So for the Spirit to have lived from Moses to David and beyond could only refer to someone divine.

God cannot be fully understood by the human mind. There are no words in the human language that can explain God fully. That is why there are so many adjectives in the Bible that elucidate God’s character. In other places the Old Testament is very clear about the “otherness” or “separateness’” of God. Speaking of God both Moses and Isaiah affirm, “There is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39; Isaiah 45:6).

Sometimes a prophet will combine two meanings in the same books. Ezekiel uses the word “spirit” to refer to the living creatures (1:21 -22). Then in 2:2 and 3:12 we have the work of the Holy Spirit directly impacting Ezekiel’s life by forcing him to move. This shows us that the writers of scripture understood that the meaning of a word can be interpreted in more than one way.

Does it seem tedious going through all these uses of the spirit? For some people it may seem so. It must be said that when we read words in the Bible we must always be conscience of how the words are used and the context in which they occur. So it is important to know that we are reading Spirit of God and not evil spirit. It is necessary to know that we are not reading a compass direction but instead we are being told about the disposition of a person. Sometimes it is necessary to read the verses before and after to get the full meaning. A particular verse may talk about the spirit of the wrath of God so the context has to do with God punishing disobedient Israel.

There is another Hebrew word that is closely relates to ruah. It is the word נשמח neshama and is also translated as wind and spirit. Job 33:4 uses both words in the same verse. “The Spirit of God (רוה) made me, And the breath of the Almighty (נשמח) gives me life.” Understanding the Hebrew way of using parallelism both of these words must have close to the same meaning. It gives understanding to humans (Job 32:8), brings destruction (Job 4:9), and lays bare the foundations of the earth (Psalm 18:15). With this understanding we can definitely maintain that Bezalel, who had the Spirit of God was guided by the Holy Spirit (Exodus 31: 1-3). The Holy Spirit is used only three times in the Old Testament. Today we use the name Holy Spirit so frequently that we assume the Old Testament people did the same. The following verses are where the Holy Spirit is mentioned.

The first is found in King David’s prayer in Psalm 51:11 which says, “Do not cast me away from your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” The second and third places are found in Isaiah 63:10, 11 which say, “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of

25 Genesis 6:3

them?” While there are only three Old Testament references to the Holy Spirit, it is established that the Old Testament writers were very much aware of the Holy Spirit. It is also confirmed that the Jews were aware to the Spirit’s work during the time of the 40 years in the desert.

Since it is only David and Isaiah who mention the Holy Spirit brings up the question of whether it was by special revelation that these two and only these two men understood the Spirit in this way? Isaiah 42:1 says, "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” When did David understand the Spirit to be God’s Holy Spirit? Isaiah chapter 42 was written before chapter 51. How far back did Isaiah understand this vital teaching?

There are some other unusual uses of the word ruah. Judges 14: 6, 19 says, “The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand” (cf.v.19). Mentally and visually immediately this brings some vivid gory details but we must go beyond this to what the Spirit was accomplishing in Samson. The meaning of the word “mightily” is “to break, strike or beat.” The Holy Spirit forced himself on Samson so that he could perform superhuman acts. 26 We are not told in the Bible that Samson asked for this strength God decided to intervene at this point. Interestingly Samson asked for this type of strength as his last act of pushing the pillars of the temple so that the Philistine temple would fall down.

We have seen examples of when the Spirit works strongly with people and overpowers them. These seem to be random, from the human perspective, and infrequent acts. Is there indication that the Holy Spirit may reside more permanently in people? I think we can apply this question to the “double portion” of Elisha. Could this mean that the Spirit was with Elisha more permanently? We will deal with this more in a later chapter.

There is another Hebrew word that must be studied along withרוח ruah and that isקדש kodesh. The word kodesh means “holy.” Its primary meaning has to do with separation, holiness, sacredness. The word is used in Exodus 15:11. It is translated, “Who is like you, majestic in holiness?” The context is describing God as separate and there is no other God like him. It is used of God’s holy name as being sacred, inviolable and separate from all defilement (Leviticus 20:3), of places set apart for God (Deuteronomy 26:15), and of holy land set apart for the priest (Zechariah 2:16). Gesenius has five pages describing this word in its verb, adjectival, and noun uses. The overwhelming use of the word describes the separateness of people and things that are to be separated for the use of God.27 Sometimes the word is actually translated as “holy” as found in Isaiah 52:10 (holy arm). Having said this when we study about the Holy Spirit we must go beyond the words such as “spirit,” “Spirit,” “wind,” and “breath.” The words spirit ruah and holy kodesh are inseparable because kodesh often describes what holiness is. Since the Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity, it is appropriate to describe the Spirit as Holy.26 Cf. Judges 15:1427 Gesenius pp.869-874

The word “spirit” is used in many different ways by the authors of scripture. As much as possible we need to know how the writer intends the meaning. This is not always an easy task but most of the time the context will help us greatly. There are other Hebrew words such as kodesh and neshama that add to our understand of what spirit means.

Questions for Lesson One.1. What is the purpose of this course? 2. How is it possible that we do not understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? 3. How have people understood the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? 4. Concerning the Holy Spirit what is the error of eisegesis? 5. What makes it hard for us to understand the word spirit? 6. What are six ways the word spirit can be used? 7. What are the differences between these two passages? Isa 63:10, 11; Psalm 51:10, 11 8. What is significant about the name Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? 9. Why is it important to pay attention to the adjectives used with the Holy Spirit? 10. What is the relationship between ruah and kodesh?

Lesson Two - The General Work of the Holy Spirit

In this lesson the student will:1. Begin to understand that the Spirit is working in the Old Testament. 2. The Holy Spirit has specific work to do. 3. Study the work of the evil spirit.

There is a general concern among teachers that there is a lack of understanding about the Holy Spirit. When there is an attempt to consider his work, there is a shortage of biblical support. The opening sentence of Kuyper’s book says, “The need of divine guidance is never more deeply felt than when one undertakes to give instruction in the work of the Holy Spirit.”28 29 Robinson maintains, “No primary Christian doctrine has been left so undeveloped dogmatically, i.e. by the formal elaborations of ecclesiastical decisions. A history of the doctrine [of the Holy Spirit] is apt to become a survey of the views of individual thinkers.”3031

Concerning an overall view of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Valvoord says, “It is impossible to say that the passages increase in number, or in clearness, with any special characteristic of the books of Scripture. They seem to bear no special relation to chronology, as they appear chiefly in Isaiah (750 B.C.), in Ezekiel (590 B.C.), and in the books of Moses. Nor can we trace any relation to the comparative spirituality of the books, though Isaiah stands so high in the list; for whereas Ezekiel stands first, the Judges has seven, Psalms has only six, Deuteronomy only one, and 2 Chronicles four. But it is possible to discern that each of the inspired writers has caught some special aspect of the Holy Spirit's person or work, which is reiterated in his pages. In Ezekiel, for instance, it is the action of the Holy Spirit in transporting the prophet bodily to the places where he is needed, which accounts for six of the passages out of fifteen. In Judges it is the in-breathing of courage or strength which is alluded to in every one of the seven passages. In Exodus it is as the Spirit of wisdom that He is specially—and exclusively—regarded. It is His office as the Giver of prophetic inspiration which is most constantly spoken of in the books of Samuel and the Chronicles. In Isaiah, and in the Psalms, the twofold teaching concerning Him is His connection with the Messiah on the one hand, and what may be called His personal qualities, such as being grieved or vexed, by ingratitude or rebellion, on the other.”32 Every book in the Old Testament or group of books may have a certain emphasis on the Holy Spirit. No book, with the exception of Ezekiel, comes close to giving a full explanation of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Even Ezekiel could not have known that work of the Holy Spirit as we know it since the coming and leaving of Jesus.

28 Kuyper p. 329 p. 30 W. H. Robinson p. 131 p. 32 Walvoord p. 9

There seems to be a huge discrepancy between those people who know there is a Holy Spirit and those who are aware of the Holy Spirit but have naïve or non-biblical ideas about who he is and what he does. What is the importance of the Holy Spirit? Pink asserts, “Wherever Christianity has been a living power, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has uniformly been regarded, equally with the Atonement and Justification by faith, as the article of a standing or falling church.”33 Again, “We may safely affirm that the doctrine of the Spirit is almost entirely ignored. Wherever little honor is done to the Spirit, there is grave cause to suspect the genuineness of any profession of Christianity”34 What we need to understand that the work of the Holy Spirit is pervasive all through the Old Testament. By failing to recognize this, we are in great danger of distorting the work of the Holy Spirt and on the road to totally ignore his efforts.

There is an overwhelming amount of information on the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. 35

Considerably less information is found about him the Old Testament. Many books relegate the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament to a few pages and in some only a couple of paragraphs. There could be many reasons for this including lack of knowledge, laziness in study, or not believing the Holy Spirit is working. Thomas reminds us that, “The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is clearly a Bible doctrine and cannot be derived from any other source.”36 This means that apart from the Bible we will not and cannot find the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. Apart from the Bible, the doctrine of the Person of the Holy Spirit is nonsensical humanly and theologically. When the Bible is rejected as God’s word, it is no surprise that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is rejected as well.

When we begin studying the work of the Holy Spirit I agree with Kuyper who gives the title of his first chapter, “Careful Treatment is required.”37 Much of our understanding of the Holy Spirit comes from the experiences of other people but Kuyper asks a key question. “What guarantees the correctness and fidelity in interpreting such experience?”38 Indeed we are guilty of accepting a person’s word just because that person has experienced a certain event. We have come to the point that since the person insists that his experience is from God that it must be true. We are so intent on avoiding confrontation that we fail to check a person’s experience against God’s word.

If there is conflict we must reject the experience. In this we are inconsistent because we also believe and teach in the depravity of the human race. We teach that sin has affected our entire life spiritual, physical and emotional. Since this is true, then experiences are suspect. Kuyper is correct when he says, “There is no subject in whole treatment the soul inclines more to draw upon its own experience, there is none that demands more than our sole

33 Pink p. 534 Pink p. 635 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 6:11; and 2 Thessalonians 2:13 just to name a few36 W. G. Thomas p. 937 Kuyper p. 338 Ibid p. 4

source of knowledge be the Word give us by the Holy Spirit.”39 Priority must be given to what the Bible says and then experience can be accepted but only as it agrees with what the Bible says. Humans are strongly tied to their emotions and therefore emotions often drive their beliefs and actions, yet our emotions must not be the foundation of our belief.

Kuyper speaks of nations that understand language in different ways. There are the “earnest-souled Lapps and Finns” compared with “the light-hearted French”; “the rugged Scotsman” contrasted with the “emotional German.”40 Each nation has its own special way of understanding language and thus there are many foundations for human understanding the work of the Holy Spirit. We must find a foundation that will be the source of understanding for all nations and for all peoples. Each culture must come under the scrutiny of scriptural definition. The problem is further accentuated when we realize how little we know of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. At least Jesus in the New Testament steps out as a tangible human being. With the Holy Spirit this does not happen in the Old Testament. This makes the Holy Spirit hard to study. So along with our sinful nature and with the intangibleness of the Holy Spirit, the topic of the Holy Spirit is difficult to grasp. This is one reason why we have little preaching on the Holy Spirit. When we preach, our inadequate knowledge and sinful emotions are attached to what we say. It is the human tendency to add information where information is lacking. We demand explanation. That information may be false but at least we satisfy ourselves that we at least have some information. In part, I think this is what we do with the Holy Spirit. We form our ideas about the Spirit in a fashion how we understand him within our language and culture and then base our teaching on those ideas. This practice is no different from what the Israelites did by setting up idols and worshipping them. They had to make God in a way they understood before they worshipped him.

Grudem points out that the Holy Spirit has 5 specific works. 1. He empowers, 2. He purifies, 3. He reveals, 4. He unifies, and 5. He gives stronger or weaker evidence of the presence of blessing according to our response to him.41 Let us take a brief look at each one of these works.

1. The Holy Spirit empowers as giving life to something or enabling a person to do his work. So we have the Spirit giving life to creation and assisting Israel to overcome their enemies (Psalm 104:30; Isaiah 63:11- 12). Let us consider the work of the Holy Spirit in creation.

We need to be aware of the idea that the Holy Spirit was not present at the inception of creation. In scripture we never have any person of the Trinity working separately from the other two. Genesis 1:25, says, “Let us make man in our image.” The pronouns “us” and “our”

39 IbidKuyper p. 440 Ibid p. 5 I am aware some people may object to this stereotyping. However even today if we are honest with ourselves, we have certain characteristics come to mind when we think of different nationalities. We just don’t write them down as Kuyper did. Having lived overseas for over 40 years I know that other nationalities see Americans as loud, boisterous and rude. We may not like this general description but that does not change people’s perceptions. 41 Grudem pp. 635-649

are words that apply to people not animals. In English the word “us” in verse 26 is the first time the plural form is used of God. It would be possible for us to think that when God was ready to create man, the other two persons of the Godhead were called in for consultation because humans were to be crown of creation and needed special care. This is not correct for two reasons. The first is that the Spirit is mentioned even before the creating process began.42

Thus it would assume that the Spirit is present during the whole creation time. Before creation took place the Spirit was hovering over the unformed “stuff.” Second is that the word for God, Elohim, is always used in the plural. The Jews have always known God as one true God but inherently always understood as at least three entities in that one God. For this reason the name Elohim is used. Kohl says “Even after creation, we see the Spirit representing himself in these three ways, as temple, witness and glory.”43 He goes on to explain that the Holy Spirit. SpiritH.S makes the bush as a habitable place for him to show himself to Moses. In Exodus 14:17, 18 he speaks of the Spirit as saying, “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians.” He says the Holy .SpiritH.S. is a judicial witness for good and bad news. Finally Kohl asserts that the fire in the burning bush and pillar of cloud shows the glory of God which is the Holy SpiritH.S. This all sounds really wonderful but I do not see anything specifically about the Holy SpiritH.S. in these verses. It is an assumption that Kohl and many other writers make.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters (1:2). In most reliable translations the word “Spirit” is capitalized indicating both a name and a person. The first verse of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). By using the word “create” we understand that God made the heavens and earth “ex nihilo” out of nothing. It is impossible for our human minds to grasp the idea of making something out of nothing yet this is exactly what God did. It is the basic meaning the Hebrew word ברא bara meaning “to create.” Since 1784 we have all been taught by Antoine Lavoisier that matter is neither created nor destroyed. The real struggle is whether we believe science or the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches that God is above and not part of the universe. This means that if he wanted to add matter to the universe, he can do it. Thus the Spirit did exactly that when he created the heavens and the earth.

In Genesis 1:2 there are two ideas that need to be understood. The Spirit and God are equated at creation. We also read, “The Spirit was moving” or participating in the act of creation. The two concepts are that the Spirit is God and that he also contributed to the creation. Among some people there is an impression that it was God the Father who created the universe and the Spirit was there just as a presence but not really active in anything. Grudem mentions that there is the idea that TtheThe Old Testament is the age of the Father, then came the age of the Son in Jesus, and then finally we have the age of the Holy Spirit

42 I am not using creating process as Theistic evolution. I am using process in that it took several days to complete the creation. 43 (Kohl, 2014)Kohl, 2014 p. 262

after Jesus until the present and on into the future.44 While this may be true in a limited way, it is my belief that all of the Persons of the Godhead have been active throughout all of history. This view could lead to the heretical modalistic view of the Trinity. I do not believe that the Holy Spirit ceased to work at any time in history. There is a big difference between saying the Holy Spirit stopped working and declaring he worked differently or in a limited way. “Limited” can be misunderstood as describing an inability but we must not comprehend it this way. The Holy Spirit chose to conceal put the brakes on himself on how he was to revealed his work in the Old Testament. The Spirit is manifest in a greater was as part of the victory that the risen Christ accomplished.

There are other places in the Bible where we find the authors assuming the presence of the Holy Spirit at creation. Psalm 104:24-30 say, “O Lord, how many are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your possessions. There is the sea, great and broad, in which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which you have formed to sport in it. They all wait for you to give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; you open your hand, they are satisfied with good. You hide your face, they are dismayed; you take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the ground.” There is no doubt in the psalmist’s mind that the Spirit took part in creation. “Your works” are described as the sea, animals, and the earth. We also need to note the phrase, “They are created” which is attributed to the Spirit. The word for create is bara meaning to create out of nothing which definitely refers to the original creation mentioned in Genesis.

Again Isaiah tells us, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him” (40:12, 13)? While the word creation is not used here, it is obvious that when words such as “measured,” “weighed,” and “balance” are use along with the “Spirit,” that the Spirit is the one who is doing this. These words indicate the action of God at creation. It is the Spirit of the Lord who is giving limitations to these parts of the earth because there is a definite relationship between verse 12 and verse 13.

Isaiah teaches us the Holy Spirit’s sustaining power of creation. We read, “Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks; Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, and in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places; And it will hail when the forest comes

44 Grudem, p. 634

down, And the city will be utterly laid low. How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters, who let out freely the ox and the donkey” (32: 14-20).

This is an amazing passage because it details the works of the Holy Spirit. Notice that it is the Spirit who is poured out. Then there are results of that pouring out. Donkeys are having fun, sheep have food, and the wild forest becomes a pasture. There is also a peace that reigns among the people as described as “undisturbed,” “resting,” “quiet,” “confident,” and working and serving in righteousness. This passage talks about nature, animals and people. It is the Spirit who is working with all of them. This teaches us that the Holy Spirit not only was present at creation but he also continues in its preservation.

Walvoord, gives us a nice summary by stating five points about creation (pp. 40-43).

a. Genesis 1:2 reveals to us that the Holy Spirit was at creation. Psalm 33:6 confirms this. When we see the order of the universe we must understand that the Holy Spirit was involve with this.Moses understood the Spirit was present at creation. The word “ruah” in the Hebrew can be used as breath, wind, spirit and Spirit and shows a definite close relationship with all of these meanings. Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.” Genesis 1 says repeatedly “And God said.” God spoke .amar and it was created. The words spoke, word, spirit and breath are all synonyms אמר Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” So the word is used to describe the creative ability of God.The Spirit is used in two ways in Psalm 104:29, 30 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground. The same word “spirit” is used in the sense of life in animals and for the Holy Spirit. The whole psalm clarifies this but look at verses 17-26 birds (17),wild goats (18), lions (21), humans (23) and whoever lives on land or sea (24, 25).

b. Design of creation – Job 26:13 says, “By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.” Some people think that the serpent may refer to the star formations.

c. Life of creation Job 33:4 says, “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Elihu understands that the Holy Spirit was involved with his birth and conception.

d. His work is for God’s glory - Psalm 33:6 The heavens are made by the Holy Spirit; Job 26:13 speaks of clearing the heavens. The Hebrew word translated “cleared” can mean “garnished” or “fair” which points more to the beauty of the heavens. This seems to fit more with the context. Finally, Psalm 19:1 declares God’s glory.

e. Preservation of creation – Psalm 104: 29-30 If the H.S. ceased his work of preserving, creation would die. There is not only the initial creation but also the ongoing protection and sustaining.

2. Grudem continues by telling us that the Holy Spirit purifies. Interestingly he does not give any examples from the Old Testament. However the Old Testament is very concerned about the purity of those people who want to please God. Leviticus says, “So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God” (18:30). The prophet Habakkuk describes God as, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he” (1:13)?45

There are Old Testament verses which indicate a relationship between a person being sprinkled and being cleansed. David says, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). The word “purity” is in the intensive form indicating that there must be a radical work that only God can perform. Verse 10 should more properly be translated, “Create for me,” and not in me, a clean heart. The Hebrew preposition ל is the letter L which means “ to” or “for.”46 In my opinion the reading “in me” misses the emphasis that it is God who is the one who does the work. The better translation should be “Create for me a clean heart…” David is admitting that he can do nothing to change his own heart. The second part of this verse goes on to say, “And renew a steadfast spirit inside me.”

The prophet Ezekiel says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (36:25-26). While there is no direct mention to the Holy Spirit, in both of these passages, the work that is being described is obviously the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit can do a lot in the life of a man but he expects such a man to keep himself pure. By purity we mean without spot or sin. When we study the lives of men who attained their potentials in God, they kept themselves pure. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego kept themselves pure by not defiling themselves with the portion of the king delicacies (Daniel 1:8). Joseph refused to have sexual relations with Potipher’s wife (Genesis 39:9-13). The mother of Samson was advised to keep herself pure by not consuming wine or unclean food while pregnant with Samson (Judges 13:3-4). The Spirit is not referred to directly in these passages. However when we look at the life of Daniel we read of the Holy Spirit speaking through him. By inference we need to assume that Daniel’s friends and Joseph had the Spirit working in them to keep them pure. While keeping themselves pure, none of these people were perfect. While praying king Solomon said, “For there is no man who does not sin”(1 Kings 8:46). 45 Cf. Job 4:17; 15:14; 31:1; Psalm 73:1; 46 Laird Harris p. 15

Again we come back to Psalm 51: 10-11 which is the clearest example of a relationship between living a pure life with the help of the Holy Spirit found in the Old Testament. It says, “Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” The creating a clean or pure heart is directly related to a “steadfast spirit.” Then this “steadfast spirit” is immediately associated with the Holy Spirit. At least David knew that a pure life was dependent on the Holy Spirit. Was this knowledge limited to people like David and the prophets or did the general public understand this? As far as we know the Scriptures do not give us any specific information on this.

3. The Holy Spirit reveals who God is and his works. There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets and other leaders like Abraham and Joshua. The Holy Spirit came upon many of the judges enabling them to do great works of power. We are instructed that he is a jealous, exclusive and loving God (Exodus 15:13, 20:5; Isaiah 45: 14). We are instructed about the characteristics of God.

4. The Holy Spirit unifies his people. Sometimes the work of the Holy Spirit is spoken about in an obscure way. Joel says, “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions” (2:28). We know that this prophecy was applied to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit revealed it to the Apostle Peter (Acts 2). Joel understood there would be unification when the Spirit was not restricted to individuals. It is very likely that Joel did not know when this would happen but he knew that that there would be something special about the future work of the Spirit of God. This reasoning takes us beyond the Old Testament understanding of the Holy Spirit but we know that Peter refers to this passage as a prophecy of the Pentecost experience in Acts 2. We cannot overlook a passage concerning David found in Psalm 16:9-11 which says, “Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will you allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” In Acts 2:25-31 Peter argues that, “David could not have been talking about himself in the Psalm since, he “died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.” But, Peter continues, David, seeing what was ahead because he was prophet, spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah.”47 Verses 30 and 31 say, "And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ.” Peter by the power of the Holy Spirit is saying that David also by the Holy Spirit was speaking of the “Resurrection of the Messiah.” Clearly David understood in a deeper way than most other people of his day that he was speaking of a future Messiah. We have no doubt that the Holy Spirit used David’s teaching to explain about the Messiah.

47 Reymond p. 531

5. Finally, the Holy Spirit gives stronger or weaker evidence of the presence of blessing according to our response to him. The Holy Spirit will give or withhold blessing depending on whether he is pleased or not with a person. The Spirit came mightily upon Samson but withdrew when he persisted in sin (Judges 13:25; 16:25). When God took the spirit from King Saul it was replaced by an evil spirit. Obviously Saul did not have the blessings he had formerly. His life was filled with hate and jealousy. Davis contrasts David and Saul about the presence of the Spirit in them. He says, “Yahweh give David direction and this special guidance through a prophet. Whey is that so significant? Because Saul did not and would not enjoy such a privilege. Saul was a man on his own, shut up to his own wits, a man without direction from god. He had not light in his misery.”48 The prophet Ezekiel speaks about God removing a heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh in its place (Ezekiel 36:24–27). Surely a heart of flesh signifies more life and therefore blessing. These are the five main teachings about the Holy Spirit that Grudem suggests to us.

I do not discount all experiences attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit as being unbelievable but we do need to be careful what we accept as true. If we depend on our cultures or experiences to understand the work of the Spirit, there are two dangers. Walvoord says, “1. “We are ever prone to interpret Scripture through experience.” and 2. “To limit the doctoring of the Holy Spirit to facts accepted by all.”49 By this statement he is saying that it is easy to accept people’s experiences as the foundation for our doctrine or belief. He is pleading with us that we must not use our culture or public opinion to lay the groundwork of our teaching of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must insist that the Scriptures are our measure of what is true or false.

One frequent barrier in our understanding the work of the Holy Spirit is God’s use of the evil spirit. This is not the main interest of the course but we need to address this situation.50 The use of an evil spirit doesn’t mean that the Spirit from the Lord is the same thing as the Spirit of God; that is, God does not do evil nor does he endorse evil to be done but he reigns over all evil. There were evil spirits who were eager to get at Saul. Why have they not done so earlier? Simply because God said, "No."

What about God using an evil spirit? People are troubled that God would send an evil spirit, such as he did with King Saul. “Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him” (1 Samuel 16:14). How can God use an evil spirit? The prophet Habakkuk says, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor” (1:13). The Apostle Paul is very specific when he asserts that believers must not associate with unbelievers, righteousness has nothing to do with unrighteousness, and there must be no harmony between Christ and Satan (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). It is clear that light and darkness cannot be in the same place at the same time. The answer of this problem lies in the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God means that God can do anything he wants to even if it seems contradictory to us. He does not have to explain his

48 (Davis, 2008, p. p. 222)Davis, 2008, p. p. 22249 Ibid, p. 2950 We are not addressing the origin of evil which is another topic.

actions to us. We do know that God cannot act contrary to his own character. We are told clearly that God cannot lie, that he cannot deny himself and cannot die. It would seem in our minds that God using an evil spirit is contrary to his character. 51

It clearly is the case with Saul in ; 1 Samuel 16:14. tThe Spirit of the Lord was taken from Saul and an evil spirit took his place. It was so evident that Saul’s servants recognized this. Davis says, “I do not think we should construe this change as equivalent to regeneration… In verse 6 the change comes as a result of Yahweh’s Spirit “rushing” upon him. The verb is used of the Spirit “rushing” upon Samson, in each chase not regenerating but giving power to meet a crisis, such as knocking of Philistines. The “rushing” of the Spirit indicates his equipping for the tasks of leadership. In this sense Saul is another man, receiving what he had not had before.”52

A big part of the answer lies in the revealing passage in Job where Job and God are talking (Job chapters 1 and 2). All God has to do is lift His hand and evil spirits, who long to wreak havoc on Job’s life, will get what they want. This is exactly what happens in the book of Job. Satan is unsuccessfully trying to accuse Job in some fashion. As a result he is powerless to do anything to Job. In light of this passage we are faced with the perplexing issue of God and Satan being in the same place. How can light and darkness be in the same place? The passage does not explain how this can be accomplished but just tells us this event as a fact. It is clear that Satan cannot do anything unless God gives him permission. God gives Satan permission to test Job. While not perfect, Job passed the test. God rebuked Job’s three friends and restored Job’s fortunes double. In this case we see that evil, the ultimate evil, Satan, is at the disposal of God. Job’s faith was unshakable and he was strengthened through the trials. It was proof to himself, to the four friends and to other people that his faith was real and strong.

Who afflicts Job in all the ways that happen to Job? Satan. Who controls bad things when and how long? God does. So couldn’t you say that Job’s affliction was from the Lord? We must respond in the affirmative because Job says it is so. We know this is correct because the book ends after the fortune is restored to Job. His friends and brothers come to comfort him for all the affliction the Lord had brought upon Job. That is the author of Job’s commentary on what has happened. His commentary says that Job’s affliction is from the Lord (42:11).

Another place where God used an evil spirit is used in Judges is found in chapter 9. “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem” (9:23). Clearly we are told why

51 Another problematic passage is found in Job chapter one where God and Satan are in one another’s presence. We are told that light and darkness cannot cohabit. The problem lies with our limited understanding of who God is and what he can do. An answer is found in the history of redemption. In the Old Testament there is a period of time in which Satan is allowed into God’s presence making accusations against him but in John 12:31 Jesus death is overthrowing of Satan and his casting out of heaven (see also Rev 12:1-10). He will be fully cast out of the whole of the new creation when it comes.

52 Davis p. 96

God did this. Verse 24 says, “So that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.” Earlier on this this chapter Abimelech had killed 70 of his family so he could be king. God sent this evil spirit to accomplish the purpose of removing Abimelech from leadership. Verse 56 says, “Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers.” Thus God had to send an evil spirit to King Saul to do his bidding. Sometimes God allows evil things to happen to us that so that we will learn to obey him (James 1:1-3; Hebrews 12:3-13).

Thomas suggests that although these passages (1 Samuel 16:14 and 1 Kings 22:19-22), “Are admittedly very difficult, but they cannot set aside the general and predominant thought of The Spirit as identical with God at work in behalf of His people. They are probably are intended to express an extreme Oriental form [of] God’s judicial action against willful sin” 53

Israel knew that the other nations had kings and judicial processes that adjudicated justice in severe ways. Thus the sudden change in Saul would be understood as God severe justice upon Saul.

We come back to the idea that some people have difficulty with the statement that God sent an evil spirit. We automatically associate the term evil with the idea of bad, wicked and immoral. When we read about the character of God it is clear that there is no wickedness or immorality in God. Therefore we cannot associate evil in this way with God. It is hard for us to comprehend that God can use evil without being evil himself. God can use evil in whatever way he wants without having that characteristic. We cannot say the same about human beings in their depravity. Even as Christians, we struggle with our motives and the manner in which we think. How many times have we had to make an important decision when we seek God with our whole heart to make the right decision? We come to making a choice only to find out later, days, months or a year later that it really was not the best decision. The Bible says that our heart is deceitful. Sometimes we don’t know our own hearts and so, due to our sin, we are deceiving ourselves. This is our experience and thus we have no pattern in our minds and culture where this is not practiced. By faith we have to accept that God is not bound in any way by this characteristic. God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem (Judges 9:23), on Saul (1 Samuel 16:14-16), and a deceiving spirit in the false prophets (1 Kings 22:23). In every case we find God using the evil spirit for his own purposes which was to help Israel in some way.

Do we have any analogy that can describe the works of the evil spirits? Pit Bulls. These are dogs that can attack for no reason. They can be wicked dogs. If you have seen pit bulls up close, you can see they have jaws that are made of iron. When they latch on to you, you literally cannot physically open the jaw of a pit bull dog. He will shake you until your body rips apart. They are absolutely vicious animals. One person noted that there was an indentation in the chain linked fence by the path. As he walked by the pit bull charged out of

53 Thomas p. 17

the dog house and banged into the fence. Apparently this was a regular occurrence. The only thing that protected people from the dog was the fence. This was a dog that was absolutely ready to kill.54 If that fence wasn’t providing protection there would be some dead people. Here is my analogy. That pit bull is like an evil spirit and what holds that evil spirit back is God. Anytime he wishes he may take away the fenceopen the gate. He doesn’t have to make evil happen. He simply, for his purposes, whether it is for judgment, discipline or whatever the case may be, allows it to happen by his absolute sovereign choice. That is how I understand an evil spirit from the Lord.55

We must come to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament. We must believe that he is present at creation and has all the characteristics of God. One teaching that we have is that the Holy Spirit does not inhabit all of God’s people but rather is restricted to certain chosen individuals. Finally we have the conundrum of God using evil. Human have limited abilities and understanding of God’s character. God and evil cannot mix yet we are told plainly that God uses evil for his own purposes.

Questions for Lesson Two

1. What is meant by Robinson’s quote that begins with, “Robinson maintains, No primary Christian doctrine has been left so undeveloped dogmatically…?”2. How does Pink describe the importance of the Holy Spirit? 3. How does Thomas describe the uniqueness of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit? 4. What are Grudem’s 5 points about the Holy Spirit’s work? 5. Besides Genesis 1:2 where do we find proof that the Holy Spirit participated in the creation? 6. What is Walvoord’s 5 point summary about creation? 7. How do we know that Isaiah teaches us the Holy Spirit’s sustaining power of creation?

54 Not every pit bull is this way. However there are some horrific stories where people have been attacked by them. When attacking these dogs have a ferociousness that is superseded by few species of other dogs. 55 Another difficulty that is part of the problem of evil being used by God is the presence of God with evil. It is impossible for light and darkness to coexist. Fire and water can not be present in the same place at the same time. Zugg presents to us an acceptable solution in that, “God’s revelation occurs over time and in history, in and through time and space. This means God’s revelation is never abstract, arbitrary or merely propositional. It is also never complete in our lives or in this world.” See http://mintsespanol.com/english/MAT%2081%20Apologetics p. 78. The penalty of Adam’s sin was death yet God allowed Adam to continue to live. It was the same with Israel who sinned repeatedly. The answer to the problem of evil or the presence of evil with God is the progressive nature of revelation. “The answer to this comes with the death of Jesus as a propitiation for Israel’s sins”(p.83). We are reminded that, “God does not reveal everything at once. This means that we must be careful in evaluating His actions before He has completed His works” (p.78). What we do know is that Scripture tells us that when Jesus comes back all things will become new. Heaven will be a place where evil will not be permitted. The problem of evil will vanish. A helpful idea is when God, through the prophets, tells about a coming judgment and speaks in the past tense. It means that the future is so certain that it is spoken of as if it has already happened. In the same way, while we do not understand how God and evil can be together, the future death and resurrection of Jesus is so sure that we can talk about God and evil in this way. The ultimate purpose for God’s action is for his own glory even though we do not understand them now.

8. How does Ezekiel bring the two ideas of purity and the spirit together? 9. What is the significance of the Hebrew word amar? 10. How do we unravel the problem of God using evil?

Lesson Three -The Holy Spirit as a Person

Lesson Three - The Holy Spirit as a Person

In this lesson the student will:1. Clearly understand the Holy Spirit isworking as a person. 2. Learn how some people discredit the personhood of the Spirit. 3. Be shown the Hebrew grammar points to the personality of the Spirit. 4.

The personality of the Holy Spirit has been denied throughout the ages. It has been pointed out that the noun “spirit” should correctly be seen as an “it” rather than a “he.” Although the Holy Spirit is divine, is he really a person? Humanly speaking these two concepts should not be combined. Let us remember and be assured that we are not talking about human concepts but direct teaching from God.

We have people who maintain that, “Both in Isaiah and in the whole of the Old Testament the personality of the Holy Spirit is completely hidden.” Again we read, “The Spirit’s distinct personhood is completely hidden until John’s Gospel.”56

Walvoord explains, “In a discussion of the Person of the Holy Spirit, few writers will claim any large degree of originality. The revelation of the Scriptures, the theological discussion of the Christian centuries, the many publications on the subject, however brief and limited in their treatment of the subject, have summed a total of theological literature which very few can exceed in a lifetime of study.”57 While we have limited knowledge of who and how the Holy Spirit works, we will never come to the end of our study of the Holy Spirit. At the same time we must have an accurate understanding of the information we have.

The New Testament’sTestament is very clear in its teaching of teaching of view of the Holy Spirit is clearly personal.as a person. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is not something but someone who will come (John chapters 13-16). The difficulty is that we are seeking information as the Old Testament presents it. Boice says, “In the Old Testament there is very little in the way of a clear presentation of the personal distinctness of the second person of the Trinity and even less of the personal distinctness of the Spirit of God.” 58 Both Boice and Walvoord admit that there is not very much in the Old Testament that tells us about the personality of the Holy Spirit. So when we limit ourselves to the Old Testament we are frustrated by the lack of information and are often tempted to read into the Old Testament what we know from the New Testament which is full of this sort of information.

56 (Levering, 2018, p. 1)Levering, 2018, p. 157 (Walvoord J. F.)Walvoord J. F.58 (Boice J. , 1986, p. 376)Boice J. , 1986, p. 376

Whenever the Holy Spirit is mentioned, the incompatible problem of a spirit and personhood seems to arise. The fact that the Holy Spirit is not given a formal name like we have for Jesus or Jehovah brings its own problems. The Holy Spirit never appears in a personal form in the same way that like Jesus did. The Holy Spirit is pure spirit to which no material can be ascribed. This Spirit is described as holy, set apart and a completely other being and in an absolute sense. As a review let us remember that ruah is the Hebrew word, pneuma is the Greek word and spiritus the Latin word for spirit. None of these words actively indicate the characteristics of a person. The phrases “Spirit of God” and “Holy Spirit” do not suggest personality by themselves. So it is not surprising to find out that the personhood of the Holy Spirit is called into question. First let us look at some false views and ideas. Unless we have the correct understanding of who the Holy Spirit is we cannot have the right thoughts about him and his work. It can be confusing if we define “personhood” in the same sense as we describe human beings with physical properties. While we speak of the Holy Spirit as a person we must also remember that the Scriptures define him as being a Spirit. If we do not comprehend the being of the Holy Spirit, we cannot give him the proper homage, love, confidence and submission. Church history has shown us that there has been a denial of the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Cho writes, “In the early church era, Arius denied the full deity of the Holy Spirit. Sabellius denied that the Holy Spirit is a diving person distinct from the Father and the Son, although admitting the deity of the Holy Spirit. Today, Mormons present the spirit as a divine being separate, not distinct, from the Father and the Son in the Trinity.59 Jehovah’s Witnesses see the Holy Spirit as a powerful force, not a person, and do not accept His full deity.”60

There are those people who have misinterpreted Scripture to make their point of the non-personality of the Spirit. Acts 2:18 says, “I will pour forth of my Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” Verse 33 uses the same description of pouring forth. The argument states that you cannot describe a person as a liquid. This kind of interpretation grossly misunderstands that Luke is not speaking literally but figuratively. It is impossible for the Holy Spirit to be materially poured out since he is spirit. Pink reminds us that the Holy

59 (Bowman) According to the LDS Church, all heavenly spirits other than the Father and his celestial wife (our “heavenly mother”), including Jesus, are their spirit sons and daughters. This doctrinal view has led some Mormons naturally to the conclusion that the Holy Ghost is another of God’s spirit sons. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the Holy Ghost is a spirit man, a spirit son of God the Father” ( Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 6:249). In other words, according to some Mormons, the Holy Ghost is one of our spirit brothers in heaven—one who somehow became part of the Godhead60 (Cho, God the Holy Spirit ~ His Deity and Personhood)Cho, God the Holy Spirit ~ His Deity and Personhood

Spirit is God and that the name of Jehovah is applied to the Holy Spirit, has the characteristics of God, and accomplishes work that only God can do. 61

Walvoord says, “The very character of His works makes it impossible to interpret the Scriptures properly without assuming His personality.”62 The Nicene Creed says. “And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets.” 63 The teaching that the Holy Spirit “proceeds” and “speaks” indicates personhood. Communication by words that are understood must involve people. Hodge agrees when writing about spiration he says, “Spiration may be defined as that eternal and necessary act of the first and second persons in the Trinity whereby the, within the divine Being, become the ground of the personal subsistence of the Holy Spirit, and put the third person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation or change.”64 Both Hodge and Walvoord are saying that what we believe about the personhood of God the Father and God the Son must be applied to the Holy Spirit. Since this is true we must logically come to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is a person.

Briefly I must digress here to bring a New Testament passage that helps us in this matter of understanding the personhood of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians says, “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (2:11). For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God” (2:10, 11). This verse teaches us that the Spirit has the closest possible relationship with the Father. What personal characteristics are attributed to the Father would also be ascribed to the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” The context of this verse is speaking about when the veil was removed from Moses the people would see the glory of God. In the same way the Holy Spirit works in us today. It is true that this verse does not describe the personhood of the Holy Spirit. In this passage we have the Spirit called “The Spirit of the Lord” identifying them as one and the same. The passage speaks of searching, thinking and knowing all of which are characteristics of personhood. We also have other New Testament passages describing the work of the Holy

61 Pink pp.14, 1562 (Walvoord p. 6)Walvoord p. 663 (Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics)Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics64 Hodge says that spiration has to do with the procession of the Holy Spirit. Much of what was said about the Son applies to the Holy Spirit and need not be repeated.p.97

Spirit as teaching, proclaiming, testifying and bearing witness. Again all of these activities point towards the actions of a person.

There have been some rather unique interpretations of who the Holy Spirit is and what he does. We have to be wise and discerning in what we do accept. I was told a story about a missionary who was in the States on furlough. He was attending a meeting on Wednesday night. A man got up and started to talk in tongues. It was in a language that neither the man speaking nor the people in the church knew but the missionary, who was there, did understand because it was the language of the people he was working with. As the man continued speaking the missionary was horrified because the tongue speaker was cursing God. The people in the church thought he was doing something spiritual. Immediately the missionary commanded the man to stop in the name of Jesus and the speaking stopped. Is this event true? Well I suppose it could be but we need to be very careful in what we accept and believe. Obviously this kind of activity is not an everyday occurrence. If true, this event was directly from Satan, we should not be surprised because Satan is called an Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 12:14). Satan has the ability to pose as the real thing. The reason I give this illustration is that these kinds of stories abound. People are sincere in their describing of events. It is in our nature to want to accept the unusual or spectacular, especially in the spiritual realm. In our cartoons we picture Satan as a man dressed up in red with a pitch fork and horns and we laugh at that because we do not take him seriously. Satan is a lot more subtle than just being the source of our jokes. In our day and age, perhaps we need to look for suave people in business suits or that slick talking person with a get rich quick scheme. 65 We need to be careful in what we accept as true in the spiritual realm.

Some people have equated our conscience as being the same as the Holy Spirit. We have been taught that our conscience is that inner voice that guides us in making the right decisions. Carpenter says, “The number one way that the born again man receives direction is by the inner witness. What is the inner witness? The conscience is the voice of the reborn human spirit.” Later on he says, “The conscience of a believer is the conduit by which that leadership comes.”66 In this article it would be very easy to identity the conscience as the same as the Holy Spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit is the one who leads us and guides us. I would not insist that Carpenter is equating the two but the idea could easily be drawn from these words. Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah is not talking about a literal voice that always directs people in making decisions but rather God who is directing. If the Holy Spirit wants to use an audible voice he can but in our society (USA) it is not essential 65 In these days it is common to get e-mails saying the person has inherited several million dollars and they want to share it with you. 66 (Carpenter p. 1)Carpenter p. 1

because we have the Bible. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the Holy Spirit and a person’s conscience. However when a person becomes a Christian the whole person is changed including the conscience which is influenced by the Holy Spirit. We must be very careful that our conscience not violate Scripture. If it does then we must know and accept that our conscience is wrong. It is easy to write this but very difficult to act upon because our conscience tells us some things that we want to do very much.

Often we will hear or read of the Holy Spirit as being an impersonal force. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force like we have described in the famous film series “Star Wars.” The Holy Spirit is referred to as a “He.” The Holy Spirit is a person and not an “it .” Dewar says, “Until it [our own misunderstanding) has been conquered, we cannot expect to succeed in building up a satisfactory Christian theology of the Holy Spirit.” 67 68 This means that we must be clear on understanding who the Holy Spirit is.

Are there characteristics of personhood attributed to the Holy Spirit? Does the Old Testament indicate that the Holy Spirit is a person? There are many signals that point to the personality of the Holy Spirit such as the grammar and the treatment of the Holy Spirit as a person. Exodus 31 is part of the speech of God to Moses giving a description of how the tabernacle was to be made. Verses two and three say, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship.” We need to see that Bezalel was given the Holy Spirit to guide him in his work. The gifts he was given were wisdom, understanding and knowledge. The fact that these gifts were given to him by the Holy Spirit indicates that the Holy Spirit had these abilities before he gave them to Bezalel. These abilities and gifts are characteristics of a person.

The prophet Isaiah says, “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (11:2). The Spirit is closely associated with the “spirit” of wisdom, understanding, counsel and strength. All of these abilities point to personality.69 Zechariah 12:10 adds the additional personal features of grace and supplication. "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication.”

67 Dewar, 1959, p. iii68 Dewar, 1959, p. iii69 I am aware that there is a difference of opinion on whether the second use of the word “spirit” should be capitalized. I agree with the New International Version (NIV), which capitalizes “spirit” in all instances, because it is directly associated with “The Spirit of the Lord.” I also understand that other translations are trying to make a differentiation between the person of the Holy Spirit and the abilities that he is giving to people.

When we understand the overall information about the Holy Spirit we must come to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is a person. He is more than an impersonal force and our conscience. The Spirit gives people personal abilities such as wisdom, understanding and grace. Briefly let us look at the grammar in some of the Old Testament passages.

Psalm 51:11 is one of those places where we are never in doubt that the Holy Spirit is spoken about. “Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” The Hebrew word “Holy” is in the second person masculine form and is an adjective that describes “Spirit.” Grammatically the masculine form makes reference to the Holy Spirit who is a person. This is more implicit than explicit.

Isaiah is more explicit. “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, he fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10). The “he” is referring to the Holy Spirit. It is third person singular, masculine. What do we learn from this? Where it says “He turned Himself” refers directly to the Holy Spirit. Not only did the Holy Spirit fight against Israel but the pronoun “he” is used of him.70

The prophet Micah has an interesting reference to the Spirit. “Is it being said, O house of Jacob: 'Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these His doings?' Do not my words do good to the one walking uprightly” (2:7)?71 In order to understand the question, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?” we need to appreciate the context. Micah had been called by God to announce God’s judgment on Israel. Micah was to say at least two things. The first is found in verse four which says, “On that day they will take up against you a taunt and utter a bitter lamentation and say, 'We are completely destroyed! He exchanges the portion of my people; How He removes it from me! To the apostate He apportions our fields.” There will be complete destruction. The second is found in verse five which says, “Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line for you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.”72 The destruction will be so complete that there will be no one left to inherit the land at a later date. These were ominous words and predictably the people did not like it. They told Micah not to say such things (vv.6, 7). Thus we come to verse seven and the questions, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these His doings?” The understanding is that God would not do such things to us. He is a God of grace. The people were contradicting what God said through his prophets. They were saying surely the Spirit would not work in this way! He would not discipline is such a manner. The truth of the matter is that God does work this way and those opposing Micah were doing the work of the devil. What is the point of dealing with this

70 I will make one more observations. In light of some churches that see the Holy Spirit as female we must insist that the Bible teaches the Holy Spirit as being the male gender. 71 The NIV and ESV omit the word “spirit.”72 Literally, “You shall have none in the assembly of the Lord to divide the land by lot.”

passage in this way? It is simply the fact that it takes a personal spirit to work in these ways. These are the actions of a personality not just something that is neutral.

Another passage is Ezekiel 2: 2, 3 which says, ““As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. Then He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.”73 The underlined parts are the important things to understand where the Spirit is referred to as male. It seems that the personhood of the Holy Spirit is assumed throughout the Old Testament. If we were to ask the people or prophets of the Old Testament, “Is the Holy Spirit a person?” they would most likely look at us in surprise with the look of, “why would you even ask that question? Of course he is a person.” Some people reading this may object to pointing out such “trivial” points of grammar. What difference does this make? It makes a big difference especially if we believe in the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture. If we believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible, there is no room for argument.74 There are many other places in the Bible where the writers deliberately use certain tenses or words when other choices are available to them.

In some ways, in the earlier books of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit could be depicted as just energy within a person. However, consistently the Old Testament shows us that the Holy Spirit is more than just energy. We come back to Isaiah where we find that the Spirit can be grieved. This characteristic brings a new personal idea of grief (Isaiah 63:10). The Holy Spirit is mentioned by name, it is associated with the masculine form. In most languages there are certain acceptable meanings of words. When a person is asked why a word means certain things or understood a certain way, he is told, “That is just the way it is.” If the person is pressed to give an answer there is no explanation, it is simply accepted. It would seem that in the Jewish culture the masculinity of the Holy Spirit was accepted, perhaps subconsciously, as a male person. There is no reason why we should think otherwise. It was a patriarchal system. This kind of system has come to have a negative meaning in our day. However if people would follow this system in a godly way, it would be the best way mankind could organize themselves. Genesis 6:1-3 reads this way, “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." For a period of time,

73 Compare 2 Samuel 23: 2,3, 3 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me.” with And Acts 1:68 where Peter attributes the words of David to the Holy Spirit. 74 The conservative or traditional view is described as verbal and plenary inspiration of the original manuscripts. This means that each word, not just concepts, was meaningfully chosen under the superintendence of God.

we do not know how long, God had patience with the wickedness of the human race. There came a point when God said I have had enough. We are told that the Spirit has the human traits of struggle and of patience. In this case it was limited patience for after a period of time God was fed up with the sinfulness of man and had to punish sinful humanity. Having just said that the Holy Spirit has human traits, it may sound like I am saying that the Holy Spirit is made in the likeness of human beings. Scriptures are plain in its teaching that human beings are made in the image of God. Since the Holy Spirit is God then we have to understand that our full understanding of the Holy Spirit is quite limited. The Bible is describing the Holy Spirit in terms that we can grasp and understand.

The Nicene Creed says, “And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.”75 It is clear from this statement that the Holy Spirit has the characteristics of a person. Walvoord says, “The very character of His works makes it impossible to interpret the Scriptures properly without assuming His personality.”76 The creed speaks of the Holy Spirit proceeding and speaking both which involve personality.

Scripture is clear in that the Holy Spirit was involved with the work of creation (Genesis 1:2), empowering the prophet (Zechariah 4:6), and the restraining of sin (Genesis 6:3: Isaiah 59: 19). A mere influence does not have the ability to work, teach or guide. While it is easy to find such descriptions of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, it is rarer to find in the Old Testament.

In conclusion to the topic of the personhood of the Holy Spirit we can accept Wolvoord’s summary.77 His article makes the following plain statements.1. “Without denial of the one Essence of the Godhead, the personality of the Holy Spirit must be affirmed and is subject to proof unassailable by any who accept the Scriptures as authoritative.” 2. “The Holy Spirit possesses the essential of mind or intelligence.” “The Scriptures explicitly affirm that the Holy Spirit exercises a moral and sovereign will comparable to that of the other Persons of the Trinity.” “On the human level, possession of life is taken as proof of possession of personality.” 3. “The personality of the Holy Spirit affirmed by the use of personal pronouns in relation to him.” 4. The personality of the Holy Spirit affirmed by the fact that he is regarded as a person by those who place faith in him.”

75 CRTA Historical Church Documents, Creeds76 (Walvoord J. F., 1954, p. p. 6)Walvoord J. F., 1954, p. 677 Ibid. p. 6Walvoord J.F.

If we accept the authority of the Bible then the only acceptable positionacceptable position is to believe in the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Hodge says, “The personality of the Spirit has been the faith of the Church from the beginning.”78 Since we believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Bible we must also accept exactly what the authors have written which includes the grammatical form in which they have been written.

Questions for Lesson Three

1. Why is it important for us to understand the Holy Spirit as a person?2. In our day what is our difficulty of finding information in the Old Testament regarding the Holy Spirit as a person? (Any of the following can be correct)3. How has the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, in church history and in our present day, been taught erroneously?4. Why do we have to be careful in what we hear taught about the Holy Spirit?5. What is one way that we know what our conscience is telling us is not the Holy Spirit?6. How does Exodus imply the person of the Holy Spirit?7. What has been the misinterpretation of Acts 2:18?8. What was the problem people had with Micah’s words?9. How do know about the personality of the Holy Spirit from Ezekiel 2?10. Name two of the four conclusions that Walvoord makes.

78 (Hodge, 1970, p. 522)Hodge, 1970, p. 522

Lesson Four- Deity of the Holy Spirit

In this lesson the student will:

1. Read of the divinity of the Holy Spirit21. Understand the importance of the Bible as a whole to understand the divinity of the Holy spirit. this teaching 32. Appreciate that the “Spirit of the Lord” and “The Spirit of God” are the same. 43. Study distinct proofs the deity of the Spirit.

In the preceding chapter we have seen clearly that the Holy Spirit is a Person. But what sort of a Person is he? Is he a finite person or an infinite person? Is he God? Some people deny the deity of the Holy Spirit. This chapter will show conclusively that the Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit is God. Indeed both the personhood and the deity of the Holy Spirit are necessary for the doctrine of inspiration of scripture.

The question remains, did the Old Testament writers understand the deity of the Holy Spirit? While there is no as clear statement in the Old Testament regarding the deity of the Holy Spirit as we have in the New Testament, we have no doubt that the Old Testament authors understood that the Holy Spirit is God. The writers make the assumptions that the deity of the Holy Spirit is an accepted truth.

Sometimes a teaching is not clear by reading one verse. These difficulties can be overcome when other passages are brought to bear bringing us to the hermeneutical principle of scripture interprets scripture. The Psalms and Isaiah help us when we bring two passages together. Psalm 78:17, 18 says, “Yet they still continued to sin against Him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert. And in their heart they put God to the test by asking food according to their desire.” Added to this we have Isaiah saying, “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them” (63:10).

When we compare Psalm 78 and Isaiah we learn that Isaiah identifies God (Most High) as the Holy Spirit by using the “Most High” and “Holy Spirit” interchangeably. We know that Isaiah is thinking of the same time frame as the psalmist because he speaks of, “Carried them all the days of old.” (v.9), and, “Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses” (v.11, 12)[?] We find Isaiah, who was a prophet in the Old Testament identifying the Holy Spirit as God. Thus we have the sinning against God and rebelling against the Holy Spirit as being the same thing.

We read of this concept multiple times when we see the Old Testament use of the phrase “Spirit of God” or “Spirit of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:1). “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1). This verse is important for three reasons. First, the Spirit is associated with God which

assumes his deity. From the very beginning of Scriptures we have the understanding of God as a person. God spoke the universe into existence. God spoke with Adam and Eve. It cannot be overlooked that God is referred to as “He” and not an “it.” God speaking and being referred to with personal pronouns strongly indicates an underlying assumption that God is a person. In the phrases, “Spirit of God” and “Spirit of the Lord” we have the preposition “of.” The word “of” has the meaning of “Possession or belonging to.” Anything that is so closely related to deity must be deity himself. Second, Isaiah is speaking God’s words to people which teaches the inspiration of Scripture. Third, Isaiah is equating the titles “Lord” and “God” attributing deity to the Holy Spirit. There is no other true way to understand this meaning,

The Spirit of God is often written as parallel to God himself. Psalm 51:11 says, “Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” “Your presence” and “Your Holy Spirit” are written synonymously. 79 Psalm 104: 29-30 includes more information and says, “You hide your face, they are dismayed; you take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.”

Another valid translation of “fact” is presence.”80The Hebrew word פנה paneh can mean either face or presence. If the face of a person is present it would naturally indicate that the person himself was there. These words associate creation and renewal with the Spirit with the presence of God.

Many years later during the period of restoration after the Exile the prophet Haggai says, “'But now take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, 'take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts. As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear” (2: 4, 5)! God is reminding Israel that he will remain faithful to his promises made many years before. Because of this, both Joshua and Zerubbabel must take courage. Again we find, “My Spirit” is parallel with “I am with you.” In fact we might conclude that the Spirit is God’s mode of action. God’s word to Zerubbabel was, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zechariah 2:4). It was the Spirit who was going to give Zerubbabel the ability to work.

The phrase “Spirit of God” is used many times. We find him at creation (Genesis 1:2), 81

energizes Ezekiel and Elijah (Ezekiel 2:2; 1 Kings 18:12), endows Bezalel with special artistic gifts (Exodus 35:31), and gives special power to the prophet Micah (3:8). We read of the Spirit’s enabling Othniel and Samson to have military power (Judges 6:34; 13:25) and

79 Psalm 139:780 (Gesenius, 1910, p. 816)Gesenius, 1910, p. 81681 There are some who feel that the Holy Spirit was also present when the water receded after the flood (Genesis 8:1). Literally the verse reads “And God made a spirit to pass over the earth.” The word used is ruah. The debate is should we understand that God used the Holy Spirit in this fashion? The context indicates a literal wind that evaporated the water at a supernatural rate.

authorizing Joshua for leadership (Deuteronomy 34:9). Finally there seems to be a special relationship between the Spirit and the kings. When Saul was anointed king, Samuel says the Spirit of God will come upon him (1 Samuel 10:10). Some of these verses do not have the exact phrase Spirit of God or of the Lord but the Spirit of God is understood working in this situation.

When we undertake the study of the deity of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, some main ideas are seen quite quickly. Torrey says there are, “Five distinct and decisive lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit.”82 The challenge is whether we can find all of these teachings in the Old Testament. The difficulty in interpretation is that in some cases we must infer by the way the authors write and try to come as close as we can, although imperfectly, to their understanding. In some examples we will have to allude to some New Testament sources.

A. Divine attributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.

First, we understand that the Holy Spirit is eternal. The word eternal means forever with no beginning or ending. The difficulty is that the Old Testament does not refer to the eternal Spirit. Hebrews is the only place in the Bible where the word eternal is directly associated with the Holy Spirit. The verse says, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14)? While this is a New Testament reference, there are indications that the writers of the Old Testament assumed the eternity of the Spirit. The prophets, who claimed that they were speaking through the power of the Holy Spirit, referred to the work of the Holy Spirit many years before their time.

Nehemiah who lived around 450 B.C refers to the work of the Holy Spirit 1,000 years in the past. Nehemiah 9:20 says, “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them, your manna you did not withhold from their mouth, and you gave them water for their thirst.” It needs to be understood that Nehemiah was referring the Spirit who worked during the Sinai experience and also during his life time. Anyone present this long of a time would have to be considered an eternal deity.83 Surely the eternality of the Holy Spirit was presumed by Nehemiah for no human person, from the time of Adam and Noah, can live that long. We have established that the Holy Spirit is God. God has no beginning or end therefore the same attribute must be applied to the Holy Spirit. We need to assume that the Spirit referred to in Hebrews is the same Spirit that worked the Old Testament. There is no indication that we should understand it otherwise.

Second, omnipresence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Omnipresence means everywhere present at the same time. Psalm 139 says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the

82 (Torrey, 2018, pp. 16-22)Torrey, 2018, pp. 16-22 I am using four categories instead of five. 83 I am sure someone will bring out the fact that such men as Methuselah lived 969 years and Adam 930 years. We must take into consideration that God declared man’s life to be shortened to 120 years (Genesis 6:3).

sea, even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me” (vv.7-10). The psalmist is making the point that no matter where he goes the Spirit is there. An example of a futile attempt to escape the presence of the Holy Spirit was the prophet Jonah. Jonah was called by God to speak to the people of Nineveh. The prophet thought he could run away but God would not let him. Jonah eventually went to Nineveh and the city repented of their sin.

Perhaps some people think that if a person is transported to another place at the speed of light or faster he could outdistance the Holy Spirit. This idea grossly misunderstands the idea of omnipresence. It is not a matter of speed. The Holy Spirit already is everywhere including billions of light years away and in places that we will never know about.

Third, omniscience, meaning all-knowing, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in several passages. The prophet Isaiah clearly asserts the Holy Spirit’s omniscience. “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing” (40: 13-15). The clear understanding is that the Holy Spirit knows everything. No one can teach him anything new. This is an ability possessed by God only. 84,85

Fourth, Omnipotence, meaning all-powerful, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.86 We assume that the one with all power and authority, that is omnipotent, is speaking about God who is creating and sustaining the heavens and earth (Genesis 1: 1, 2). It is inconceivable to think that anyone who can speak things into existence is any less than God. Job confirms the Spirit’s presence at creation when he says, “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life” (33:4). And again “By his Spirit (capitalization mine) he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent” (26:13)(KJV).87 I do not think that Job is thinking of two kinds of spirit’s in these verses.

Nehemiah, who lived long after the Israelite’s 40 years of wandering in the desert said, “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, 84 1 Corinthians 2:10, 11 reads, "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” Paul is telling us that the Holy Spirit knows everything that God knows85 The apostle John says, "The Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you, ” “ He will guide you into all the truth… He will not speak on His own… and He will disclose to you what is to come” (14:26; 16:13). Obviously these are abilities that only God is capable of.86 Luke 1:35 says, “The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” The “Spirit” and the “power” are in parallel thought and thus need to be equated. The power of the Most High is no other than God himself. This means that the Holy Spirit has the same power God the Father has.87 The KJV uses the word spirit and does not capitalize it. It is true that God spoke creation into existence and thus could mean breath. However the Bible is consistent in attributing the work of creation to the Holy Spirit, it רוחwould seem proper to think of the Holy Spirit in this passage.

And You gave them water for their thirst” (9:20). The prophet acknowledges that the Holy Spirit fed and provided water for the Israelites during this time. This covered a period of a long time for perhaps up to one million or more people. Nehemiah speaks of instruction and providing food and water. Nothing less than an omnipotent God had the ability to perform this kind of work.88

B. The Holy Spirit is capable of accomplishing thing that only God can do.

The impartation of life is a Divine work and this is ascribed in the Scriptures to the Holy Spirit, The first is the work of creation. We have already talked about the power of the Holy Spirit at creation but a different line of reasoning is the creation itself. The first reference is found in Genesis 1:2 where we read, “And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Some people may think this is an obscure reference but the fact that the Holy Spirit was involved with the act of creation is made clear when we read of Job’s words that we have mentioned above. The psalmist asserts, “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the ground” (104:30). Surely the psalmist is thinking of the Spirit’s power of creation and its continual sustaining to his own day.89

The first idea is the presence of the Holy Spirit at creation. The second is the fact that the Holy Spirit is involved with the creation of man, Genesis 2:7 refers to the breath of God. Obviously in this context breath is what makes the difference between a dead and living Adam. It is the breath of God, who imparts life to man. The exact words are, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The words “breath” and “spirit” are so closely related that it is hard to think that the Holy Spirit was not involved at all. How does this work out in our understanding of this passage. While the primary meaning in this verse must mean the life essence of Adam thus making him a living being, we must also understand that the Holy Spirit was also behind this creation.

The third divine work of the Holy Spirit is the authorship of divine prophecies. David said, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23: 2, 3). It is clear that David knew that he was speaking with the power of the Holy Spirit.90 Inherently it is to be understood that, whenever the prophets said, “Thus says the Lord” or “The word of the Lord came to me”, the Holy Spirit is behind these words. So we see that the three distinctly Divine works of creation, the impartation of life, and prophecy are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.88 Luke 1:35; Romans 1:4 Nothing less than an all-powerful God could effect a virgin birth and resurrect a dead person. 89John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Paul confirms this ability in Romans 8:11 which says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” 90 2 Peter 1:21 says, “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

C. The name Jehovah is applied to the Holy Spirit.

This third category is very similar to what Torrey says, “It is impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite mind being with that of the Deity.”91 92

It is imperative that we understand that the name “Yahweh is reserved for God alone. Among many references the following two passages will suffice. 2Samuel says, "For this reason you are great, O Lord [Yahweh] GOD; for there is none like you, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” (7:22). Jeremiah affirms this same teaching saying, “There is none like You, O LORD; you are great, and great is your name in might” (10:6). Two things must be understood. The first is that there is no other God like the God of the Bible. The second is that this God is called Jehovah or “Yahweh” and no one else can be given that name.

Here comes the amazing part. The Holy Spirit is equated with God. This is shown when God and the Holy Spirit are used interchangeably in the Bible. Let’s take a look at Psalm 78 and Isaiah 63. Psalm 78:17, 18 says, “Yet they still continued to sin against Him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert. And in their heart they put God to the test by asking food according to their desire.” The context is that the Jews sinned against God in the desert. When we compare Psalm 78 and Isaiah we learn that Isaiah identifies God (Most High) to the Holy Spirit by using the “Most High” and “Holy Spirit” interchangeably. We know that Isaiah is thinking of the same time frame because he speaks of, “Carried them all the days of old.” (v.9), and, “Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses” (v.11, 12). The connection here is the comment about the Jews in the desert and the days of old during the time of Moses. In this connection we find Isaiah, who was a prophet in the Old Testament, identifying the Holy Spirit as God.

An illustration is found in Isaiah which says, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, [Jehovah] saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me! He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed" (6:8-10). We need to explain some terminology. Verse eight says, “The voice of the Lord.” Whenever the word Lord is all capitalized it stands for Yahweh for that is what is meant in the Hebrew text. The name JehovYahweh was strictly reserved for God. Thus it was the voice of Jehovah Yehweh that was heard. How do we 91 Torrey, Gutenberg.org, p. 20 92 Torrey, Gutenberg.org, p. 20

understand these verses? The Spirit is not overtly referred to in this passage. At the same time we cannot escape the fact that the Spirit was behind the speeches of the prophets and the prophets knew it. Here is one place that we cannot and must not move ahead without some help. The help we seek is from the New Testament.

Paul refers to this passage in the book of Acts. He specifically names the Holy Spirit as the speaker. The passage in Acts reads as follows, “And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, 'go to this people and say, "you will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them. Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen" (28:25-28).93 The Apostle Paul understands that is was Jehovah who spoke to Isaiah. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he says, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers.” So we see that what is distinctly ascribed to Jehovah in the Old Testament is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the New94 which means the Holy Spirit is identified with Jehovah. We must avoid the error of thinking that the Spirit and Yahwehare the same. They are one God, one deity, in three different persons.

Another illustration is found when we compare Exodus 16:7 and Hebrews 3: 7-9. Exodus says, “And in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?" In this text we find clearly that the grumblings of Israel were against Jehovah. Hebrews says, “ Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for forty years.” Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the author of Hebrews is equating the Holy Spirit to Jehovah of the Old Testament. The criticisms which Moses heard are murmurings against Jehovah. In Hebrews we are told that these complaints were against the Holy Spirit. Clearly the Holy Spirit has the position of deity.95

In 2 Samuel 23: 2, 3 we read David saying, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me” (Spirit of Jehovah). We have just identified that the Holy Spirit is God, thus David knew that he was inspired by God to speak. Compare this verse with Acts 1:68 which says, “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.” David recognizes that he spoke through the power of the Spirit. Peter interprets this Spirit as being the Holy Spirit.

93 John 12:39-41 refers to this same passage. It was a time when the people did not believe in Jesus. John comments that it was when Isaiah saw God’s (Jehovah’s) glory. 94 This passage mentions God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus. It would be wrong to view these three as being the same person. 95 Cf. Psalm 95: 6-11

The point has been clearly made. Not only is the Holy Spirit God, but the underlying concept in the Old Testament is the equality of the Holy Spirit and deity. The prophets consistently applied the name Jehovah and God to the Holy Spirit.96 One of the things that we find out in this study is that the same Holy Spirit, who is fully God, works in different ways in the Old and New Testaments.

D. Torrey says, “The name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way it would be impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite being with that of the Deity.” He goes on and uses 1 Corinthians 12 to explain the various ministries of the Spirit. In this passage we have “The same Lord” and “the same Spirit” used interchangeably. I think we have the same idea with Belzalel whom we have mentioned before. Here we find God, and the Lord and the Spirit associated together in a relation of equality that would be shocking to contemplate if the Spirit were a finite being. When we take in consideration all that the Bible says about the Holy Spirit there can be no doubt that he is God.

While this is not an Old Testament teaching we have Paul’s clear statement saying, “No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit is directly associated with our faith. Paul also asserts that our faith in Jesus is the same faith as Abraham’s (Galatians 3:7). No entity could span such a number of years unless it was eternal. We have the Confession of Faith which says, “The Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.”9798 We have good precedent with our church fathers declaring the eternality of the Holy Spirit.

The discussion of the eternality of the Spirit brings an interesting question. Did the Old Testament people understand this? We have Nehemiah’s speaking of the Spirit working over a long period of and we have the Hebrew understanding that the Holy Spirit was deity. While not stated specifically, it would seem that there is an underlying belief in the eternal Spirit. This could be one of the main differences in what we are taught about the Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. This idea may well point us to the same Spirit involved in different works in time and history.

King David clearly understood that the Holy Spirit was speaking prophecy through him, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23: 2, 3). Job says, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (33:4). The parallelism teaches that the phrases “God has made me” and “gives 96 The most clear passage about the deity of the Holy Spirit is not in the Old Testament. It is found in Acts 5:1-4. Peter equates the Holy Spirit with God. Peter also assumes the personality of the Spirit because you can’t lie to animals or trees. Another passage is 1 Corinthians 3:16 where Paul uses “Temple of God” and “Temple of the Holy Spirit in the same way. Compare 2 Corinthians 13:14 where Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are all put on the same level. 97 Williamson, 1964, p. 26

98 Williamson, 1964, p. 26

me life” are similar ideas and “The breath of the Almighty” and “The Spirit of God” are the same. Both David and Job understood that the Holy Spirit was at work in their lifetimes and before their time.

Finally we read in Deuteronomy 32:12, "The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him.” Isaiah 63:14 speaks about the same people at the same time saying, “The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.” Moses says the Lord guided Israel and Isaiah referring to the same people says the Spirit gave them rest.

To sum it all up, by the ascription of all the distinctively Divine attributes, and several distinctly Divine works, by referring statements which in the Old Testament clearly name Jehovah, the Lord, or God as their subject to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, by coupling the name of the Holy Spirit with that of God in a way that would be impossible to couple that of any finite being with that of Deity, by plainly calling the Holy Spirit God, in all these unmistakable ways, God in His own Word distinctly proclaims that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person.

R.A Torrey says, “The conception of the Holy Spirit as a Divine influence or power that we are somehow to get hold of and use, leads to self-exaltation and self-sufficiency. One who so thinks of the Holy Spirit and who at the same time imagines that he has received the Holy Spirit will almost inevitably be full of spiritual pride and strut about as if he belonged to some superior order of Christians. One frequently hears such persons say, “I am a Holy Ghost man,” or “I am a Holy Ghost woman.” But if we once grasp the thought that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person of infinite majesty, glory and holiness and power, who in marvelous condescension has come into our hearts to make His abode there and take possession of our lives and make use of them, it will put us in the dust and keep us in the dust. I can think of no thought more humbling or more overwhelming than the thought that a person of Divine majesty and glory dwells in my heart and is ready to use even me.”99

Teachers have tried to make a distinction between the “Spirit of the Lord” and the “Spirit of God” but these two phrases are quite interchangeable. Those people who doubt the truth of the divinity of the Holy Spirit have only to read those passages that attribute the Holy Spirit with works and characteristics of God.

Questions for Lesson Four1. What is the importance of understanding the Holy Spirit as both a person and God?2. What hermeneutical principle must be thought of constantly when studying the Holy Spirit?3. How does the language of the Bible show the close relationship of God and the Holy Spirit?

99 (Torrey, Gutenberg.org, 2018, p. 3)Torrey, Gutenberg.org, 2018, p. 3

4. How do we know that Scripture does not teach the Holy Spirit as an it?5. What are four lines of proof of the deity of the Holy Spirit?6. How do we know that the Holy Spirit was present all during the Old Testament?7. What is the importance of understanding the name Jehovah?8. What is the Apostle Paul’s view of Isaiah’s relationship with the Holy Spirit?9. Did the Old Testament writers know that they were being used by the Holy Spirit to write? Give an example. 10. Explain this quote of Torrey? “The name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way it would be impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite being with that of the Deity.”Lesson

Lesson Five - Inspiration- Inspiration of Scripture in the Old Testament.

In this lesson the student will:1. Know that all the prophets are equally inspired. 2. Understand the meaning of inspiration. 3. Comprehend the tests of a true prophet. 4. Realize that the prophets did not always understand their own message.

Whenever we think of the context of the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit we must include how God revealed his word to us. Chapter three instructed us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Chapter four informed us of the deity of the Holy Spirit. Both of these concepts are crucial in our belief when we come to the inspiration of the Bible. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who speaks divine words. If the Holy Spirit was not a person how could he communicate with us in ways that are valid and understandable? If he was not God then how could we be sure that what we are told is true? The valid question would be, “Is there proof or evidence of inspiration of scripture by the Holy Spirit?” There is abundant information to this question.

The Nicene Creed says, “And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is

worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.”100 This statement affirms that the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets of the Bible. The Westminster Confession of Faith confirms this by saying, “The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.”101 The Westminster standards are uniform in their affirmation that the Holy Spirit is necessarily instrumental in the writing of Scripture. However, the creeds of the church are not our final authority; but the Scriptures are. Before we entertain study on the Inspiration of Scripture by the Holy Spirit let us enquire what the Bible says about the proper tests of inspiration.

Often people get revelation and inspiration mixed up. Revelation is to make something known but inspiration makes sure that the written information is recorded with no mistakes. The Scriptures are both of these concepts woven together. God has revealed himself in three different ways. First through his written word which we have in the Bible,102 second, through Jesus Christ103 who is God incarnate and thirdly through creation 104 which is the work of God and points to a divine creator.105

The question before us is how is this revelation given to us? The revelation given to us is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are not just concerned with the knowledge but the person behind the giving of that knowledge. Thus the person, who is the source of visions, dreams and prophecies, is the Holy Spirit.

We need to differentiate the idea of inspiration due to beauty and what we think about when we speak of the doctrinal understanding regarding the inspiration of Scripture. We are not speaking of something already existing and then infused with an ability to do something like write poetry. Warfield says, “[There] is the constant implication of an influence from without producing in its object movement and effect beyond it native or at least it ordinary powers.”106 Later on Warfield continues, “The Gr.[eek] term, has however, nothing to say of inspiring or of inpiration: it speaks only of a ‘spiring’ or a ‘spiration.’ What it says of Scripture is, not that it is ‘breathed into by God’ or is the Divine ‘inbreathing ’into its human authors, but that it is breathed out by God, ‘God-breathed,’ the product of the creative breath of God.”107 What we are describing is not an entity already present, such as written poetry, into which God infuses divinity but that the very words and thoughts of God himself. It takes away completely the idea that the writers wrote down what they had to say and then God added his divine power to them. We reject the idea that Scriptures are a human product

100 (Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics)Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics101 (Williamson, 1964, p. 20)Williamson, 1964, p. 20102 2 Peter 1: 20, 21103 Hebrews 1:2104 Romans 1:18, 19. These three ways are not in the order of importance. 105 The Westminster Confession of Faith included providence. God not only created the universe but is active in sustaining it. 106 (Warfield B. , 1952, p. 1473)Warfield B. , 1952, p. 1473107 Ibid., p. 1474

endowed by the Spirit giving it new power and qualities. Warfield agrees when he says, “The Biblical writers do not conceive of the Scriptures as a human product breathed into by the Divine Spirit, and thus heightened in its qualities or endowed with new qualities; but as a Divine product produced through the instrumentality of men.”108

The Tests of Prophecy

Before we entertain study on the Inspiration of Scripture by the Holy Spirit let us enquire what the Bible says about the proper tests of inspiration. Perhaps the most well-known passage about the definitions of a true prophet is found in Deuteronomy 18:18-22. This passage says, “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”109

The main ideas from this passage are that a prophet must have certain qualifications. 1. God must be the one who calls him. 2. He must speak only those words that God gives him. 3. If the prophet speaks his own words then he dies. 4. The proof is that his prophecy comes true. 5. We are not to be afraid of a false prophet. Due to social pressure, pride or arrogance, it is amazing how often people disregard these qualifications. The “clergy” are not exempt from this problem. It has been my experience that the leadership of a church often does not know of these qualifications or they do know them but conveniently lay them aside. They are more interested in pleasing the people and being in a prestigious position than applying God’s word to their lives. Under number four there is another concept that involves false hood. If a prophet’s word contradicts God’s word we can know immediately that it is a lie. We do not have to wait for it to come true or not come true. I have often hear a person say, “Let’s see what will happen.” I find myself quite impatient with this line of thinking. If it is false, it is false and nothing will make it true, even time, - a long time.

We often overlook the fifth point, pertaining to a false prophet. This is a huge problem in some parts of the world. We must readily recognize that there are cultures of fear in the world. For example in Africa and India there are many religions that are based on witchcraft and manipulation of the evil spirits. People are told that they are under the constant judgment of their ancestors and the ancestors must be regularly appeased. Because of the Holy Spirit, Christians do not have the same fear as the world. When the work of the Holy Spirit is properly taught, discussed and believed, then there is a new found freedom that is hard to describe.108 (Warfield B. , p. No. 10)Warfield B. , p. No. 10109 Cf. Deuteronomy 13:5

There are some people who claim that the difference of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament is that in the Old Testament the Spirit came “upon” and not “in” a person. We are told that the difference would be like a person who is swimming in water and the same person drinking the water. By insisting that the Spirit come only upon a person we would teach that the Holy Spirit is only external in the life of a person. However Scripture indicates that the Holy Spirit can work in both ways. The Hebrew has two prepositions that refer to the Holy Spirit. One is על ‘al meaning “upon” and the other is ב be meaning “in.”

Many times when the Spirit is referenced with a person “upon” is used. “The Spirit will rest upon him” (Judges 14:6; 1 Samuel 10:10; Ezekiel 3:14). However, Buswell asserts, “In all three of the [following] passages the preposition is “in,” beth, the equivalent of the Greek New Testament word εν” [or en].110111 “A man in whom [is] the Spirit”, “He put his Spirit in him”, and “My Spirit remains in your midst” (Haggai.2:5: Isaiah 63:11: Numbers 27:18). Thus the Hebrew language makes room for the Spirit to reside with a person internally or externally.For a person to be filled with the Spirit does not necessarily mean that that person is a prophet. The word “filled” is used with the relationship between the Holy Spirit and a person. Speaking of Bezalel God says, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God” (Exodus 31:2). The Hebrew מלא (maley) means “to be full” or “fill something up internally.” Obviously Bezalel was a godly man but as far as we know he was never called a prophet. However the meaning of “filled” is different when the prophet Micah says, “I am filled with power-With the Spirit of the Lord” (3:8). One man is gifted by the Spirit to accomplish some amazing art work. The other is a man called by God to be a prophet, a spokesman for God. A proper understanding is that both Bezalel and Micah are filled with an internal Spirit of God. Since this description is not used for all the people who were used by the Holy Spirit it seems that this special meaning was reserved for a few people mentioned in the Old Testament.

The Hebrew word for “upon” is The Spirit coming and going does not mean that the Holy Spirit has left one place to go to another. As God, the Spirit is omnipresent. When Isaiah says, " Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence” (64:1), he is asking for a special manifestation of God. It is the same way with the Holy Spirit in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit is present in the world but not working in such a way that people notice it. When Jesus told his disciples that if he did not go away the Holy Spirit could not come to help them. It cannot mean that the Holy Spirit was not in the world at that time but rather after Jesus left he would show himself in a way that he had not done before. Since the Spirit is God we must maintain his omnipresence. The Day of Pentecost is often thought to be the day when the Holy Spirit came to the church. It is often understood that the Holy Spirit left heaven and came to earth but again this does violence to his omnipresence. Rather we should understand this as a special manifestation of his presence. He was already with his 110 Buswell, 1968, p. Vol.I p.115111 Buswell, 1968, p. Vol.I p.115

people upon the earth even if it was in a more obscure manner in the Old Testament beforeTestament before Pentecost.

Isaiah 44 is a passage that links what was written by the prophets as if it was directly from God the Holy Spirit. "But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, 'Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour out 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” (vv.1-3). Verse two establishes that Isaiah is speaking God’s words, “Thus says the Lord.” God is identified with the Holy Spirit and it is by the Spirit that the prophet is speaking. This means that it is the Spirit of the Lord who distinguishes the true prophet from the false prophet.

Micah 3:5-8 declares, “Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; when they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry, "Peace," But against him who puts nothing in their mouths they declare holy war. Therefore it will be night for you--without vision, and darkness for you--without divination. The sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will become dark over them. The seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be embarrassed. Indeed, they will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God. On the other hand I am filled with power-- With the Spirit of the LORD-- And with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, Even to Israel his sin.” This is a very interesting passage because Micah is showing the difference between the true and false prophet. The false prophet will make the people believe him simply because he gives them something to eat. He will cry peace and there is no urging of repentance. However there will be no answer from God. It is only with the power of the Spirit that Micah has no reluctance to show Israel her sin. Hungry people are always ready for food but people are not always ready to be shown their sin even though hungry.

The Old Testament has many examples of God speaking to the prophets. We find this in such phrases as, “The word of the Lord came to Isaiah,” “Thus says the Lord,” “Thus says the Lord of Hosts” or “God said.” The prophets were not shy in declaring they were speaking directly from the Lord and therefore had the full authority of God behind them. Many of them knew that they would be persecuted, people would think of them as insane or at least very strange, or face death. They knew they had to speak God’s words no matter what the consequences were.

A particularly important passage is found in Isaiah chapters two through four. God uses the personal pronoun many times. “I may speak to you”(2:1),112 “I am sending you” (2:3),” “I have made your face hard” (3:8), “ I have appointed you” (3:17), “I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth” (3:26), and “I have assigned” (4:6). It is abundantly clear that when Isaiah speaks, it is God who is speaking. Only those who reject the Bible as God’s word can overlook the fact that God is fully behind the work of Isaiah.112 The Hebrew form of the verb is intensive emphasizing that it is God, and no one else, who is speaking with absolute authority to the prophet. Cf.1:8: 3:1 etc.

Thus inherently when the Bible says, “Thus says the Lord…” the person is speaking the word of God. Implicit in this is the understanding that the Holy Spirit is the author. The list goes on to include such phrases as “Word of Jehovah,” “Thy word,” “My Word,” “Words of His mouth,” and “Words of the Holy One.” The authority of God’s word extends to the poetry, history, drama, sermons, love stories, and the insights of the writer. There is no doubt that the words written in part or in its entirety are the words of God and have the stamp of divine inspiration on every book.

Some readers may object to the statement that the personal insights of the writers are inspired. We must admit that even the devotional thoughts are inspired. David is writing in Psalm 16: 9, 10, “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” David is reflecting on the goodness of God in his own life. He is also speaking of experience beyond his own life – after death. We must insist that the writer wrote his opinion under the direction of the Holy Spirit. In several passages it is revealed that David knew that he was writing as a prophet with the power of the Spirit. 2 Samuel 23: 1, 2 says, “Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, the man who was raised on high declares, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, the Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.”

While the authors recognized that God was speaking through them, it is quite evident that they did not always completely understand what God was saying through them. While speaking God’s words we are also told that the prophets were surprised at what God was saying. Micah knows he is “filled with the power of God” (Micah 3:8). We are not told that he knows how this happened but he does know that it happened. Isaiah’s mind is in turmoil. Isaiah 21 says, “For this reason my loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see. My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling” (2,3). Daniel finds himself in the same position. “When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man,” and “As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events" (8:15; 12:8)?113 Isaiah confirms his lack of understanding when he says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (55:8, 9).

David and Amos both understood that they could not comprehend what was going on unless God opened their minds. David said, “All this…the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern" (1Chronicles 28:19). God had given the plans of the temple to David and with those plans he gave David the understanding on how to implement them. Amos tells us, “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who

113 Zechariah 4:4, 13

reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name” (4:13). The prophet admits that apart from God’s help we would not understand nature. ThereforeIn light of new scientific discoveries, we should not be surprised that even today we should be surprised at learningto at discover ing some new things about God’s world. Even though Tthe world of science is always finding new facts about the universe. The problem is that they dothey do not have the ability to recognize that it is God who reveals this information to them. Christians are thought to be stupid or at least narrow minded when they attribute this new information to God the creator. It is remarkable how the Spirit used various ways to communicate His message to the prophets and to other people. God wants us to have no excuse for failing to understand what he has to say to us. The following are 11 forms of communication use by the Holy Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit used words. While the Holy Spirit is capable of working with the heart of a person thereby using unspoken words, he may also limit himself to the spoken word. Samuel actually heard understandable words like a human voice (1 Samuel 3: 1-14). The audible words are emphasized by Samuel’s physically getting out of bed to answer Eli.

2. The prophets saw it. “The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:1). The word used here is hatsa חזה meaning “to comprehend and behold.” Job used this word when he stated with confidence that he will physically see God (19:26). Somehow, in a way we do not understand, God allowed some of the prophets to physically see what they were told.

3. The Holy Spirit communicated by the method of visions and dreams. The Hebrew word זוןח hatsoun means “a vision, oracle, and prophecy.” While both Hebrew words have the

meaning of seeing in some way, there seems to be a slight difference in how they are used. “Hatsa” could have the interpretation of physical sight while “hatsoun” may be more mental and comprehensive understanding. The prophet Isaiah had a “hatsoun” that covered more than one event. We are told that his vision covered the long time including, “The reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (1:1) including Jerusalem and Judah. These would include the years from about 740 to 680 B.C. or about 60 years. There is no evidence that Isaiah was in a perpetual state of vision during all of this time. The least thing we can say is that God came to the prophets repeatedly over a period of time.

4. Not only were Holy Spirit’s communications to people visual but they were audio. Isaiah says, “What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I make known to you” (21:10). Obadiah confirms this message by saying, “We have heard a report from the LORD, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, "Arise and let us go against her for battle" (1:1).

5. Sometimes the Holy Spirit’s message is to the prophet alone. Isaiah says, “But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me” (22:14). The rest of the verses show us that Isaiah did not keep this knowledge to himself but included this part of prophecy to Shebna, who was in charge of

the royal household.114 The sharing of the word of God with other people seems to be one of the requirements of being a prophet.

6. With Elijah God revealed himself with a gentle stillness. “After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah" (1Kings 19:12, 13)? Sometimes the most effective way to communicate is by a gentle, quite, and audible voice. I learned with my own children that it was not the shouting over the racket of an argument. Rather it was sometimes a whisper that they heard the best. 7. On occasion dictation was the method. God told Jeremiah, “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him” (36:2-4). In this case it was God telling Jeremiah who then told his scribe what to write. The process was as follows; a. God spoke to the prophet (v.2), b. the prophet dictates to scribe (v.4), and c. the scribe writes the words in a book (v 4), V.32 then reproduced because the book was destroyed.

8. We have two examples of when God wrote his words directly. There was no mediator. The first is The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Twice God wrote the words on tablets of stone and gave them to Moses. The second is found in Daniel chapter five. Belteshazzar was having a party when a hand appeared on the wall and wrote the message, “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin” (v.25). In verse 24 Daniel said, “Then the hand was sent from Him,” indicating that it was God who wrote the words. Dictation or written directly was not the normal way by which God communicated with his people. When God wanted to make doubly sure that people understood that he was speaking he acted in a physical way that no one would doubt the action including pagans.

9. Sometimes the prophet spoke in the first person as if he were God speaking. Amos 3:1 says, “Hear this word which the LORD has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt.” The prophets knew they were writing Scripture. Isaiah says, “Seek from the book of the LORD, and read” Isa 34:16. On these verses Young comments, “The immediate reference is to this particular prophecy. In commanding men to search the writing he desires that they look at the writing to see whether this prophecy is true…It is part of an actual Scripture, of a book written down, so that men may turn to it and find therein the reference to his prophecy.”115 Isaiah is telling people to read his words and to recognize that what he has written is God’s law.114 Acts 1:9 Saul was the only one who saw Jesus. The rest of those with him heard a voice.115 (E.J.Young, 1969, p. p. 442)E.J.Young, 1969, p. p. 442

10. Some prophets recognize that another writer has spoken God’s word. The prophet Joel quotes Obadiah 1:17. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls” (2:32). Isaiah chapters 36-39 are included in 2 Kings Chapters 18 and 19. King Hezekiah recognizes David’s writings as authoritative in 2 Chronicles chapters 18 and 19. Finally Zechariah 7:12 tells us that, “The Lord has sent his Spirit through the former prophets.” The “former prophets” would be referring to such books as 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. What Moses wrote from God was binding on the nation of Israel. Later God told Joshua to be subject to the Law of Moses (Joshua 1:8). Later on David equated the law of Moses with “The charge of Yahweh” (1 Kings 2:3).

11. Sometimes the Holy Spirit used methods that were considered frenzy and raving. For the human standpoint the person could be considered to be crazy. Consider Samson who ripped the city gate apart and carried it for about 35 miles mostly uphill to Hebron (Judges 16:38). It looked more like a child having a tantrum than a judge working for his people. The gate certainly was not a mere 50 pounds. Another time Samson was given superhuman power to kill 1,000 men with a jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15: 15). Isaiah went naked for three years (20: 2, 3). I am sure people thought he was rather strange if not crazy. Ezekiel 2:2, 3 describes how the Spirit stood Ezekiel on feet showing us that the Spirit is an energizing force. Certainly this idea is carried further than God intended when we see “prophets” in countries like Africa and India where men or women act in strange ways. Many of them speak or act contrarily to what the Bible instructs us. These kinds of actions communicate clearly that they are not speaking with the authority of God.

Whatever way the message was communicated, in the Bible, it was recognized by the people as God’s word. A main emphasis of all of these points is that if a person is honest with what God’s word is saying, there is no denial that God declared his word to his people and that the Bible is God authoritative word to us. It is a work accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit through his people.

Kuyper maintains that divine speaking is not limited to prophecy. God spoke to other people who did not have the position of prophets. Eve, Cain, and Hagar received revelation from God but that information did not make them a prophet. A person is not a prophet unless the words of God are accompanied by the command to communicate the revelation to others. Kuyper says, “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.”116 I think we often overlook this nuance. that is mentioned by Kuyper. We We often emphasize, “The word of the Lord came to” Isaiah, Jeremiah or Haggai without also mentioning that there is a command from God to speak to the people. In some cases in the Bible we find the prophets speaking to the people. In other places we make the assumption. God did not speak to the writers of Scripture and leave it there. If that was all was done then the words would have

116 Kuyper, p. 70

stopped there and not one else would have heard. God also commanded authors to write it down or speak so that other people after them would hear and read what God has said.

One man was just minding his own business when God called him to be a prophet. Amos was awas a farmer when God called him. “Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs” (7:14). At the same time he is quite clear that God has inspired his message. “A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy” (3:8)?

We have many examples in the Bible where the prophets absolutely knew that they were speaking God’s words. David claims that his words are no less than what the Spirit of God gave him. “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue“ (2 Samuel 23:2). Isaiah 48:16 knows his message is true because, “The Lord God has sent me and his Spirit.” Jeremiah 1:9 says, “Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I have put my words in your mouth.”

Contrasting the true prophet and the false prophet, Micah is emphatic that the false prophet has no word from God. “The seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be embarrassed. Indeed, they will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God” (3:8). We have already mentioned that the words of a false prophet will not come true.

In our day and age, documentation is demanded of all worthy research. When it comes to inspiration there is no such demand nor can there be. Moses did not have to document what he had to say for it to be the word of God. The prophets did not have to verify their words from past history. Simply “Thus says the Lord” was sufficient for the information to be accepted.

The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel testify that the Spirit is the author of Divine revelation and inspiration. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me” (Isaiah 61:1), “The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet” (Ezekiel.2:2).117

In the case of the prophets of the Old Testament Thomas says, “The gift is also plainly supernatural in every case, and there is no possibility of confusion between it and the personal poser of the recipients. It was not a permanent and continuous power but a Divine gift for special work at special times.”118

Many of us know 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 by memory, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

117 Cf. Micah 3:8; Zechariah 7:12, 9:30. The whole eleventh chapter of Isaiah speaks of a culmination of the redemptive gifts in a person who has the ability of insight and ability for his work.

118 Thomas p. 12

Payne points out that Exodus 17:14 records God’s first command to write down an event that is part of Scripture. “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua that, I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." Perhaps you know 2Peter 1:20, 21 that says, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” We assume that the Holy Spirit is the one behind all Scripture however this may not always be clearly understood in every passage. Just as we have one God and three persons we also have God the Father and God the Holy Spirit inspiring Scripture. Exodus 17 indicates that God the Father commanded Moses to write scripture. There is no reference to the Holy Spirit although he is certainly there. So one conclusion that we must come to is that the Holy Spirit is not the only one involved in the writing of the Old Testament. Perhaps the most obvious scripture is the Ten Commandments. God says he wrote this with his own hand. Now the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction" (Exodus 24:12). God did this both the first and second time he wrote the commandments on stone. 119

Another place is found in Leviticus where God commands Moses, “Speak to the sons of Israel…” (Leviticus 1:1, 2). What follows is a list of rules which Moses first spoke and then later on wrote them down in order to be preserved. Let us be clear that we are not trying to make a division between the persons of the Godhead. However just as each person has his work to do for our salvation (Ephesians 1:1-14), without dividing the persons of the Godhead we can also maintain that each of the three persons of the Trinity is capable of revealing God’s will to us. In the well-known passage where Jesus says, “You have heard it said…but I say to you” (Matthew 5), we have Matthew being inspired to write Jesus’ words. With this information we have all three Persons of the Trinity as taking part in the writing of Scripture.

It seems that when God spoke to David about the plans of the temple that it was not just God the Father who spoke to him. In 1 Chronicles 28: 12 the New American Standard Bible says, “The plan of all that he [David] had in mind.” Literally in the Hebrew it says, “The pattern he had in the spirit.” The intention of the author of Chronicles was to let us know that David was empowered by the Spirit. David himself understood that what he wrote concerning the plans of the temple (1 Chronicles 28:19) were directly from God (v.19). It would seem that, since God was the one who gave David the temple plan, “the Spirit” would be more than just a life force. Payne mentions, “In this context that the source of inspiration is for the first time indicated as being God’s Spirit”120

Scripture cannot contradict Scripture therefore we cannot say 1 Peter is wrong. We must insist that the Holy Spirit is involved in the writing of “all Scripture.” At the same time we can maintain that he, along with another person of the Trinity, is involved some of the time if not all the time.

119 Cf. Exodus 31:18; 32:16; 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:10; 10:4120 Payne p.65

Perhaps Vos helps us understand this concept in a better way. He makes the distinction between ab extra and ab intra inspiration. The former being revelation that is directly from God to man such as the Ten Commandments. The latter includes subjective revelation which is, “the inward activity of the Spirit upon the depths of human sub-consciousness causing certain God-intended thought to well up therefrom”121

The inspiration of the Bible by the Holy Spirit is an absolute teaching that must be believed. Without this conviction we have no authority. Without this belief we have no foundation for our faith. All of the prophetic books are equally inspired whether they are long or short. While closely related, we must never equate inspiration and revelation. God has given us very clear instructions on how we know that God has spoken. Indeed it is amazing to find out how many ways God has chosen to communicate with his people. Sometimes the prophets people God uses do not understand everything they are told but they faithfully communicate that word to us. At the same time, they are aware that it is God who is speaking through them. In the next chapter we will focus on the people God used to communicate his Word to men.

Questions for Lesson Five1. What is the difference between revelation and inspiration?2. Of what importance does the person of the Holy Spirit have to the doctrine of inspiration? 3. What are the qualifications of a prophet?4. What is the grammatical indication that the Holy Spirit was working within a person in the Old Testament?5. How do we know that the prophets were speaking God’s words?6. What is the importance of Isaiah chapters two through four?7. How do we know that a writer’s personal thoughts are to be accepted as God’s word?8. Did the writers always understand what they were talking about?9. List 5 ways how the Holy Spirit communicated to his people. In your own words explain three of them. 10. How do we know thatWhat the work of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the prophets?

121 (Vos, 1996, p. p.12)Vos, 1996, p. p.12

Lesson Six - The Holy Spirit’s use of non-prophets and Israel’s future.

In this lesson the student will:1. Understand that the Spirit worked in non-prophets. 2. Know that the Spirit worked in pagan people. 3. Ascertain that true leadership needs the help of the Spirit. 4. Read of some basic characteristics of the work of the Spirit. 5. Appreciate some surprising ways the Spirit worked with people.

It may come as a surprise that the work of the Holy Spirit was not restricted to the prophets. We are not astonished when we read Isaiah sounding forth a “Thus says the Lord!” or study the profound prophecy about Jesus from Zechariah. Kuyper says, “God spoke also to others than prophets, e.g., [for example] to Eve, Cain, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob 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 bring something to the people. Hence it is a mistake to confine divine revelation to the prophetic office.”122 Some people we think who are very unlikely candidates God uses to speak to us. Such categories of people include such people who are civil rulers, judges, and kings.

Civil Rulers

By civil rulers I have in mind a category of leadership where a person acted as the ruler or at least an advisor of Israel. This is a category that would accommodate such people as Moses or Samuel. Actually throughout his life Samuel took on the roles of prophet, priest and ruler.

Numbers 11 is a fascinating chapter as it relates to the work of the Spirit in the Old Testament. Moses had a problem. He had too many people under his care and physically could not keep up with all the decisions that had to be made (v. 14).

Moses has been given the responsibility by God of leading and handling the disputes of the whole nation of Israel. People have estimated that for 40 years Moses had from one to three million Israelites to lead and take care of. Let’s take the most conservative estimate of a million people. He was feeling under enormous pressure especially when Israel wasn’t happy and grumbled over and over. Sometimes the complaints were legitimate and many times they were petty grievances. The common denominator for all gripes was the people’s lack of trust in God. Things are not going well with Moses and the people. The people were complaining. Verses 10-15 tell us several things.

122 Kuyper p. 70

1. The people were complaining against God and Moses and Moses was displeased and God was angry. What was the problem? After the manna was sent and some of the people had disobeyed God and did not collect it as they were instructed. They weren’t following the rules right so the Lord brought a judgment upon them. Now the people were complaining that they did not have meat. Moses was fed up with the people. 2. Moses thought God was too harsh against him for putting him into this position (v.11). 3. Moses understood he was incapable of continuing in this leadership role by himself (v.12). 4. Moses said if life continues this way, I would rather die (v.15).

Do you get the irony in this? Moses is saying if you care about me at all, kill me. From Moses’ perspective the best thing would be to die. As far as he was concerned, the best way for God to show him love would be to kill him. This does not make sense. But let us not be too harsh on Moses because when we are in the depths of despair we do not think clearly. God speaks to Moses and says he has another better plan. He is going to give him some help.

We are told that the Spirit that was on Moses was going to be given to other men as well so that they could bear some of the responsibility of decision making. What we have here is no less than the transference of the Spirit from Moses to other men. You may well ask what does Moses have to do with the Holy Spirit? Let us remember that Moses was called a prophet. The book of Deuteronomy ends with this verse which says, “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” (34:10).

Numbers 11:16, 17 says, “The LORD therefore said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.” First of all, we are told that Moses had the Spirit (v.16) and second, God would take the Spirit who was on Moses and put the Spirit on other leaders. These leaders were men who were already recognized to be leaders among their own people.

The Spirit that was in Moses was given to the 70, “I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them”. However we are not told that these 70 were prophets so we must conclude that at least they were given the gift of administration. It would seem that these men would have been give more than just the gift of administration because administration without the ability to communicate to people is useless.

Before this event Moses was trying to lead the people how many in Israel by himselfhad the Spirit according to this text? One and it was Moses. Moses had the Spirit, not the host of Israel;, not all the believing in Israel. Were there others believing in Israel besides Moses? Yes there are some, such as Aaron, Caleb and Joshua. Were these men part of the 70 who were called out? We are not told but since they are prominent men in the history of Israel I would not be surprised if they were. At the same time we must remember the special events when

God told Moses to lay hands on Joshua and Joshua at that time received the Spirit of God (Deuteronomy 34:9).

Numbers 11:24 and 24 says, “So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied.”123 We do not have evidence that they did it again. This seems to be a one-time event but obviously it is a gift that the men had over a period of time. With a million people to govern there were always problems to solve.

What God says is that I want you get these seventy men and take them outside of the camp of Israel to a tent and I will come down upon you there. I will transfer the Spirit who is in Moses and put him into the 70 chosen men. This event sounds very much like Pentecost in the New Testament. Why do you think the 70 elders prophesied? It was confirmation and a firsthand verification that the Spirit had come upon them so people would know that their elders received the Spirit. By the way this is an interesting situation when we think in terms of the cessationist/continuist question of whether or not the Spirit performs the initial sign of his coming repeatedly or permanently. Concerning the 70 elders, we are not told that the gift was repeated. He did it once and he did not have to do it again in order to prove they were God’s leaders. At the same time these 70 men would have had the Spirit continually to be able to make good decisions over the whole time they were leaders.

But now comes some interesting additional information. Numbers 11:26 says, “But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp.

So they were two of the seventy but did not go to the tent with the other 68, they stayed back in the camp. We are not told why they remained in the camp. Perhaps they thought they were not qualified but God had chosen then and since God chose them, they could not get out of their responsibility. This reminds me of several men who in my life time have been called by God into the ministry. Like Jonah, they did not want to do it. They went into other professions and were successful but always in the back of their mind was God’s call. Eventually after they had succeeded in the secular world they finally succumbed to God’s will and entered the ministry. Their testimony was that they were a lot happier being in God’s call, even when they are making less money.

Numbers 11:27 and 28 says, “A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” Why was Joshua and this young man troubled by

123 Does the fact that they prophesied make them a prophet? Were they temporary prophets? What did they say? We don’t know. Perhaps their prophesy is in the same category when Saul prophesied. Saul was never called a prophet. It is the temporariness of the Spirit that is to be compared not the evil of Saul.

Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp? One thing is that these two men didn’t do what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to go to the tent but here they stay in the camp. Were these men alarmed because these two men did not follow instructions and therefore disqualified? Perhaps they were, worried about Moses’ authority. We don’t know. What we do know is that even when these men did not obey Moses God still called them. This reaction of Joshua reminds us of another man called Jonah who at first refused to obey God and later obeyed God’s command.

I find Moses’ response very fascinating. “But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that the entire Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them” (v. 29). This is a key verse on this issue. Moses had a totally different mindset toward what is happening. Moses tells Joshua and the young man that they are thinking of this incident altogether wrongly. In essence, he tells them they want to retain unilateral authority in this camp when God is showing otherwise.

Rather than restraining these two from prophesying in the Spirit, imagine what it would be like if all of God’s people had the Spirit and not just the 70? Moses is at least thinking that he will get some relief from his responsibilities. Think of what that would do to help govern the people’s lives. Think of how it would affect the life of all Israel? Perhaps this is a little tiny glimmer, vision, dream of Pentecost. The point is, how many people had the Spirit? One, Only a few. Tthen there were then 70. and Moses can only dream of the day when all of God’s people have the Spirit. It was is not a reality in Moses’ time but wasnow; it is a situation that Moses cancould only dream about. Do you see the point? How many people in Israel had the Spirit? If you counted them up in the Old Testament counting the seventy you would end up with a little over 100 people of whom the Old Testament states these people had the Spirit. Remember we have no blanket statement like we have in the New Testament that says something like if you are you a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the Spirit. No universal statement or teaching that indicates that all God’s people have the Spirit. That is absent in Old Testament teaching. What is present in Old Testament is this prophet, that prophet, another prophet has the Spirit, and the other people don’t. A That craftsman was given has the Spirit, to do a specific job and perhaps a couple of others people but with him not everybody in Israel. That judge or, another judge had the Spirit, not all the peoplejudges in Israel. In like manner Moses alone, then the seventy, not all of the people of Israel.124

We have the same situation where we are told that the next leader, Joshua, was given the Spirit of wisdom (27:9). “So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him” (Numbers 27:18). Again we read, “Now Joshua son of

124 God revealed certain information to the authors of the Old Testament, it was not the complete information. In Romans 11:1-5 Paul reminds us of people who have remained faithful to God but of whom we do not know about. Paul is referring to the account of Elijah when he was running from Jezebel who had threatened to kill him (1 Kings 19). Elijah thought he was the only one left who served God properly. God told him that there were 7,000 who had not forsaken God. This information would have been true even if God had not revealed it to Elijah. With this in mind we need to be aware that they could have been more people in the Old Testament who had the Holy Spirit than was is mentioned.

Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses” (Deuteronomy 34:9). Since Joshua had been in leadership training for a long time, it would not be out of line to think of him as one of the 70. It would seem that the Numbers passage would be a special event that specifically appoints Joshua as Moses successor.

Judges

The judges of Israel were another special group of people that the Holy Spirt worked with. We read, “When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim” (3:9, 10). Again, “So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him” (6:34). 125 The Septuagint (LXX) uses the Greek word ενδυω enduo describing the Spirit clothing Gideon with himself.126 In the normal sense of wearing clothes the clothes adapt to the movements of the person wearing them. However in this verse we have the opposite. Gideon, being clothed with the Holy Spirit, was enabled to perform actions that were normally beyond human abilities. Obviously the people of Israel recognized this because when Gideon appealed for help and 32,000 men answered his call. With Amasai we have the same kind of description. 1 Chronicles 12:18 says, “We will join you, David son of Jesse! You and your followers will always be successful, because God fights on your side." Amasai, who later became the leader of the Thirty Warriors, was one men who went to David. God's Spirit took control of him, and he said, "We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you! “ The phrase “God’s Spirit took control of him” has an interesting meaning. The word labash means לבש “to wrap” or “to cloth oneself” with a garment of some kind. This is the word that is translated “Took control.” In this case, the Holy Spirit covered Amasai in such a way that the Holy Spirit covered Amasai like a blanket. The Spirit’s actions and personality were seen as Amasai’s actions.

Deborah was one of the Judges of Israel who had the dual position of prophetess (Judges 4:4). She was given the ability to proclaim the future defeat of Sisera. Like David she wrote poetry that is found in the Bible (Judges 5). This is a remarkable story. In those days women were not considered to be on the same level as men. God exploded that cultural understanding and used Deborah in a way that was thought only possible through men.

In Judges 13:24 we come to the story of Samson. “Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol” (v.24, 25).

125 See also Judges 11:29 and 13:25126 See Appendix B for more about the LXX

Samson is a perplexing person to study. The temptation is to study his whole life but we are restricted to how the Spirit worked in his life. His birth was supernatural because in Judges Chapter 13 we find that his parent humanly speaking could not conceive. The chapter speaks to us of an angel first visiting Manoah’s wife and then Manoah himself. This couple is told they will have a child and this child will have the special purpose of delivering Israel. They lived in the town Zorah near the border where the Philistines lived. While the Philistines were the enemies of Israel, it would not have been unusual for the two nations to have some sort of interaction. In some cases there were interactions that were friendly. With Samson we have him “falling in love” with a girl in Timnah. This could have been only a few miles walk from where he lived. Chapter 13 ends with “And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol” (v.25). We are not told whether Samson was aware that this was God starting to work in him. The phrase seems more of a comment of the writer under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 14 begins with Samson grown up and looking for a wife. The question comes immediately, “Why did Samson want a Philistine woman and not a Jewish girl?” Samson’s parents had the same question. I am sure they were asking themselves, “What are we going to do with our boy?” We are told, “However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel” (Judges 14:4). Samson’s parents were not aware that these events were the beginning of what the angel had told them. As stated, I do not believe that Samson, in his state of mind, would be aware of God using him either. However, these actions were God’s way of preparing Samson to be a deliverer. He was close to Philistia and would not be suspect if he was seen going to and from Timnah. Now that he had a wife, they would expect him to be there more often.

Samson is called a judge of Israel yet his behavior is far from what would be required of a godly man. Physically Samson had uncommon strength. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon him he would act like a demigod. Judges 14:6 tells us that when Samson came upon a lion the Spirit enabled him to kill the lion as if it were a young goat. Later on he was able to break ropes as easily as fire burns a rope (15:14). At one time he was given strength to kill 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey (15:15). How can we explain such action? The Hebrew word צלח tsalah usually means “stirred or moved to some action.” In the case of Samson, it means “to strike” or “to beat.” Here we have an amazing effect of the Spirit on a man when Samson was forcefully used by the Spirit to accomplish astonishing feats. Samson was taken ahold of by the Spirit and was compelled into action. It is almost as if he was acting against his will. From the human perspective he was a man out of control. We may even disapprove Samson’s actions. However, behind all of this frenzy we must remember that it is God who is using Samson to punish the Philistines.

Othniel is another one of those judges whom the Spirit used. Judges 3:9, 10 says, “When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim

king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.” The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel expressly for the purpose of enabling him to be successful to be victorious in war.

Judges 11:29 says, “Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon (tsalah) Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.” Later verses include 20 cities that were conquered. Normally people would not cover that much territory nor subdue this many people in such a short time. It would seem that the Spirit gave Jephthah the “beyond normal” ability to accomplish God’s will.

The word tsalah can also mean “rush” or “penetrate.”127 It describes the work of the Spirit in Saul. We read that Saul, "Changed into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6). Obviously this was the work of the Spirit. However it does not have the same connotation of physical strength as was manifested in Samson.

As we read of the Spirit using people such as Samson, Deborah and Jephthah we do not get the impression that the Spirit was with them their whole life. The wording that is used in these stories describes when there are actions that require wisdom and strength beyond the capabilities of a human being. Thus we get the impression of the Spirit coming and going as needed in the life of a person.

Other people

When we consider the ability or gifting of people we generally think of such capabilities being full of wisdom or counseling. It comes as a surprise that the Holy Spirit is also in the business of endowing people with artistic abilities. Unfortunately we think that painting, sculpturing, and music as different from other abilities. We are proven quite wrong when we come to the man called Bezalel. When God spoke to Moses he said "See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship” (Exodus 31: 2, 3). Bezalel comes suddenly into the picture. We have no forewarning about what is about to happen. We do not know anything about this man before God reveals his intentions. The scriptures are silent about whether the people knew of his abilities before this point in time. For all we know Bezalel was a common artisan of his day who was going about his business trying to make a decent living. The point being made is that God the Holy Spirit gave Bezalel the special ability to make the artistic work of the Tabernacle. Chapter 36 makes it very clear that it is God who gave the skill “In whom the Lord has put skill and understanding” (v. 1, 2). It is also obvious that those who worked with Bezalel were endowed by the Holy Spirit. Bezalel was not the only person. Aholiab and others were included but Bezalel seems to be the chief artisan.

127 Gesenius p. 852

This man had an amazing array of skills. We are told that God filled him with wisdom, understanding and knowledge, in all craftsmanship and every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material , and in fine linen, and of a weaver. He was given the ability in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood. Finally he was able to effectively teach others (Deuteronomy 35). Since the temple took several years to build, we must think of the Spirit residing in Belzalel at least for a long time. It would be absurd to think that when he went back home each evening to his family that he lost that ability and only when he came back to the work site that he was able to think clearly again.

As a side light we have some interesting ramifications. The Spirit working today is the same Sprit who worked in Belzalel’s day. While I am content to draw stick men, other people can paint in full color an excellent likeness of a person. While many men are called to be preachers, there are some who excel over other men. It is the Spirit who gives people these abilities. I think we often overlook this.

We have Zerubbabel as an interesting example of the use of the word “spirit”. “The prophet Haggai says, “The LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah.” In this verse we have the word spirit used to describe Zerubbabel’s God-give desire to work on the temple. In Zechariah 4:6 we find that the power behind this desire is the Holy Spirit. We find this verse saying, “The word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. These passages indicate a clear dual use of the word “spirit.” Depending on the context the same word ruah in the first use can be understood as a strong desire or in the second use refer to the Holy Spirit.

Clearly the Holy Spirit did not work in everyone. He used special people like Solomon. “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you” (Proverbs 1:23). God made known his words to Solomon and not everyone else. He utilized an artistic person like Bezalel where he was in the work of erecting the house of God, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom” (Exodus 31:3). Finally he employed the governor, Zerubbabel, to work on the temple.

We read of the Spirit of the Lord coming on other people Joshua, Barak, Gideon, Samson, and Samuel. We must include Zerubbabel who rebuilt the temple who was told, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord”(Zechariah 4:6). It is abundantly clear that the Spirit did not limit himself to working with prophets.

Finally, pagan kings are anointed by God to do his will. “Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut” (Isaiah 45:1). For those people who are new Christians or reading the Bible for this first time, this information must come as a surprise. It is clear that God through the Holy Spirit gives both the godly and the ungodly the gifts to perform many different tasks. Regarding Cyrus we have him mentioned because he had a direct relationship with Israel, God’s people. It is clear that God

is sovereign over all peoples of the earth whether they listen to him or not. It may come as a surprise that a person did not have to be regenerate for the God to work in him. Isa 44:28-45:1 says, “I am also the one who says, "Cyrus will lead my people and obey my orders. Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt. The LORD said to Cyrus, his chosen one: I have taken hold of your right hand to help you capture nations and remove kings from power. City gates will open for you; not one will stay closed.” Isaiah 44:28 says, “ It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd! And he will perform all my desire.' And he declares of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.'"

These verses teach us clearly that God used Cyrus to accomplish his purpose. Cyrus is called God’s “Anointed” and “Shepherd.” As a shepherd Cyrus was involved in Israel’s deliverance and restoration. Anointed has also been translated as “chosen” and the LXX has rendered it as “Christ.” The word “anoint” could well be a reference to the future Redeemer who is Christ. This implies a very close relationship between God and Cyrus. In this case God appointed Cyrus for the particular task of freeing his people. As far as I know, there are no definite indications that Cyrus had any relationship with God. The same principle is used during the time of Moses when God used Pharaoh to bring about the freedom of the Jews. While God used Pharaoh there is no indication that Pharaoh had repentant heart. Young agrees with this by saying, “It does not necessarily imply that Cyrus becomes a true worshipper of the God of Israel. Nor does the anointing imply…that he is sanctified and inducted into office as king. The term rather suggests that there is a specific task that he is to accomplish and that for this he has been anointed by the sovereign God of Israel.”128

Kings

In lesson one, we talked extensively about the evil spirit in Saul. At the same time we must not forget that the Spirit did empower him during certain times in his life. The Spirit changed Saul’s heart, enabled Saul to prophecy (1 Samuel 10:9, 10), and helped him overcome the Ammonites (1 Samuel 11:6). What are we to understand about Saul? Kuyper says, “There is no reason to consider Saul one of God’s elect…evidently this work of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with regeneration…for a time it may operate upon a man and then forever depart from him; while the Spirit’s saving operation, even though suspended for a time, can never be wholly lost.”129 This is an amazing statement for in the New Testament age we have come to think of regeneration and our permanent salvation as one and the same. Kuyper maintains that it was possible in the Old Testament for the Holy Spirit to work in a temporary way without the saving of a person. Kuyper says, “The work of the Holy Spirit is not confined to the elect, and does not begin with their regeneration; but it touches every creature, animate and inanimate, and begins its operations in the elect at the very moment of their origin."130 In other words we cannot limit the work of the Holy Spirit

128 Young, p.195129 Kuyper p. 39130 Ibid p. 46

solely to regeneration. A second principle follows that, “The proper work of the Holy Spirit in every creature consists in the quickening and the sustaining of life with reference to his being and talent, and, in its highest, sense, with reference to eternal life, which is his salvation.” 131

In this second quote we understand that the Holy Spirit not only works apart from regeneration but also two other areas namely, regeneration and the giving of physical life. It is natural to think this way because the Holy Spirit was involved at the creation of all life. Thus Kuyper correctly states that the work of, “Re-creation is not performed in fallen man independently of his original creation; but that the Holy Spirit, who is regeneration kindles the spark of eternal life, has already kindled and sustained the spark of natural life…[and]bears the same character in creation and re-creation.”132 Rather than showing great differences of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments we see rather clearly the unity and continuity of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Testaments. Just as we see the superiority of the Covenant in the New Testament over the Old Testament, we understand the work of the Holy Spirit to be greater in the New Testament. We understand the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of Scripture and its preservation until present times. Some people may say you are allowing your New Testament understanding of the Holy Spirit to creep into your interpretation of how the Holy Spirit worked in the Old Testament. I agree but this reasoning also shows us how the Holy Spirit could work in the regenerate and unregenerate such as David and Cyrus. These works show us how the Holy Spirit was working in the Old Testament even though we do not understand or even know about them until our New Testament times. One conclusion that we must consider carefully is that the Spirit “coming upon” an individual doesn’t always indicate that person’s spiritual condition (e.g., Saul, Samson, and many of the judges). So, while in the New Testament the Spirit only indwells believers and that indwelling is permanent, the Spirit came upon certain Old Testament individuals for a specific task, irrespective of their spiritual condition. Once the task was completed, the Spirit presumably departed from that person.

Our reformed and biblical view necessitates that we teach that the same Holy Spirit works in both the Old and New Testaments. For this reason we must accept that the same Spirit who worked at Pentecost is the same Spirit who worked in Noah, Abraham, David, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul. Refusing this teaching impinges on the doctrine of the eternality of the Holy Spirit.

While we have the Spirit working with Saul on several occasions, we do not have any indication that the Spirit continued with him during his whole kingship. In fact we have direct evidence that God took his Spirit from him and replaced his spirit with an evil spirit. Saul had committed himself to getting rid of David. In order to kill him, we find multiple records of Saul trying to find David. One of the times the Spirit came on Saul was for the purpose of protecting David. In 1 Samuel 19: 18-24 we read, “When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they also 131 Ibid p. 46132 Ibid p. 46

prophesied. Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said. So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” Saul was filled with the Spirit for the express purpose of preventing him from finding David. Up to Saul’s death we have no indication that he was repentant. In fact we have the record of Saul consulting with a medium the night before he was killed in battle. Was Saul left to die in an unregenerate state? It would seem that this is the situation.

1Samuel 16:13 initiates a new era for Israel. We read, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.” The important phrase is “The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.” Since God communicates to us in understandable words, here is a definite example when there is a continual working of the Spirit in a person for the rest of his life. This is not the typical work of the Spirit in the Old Testament. With David, God made an exception.

While David was king, he was also put into the category of prophet by speaking the words of God and writing scripture. 2Samuel 23:1, 2) says, “Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” David was anointed by God and he knew that he spoke by the power of the Spirit. We know that David wrote almost half of the Psalms which are regarded as scripture. It is made clear to us that God the Spirit gave David the plans for the building of the temple (1 Chronicles 28:12).

David knew how God could work in the lives of people. He also knew that he was a sinful man that needed God’s help. David had had intimate relationship with Saul who was king before him. He was aware that God could take away his spirit as he did with Saul. We have the striking words, “Do not cast me away from your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). I have heard it said that David was not sure of his relationship with God. I do not believe that for one moment. All we have to do is to go to David’s writings and find out his firm belief in God. “My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul” (Psalm 108: 1). What about Psalm 27:1 which says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?” The answer is that David fears nothing and knows his firm relationship with Yahweh. We cannot and we must not pit scripture against itself.

Repentance was what made the difference between Saul and David. 1. David knew there was a Holy Spirit. 2. He knew he had the Holy Spirit residing in him and 3. Finally, due to Saul’s

experience he knew that God could take the Spirit away and did not want to be in that position. David had committed murder, adultery, coveting, stealing; basically broken all of the Ten Commandments and he knew the punishment he deserved from God. But he repented of his wrong doing.All of this to sum up. We assume that just because the Spirit works in a person that that person is also regenerate. However TthereThere are three common characteristics of the Spirit’s empowerment of people in the Old Testament. What features are shared with all three of these with Spirit empowering that are found in a prophet, a craftsman, a judge, Moses, or the seventy, or a Joshua, David or a Saul.:?

(1) Highly selective. At first it is just Moses. Numbers 11, I will take the Spirit who is on you, not the Spirit who is on the community of the faithful, not the Spirit who on Israel, but the Spirit who is on you. You see how it makes no sense to say the Spirit was on the community of Israel if he takes the Spirit and puts Him on the seventy. Presumably they would have already had the Spirit then. It doesn’t make sense, so what God does is He takes the Spirit that is on Moses and put Him on the seventy. It means that just Moses and just the seventy have the Spirit. Just Saul has the Spirit, just David has the Spirit, just a prophet has the Spirit, just Bezalel. So you go down the line and you realize that this is very selective.

(2) TemporaryThis is the hardest one to demonstrate. King Saul is an example of one who had the Spirit temporarily. 1 Samuel 16:14 the Spirit of the Lord was taken from Saul. It is implicit though in the other cases. Belzalel’s case may be different. He had the Spirit working in him for several yearyears to build the temple.

(3) Task orientedThe first two points, being selective and temporary, serve the third one. This is the critical one and it is the one that explains the other two. The Holy Spirit to enable a person to do something. It could be a word spoken accurately and boldly against a particular sin. The Spirit may advise concerning the Tabernacle being built with precision and accuracy. It could be boldness to stand up against the enemies of Israel. Finally the Holy Spirit gave the ability to people to judge the people’s disputes, lead the people forward, and have the responsibility over the people. Whatever it is, it is a task assigned to individuals. That particular task and not another person indicates the time which the Spirit would be upon the chosen person. David, for example, even though he feared the Spirit would be taken from him (do not take your Holy Spirit from me), God was gracious. God forgave David’s sin and so David remained King of Israel his entire life. The Spirit was upon him for his whole life. Is that evidence for the permanent possession of the Spirit at least of the selective ones upon who He comes? No, it is evidence that the task was lifelong. That is why I think some prophets like Elisha, "the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him." I think the implication is for life because he was a lifelong prophet. This teaching is very important because it explains why just these people had the spirit in them and not others. It tells us why the Spirit stayed longer in some people and

came and went in others. Finally in the case of some people there seems to be a special life-long ability.133

Even as a boy, David seems to have had a precocious and unusual relationship with God. Therefore, the Spirit, doubtless already at work within him, came on him in an observable and powerful way with no need to report a change of heart. And Goliath’s defeat — coming shortly thereafter in the narrative — publicly demonstrated the wisdom, passion, and power of the Spirit in David (1 Samuel 17). We see the continuity and importance of the Spirit in David’s daily life in his broken prayer after Nathan confronted him with his adultery and murder: “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11).

It is evident that the Spirit gifted David with a broad spectrum of abilities — as a warrior and military leader, an administrator, a musician and singer, a poet and prophet, an architect and builder (see 2 Samuel 23:2; 1 Chronicles 28:12,19). David is one of the greatest men of the Old Testament, the harbinger of the Lord Jesus Christ who is identified as the “Son of David.” Saul and David, along with Moses and a host of other Old Testament greats, stand in the tradition of the great charismatic leaders of Israel, so called because of the way in which the Spirit came upon them in dynamic power.

Prophets

The work of the Holy Spirit is more understandable with the prophets. We have already studied the qualification of a prophet (Lesson 5). Some prophets we know almost nothing while others we know a great deal like Jeremiah. There is a nameless prophet found in Judges 6:7 and 8. “Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian, that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery.” It was a prophet to remind Israel that God had saved them from Egypt. We know no more about this prophet except that God used him just before the call of Gideon.

Indirectly Enoch was considered a prophet simply because it is said that he prophesied. “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones” (Jude 1:14). The Old Testament gives us no more information other than Enoch lived 365 years, was the father of Methuselah, he walked with God and that he did not die because God took him (Genesis 5:21-24).

There are other people who fulfilled more than one role. The Patriarch Abraham is called a prophet (Genesis 20:7) He received information but as far as we know he was not commanded to tell other people. We do know that he did tell other people because he was not alone when he left his home.

133 Specific task oriented seems to apply to Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:1) and Jehaziel (2 Chronicles 20:14).

We have already spoken of Moses who had the spirit but he is also called a prophet. Deuteronomy 34: 10 says, “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.” We know of Moses’ distinct call at the burning bush (Exodus 3) and his distinctive relationship with God when God said he spoke with Moses “face to face” (Exodus 33:11). Moses had a relationship with God that even David did not have.

The brother and sister of Moses were in the prophet category. Aaron was the spokesman for Moses and thus earned the title prophet (Exodus 7:1). Miriam is called a prophetess (Exodus 15:20).

We find Nehemiah telling us, "However, You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands” (Nehemiah 9:30). The significance of this verse is that Nehemiah connects the Holy Spirit to the prophets. It was through the prophets including the minor ones who spoke God’s words to the people.

Elijah and Elisha were special men as well. We have one incident where God enabled Elisha to see his servant interacting with Naaman who was some distance away. “But Elisha said to him, Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants” (2 Kings 5:26)? This story gives us a different use of “spirit.” Here it is used of Elisha’s own understanding and mind. At the same time we must understand that this information and ability was given to him by the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes it is hard to know whether “spirit” or “Spirit” is being referred to. The first “spirit” usually refers to the life force, mind or will of a person. The second “Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit. In 1 Kings 18:11 we read that, Obadiah, the servant of Ahab recognized that the Spirit was on Elijah. "It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you where I do not know.” It is obvious that Obadiah recognized that Elijah had the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit could literally take him to another place. 2 Kings 2:15 is another passage where the word “spirit” is used. We read, “Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.” Here the word “spirit” is not capitalized indicating an ability or mind set. The other prophets had just witnessed Elisha parting the waters and realized that he had the same abilities as Elijah. At the same time the source of Elisha’s ability had to be the Holy Spirit thus causing possible confusion as to the real meaning of “spirit.” In this passage we must understand the prophets saw the abilities of Elisha but they also knew that the foundation of those abilities was the unwritten understanding that Elisha had the power of the Holy Spirit.134

The prophets and the future of Israel

134 Perhaps the same meaning of “spirit” is mentioned with Joseph in Genesis 41:38

We must not fail to mention the futuristic idea that comes with the Lord’s Anointed or Servant. At times we must explain the future with the Messiah by association rather than direct relationship. Isaiah as a whole book must be taken into consideration. Let us take a few examples. “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters…by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning” (Isaiah 4:4), “He will be a spirit of justice”(Isaiah 28:6), “Till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high” (Isaiah 32:15), “I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring” (Isaiah 44:3), “My Spirit, who is on you” (Isaiah 59:21), and finally “And now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit. This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:16-17). We get the futuristic concept when we take these passages as a whole and not in isolation. The Spirit had a vital interest in the welfare of Israel.

We have already used these verses to express the use of the word spirit in relationship with God. Here I want to focus on another concept. It is true that the spirit is not always capitalized but when “spirit” and “Spirit” is used it seems that Isaiah understands the use of the word “spirit” in the sense of abilities and characteristics that come from the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who gives the spirit of wisdom and justice. He is not just a spirit but the “Spirit of God.” We have the Spirit being autonomous, Isaiah asks, “Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD” (40:13)? The answer is that nothing and no one can tell the Holy Spirit what to do. He is God and takes his own counsel and makes his own decisions. The confusion comes when the word spirit can be used contextually as wind, breath or discernment but the implicit meaning of the word can include the ability or discernment that is given by the Holy Spirit.

We read of the Spirit “resting” on people (11:2). Isaiah also uses the word spirit as wind or even as the life of a person. There are differences of opinion when we come to Isaiah 59:19. It says, “So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the LORD drives.”

The King James Version says, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” The New International Version says, “Breath of the LORD drives along.” The New American Standard Version says, “The wind of the LORD drives.

In this passage, we have the three of the possible interpretations of “spirit.” We see the words, “breath”, “Spirit”, and “spirit.” When we have such a discrepancy of interpretation, the underlying power or ability of the Spirit, seems more in keeping with how Isaiah combines the word spirit and God together in other parts of his book.

Isaiah 59: 19-21 is helpful when we understand the meaning of the spirit when the whole context is taken into consideration. The pronoun “He” is applied to the “Spirit.” Verse 20 refers to “A Redeemer” who will come. “Redeemer” is mentioned 19 times in the Old Testament with 14 of the references appearing in Isaiah. Every time this word is used describes a person and not an “it.” Verse 21 speaks of God’s “Spirit.” The line of thought is the “wind”, the “Redeemer” and the “Spirit” All of these words are interconnected very

closely. The future aspect (Hebrew imperfect) of this passage comes when we read a Redeemer “Will come.” and “Shall not depart.” This experience has not happened in the time of Isaiah and therefore has to be future.135

Another time when God spoke about the future is found in Haggai chapter two. “As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear! For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land” (2:5, 6).

This prophecy seems to have two applications. One has already happened which was future to Israel but past for us. The other is still future for us. The prediction seems to be a literal shaking because it refers to nations that Zerubbabel knew about. These were powerful nations that used chariots and horses and swords. With this in mind the foretold events could have happened while Zerubbabel was still alive.

Boice points out another possibility that was fulfilled through a series of event that prepared the world for the coming Messiah.136 The Greeks had been subjected to the rule of Persia by Cyrus around 540 B.C but in 501 B.C. about 20 years after Haggai’s prophecy, the Greeks rebelled against Persia. Darius was defeated in 490 B.C. at Marathon.137 The Greeks continued to grow stronger and under Alexander the Great the Persian empire was broken up. At the death of Alexander, the Roman empire replaced the Greek empire but the Greek language was still the common language. All of these huge changes in empires would be a literal “shaking of nations.” However there is more to come.

Would it be possible for God to work a miracle and make new rivers come into being where there were none before? Of course he could! He created the heavens and earth out of nothing and it would be nothing for him to do it again. However it would be more normal to interpret this chapter with what we do know in the Bible. Isaiah says, “For I will pour out 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” (44:3). As we have noted before The Spirit is equated with water and the land is compared with the people of the land. Thus it would be best to find a spiritual meaning regarding this river. The Holy Spirit will work in the nation of Israel in such a way so Israel will be so affected by the power of God that it will be a witness to the world of what God has done.138 This is in keeping with other verses in the Old Testament which represent the blessing of God. Psalm 46:4 says, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.” Psalm 65:9

135 This is confirmed when we read of Romans 11:27 and Hebrews 8:10 refer to this verse. 136 Boice p. 148137 At one point Darius the Persian assembled the largest army ever seen consisting of 1.8 million men. His navy was the largest ever seen but Greece defeated them. It was after the battle at Marathon as tradition says that Philippides, the courier of the news after running 26 miles said, “We have won” and then died. The marathon event that is run today is in memory of this victory. 138 There have been people who have advocated the literal interpretation. Some traditions maintain the possibility of an inexhaustible supply of water and underground reservoirs.

tells us, “You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; you greatly enrich it; the stream of God is full of water; you prepare their grain, for thus you prepare the earth.” Isaiah 33: 20, 21 say, “Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, A tent which will not be folded; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its cords be torn apart. But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us A place of rivers and wide canals On which no boat with oars will go.” After reading these verses we clearly have the impression that blessing, fertility and water are interchangeable ideas in the Old Testament. God’s Spirit is very much involved with these blessings.

Questions for Llesson sixSix1. How do we know that God spoke to non-prophets?2. Do we have any indications that the Spirit was working in people for more than a one time experience?3. How were Joshua, Eldad and Medad wrong in their thinking?4. What is the significance of the Hebrew word describing a person being clothed with the Spirit?5. Why would God use an immoral man like Samson?6. What is one gift that we often overlook or forget that is definitely a gift of the Spirit?7. What surprises us about God’s use of the pagan king Cyrus?8. What is your reaction to Kuyper’s statement which says, “There is no reason to consider Saul one of God’s elect…evidently this work of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with regeneration…for a time it may operate upon a man and then forever depart from him; while the Spirit’s saving operation, even though suspended for a time, can never be wholly lost.”9. What are three common characteristics of the Holy Spirit?10. What is the confusion people can have when reading about the spirit?

Lesson Seven -Lesson Seven – The Holy Spirit and the ProphetsThe Holy Spirit and the Prophets

In this lesson the student will:1. Understand the physical work of the prophets required the assistance of the Spirit. 2. Realize that the prophets were strongly opposed. 3. Recognize that it is not always easy to understand the work of the prophet. 4. Appreciate the closethe close relationship of Spirit and oil.

People often think that the difference between the major and minor prophets is that the minor are less inspired than the major. We must refrain from thinking this way. All of the prophets are equally inspired by the Holy Spirit. An artisan can use his skills to make a toilet or make a beautiful chandelier for the presidential suite. Some prophets are not known by name while another like Isaiah is known for quite a significant period of time. God can use a prophet in either a major or minor way. In this chapter we will first have a brief introduction to the Minor Prophets and then go on to the Major Prophets where we can find a fuller understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit.

We have already mentioned Zerubbabel in the book of Zechariah. The prophet Zechariah mentions some essential teachings about the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

Zerubbabel had been commissioned to build the temple (1:1) and he was facing some major problems. Boice comments, “He was fighting lethargy, smallness of vision, and lack of faith within Israel. Without, he was fighting the determined opposition and evil cunning of God’s enemies.”139 God is reminding both Zerubbabel and the people that the building of the temple was not going to be accomplished by just human effort. It would take the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to finish this task. The “mighty mountain” (4:7) refers to the obstacles that Zerubbabel faced. God assures him that these will be taken completely away. Verses 7 and 9 guarantee the people that the temple will be finished. Verse 7 speaks of the “top stone” which is the last stone to be put in place thus finishing the construction. The finished result is mentioned again by the words, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it” (v.9). The building of the temple took about four years. The Holy Spirit was not magically going to finish the temple. Zerubbabel and others had to work consistently day by day until the project was done. It took human determination and persistence to complete the work. This verse teaches that when we succeed in a task working for God we are ultimately prosperous because God has helped us through the work of the Holy Spirit.

139 (Boice J. M., 1986, p. 177)Boice J. M., 1986, p. 177

Another verse found in Zechariah 12:10 says, “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” Due to the New Testament references to this verse we will immediately identify with the crucifixion of Jesus. The Old Testament Jew would have known nothing about the person of Jesus. However this idea would have at least meant that Yahweh would help them in their deepest time of need. The Spirit is called “the Spirit of grace and of supplication.” Indeed through Zechariah, the Israelites would have understood the Holy Spirit as their comforter and someone to whom they could ask for help.

Micah had a very unpleasant work to do. He said, “On the other hand I am filled with power-- With the Spirit of the LORD-- And with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel his sin (3:8). First of all Micah knew that it was the Spirit who worked in him. It was not just some impulse or desire in his ability or strength. It seems to me that if he would have had his own way, he would not have spoken to his own people in this way. Second, the purpose of the Spirit using Micah was to remind the Jews that they were in rebellion against God.

Third, this rebellion was noticed by God and God had to punish his people. The charge ourage was twofold. Micah had to tell the people that judgement was coming and it was encouragement for the people to remain firm in spite of the judgment. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit in Micah was to warn the people of coming judgment. This role is seen in other prophets as well.

Micah and Isaiah were contemporary prophets in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. It was during this time that the 10 northern tribes were taken away in captivity. In the beginning the prophets were saying God is going to punish you for your sin. Micah was told by the people not to say such things. So it was in the context of false prophets who cried peace (3:5), God’s prophets were told not to speak (2:6). "Do not prophesy," their prophets say. "Do not prophesy about these things; disgrace will not overtake us. Is it being said, O house of Jacob: 'Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these His doings?' Do not My words do good To the one walking uprightly” (v.7)?

It seems to me that the tone of the passage is Micah’s anger. In essence he was very irritated that anyone should hinder him speaking and thus prevent the message of God from being heard. The LXX agrees with my understanding by interpreting “impatient” as “provoked to anger.” Micah is angry that people would even think they could control what the Spirit said. While Micah may not have liked the message that he had to proclaim, it was still the word of God and was angry that the people did not listen to him. Will not the Holy Spirit do exactly what he says he will do? The answer is “Yes” because God will do whatever he wants to do and nothing will stop him.

The opposition to his message makes Micah only more persistent in his message. He knows he is right. He knows that it is God speaking through him. There is nothing that will prevent him from giving this message. He knew right from wrong, he knew nothing can resist God’s power, and had the authority to tell people they were doing wrong.

We have read of the Spirit working in Micah and non-prophets. The Spirit gives the ability and determination to finish a task. The Spirit was known as a Spirit of comfort and the prophets knew it was the Spirit speaking through them. It is obvious that the Spirit can work in anyone he wants but he is deliberate in his selection of with whom he works. This limitation is one of the differences in how the Spirit works in the Old the New Testaments. For those of us who understand the present work of the Holy Spirit, it is hard to understand this concept. Paul is quite clear that, “No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). This means that all who profess Jesus as their Savior have the Holy Spirit in them. This is not evident in the Old Testament. Now let us move on to one of the more well-known prophets as Isaiah.

Smeaton makes a remarkable statement when he says, “Isaiah has scattered throughout his prophecies allusions to the Spirit so manifold and various, in express description and in brief turns of phrase, that it might not be difficult to put together, from his word, the complete doctrine of the Spirit.”140 Let us look at several of these passages.

Isaiah speaks of the Holy Spirit in several places. God shows us that he supplied Israel with the Spirit during their wilderness wanderings. “Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them… like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name” (Isaiah 63:11, 14). The combination of these two verses and the using of the word “rest” indicate that the Holy Spirit was not only with the Israelites during their desert travels but also in the land of Canaan. When the Jews were led out of Egypt they were promised a rest. That future rest has often referred to the coming time when they would be in Canaan. It was through the Holy Spirit’s guidance that Israel knew that God was leading, guiding and protecting them. This made Israel’s sin of rejecting God all the more heinous because it was a clear rebuffing of God’s commands” (v.10). This may well give us some further understanding why God was so angry with Israel because they were rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit among them. The Old Testament people did not know the full implications of this because it is in the New Testament we are taught the seriousness of the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet it must be understood that we are talking about the same Spirit in both testaments.

The first time the word ruah is used in Isaiah is found in 2:22 where it says, “Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils.” The context gives ruah the meaning of the air that we breath and does not refer to the Holy Spirit. The same word is used in Isaiah 11 and is

140 Smeaton p. 32

the first place where the Holy Spirit is mentioned. We have mentioned previously that the “Spirit of the Lord” is equivalent to the Holy Spirit. It is also noteworthy that the personal pronoun “He” is used giving us the understanding that the Holy Spirit is a person.

Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

Some people have a difficult time understanding the reference to Jesse. Jesse was never a king but of course David, who was king, was the son of Jesse. It may well be that the Jews understood even at this early date that through this royal family the Messiah would come. Indeed the dynasty of Jesse had been reduced to almost nothing. The Assyrians had boasted of their own power (Isaiah 10: 5-11). For centuries the Davidic family had been without real power. Grogan says, “There was still life in the house through, for God’s purpose had not been set aside. The Branch is now fully messianic. God’s people need more than the promise of fertile land or of continued national life through the remnant. They need the very incarnation of God’s life in the Messiah.”141 There was no king or leader who could fulfill this role perfectly with the exception of a divine person. This is further brought out in the description that follows.

The leader in Isaiah 11 will be guided by the “Spirit of the Lord.” The leader will have a long list of abilities that go beyond what is normal in a human being. He will have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord. The divine abilities are also described as being able to make decisions on more than he is able to see and hear physically. Finally, this leader is able to exercise far more than just physical power for it says, “With the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” Thus the judgments and fairness of the earth mentioned has to be in the absolute sense of God himself.142 So this shoot of Jesse will be more than just a normal human being. He will be endowed with superhuman abilities which could be no less than a divine being, a future Messiah.

One disputed interpretation of verse three says the Messiah, “Will cause to smell with delight.” This may not be an altogether wrong understanding. The idea of smell goes beyond what a person sees or hears and can refer to an attitude or perception. Oswalt says, “Somehow this king will go deeper than that and will pierce beneath appearances to the underlying reality. This is a sweeping promise, for, as Young observes, absolute justice demands absolute knowledge. In this light, it must be obvious that that king for whom Isaiah looks is more than a new edition of the present monarchy. Rather, he looks for a radically 141 (Grogan, 1986, p. 87)Grogan, 1986, p. 87142 Cf. Isaiah 9:7; 11:10 The earth assumes the whole world.

different kind of kingship.”143 It is difficult not to understand this passage as referring to a divine person. Of course all of this is a description of the Spirit of the Lord, thus we have a clearer understanding of the Holy Spirit as divine.

Chapter 11 of Isaiah also brings in a future aspect of this leader/servant that is found in other places. The leader, on whom the Spirit of the Lord, is the same as the servant on whom God will put his Spirit. Verse one says, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse.” Isaiah 42:1 tells us, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” We must not forget Isaiah 61: 1-3 which says, “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 from darkness 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. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” This has to be in the future because Israel was not experiencing such a ruler at that time. The leader who will “preach good news,” “bind up the broken hearted,” and “comfort all who mourn” is all forward looking. It will be a time when Israel will be called “Oaks of righteousness.” We know this passage well because Jesus used it to describe his own ministry.

Listed above are those references in which the Spirit of God is clearly identified as being involved with his servant. There could also be many other texts in which the ministry of the Spirit is clearly implied or referred to, but using other terms than the Spirit of God.

We just mentioned Isaiah chapter 42:1-9 where in fuller context it says, "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law. Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it, I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I am the LORD, that is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."

143 Oswalt p. 281

About this passage another author says, “No clearer statement of the intimate interworking of the triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and especially of the Spirit’s powerful role can be found in the Old Testament than in Isaiah’s prophecy of the Servant of the Lord (Is. 42:1–9). The passage summarizes the redeeming work of all three Persons of the Trinity in the salvation of the lost. Thus it ties together in remarkable harmony both the Old Testament and New Testament understandings of God’s grace. It also sheds light on our understanding of the Holy Spirit.”144

Verse one has the Lord’s Servant in the emphatic position. This means that whatever the passage may refer to, the central theme has to do with God’s Servant. The passage indicates that this Servant is not just any one who serves God but a special person that God himself must select. This idea is confirmed by the word “Chosen” which is an adjective describing the servant in whom God delights.

At times it is difficult for the reader to clearly understand what the author is saying. Young says, “The verb,[delight] although [in the] perfect [tense], need not necessarily refer only to one act, namely the moment of the servant’s call, but may just as well express the continued delight God finds in His servant. The New Testament uses this expression of Christ Himself (cf. Matt.3:17 and 17:5).”145 Sometimes there are assumptions that are not specifically identified but something that everyone knows by just growing up in that culture. This may be the case of the understanding of the word “Delight.” God’s delight in his servant was continued and ongoing and not off and on as it was so often done in the Old Testament.

While this understanding is true, the Old Testament people could not have known that it referred specifically to Christ because Jesus had not yet come. At the same time Young says, “To endue the servant for his work, God has placed His Spirit upon him. The Spirit is a divine force and supernatural power who equips the recipient to perform his task.146

Isaiah 34:16 says, “Look in the scroll of the LORD and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.” This verse is in the context of God speaking to the nations. “Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it! The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter” (vv.1,2). The chapter goes on to explain how God will deal with the nations, the animals and the environment. He will destroy them, the land will be desolate and become a desert. Then in verse 16 we read, “His Spirit will gather them together.” Isaiah is telling us two things. The first is that God controls all the nations and the events occurring that affect them. The second is that the Holy Spirit is the executor.

144 (The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, 2017)The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, 2017145 (Young, 1972, p. 110)Young, 1972, p. 110146 (E.J.Young, 1969, p. 110)E.J.Young, 1969, p. 110 He also hasas a footnote , “He combinations of spirit and upon him is found elsewhere only in 11:2-4. This is clearly a Messianic characteristic.

Isaiah 30:1 says, "Woe to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin.” What is the sin Israel committed? It was relying on Egypt to help them and refusing the comfort of God. Since God is chastising Israel for not obeying the Spirit it would stand to reason that Israel knew that God, through the Spirit, was leading them. Israel did not have the knowledge of the Spirit as we do now but God holds them responsible for what they did know and thus come under judgment.

Isaiah presents us with some other difficulties. Some verses are harder to interpret. In the following passage do we understand the Holy Spirit as the subject or object of the sentence? Isaiah 48:16 says, “Come near to Me, listen to this: from the first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit." The King James Version says, “Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” The writers of the King James Version make the Spirit and the Lord as the subjects the former make the Spirit as an object. Grammatically it would seem that both interpretations could be correct without doing violence to the meaning. Young says, “If the Spirit is subject, the teaching is that the Lord together with His Spirit has sent the servant. If, on the other hand, the words are object, then the verse teaches that the Lord has sent the servant and also has sent His Spirit. We incline toward this latter position, for the subject is made emphatic by being placed before the verb…The words and his Spirit in any case are in somewhat subordinate position. If taken as an object, then the conjunction would probably have the force together with, and the teaching would be that the servant did not come alone but that his entire ministry was in the power of the Spirit, a definite Messianic concept.” 147 From this perspective it would make sense since Isaiah is sent by God, the Spirit is also sent by God. Whatever side you wish to take, your position would not discredit the deity of the Holy Spirit.

Then we have the argument that stresses the Holy Spirit as the subject. This seems to be the way the prophet understands it. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.” The work that Zerubbabel was going to do had to be accomplished by the person of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is connected with God doing something and thus would point to personhood rather than just a power. Thomas says, “The Spirit is always a Person in activity not an influence at a distance from God Himself, and not a substance communicated to man.”148 When we learn about God in the Old Testament we hear about a living and personal God who is involved with the prophets as they speak for God. In the Old Testament we do not have the full clear revelation of the Spirit as a distinct Person as we do in the New Testament. But it is clear that the Spirit, due to his close association with God, is divine in the sense of the complete sacredness of God. “He is inviolable and separate from all

147 (E.J.Young, 1969, p. 259)E.J.Young, 1969, p. 259148 Thomas p. 16

defilement.”149 It would seem that the word “holy” is an emphasis on the character of God that few people would understand. It is possible that God gave David and Isaiah the ability to comprehend God in this way. We can interchange the words “heart” and “spirit”, but we have no place where “Holy Spirit” can be exchanged with another phrase. This further explains “holy” in its exclusive sense. It is natural and correct to connect the place where the Spirit of God is mentioned with the Holy Spirit. Surely the Bible is talking about the same Spirit but we do not have the precise identification as we do with other words.

We need to make some further comment on Isaiah 48 which says, "Come near to me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and His Spirit" (16). The context informs us that God long ago had declared what would happen if Israel turned away from him. God knew that Israel would be stubborn (v.4), treacherous (v.8), and rebellious (8). In spite of all of this, God was loving and compassionate to his people. He delayed his anger and restrained his judgments so that the people would not be cut off (v.9). God reminds Israel that he is the creator (v.13) and he will not give his glory to any other being (10). Although the Jews knew all of this they did not listen to God through his prophets, God is going to punish them. Israel could have been prosperous. The prophet says, “If only you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, and your offspring like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence" (vv.18, 19). Obviously Israel did not continue to be well-off because they disobeyed God. All of these events and activity are in the context of God sending his Spirit. It is clear that the Holy Spirit was present during creation through the whole time of the prophets.

To summarize there have been two different views on how to interpret 48:16. Are the words and his Spirit part of the subject, or are they to be construed as an object? If the Spirit is subject, the teaching is that the Lord together with His Spirit has sent the servant. If, on the other hand, the words are object, then the verse teaches that the Lord has sent the servant and also sent His Spirit.”150

It seems more natural for me to understand the Spirit as the object of who was sent. Both the servant and the Spirit were sent by God.151 The next verse says, “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17). In the minds of Israel, the names “Redeemer” and Holy One of Israel” would signify a future freedom that at present they do not enjoy. This would signify a Messiah or a promised one who would come into the world. Some people may say this is too much to get out of one verse.

149 (Gesenius, 1910, p. 871)Gesenius, 1910, p. 871150 (E.J.Young, 1969, p. 259)E.J.Young, 1969, p. 259151 This idea would be validated by the New Testament because Jesus clearly says he and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and guide.

Isaiah 7:14 reads, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Within this verse there are two things that would indicate to the Old Testament people that this child was beyond the ordinary child. First of all it would be a virgin who would give birth. This event would obviously be something that was beyond human imagination. It just could not be done. The only logical conclusion a person could come to was that it had to be some divine action. The second word, “Immanuel” only confirms the first idea. “Immanuel” means “God with us.” The God-action prepares us for the immediate revelation that it is God himself who will live with us.

Isaiah 32:14-20 says, “Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever, A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks; 15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field,

And the fertile field is considered as a forest. 16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness And righteousness will abide in the fertile field. 17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places; 19 And it will hail when the forest comes down, And the city will be utterly laid low.20 How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters, Who let out freely the ox and the donkey.” The Holy Spirit’s job will be to change the geography of the land. He will be affecting the growth of crops, animals and weather. The Holy Spirit will give righteousness, quietness and confidence.

Isa 41:4 “Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning?’ I, the LORD, [Jehovah] am the first, and with the last. I am He.'"152

Isaiah 42:1-3 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.”

Isa 44:2-4 Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, 'Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour out 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; And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.'

Isa 61:1-3 153 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim

152 Compare Isaiah 41:4; 44:6;48:12153 Luke 4:18 uses this reference to apply it to Jesus. It is a very clear New Testament reference that ties together anointing and the Spirit.

liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” As we have considered before the Holy Spirit is closely related to God. So much so that sometimes the Spirit and Jehovah are used interchangeably. At the same time we must maintain that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are two different persons. The Spirit gave enablement to bring good news, pronounce God’s judgment, give comfort, encouragement so that people would be like trees firmly rooted. All of this was for the purpose of bringing glory to God. 154

Oswalt points out, “That anything worthy of the term “god” must be more than the system itself. Since these beings are incapable of independent activity, they are not gods.”155 Isaiah’s emphasis is that Yahweh is not just another god. He is supreme and who will not give his glory to another person or thing. By inference then the Spirit, who guided God’s servant the Messiah, would be considered more than just an impersonal spirit.

Many places in Isaiah the concept of servant is applied to the nation Israel. Isaiah 41:8, 9 says, "But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend, You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.” In these two verses Israel, Jacob, and Abraham the father of nations are all equated as Israel. Servant in this case is a very broad term indicating the nation of Israel.

When we come to Isaiah 42:1-9 we sense a hard to prove change in how he writes. Oswalt calls it, “An atmospheric change at these four places in the text (here; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12. It is difficult to define that change, yet most readers will acknowledge it. The language becomes more exalted and sweeping; the Servant is either left unidentified or identified in the broadest terms…All four instances the person being addressed or described is identified as the Lord’s Servant.”156 I believe that part of this sense that Oswalt is trying to describe is the overall common sense to tie together all the ideas of Servant, Messiah, and Holy Spirit. Obviously the Spirit and the Messiah are not the same person but very closely connected.Isaiah says in chapter 9 that, “Someone who would “break the yoke of their burdens” (4), will see a great light (v.2), be on the throne of David that would last forever” (v.7), bring justice to the nations (42:1), and bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners” (61:1). All of these verses together give a hope and a future that someday there would be someone who would rescue Israel. Again the Spirit and the Servant are so closely identified with God that they could be no less than deity. The “Forever” puts the emphasis that this is no ordinary human servant.

154 These characteristics bring to mind Ephesians chapter 3 where each of the three Persons of the Godhead have their role in our salvation. All of their roles are for the one purpose which is to glorify God. 155 (Oswalt, 1986)Oswalt, p. 107156 Ibid. Oswalt p. 107

The Holy Spirit and the use of oil and water.

Water, oil and the Holy Spirit are often mentioned in connection with each other. However there is a tendency to emphasize this more often than the Old Testament itself. Preachers and teachers are often talking about the Holy Spirit and oil but the Old Testament does not directly associate these two very often. With what frequency do we apply the word spirit or even its concept directly to the Holy Spirit? Why is there a discrepancy in our thinking and what we say? I think it comes down to an assumption. These assumptions can be influenced by our own personal ideas or swayed by our culture. What am I taking about?

Whenever we come into contact with another language or culture we find quite a few differences. There are variances in how we think, act and speak. It does not take long for someone to ask, “Why do you do it or say it that way?” The response may be a simple, “I don’t know.” A person may give you a look that says something like, “Why would you even think of asking that question?” You might as well have asked them to make gold out of water. Certain ideas and actions are presumed to be expected. This may be the case with the Jewish idea of the use of oil in certain cases like the anointing of kings, priests and prophets.

In Old Testament history we have seen other leaders such as Moses, Joshua, the leaders of Israel, Judges, and Saul all being set apart for leadership by the anointing oil. The Hebrew word משח masha means “to anoint.” The word is used to describe kings being set apart, the high priest reserved for a special office, the pagan king Cyrus as a special instrument of God, and finally to Christ himself who is the Messiah. The Greek word χριστος christos is translated “Christ.” This setting apart did not make the leaders perfect. We have examples of David, Solomon and Saul failing to live a life that was pleasing to God. The anointing process of prophets, priests and kings was a precursor to the ultimate perfect prophet, priest and king: Jesus. The word Messiah means the anointed one. Thus many times we have scripture referring to these leaders as the anointed ones. The word “messiah” can be used in general terms to describe people being set apart by God for various unique purposes. However the prophet Daniel uses the word to apply to a future Messiah who would deliver Israel. "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress” (9:25). The Old Testament people would not know that this Messiah would be in the person of Jesus but they knew there would be a person who would fulfill this role.

One place that shows the close association of the Spirit and oil is found in 1Samuel 16:13. This verse says, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” Definitely we have the metaphor of oil as the Spirit’s presence upon David. It would also mean that David was able to accomplish all his great feats through and by the Spirit of the Lord. We find the same idea when Saul of anointed. Writing about Saul Samuel says, “Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, "Has not the LORD anointed you a

ruler over His inheritance” (1 Samuel 10:1)? Then several verses later we read, “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man…When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them” (vv. 6,10).

What was significant about the use of oil? I will give a significant quote from Ralph Davis where he says, “The “use of oil in diplomacy, business contracts, nuptial rites, and manumissions slaves gives anointing a contractual or covenantal meaning. The person or persons performing the anointing pledge themselves to the recipient and were obligated to him. Hence, when someone was anointed at God’s command, it meant that God obligated himself to the king. The secular anointing [e.g. 2 Sam, 5:3 though is hardly secular when it is “before Yahweh], is the people’s way of pledging fidelity to the king; the sacral anointing expresses Yahweh’s obligation to the monarch or his election of him. Thus Samuel’s anointing of David at Yahweh’s direction places the whole following context under an umbrella of divine promise and blessing.”157 In other words the oil was a physical sign of a spiritual connection between the divine and human. This was the assumption of the Jewish mind. For anyone to question this was considered to be out of touch with reality. The writers of the Old Testament did not have to explain this every time oil was used. We are very fortunate in that God did inspire Samuel to tell us of the connection of oil to the Spirit of the Lord.

We need to identify oil is olive oil and not the kind of oil used in machinery and cars. This olive oil was used for food and to burn to give light (Exodus 27:20, 21), the consecration of priests (Leviticus 8:30), a lotion for skin and ointment for the hair (Psalm 23:5), and not only a symbol for healing but healing itself (Leviticus 14: 1-18). Isaiah says, “From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil” (1:6). The words “oil” and “raw wounds” clearly shows the relationship between oil and healing. We need to recognize that Exodus 30:22-33 gives us the special God-given recipe for the anointing oil. It was to be used only for that purpose (v.32).

In 1 Samuel 16:13 we have the word “descendants” which is in the plural indicating more than one person. It is quite certain that the people of the Old Testament did not fully understand the Holy Spirit coming upon groups of people. One exception was when the Spirit came upon the 70 elders in the time of Moses but this did not happen as a common experience. As New Testament people we can look back and understand that from the Holy Spirit’s perspective this passage could be an opaque reference to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon many people at one time.158

157 (D. R. Davis p. 173)D. R. Davis p. 173158 1 John 2:20-27 is a wonderful passage where you can study the relationships of the Spirit, anointing as a definite past and continuing event. The plural is used indicating that Christians have the common possession of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 44:3 says, “For I will pour out 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.” One of the principles we must never forget in Hebrew writing is their penchant for parallelism. So we have “Water” and “Land”, “streams” and “Ground”, and “Spirit” and “Descendants.” It is also interesting to note that Isaiah uses the word “pour” and not “sprinkle.” This would indicate the idea of abundance. Psalm 133:2 gives this same idea of lavishness. “It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.” There is so much oil used that it does not stay on top of the head. It spills down on to his face beard, then on to his robe and to the ground.

In chapter 48 Isaiah says, "Come near to me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and His Spirit"(16). The context informs us that God long ago had declared what would happen if Israel turned away from him. God knew that Israel would be stubborn (v.4), treacherous (v.8), and rebellious (8). In spite of all of this God was loving and compassionate to his people. He delayed his anger and restrained his judgments so that the people would not be cut off (v.9). God reminds Israel that he is the creator (v.13) and he will not give his glory to any other being (10). Although the Jews knew all of this they did not listen to God through his prophets and God is going to punish them. Israel could have been prosperous. The prophet says, “If only you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence" (vv.18, 19). Obviously Israel did not continue to be well-off because they disobeyed God. The biblical writers wrote into situations they knew about. They did not have to explain to the people because it was their culture. For those of us reading today it is not always so easy to understand. So while the authors did not always exaplain what was going on we have to understand what is beingAn unwritten yet necessary understanding must be said. An unwritten yet necessary understanding must be said here. here. In a passage like this one, we need to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who is speaking through the prophet. In this passage we have Isaiah speaking of rivers, [the continuous] waves of the sea, [unlimited] sand, one grain that produces hundreds of grains, and a name that will never be cut off. We have the clear idea of abundance and eternity. These blessings could have been Israel’s if they had obeyed God. The mention of “rivers” may be an allusion to the work of the Holy Spirit to produce all of these blessings. It is important to say “allusion” because the Holy Spirit is not mentioned directly in this passage and must not become the main focus in its teaching.

Holy Spirit and the Messiah

We have already dealt with Isaiah chapters 11 and 48 where we have a remarkable list of actions and characteristics of a future redeemer of Israel. Chapter 42 speaks of God’s chosen one who will bring justice. The underlining thought is perfect justice. Chapter 61 gives us an amazing picture of the hope Israel can have through his servants.

Chapter 9 tells us of someone who would “break the yoke of their burdens” (4), will see a great light (v.2), and be on the throne of David that would last forever (v.7). Isaiah speaks of God’s Servant, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1). Finally Isaiah declares, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1). All of these verses together give a hope and a future that someday there would be someone who would rescue Israel. Many times the word “anoint” was used with reference to the time when a man was anointed a king, priest or prophet. Israel had the expectation that God would send a special person who would be able to fulfill these hopes.

In all of the above references the Spirit of God is clearly identified. These passages mention the Servant of God, the anointing, and the Chosen One. All of these ideas are stated in such a way that there is an understanding that they all refer to the coming Messiah. If you are reading the Old Testament for the first time this idea of continuity is a gradual understanding of what is presented about the Messiah. It is an idea that can be missed very easily.

From this chapter let us attempt to draw some conclusions about the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the prophets in the Old Testament. The foundations for the person and work of the Holy Spirit are laid down for us. We are introduced to the concepts of redemption, giving rest to Israel, the authority of the prophets, the deity of Israel, and that the prophets spoke with authority. We are told that God sent his Spirit, has continued delight his servant and controls all the nations and the events. There is a future hope that the Spirit would work in a more universal way. Like oil flowing down a robe, the Spirit would be given in abundance to God’s people. Finally the Holy Spirit would be very involved with the future Messiah.

Questions for Lesson Seven1. What is a misunderstanding people have of the major and minor prophets?2.What were some of the problems Zerubbabel was facing?3. Why is Smeaton enthralled by the prophet Isaiah?4. Why was Israel’s rejecting the guidance of the Holy Spirit such a bad thing?5. How do we know that the servant mentioned in Isaiah 11 is more than a normal human being?7. What are we told about the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 32:14-20?8. What is significant about the Holy Spirit and David in n 1Samuel 16:13. 9. What is the significance of the use of the word “pour” when referring to the Holy Spirit?10. What is the overall reaction of Israel when they read of Isaiah’s descriptions of the future servant?

Lesson Eight – The Longevity of the Holy Spirit working in People

In this lesson the student will:1. Be instructed in the importance of the context in which the word “Spirit”WORD?? Spirit is used. 2. Study how the prophets viewed the Spirit’s work. 3. Learn some of the meaning of Hebrew words to help us remember how the Spirit works. 4. Comprehend David’s anxiety about the Spirit leaving him.

In this final lesson we come to the impetus of the whole course. This motivation has to do with the question of how long did the Holy Spirit work in people? Do we have any indication that the Holy Spirit resided in people for a long time or even permanently? It is not an easy task to know this for certain. Even when we firmly believe that we must go back to the original languages and culture we are restricted in our understanding. First of all we are restricted by how much we know of the culture of the Old Testament. Second, we are all limited and controlled by our own culture and language. Third, since we are living in the New Testament times, we think what we know today is the same as what the Old Testament people understood. Some of the information we had to process is the following. We had to understand who the Holy Spirit is as God and a true Person. We had to study how the Holy Spirit worked in and through people including the prophets. We found out that the “Spirit of the Lord” and the Holy Spirit are the same. For some of you it may have come as a surprise that the Holy Spirit is mentioned only three times in the Old Testament. The ideas and teachings of holiness and spirit are often mentioned but the specific combination of the two are not frequent.

In chapter two we briefly talked about the Spirit being taken away from Saul and given to David. Perhaps the first indication of the Spirit’s limited presence can be found in Genesis 6 where it says, “Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years" (v.3). Here the Lord is speaking saying that he has had enough of the sinful race. In conjunction with this statement God includes the Spirit. We need to remember that the Spirit and God are both deity. The difficulty lies in the wordדון doun meaning “rule, judge or strive.” According to Hamilton, “The translation…is far from certain” again we are “Unable to find an explanation within the Hebrew Bible of the verb in question, thus scholars have turned to related languages.159 The etymology of the word is in question. Is it Arabic, the Hebrew for “to dwell”, an ancient Greek word, or an Akadian root? Hamilton mentions, “J. Scharbert

159 (Hamilton p. 266)Hamilton p. 266

connects Heb. Yadon with Arab. dun “To be humiliated, brought low.”160 Hamilton rightly concludes the latter cannot be the correct understanding of the Spirit because while, “Man’s sins may anger and distress God but not humble or humiliate him.” 161 It seems that the correct meaning would be to strive or rule. This would result in our understanding that the Spirit will work with people for a limited time. Other translations use the word, “struggle”, “contend” and “ remain” to give the meaning of this verse. The general consensus is that there is time element involved with the Spirit’s working with people.

We think that in order to be biblically correct we need to deal with context and the context would be the book Genesis. The word Spirit is first used is in Genesis 1:2 where we read, “And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Earlier on in this course we equated the Spirit with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is clearly associated with creation which is the opposite of chaos. There is the implication that the Holy Spirit was constantly and consistently sustaining the universe. Before creation there was chaos. After creation, in which the Holy Spirit took part there was order and consistency. It is also with the understanding that humanity was to be eternal. As we come to Genesis 6:3 there seems to be two interpretations of this verse. First we are given the limitation of man’s years to 120 but not absolutely so. Abraham lived 175 years; Isaac 180; and Jacob 147. One of the consequences of the work of the Spirit is the length of time he works in a person’s life. 162 The second understanding is that there would be 120 years before the flood. We are told that it took 120 years for Noah to build the ark. In either case the penalty for a sinful life is a shortened life with death coming at a sooner time than first planned. There is a hint that the Holy Spirit is working with people for a shorter time when compared to eternity.

God’s view changed 180 degrees in Genesis 6:5 is when it is contrasted with Genesis 1:31. The latter verse says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” The former verse says, “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The distinction between these two is appalling and amazing. It was such a horrific change that God decided to end his period of mercy. The thought here is that God will not forever tolerate the consequences of sin. Thus we have the story of the universal flood.

It would seem that there is a withdrawal of the Holy Spirit because chaos reigned again in that every form of life was destroyed apart from Noah and those in the ark with him. It seems that the Spirit is the one who sustains life, so withdraw it would mean the end of life. God

160 Ibid. p. 266161 Ibid. p. 266162 Psalm 90:10 “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.” By the time king David arrives, it seems that the human life expectancy is 70 years.

was still sovereign in this chaos but life had to begin again. It seems possible that the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the world so God could order it to be destroyed. The Holy Spirit brought order back again and then once again work in people. Let us take a look at two passages. Nehemiah 9:30 says, “However, You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.” Asaph laments, “They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name. They said in their heart, "Let us completely subdue them." They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land. We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, nor is there any among us who knows how long” (Psalm 74: 7-9). Nehemiah led Israel after the Exile. Asaph speaks of a time of hopelessness and destruction. Both passages speak of prophets. In the first passage the people would not listen to them; in the second the prophets were no longer around. Nehemiah says that because the people would not listen to the Holy Spirit judgment came upon them. Asaph cries that the prophet is no more. It is possible that the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn or at least severely restricted from working in Israel for a period of time. This passage also points to a period when the Holy Spirit was working for a lengthy time with the Israelites saying, “You bore with them for many years and admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets.” Was this knowledge known only by the special revelation of the Spirit to Nehemiah or did the Israelites know of this in general? The text does not tell us directly. The conclusion we can draw from these verses is that there would be a time when there were no prophets. Logically this would mean that the Spirit was restricted in how he communicated to his people Israel.

Zechariah 13: 2, 3 is another passage to consider regarding the absence of the Holy Spirit. The prophet says, “It will come about in that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, 'You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD'; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.”

There are four points we need to say about this passage. First, commentators view the chapter division as a bad division. They maintain that Zechariah 12:10-14 should be included as part of the subject matter in chapter 13. Another consideration is that there are false prophets speaking at the time in which this was written and God is saying that this bad time will end. In this verse the “prophets and the unclean spirit” are closely together, if not the same. Third, there may be a person who is indeed prophesying the words of God and people are still refusing to listen to them. The only way to silence them is to kill them. Elwell has

some interesting comments concerning this saying, “The consequences of this accepted dearth of the Spirit was that the Spirit in effect became subordinated to the Law. The Spirit was the inspirer of the Law, but since the Spirit could no longer be experienced directly, the Law became the sole voice of the Spirit. It was this increasing dominance of the Law and its authoritative interpreters that provided the background for the mission of Jesus and the initial spread of Christianity.”163

The final comment regarding this passage in Zechariah is twhat Jesus says it is about him. “Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, 'I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered” (Matthew 26:31). Here is one of the few places in this course that I refer to the New Testament for proof. Jesus is the true prophet come from God and people rejected him and killed him. We can ask ourselves whether the Jews understood this message to be referring to the future Messiah? I did not find any writer who asserts this to be so. Even if they did have this expectation, there was no way they could have understood it as applying directly to Jesus. Baldwin states, “Who is the shepherd? The prophet is not explicit. Had he wished he could have drawn together the Davidic theme with that of the shepherd, but he did not do so. Nor did he identify the shepherd with the Servant of Isaiah 53, though it is likely that he had that passage in mind.”164

Consider the work of the Holy Spirit in the prophet Elisha? 2Kings 2:9 says, “When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." At the outset we must allow that all the people who were given the Holy Spirit did not have him in the same capacity. It read that one person could have more of the Spirit than another. What does “A double portion of the spirit” mean? The Contemporary English Bible interprets it as “Twice as much of your power.” While this is not an exact translation, it conveys the correct idea. When we read of the life of Elisha we find him performing more miracles than Elijah. It must be noted that most translations do not capitalize “spirit” in this verse which would indicate that the translators understand that the “spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit. This does not make sense to me for both of these men would not have been able to perform their miracles in their own strength. Obviously their actions had to be divinely undergirded. At the same time we need to remember that Elijah and Elisha performed their work by the power of the Holy Spirit. We know this by going to the lives of other people in whom God put his Spirit to perform great works. Humanly speaking, it would make sense to understand that the Holy Spirit remained with Elisha. It makes sense to realize the permanency of the Holy Spirit in

163 Elwell p. 987164 (Baldwin p. 198)Baldwin p. 198

Elisha but the passages do not require it. The frequency of the visitation of the Holy Spirit on Elisha does not add or subtract in any way the efficiency of the Holy Spirit.

When speaking of Elisha 2 Kings 2:15 says, “The Spirit of the Lord rested upon him.” What is meant by “rest?” It seems to indicate more than the Spirit coming and going in Elisha. The Hebrew word נוח nouah means “rest, settle down, and remain.”165 The same word is used to describe birds resting, of a person resting from ones enemies and feet resting in the river. It could be argued that none of these examples prove a permanency. However the very meaning of the word argues against some sort of temporariness. Lindsell affirms that we could interpret “a double portion” “As the same Spirit that had rested on Elijah was now resting on Elisha.”166 Does “Double portion” mean the Spirit coming and going more in Elisha than Elijah? It is our human sinful condition that we limit God to our understanding and in how he may or may not work. The Spirit could have come and gone in Elisha a million times and it would not tire him. The Holy Spirit is not restricted in how many times he can indwell a person. We read of Elisha performing more miracles than Elijah. It makes sense that the Holy Spirit resided more permanently in Elisha. At the same time we must not insist on this interpretation

Do we have any evidence of the permanent residency of the Spirit in a person.person? Anyone seriously taking on the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament will come across the life of David. We are impressed with the work of the Holy Spirit when we read of David’s anointing in 1 Samuel 16. In verse 13 we read, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.” It is the phrase, “The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward” that grabs our attention.

Scripture attests a remarkable work of the Spirit at the calling of David. Samuel, at the direct command of God, “Took the horn of oil and anointed him [David] in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.” However there is evidence that the Spirit was working in David before his anointing. Unlike Saul, the Scripture does not say David was given a changed heart. David’s heart was already bent towards God’s will, consequently it did not have to be changed like Saul’s. Also, unlike Saul, the Spirit came upon David, “From that day on.”167 So David, unlike other priests, prophets, and kings in the Old Testament, had the continuous presence of the Spirit in his life. As far as

165 Gesenius p. 628166 (Lindsell, 1983, p. 61)Lindsell, 1983, p. 61167

I can ascertain, this statement is applied only to David. We cannot definitely apply the idea of permanency to all other prophets such as Jeremiah, Isaiah and others. Since we take, as far as possible, the literal meaning of words we must accept that the Holy Spirit, in David, was permanent for the rest of his life.

However we have some disturbing words written by David in Psalm 51 which say, “Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (v. 11). If David had the Holy Spirit permanently what is he talking about when he speaks of the Spirit being taken away? Being human, David may have had temporary blindness to the goodness of God. He may have had a brief lapse in his memory. King David is a wonderful example for us to follow and that is most likely one of the reasons why God calls him, “A man after God’s own heart.” At the same time we see David’s sinfulness and humanness throughout his life. Due to his sin, doubt entered his life.

One thing we do know is that David knew King Saul and his whole family very well. His wife was Michal, Saul’s daughter. Jonathan, Saul’s son, was David’s best friend. Militarily David understood Saul intimately for Saul pursued David relentlessly for a long time. With all of this in mind, it would be absurd to think that David did not know that God had withdrawn his Spirit from Saul.

It could be from this knowledge and experience that David said, “Do not cast me away from your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). He saw that God could take his Spirit from Saul when he was disobedient and rebellious. David did not want the same thing to happen to him. He had just committed the sins of disobedience, coveting, murder and treachery. As noted we have 1 Samuel which says, “The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward,” The next verse states that the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul. In these two verses we have the movement of the Holy Spirit from Saul to David. When we combine the two ideas of David having the Spirit from that day onward with David’s concern of the Spirit being taken away another idea forms in our minds. Perhaps David was troubled and was thinking that God would take away his kingship as he did Saul. Maybe his unease concerned the possibility of God taking away his office as king. Satan’s attacks are the same today as they were in David’s time. We are told that Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) and no doubt he was doing the same with David.

Ezekiel 11 says, “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be my people, and I shall be their God” (vv.19, 20). The least we can say is that the Old Testament writers hoped

someday for the permanent residence of the Holy Spirit. When we combine the “new heart” and a “new spirit” with the idea of walking, חלך halak, there is an idea of a more permanent way of life. Halak can have the meaning of “a continuance of an action.”168 It makes sense to understand that Ezekiel is looking forward to the time when God’s people will live a more consistent godly life. This consistency carries the sense of a more permanent situation.

Let us turn to the interpretation of the Hebrew verb ה יה hayah which means “came.” “This brings up the subject of the interpretation of the Hebrew verb. The fact that we read, “The word of the Lord came” to Ezekiel or Jeremiah over 50 times. Does this mean that the Spirit came and went every time? As mentioned before the Holy Spirit is not limited in his frequency of visitation. At the same time there is room to understand the role of the Holy Spirit as being almost continuous. John Collins has written an article that opens up the possibility of understanding the Hebrew. He says, “One of the most important disagreements is over whether or not the Hebrew verb has what we can call “tense” – that is, time reference.”169 A few sentences later on the same page he admits that some people think that, “The perfect is an aspectually simple past tense with a variety of uses.. The imperfect and the weqatal are more complex: they present an action as not completed, which usually means the future, but can also be used for the past with process aspect. ”Finally in order to be fair to Dr. Collins he says, “There can be no simple rule of thumb with respect to the appropriate English tense which may be indicated by the forms of the Hebrew verb. In practice the context is the principal guide to determining the most appropriate translation.” When we go back to our passage in Ezekiel 11: 19 and 20 we read the word “walk” as being in the imperfect tense. This would give the idea of walking or living in a way that shows a person has a new heart and mind. The context gives room to understand such passages as a continuous progressive. This passage combines the ideas of the people who have God’s spirit and who will walk in the ways of God. The word “spirit” is not capitalized but surely the Holy Spirit is implied in this because no one can live a holy life without the Holy Spirit working in him.

Of the perfect tense Weingreen says, “In Hebrew thinking, an action is regarded as being either completed or incompleted. Hebrew, therefore, knows of no past, present, or future tenses, but has instead a Perfect and an Imperfect (which, in a context, lend themselves to a variety of shades of meaning). For the time being, however, the Hebrew Perfect may be

168 Gesenius, 1910, p. 233, Harkavy p. 123169 (Collins, Verb Tenses in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, 2005, p. 1)Collins, Verb Tenses in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, 2005, p. 1

taken to represent action in the past.”170 This means that the action is completed and still existing in that state.

Four examples of this “perfect” will suffice. 1. Ezekiel 17:13 and 14 says, “He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be in subjection, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant that it might continue.” 2. Micah 3:8 says, “On the other hand I am filled with power-- With the Spirit of the LORD-- And with justice and courage To make known to Jacob his rebellious act, Even to Israel his sin. 3. Isaiah 4:2 says, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 4. Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners.”171

The underlined words are in the Perfect tense. All of these verses refer to the Spirit who is upon a person. Granted that some of these verses are referring to Jesus so we need to appeal to the grammar at hand and how the prophets spoke. By combining Weingreen’s comments with these verses, we can suggest that the Spirit is on that person and condition remains for at least a period of time. Concerning the Perfect as a simple tense, Collins, a Covenant Seminary professor says, “The verb form presents the action as having simply been done, even if it is a process or a complex of actions. (Do not confuse this with the erroneous notions of “punctiliar,” “done in an instant,” or “once for all”172 The use of “process” and “complex” could point to a meaning that includes the continual process of an event or thing. The phrases, “includes the continual process of an event or thing” and “Even if it is a process or a complex of actions” only imply a continuance of an action. It is not an absolute confirmation that a person was in the continuous state of having the Spirit but it does allow the question to be asked. It would seem grammatically that there is a permitted understanding that at least some of the prophets knew of the permanent filling of the Holy Spirit.

Let us turn our attention to Haggai 2:5 which says, “'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!” There is one idea that the prophet Haggai may be suggesting and that is of the Holy Spirit remaining with a

170 (Weingreen p. 56)Weingreen p. 56171 Consider Jeremiah 32:38-40. God says he will make an everlasting covenant with his people. Combine the everlasting concept with a new heart and we have indication of a continual guidance. Ezekiel 36:26 indicates that a new heart and spirit means a new inclination of a person. Contemplate Psalm 119:33-36 where the authors use s words like, “Give me understanding,” “Make me walk,” and “Incline my heart.” In combination these words strongly indicate a continuance in the author’s life. 172 (Collins p.2)Collins p.2

person or group of people for a long time. “My Spirit is abiding (עמד ) in your midst; do not fear” (2:5)!

The Hebrew wordעמד gamad means “to stand before a person, to stay, to remain, or to endure.”173 Although the word “forever” is not used, we get the idea that the Spirit remained with Israel for a long time. The remarkable teaching here is the comparison between what the Spirit did for the Israelites when they came out of Egypt (around 1600 B.C.) and the time of Haggai (around 500 B.C.). This covers almost the whole time Israel was a nation in the Old Testament. To put it another way, “The inspiration of Haggai and Zechariah at this time was a specimen of the presence of God’s Spirit remaining still with His people, as He had been with Moses and Israel of old.”174 When we understand that the Spirit was present at the Creation of the world, the clear teaching is that the Holy Spirit was working throughout the whole Old Testament. While not absolutely definitive the fact that the Holy Spirit was permanent with the Israelites, the same idea could very well be applied to certain individuals. Is there further proof to this idea?

Let us go back to Haggai 2:5 and the word gamad which means “to remain or endure.” In Hebrew the word is written as a Qal participle. How does this help us in understanding the work of the Holy Spirit. The Qal of “to remain” is simply “remain. What is a participle? Young says, “Participles express not only the original act of creation but also the creative power of God as exercised in the continued existence of His works.”175 Another author, Gesenius, says, “The participle when construed as a verb expresses a single and comparatively transitory act, or relates to particular cases, historical facts, …while the participle construed as a noun indicates repeated, enduring, or commonly occurring acts, occupations, and thoughts.”176 Let us put these definitions together. Young says, “The continued existence of his works” and Gesenius says, “repeated, enduring…acts.” Since we assume the normal meaning of words, we understand that the Spirit remained with Israel the entire time of the Old Testament. The fact that the work of the Holy Spirit is not always seen is no indication that he is not present. We must assert that indeed the Holy Spirit is working all the time.

The LXX interprets this passage by using the perfect active indicative. The perfect tense conveys the idea of a complete action existing in that state of completion. “Active” is an action that is going on. The “indicative” tells us that the action is a fact – that it is real. When we apply this information to the Holy Spirit, we understand him to be existing with the nation

173 (Harkavy, 1914, p. 529)Harkavy, 1914, p. 529174 (Jamieson, 1997, p. 713)Jamieson, 1997, p. 713175 Young p. 117176 (Gesenius, 1910, p. 357)Gesenius, 1910, p. 357

of Israel. The translator does not use the present tense which would indicate an action that is continuous but the perfect would “imply” that this action is ongoing. The LXX information does not answer with finality the question of the permanence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament but allows for it without contradicting the rest of scripture.

Isaiah 11:2 says, “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” The meaning of “Rest on Him” is interesting. The word נוח nouah “rest” means “to settle down.” The word is used to describe a home where people will remain for a long time. This is one of the passages that gave hope to the Jews that a future Messiah would come to rescue them. As New Testament people we know this verse is referring to Jesus. We know that Jesus has the Holy Spirit permanently (Luke 4:18) but for our purposes we cannot apply this meaning specifically to the Jesus because Jesus had not come yet.

We have another reference to rest in Numbers 11:16-29 where we find that the Spirit, who was on Moses, rested on the 70 leaders. There seems to be an implicit understanding of permanence or at least for a long time but we cannot be assertive about this. Logically it would seem that these leaders would have the Spirit on them all the time because they would continually have to make decisions as presented to them.

What about Bezalel? Exodus 31 says, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship” (vv.2-5). Bezalel did not build the tabernacle overnight. We do not know exactly how long it took to build the tabernacle but the Spirit had to have been with Bezalel the whole time that he worked. Humanly speaking it would make sense to think the Holy Spirit was with Bezalel the whole time and it does not violate other scriptures to think this way.

Do we have evidence for the permanent possession of the Spirit at least in some of the selective people upon whom He comes? I would maintain an affirmative answer. I am aware that there could be a difference between understanding that a task is life long and the Spirit being in or on a person for his whole life. I don’t think we can separate the two. If the Holy Spirit gives a person a lifelong work then it necessitates the Holy Spirit to work with that person his whole life in order to work effectively. That is why I think some prophets like Elisha, "the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him" (2 Kings 2:15) means more than a coming and going all the time. We will always have the questions, “Why does the Spirit work in just

these people and not others?” and “Why does there seem to be a longer working in some people and not others?” The bottom line on this is that the Scriptures are silent in this matter. God has decided to give us certain information and that is sufficient for us. I am sure that God understood there is information that overwhelms us and would do us more harm than good. Therefore he has kept it from us.

As we close this course we need to create a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The work of the Holy Spirit is more clearly defined in the New Testament. Berkhof says, “Scripture clearly shows that not all the operations of the Holy Spirit are part and parcel of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Just as the Son of God is not only the Mediator of redemption, but also the Mediator of creation, so the Holy Spirit, as represented in Scripture, is operative, not only in the work of redemption but also in the work of creation.”177 Later on Berkhoff says, “There is nevertheless an essential difference between the operations of the Holy Spirit in the sphere of creation and those in the sphere of redemption or re-creation. In the former He originates, maintains, develop and guides the life of the natural creation, in the latter…He originates, maintains, develops, and guides the new life that is born from above.”178 In other words all the works of the Holy Spirit do not have a direct relationship to our salvation. In the same way the work of the Holy Spirit in the people of the Old Testament does not always mean they are regenerated. In the Old Testament we read of the Spirit coming and going in the lives of people. The Spirit gives people a remarkable ability to do certain things such as artistic work. In this case, the work of the Holy Spirit is not necessarily regenerative but empowerment. Thus the general distinction between the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament is the difference between regeneration and gifting but not in the absolute sense as in the case of King David. At the same time we find the prophets laying the foundation for the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Ezekiel speaks of God giving a new heart. This God enablement is what is essential for the work of the Holy Spirit in both Testaments.

We need to draw some conclusions regarding the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. It is necessary to understand the differences between the Old and New Testaments and the misconceptions people have. We also need to recommend the next step to take.

Rather than take the non-biblical view that the Holy Spirit was not present in the Old Testament we must insist that he was active in creation and all throughout the Old Testament. This presence can be understood with the mention of the work of the Spirit from Genesis to Malachi. In order to accomplish his will, God worked in godly and ungodly people whenever he

177

178

wished. The Spirit is the same person who works in the present time and in the time of the Old Testament. The Spirit restricted himself to how often and the length of time he worked with people. We must maintain that these restrictions were not in any way due to an inability on his part. Since the Holy Spirit is God, he chose when, where, through whom and for how long he was to work with a person. There is only one place in all of the Old Testament where God tells us that the Spirit was with with a person until the end of his life. This was in the case of King David. In all situations, the Holy Spirit was accomplishing God the Father’s sovereign will of redeeming his people. Sometimes this work was obvious and at other events it was painfully difficult to understand. We must avoid at all costs teaching the error that people in the Old Testament knew as much about the Holy Spirit as we do today for this would contradict some teachings we have in the New Testament.

A logical further step in the study of the Holy Spirit would be to observe how the New Testament writers understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Some of the same passages about the Holy Spirit that have been studied in this course should now be seen through the advent of Jesus. Of necessary importance is the truth that the Gospels and Epistles were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Thus this kind of interpretation would give us a sound and valid foundation of how the Holy Spirit works in the churches today.

Lesson Eight Questions.1. Where do we find a possible first hint to the limitation of the presence of the Holy Spirit?2. What drastic change do we find between Genesis 1:31 and 6:5”3. What do Nehemiah and Asaph have in common that may indicate at least a temporary withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the people?4. Why does it seem correct the think Elisha had the Spirit with him all the time?5. How does the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “remain” help us understand the duration of the Holy Spirit?6. What evidence do we have that the Spirit was permanently in one person?7. How does Ezekiel’s use of the word “to walk” help us in understanding the permanency of the Holy Spirit?8. What is the significance of Micah saying, “I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord” in the perfect tense?9. How does the New Testament’s application of Isaiah 11:2 show the permanence of the Holy Spirit residing in a person?10. What is the relationship of the Spirit and the 70 leaders God chose for Moses? than good. Therefore he has kept it from us.

Biography

Bibliography

Bavinck, Herman. The Doctrine of God. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.Berkhof, L. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: WM.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969.Boice, James. Foundations of the Christian Faith. Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1986.Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.Bowman, Robert M. IRR.org. n.d. 26 October 2017. <http://mit.irr.org/mormonism-and-holy-ghost>.Buswell, J. Oliver. A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1968.Carter, Charles. The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974.Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. n.d. 2 April 2018. <http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html>.Cho, Dongun. SBC Life. Summer 2017. Journal of the Southern Baptist Convention. 26 October 2017. <http://www.sbclife.net/Articles/2009/05/sla4>.Collins, John. "Verb Tenses in Biblical Hebrew Poetry." St. Louis: Covenant Theological Seminary, 2005.—. Verb Tenses in Biblical Poetry. St. Louis: Notes for the students, 2005.Davis, Ralph. 1 Samuel. Geanies House, Fearn,Rross-shire: Christian Focus Publishers Ltd, 2008.Dewar, Lindsay. The Holy Spirit and Moder Thought. London: A.R. Mowbray and Co., 1959.E.J.Young. The Book of Isaiah. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdamns, 1969.Elwell, Walter A, ed. Encyclopdia of the Bible. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997. 4 vols.Epp, Theodore. Job a Man Tried as Gold. Lincoln: Back to the Bible, 1967.Gesenius. Gesinius' Hebrew Grammar. Ed. Kaautzsch and Cowley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1910.Graham, Billy. The Holy Spirit. Waco: Word Books, 1978.Green, Michael. I Believe in the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1975.—. I Believe in the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdamns Publishing Co., 2004.Grogan, G.W. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Ed. Frank Gaebelein. Vol. 6. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. 12 vols.Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing house, 2000.Harkavy, Alexander. Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary. New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1914.Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Wm. B.Eeerdmans Publishing Co., 1970.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whold Bible. Vol. 1. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.Kohl, Ronald L., ed. The Triune God. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2014.Kuyper, Braham. The Work of the Holy Spirit. Trans. Henri De Vries. Grand Rapids, 1956.Levering, Matthew. Project Muse. 7 May 2018. <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/635961/summary>.Lexicon, The NAS Old Testament Hebrew. Bible Study Tools. 30 May 2018. <https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/ruwach-2.html>.Ligonier Ministries. n.d. 29 July 2017. <http://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/holy-spirit-old-testament/>.Lindsell, Harold. the Holy Spirit in the Latter Days. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1983.Oswalt, John. The New International commentary on the Old Testament. Ed. R.K. Harrison. Vols. Book of Isaiah ch.1-39. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1986.Payne, J. Barton. The theology of the Older Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971.Pink, AW. The Holy Spirit. Pensacola: Mt. Zion Publications, 1992-1952.Psalms of Solomon 17. n.d. http://www.mycrandall.ca. 28 November 2017.Robinson, H. Wheeler. The Christian Experience of the Holy Spirit. London: Nisbet and Co. Ltd., 1952.Smeaton, George. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1961.The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. 17 February 2017. <https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/the-holy-spirit-in-the-old-testament/>.Thomas, W.H. Griffith. The Holy Spirit of God. Eugene: Wipt and Stock Publishers, 2001.Torrey, RA. 4 April 2018. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30241/30241-pdf.pdf>.—. Gutenberg.org. n.d. 5 April 2018. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30241/30241-pdf.pdf>.Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology. Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1996.Walvoord, John F. Bible.org. n.d. <https://bible.org/seriespage/1-person-holy-spiri>.Walvoord, John F. The Holy Spirit. Findlay: Dunham Publishing Co., 1954.Warfield, B.B. Biblical and Theological Studies. Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co. , 1952.Warfield, Benjamin B. Biblical and Theological Studies. Ed. Samuel Craig. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1952.Warfield, Benjamin. Inspiration. n.d. 5 April 2018. <http://www.bible-researcher.com/warfield3.html>.Weil, Roger. Foundations of the Christian Faith. London: Grace Publications Trust, 2007.Welker, Michael. The Work of the Spirit. Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans, 2006.Williamson, G.I. The Westminster Confession of Faith. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1964.Young, E.J. The Book of Isaiah. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1972. 3 vols.

Bibliographyn.d.Bavinck, Hman. The Doctring of God. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979.Berkhof, L. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Wm.B. Eerdamand Publishing Co., 1969.Boice, James. Fouondations of the Christian Faith. Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1986.Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.Bowman, Robert M. IRR.org. n.d. 26 October 2017. <http://mit.irr.org/mormonism-and-holy-ghost>.Buswell, J. Oliver. A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1968.Carter, Charles. The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974.Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. n.d. 2 April 2018. <http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html>.Cho, Dongun. SBC Life. Summer 2017. Journal of the Southern Baptist Convention. 26 October 2017. <http://www.sbclife.net/Articles/2009/05/sla4>.Collins, John. "Verb Tenses in Biblical Hebrew Poetry." St. Louis: Covenant Theological Seminary, 2005.—. Verb Tenses in Biblical Poetry. St. Louis: Notes for the students, 2005.Davis, Ralph. 1 Samuel. Geanies House, Fearn,Rross-shire: Christian Focus Publishers Ltd, 2008.Dewar, Lindsay. The Holy Spirit and Moder Thought. London: A.R. Mowbray and Co., 1959.E.J.Young. The Book of Isaiah. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdamns, 1969.Elwell, Walter A, ed. Encyclopdia of the Bible. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997. 4 vols.Epp, Theodore. Job a Man Tried as Gold. Lincoln: Back to the Bible, 1967.Gesenius. Gesinius' Hebrew Grammar. Ed. Kaautzsch and Cowley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1910.Graham, Billy. The Holy Spirit. Waco: Word Books, 1978.Green, Michael. I Believe in the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1975.—. I Believe in the Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdamns Publishing Co., 2004.Grogan, G.W. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Ed. Frank Gaebelein. Vol. 6. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. 12 vols.Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing house, 2000.Harkavy, Alexander. Hebrew and chaldee Dictionary. New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1914.Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Wm. B.Eeerdmans Publishing Co., 1970.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whold Bible. Vol. 1. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.Kohl, Ronald L., ed. The Triune God. Phillipsburgh: P&R Publishing, 2014.Kuyper, Braham. The Work of the Holy Spirit. Trans. Henri De Vries. Grand Rapids, 1956.Levering, Matthew. Project Muse. 7 May 2018. <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/635961/summary>.Lexicon, The NAS Old Testament Hebrew. Bible Study Tools. 30 May 2018. <https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/ruwach-2.html>.Ligioner Ministries. n.d. 29 July 2017. <http://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/holy-spirit-old-testament/>.Lindsell, Harold. the Holy Spirit in the Latter Days. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1983.Oswalt, John. The New International commentary on the Old Testament. Ed. R.K. Harrison. Vols. Book of Isaiah ch.1-39. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1986.Payne, J. Barton. The theology of the Older Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971.Pink, AW. The Holy Spirit. Pensacola: Mt. Zion Publications, 1992-1952.Psalms of Solomon 17. n.d. http://www.mycrandall.ca. 28 November 2017.

Robinson, H. Wheeler. The Christian Experience of the Holy Spirit. London: Nisbet and Co. Ltd., 1952.Smeaton, George. The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1961.The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. 17 February 2017. <https://www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/the-holy-spirit-in-the-old-testament/>.Thomas, W.H. Griffith. The Holy Spirit of God. Eugene: Wipt and Stock Publishers, 2001.Thomas, W.H.Griffith. The Holy Spirit of God. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.Torrey, RA. 4 April 2018. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30241/30241-pdf.pdf>.—. Gutenberg.org. n.d. 5 April 2018. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30241/30241-pdf.pdf>.Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology. Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1996.Walvoord, John F. Bible.org. n.d. <https://bible.org/seriespage/1-person-holy-spiri>.Walvoord, John F. The Holy Spirit. Findlay: Dunham Publishing Co., 1954.Warfield, B.B. Biblical and Theological Studies. Philedelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co. , 1952.Warfield, Benjamin B. Biblical and Theological Studies. Ed. Samuel Craig. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1952.Warfield, Benjamin. Inspiration. n.d. 5 April 2018. <http://www.bible-researcher.com/warfield3.html>.Weil, Roger. Foundations of the Christian Faith. London: Grace Publications Trust, 2007.Welker, Michael. The Work of the Spirit. Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans, 2006.Williamson, G.I. The Westminster Confessionof Faith. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1964.Young, E.J. The Book of Isaiah. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1972. 3 vols.

Biography

Stanley Armes grew up in Kenya where his parents were missionaries for 35 years. After graduating from Rift Valley Academy he attended and graduated from Covenant College in Chattanooga Tennessee and Covenant Seminary in St. Louis Missouri. He met and married Donna Sinclair and they have been married for 45 years having 3 girls and now 11 grandchildren. Both Stanley and Donna were called to the mission field. They were accepted by World Presbyterian Missions in 1978 and were in Kenya in 1979. Due to health problems they had to return to America for about 10 years. During this time Stanley conducted demographics for what is now known as Metro New York Presbytery. After this he was called to be senior pastor at Pulaski Presbyterian Church in Pulaski Virginia. During this time Donna worked as a nurse in the home health care department of the local hospital.

After resigning as pastor, Stanley and Donna were accepted under Mission to the World to teach in The Bible Institute Eastern Cape, South Africa. In the year 2013 they retired and returned to America. Stanley is now writing courses for Miami International Seminary, traveling to Africa teaching pastors, and teaching in the state prisons.

Stanley has co-authored with his wife “Biblical Foundations of Marriage”, and authored “The Cost of Worship” an account of the imprisonment of his grandparents in North Korea. This was during the Japanese takeover of Korea and when they refused the Shinto worship was required of all people.

Appendix A An Excurses on the Septuagint

The Septuagint (also known as the LXX which is the Roman way of numbering) is a translation of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek language. The name “Septuagint” comes from the Latin word for seventy. The tradition is that 70 (or 72) Jewish scholars were the translators behind the Septuagint. The Septuagint was translated in the third and second centuries B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt. As Israel was under the authority of Greece for several centuries, the Greek language became more and more common. By the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., most people in Israel spoke Greek as their primary language. That is why the effort was made to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek – so that those who did not understand Hebrew could have the Scriptures in a language they could understand. The Septuagint represents the first major effort at translating a significant religious text from one language into another.

It is interesting to note that many of the New Testament quotes from the Hebrew Bible are taken from the Septuagint. As faithful as the Septuagint translators strived to be in accurately rendering the Hebrew text into Greek, some translational differences arose. In comparing the New Testament quotations of the Hebrew Bible, it is clear that the Septuagint was often used. This is the result of the fact that by the late 1st century B.C., and especially the 1st century A.D. – the Septuagint had “replaced” the Hebrew Bible as the Scriptures most people used. Since most people spoke and read Greek as their primary language, and the Greek authorities strongly encouraged the use of Greek, the Septuagint became much more common than the Hebrew Old Testament. The fact that the Apostles and New Testament authors felt comfortable, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in using the Septuagint should give us assurance that a translation of the original languages of the Bible is still the authoritative Word of God.

The Website offers about 130 N.T. quotes of the LXX https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/quotes01.cfm Nov. 14, 2017

This would be a very interesting study especially in light of how the N.T. relates to the O.T. through the LXX. 1. It would involve study in Greek and Hebrew noting the differences between how the Hebrew writers wrote in the O.T. and 2. how the Greek writers understood the O.T. writers. 3. A final way would be to ask the following questions: Why did the N.T. writers quote the LXX and not the original documents? Was it simply because they did not know Hebrew well enough? Did they actually consider the LXX as the authentic Word of God?” Were such documents already nonexistent? Such research would be worth of a chapter in someone’s book.Questions for lesson Eight1. Where do we find a possible first hint to the limitation of the presence of the Holy Spirit?

2. What drastic change do we find between Genesis 1:31 and 6:5”

3. What do Nehemiah and Asaph have in common that may indicate at least a temporary withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the people?

4. Why does it seem correct the think Elisha had the Spirit with him all the time?

5. How does the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “remain” help us understand the duration of the Holy Spirit?

6. What evidence do we have that the Spirit was permanently in one person?

7. How does Ezekiel’s use of the word “to walk” help us in understanding the permanency of the Holy Spirit?

8. What is the significance of Micah saying, “I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord” in the perfect tense?

9. How does the New Testament’s application of Isaiah 11:2 show the permanence of the Holy Spirit residing in a person?

10. What is the relationship of the Spirit and the 70 leaders God chose for Moses?

Appendices

Appendix A The Use of the word spirit in the Old Testament. This is not an exhaustive list. There are 375 times when רוה is used in the Old Testament with 29 different English words.179

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning1. Gen.1:2 The earth was

formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

At the creation ורוחActivity of the Spirit of God

179

(Lexicon, 2018)Lexicon, 2018

2. Gen.2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Creation when God gave life to Adam לנפש Breath of life

3. Gen.6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

God’s limited patience when he saw the sinfulness of the human race.

רוחי My Spirit

4. Gen.6:17 "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

Before the flood when God declared that he would destroy all life on the earth.

ררוחThe Hebrew word is to be understood as not the Holy Spirit but the life essence of a person.

5. Gen.7:15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

Context of all animals which have life.

ררוחBreath of life

6. Gen.7:22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.

Death of all life in the flood

Essence of life רוח

Scripture Content Hebrew Meaning7. Gen.41:8 Now in the morning

his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

His spirit was troubled, perplexed.

רוחוPharaoh’s mental condition, or thinking, disposition

8. Gen.41:38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?"

Pharaoh speaking to his servants about Joseph

רוח Divine spirit. recognition of an ability from God.

9. Gen.45:27 When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

Spirit of Jacob when he learned that Joseph was still alive. רוח Vigor, vivacity

10. Exo.28:3 "You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of

Spirit of wisdom that was given by God

רוחDiscernment, gifting

wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

11. Exo.31:3 "I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship

Speaking God’s Spirit gifting Bezalel

רוח God’s Spirit directly involved with giving people artistic ability.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning12. Exo.35:31 "And He has filled

him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship;

Spirit of Godרוח

God given ability

13. Num.5:14 if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,

Spirit of jealousyרוח־קנאה

Protective, descriptive of a mindset, emotional

14. Num.5:30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply all this law to her.

Spirit of jealousy רוח Protective, descriptive of a mindset

15. Num.11:17 "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.

The spirit of Moses given to others הרוח Applied to the gift of

administration and decision making.

16. Num.11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do

The spirit given to the 70 הרוח Applied to the gift of

administration and decision making.

it again.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning17. Num.11:26 But two men had

remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp.

Spirit give to two additional men הרוח Applied to the gift of

administration and decision making.

18. Num.11:29 But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!"

Spirit given to two additional men רוחו

Applied to the gift of administration and decision making. It is the Holy Spirit’s work in a person.

19. Num.14:24 "But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

Different spirit רוח A spirit of obedience to follow God.

20. Num.24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Spirit of God רוח Enablement of God

21. Num.27:18 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;

Joshua has leadership ability to take over after Moses

רוח Applied to leadership given by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning22. Deu.2:30 "But Sihon king of

Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.

Hardened spirit

רוחו Mental acts and decisions

23. Deu.34:9 Now Joshua the son רוח

of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Spirit of wisdom Ability recognized by other people

24. Jos.5:1 Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.

No spirit in them רוח People had no desire, no courage

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning25. Jdg.3:10 The Spirit of the LORD

came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.

Spirit of the Lord רוח־יהוה Specifically God’s Spirit

26. Jdg.6:34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

Spirit of the Lordורוה

A direct enablement by God,

27. Jdg.9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

Evil spirit רוה An actual spirit, demon. More than just ill-will between two people

28. Jdg.11:29 Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead

Spirit of the Lord רוה Direction given by God.

and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon.

29. Jdg.13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Spirit of the Lordרוח

The Spirit began to work in Samson.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning30. Jdg.14:6 The Spirit of the LORD

came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Spirit of the Lord רוח Spirit given empowerment, strength to overpower a lion.

31. Jdg.14:19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father's house.

Spirit of the Lord on Samson רוח The Spirit gave abundant

and unusual strength

32. Jdg.15:14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands.

Spirit of the Lord רוח Abundant strength.

33. 1Sa.1:15 But Hannah replied, "No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.

Oppressed in spiritרוח קשת־

Sorrowful spirit, mental and physical state

34. 1Sa.10:6 "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be

Spirit of the Lordרוח

Prophesying but no content given

changed into another man. Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

35. 1Sa.10:10 When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them.

Spirit of Godרוח

Spirit of the Lord and of God is the same spirit (see #35 in the same context)

36. 1Sa.11:6 Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry.

Spirit of Godרוח־אוו Under the Spirit’s

influence Saul becomes angry and causes action on Saul’s part

37. 1Sa.16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Spirit of the Lord came on David

רוח־אלהימEnablement of the Lord. Ongoing

38. 1Sa.16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him.

Evil spirit departed from Saul

ורוח Evil spirit

39. 1Sa.16:15 Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.

Evil spirit from God terrorizing Saul.

רוח־אלהימEvil spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning40. 1Sa.16:16 "Let our lord now

command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well."

Evil spirit from Godרוח־אלהימ

Evil spirits under the control of God.

41. 1Sa.16:23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would

Spirit from Godרוח־אלהימ

The word “evil” is understood to be included

take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

due to context.

42. 1Sa.18:10 Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul's hand.

Evil spirit on Saulרוח־אלהימ

An evil spirit would indicate more than Saul was just in a bad mood

43. 1Sa.19:9 Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand.

Evil spirit on Saulיהוה רוח

Same as above

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning44. 1Sa.19:20 Then Saul sent

messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied.

Spirit of Godאלהימ רוח

Spirit giving people the power to prophesy. No content of prophesy given

45. 1Sa.19:23 He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

Spirit of Godרוח־אלהימ

Same as above

46. 1Sa.30:12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

His spirit revived

רוחוThe Egyptian slave’s energy, mental alertness was restored

47. 2Sa.22:16 "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were

Breath of his nostrilsררוח The air that comes from

God when speaking. Anthropomorphism

laid bare By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

48. 2Sa.23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

Spirit of the Lord יהוה רוח The Spirit of God is using David

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning49. 1Ki.10:5 the food of his table,

the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.

No more spirit in herרוח

No more fight, or questions

50. 1Ki.17:17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

No breath in himנשמה

he died

51. 1Ki.18:12 "It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.

Spirit of the Lord ורוה God transporting him somewhere else.

52. 1Ki.21:5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, "How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?"

Sullen Spirit רוחך

Ahab is angry because he did not get his way.

53. 1Ki.22:21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'

Spirit came forward הרוח Obviously and evil spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning54. 1Ki.22:22 "The LORD said to

him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'

Deceiving spirit שקר רוח Same as above

55. 1Ki.22:23 "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you."

Deceiving spirit שקר רוח Same as above

56. 1Ki.22:24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"

Spirit of the Lordיהוה רוח־

Zedekiah falsely assumed that he spoke God’s words.

57. 2Ki.2:9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me."

Double portion of your spirit ברוחך

The power by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action

58. 2Ki.2:15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

The spirit of Elijah רוח Elisha has the ability and power of Elijah. Obviously it was a God-given ability

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning59. 2Ki.2:16 They said to him,

"Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley." And he said, "You shall not send."

Spirit of the Lordרוח

60. 2Ki.19:7 "Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear Put a spirit in him

רוחA God-given demeanor or

a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

inclination

61. 1Ch.5:26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara and to the river of Gozan, to this day.

Spirit of Pul רוח God placed a plan in King Pul to carry Israel into exile.

62. 1Ch.12:18(Heb v.19) Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty, and he said, "We are yours, O David, And with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you!" Then David received them and made them captains of the band.

Spirit upon Amasai ורוח The Spirit gave Amasai the ability to speak inspired words.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning63. 2Ch.15:1 Now the Spirit of God

came on Azariah the son of Oded,

Spirit of Godאלהימ רוח The Spirit would indicate

Holy Spirit

64. 2Ch.18:20 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him, 'How?'

A spiritחרוח A spirit that will entice to

do evil would hve to be an evil spiril

65. 2Ch.18:21 "He said, 'I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.'

Deceiving spirit לרוח

An evil spirit

66. 2Ch.18:23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"

Spirit of the Lord יהוה רוח Zedekiah , a false prophet, referring to the Holy Spirit.

67. 2Ch.20:14 Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the Spirit of the Lord

יהוה רוחThe Spirit empowering

LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph;

Jahaziel to comfort Israel when Moab and Ammon came to make war against Jehoshaphat.

68. 2Ch.21:16 Then the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians.

Lord stirred up the spirit

רוחGod working in the nations to punish Israel

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning69. 2Ch.24:20 Then the Spirit of

God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus God has said, 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.'"

Spirit of Godאלהימ רוח

Spirit empowering Zechariah to speak God’s words.

70. 2Ch.36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia--in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah--the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying

Spirit of Cyrusאת־רוח כועש God influencing Cyrus to

free the Jews

71. Ezr.1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

Spirit of Cyrusאת־רוח כועש Same as above

72. Ezr.1:5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even

Whose spirit God stirred to go את־רוחו God moved in the peoples

heart’s and minds to leave Babylon

everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning73. Neh.9:20 "You gave Your good

Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

Your good Spirit רוחך

The people of Israel had God’s Spirit guiding them in the desert.

74. Neh.9:30 "However, You bore with them for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Admonish by your Spirit ברוחך The Holy Spirit teaching

through the prophets. The one word includes a preposition and pronoun.

75. Job.4:9 "By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

Breath of God וח רומר In the sense when God speaks to terminate people it will happen

76. Job.4:15 "Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up.

A spirit passed byורוח

Some kind of force or presence

77. Job.6:4 "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

My spirit drinksרוחי

Life force, essence of life

78. Job.7:7 "Remember that my life is but breath; My eye will not again see good.

As breath וח רכי־ר Life is short

79. Job.7:11 "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

My spiritרוחי

Job’s spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning80. Job.7:16 "I waste away; I will

not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

A breathבל הכי־ה Depending on who

translates it can mean vanity, or have no meaning.

81. Job.9:18 "He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness.

Get my breathי חרוח

Feeling of being stifled, get no break

82. Job.10:12 'You have granted Preserve spirit רוחי In context would be

me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit.

understood a his life

83. Job.12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

Breath of all mankindפש נרורוח ו The life essence of all

people84. Job.15:13 That you should turn

your spirit against God And allow such words to go out of your mouth?

Spirit against God רוחך A person’s basic inclinations or desire

85. Job.15:30 "He will not escape from darkness; The flame will wither his shoots, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.

Breath of his mouthוח רבר

The spoken word of God

86. Job.17:1 "My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.

Spirit is broken רוחי Will to live or to keep trying

87. Job.19:17 "My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

Breath is offensiveררוחי

Air coming from the body

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning88. Job.20:3 "I listened to the

reproof which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

Spirit of my understanding

ורוח The force in a person that helps him comprehend.

89. Job.26:4 "To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?

Whose spirit was expressed

ונשמתInformation or understanding

90. Job.26:13 "By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.

By his breatheeeבברוחו

God’s control over the universe

91. Job.27:3 For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils,

Breath of God י בנשמתיב תוח רור

Life force

92. Job.32:8 "But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.

Spirit in man רוח־חיאGod given ability

93. Job.32:18 "For I am full of words; The spirit within me constrains me.

Spirit within me רוה disposition

94. Job.33:4 "The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Spirit of God אל ־ רוח Spirit of God in creation and in sustaining

95. Job.34:14 "If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

His spirit רוחו Life essence

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

96. Job.37:10 "From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

Breath of God ל אמנשמת־אControls nature

97. Job.41:21 "His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

Breath kindles � פשו Chapter division makes this verse hard to find.(v.13) power of god

98. Psa.18:15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

Blast of breath ררוח(v.16) creative power of God

99. Psa 31:5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.

My spirit רוהי Life essence

100. Psa.32:2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

Whose spirit no deceit ברוחוBasic character of a person

101. Psa.33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.

breath וח רוברCreative power of God

102. Psa.34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Crushed in spirit רוח כאי־ Contrite spirit ד

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning103. Psa.39:5 "Behold, You have

made my days as Mere breathל דמה־חד Fleeting, shortness of life

NASB translates it breath.

handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.

104. Psa.39:11 "With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath.

Mere breathההבל

Breath vanity, vapor

105. Psa.51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Steadfast spiritנכון ורוח

With equity and justice, uprightness

106. Psa.51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Holy Spiritורוח

The person Holy Spirit

107. Psa.51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Willing spiritנ ורוח

Your free spirit, willingness, firm

108. Psa.51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Broken spirit רוח

Spirit broken in pieces, submissive

109. Psa.62:9 Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than breath.

Lighter than breathבל המה

Of no value

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning110. Psa.76:12 He will cut off

the spirit of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.

Spirit of princesרוח

Life essence

111. Psa.77:3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah

Faint spiritרוחי

discouragement

112. Psa.77:6 I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders:

My spirit ורוח A person’s mind

113. Psa.78:8 And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare

Whose spiritרוחו

disposition

its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

114. Psa.94:11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are a mere breath.

Mere breath הבל Not lasting a long time

115. Psa.104:29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust.

Their spiritרוחם Breath, life, essence of life

116. Psa.104:30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.

Your spirit ררוחך Creative force

117. Psa.106:33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

His Spirit ו חאת־רוח God’s spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning118. Psa.135:17 They have ears,

but they do not hear, Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

No breathוח ראין־יש־ר

There is no life

119. Psa.139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Your Spirit ך חמרוח God’s presence

120. Psa.142:3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.

My spiritי חרוח

David’s disposition

100. Psa.143:4 Therefore my spirit Is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.

My spirit י חרוח willingness

101. Psa.143:7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

My spirit

י חרוחFailure of willingness

102. Psa.143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Good spirit רוחך God’s spirit

121. Psa.144:4 Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

temporary בל הלה like a breath

122. Psa.146:4 His spirit departs, he returns to the

Spirit departs ררוחו dies

earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.

123. Psa.150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

Everything that has breath

ההנשמה life

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning124. Pro.1:23 "Turn to my

reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

Pour out my spiritי םרוח חלכ כ

Thoughts, my words

125. Pro.15:4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

Crushes the sprit ברוח Willingness to carry on

126. Pro.15:13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

Spirit is broken ררוח Determination, willingness to carry on

127. Pro.16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Haughty spirit eeeרוח בה גג arrogance

128. Pro.16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.

Contrast between God and man

ות חרוח Literally the Lord weighs the spirits

129. Pro.16:19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Humble in spirit וח רשפל־ר Humility, teachable

130. Pro.16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

His spiriteeeו חברוח ב In his spirit, controls

himself

131. Pro.17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Broken spirit וח רור Lack of determination, weakness

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning132. Pro.17:27 He who restrains

his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

Cool spirit וח רוקרר Honorable noble spirit

133. Pro.18:14 The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit who

Broken spiritיש רוח־אוח רור

Spirit of manWounded spirit, discouraged

can bear it? 134. Pro.20:27 The spirit of man

is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

How the Lord guides human beings

ת מנשמ Breath or soul of man

135. Pro.25:28 Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

Broken spirit לרוחו Control over his spirit

136. Pro_29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Humble spirit ררוח Not proud.

137. Ecc.3:19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

Same breathוח רור

Essence of life

138. Ecc.3:21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

breath of manbreath of beast

" י נרוחבנ ר Life essence of manLife essence of animals

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning139. Ecc.7:8 The end of a matter

is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

Patient spirit רוח Stick to it over a period of time.

140. Ecc.12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

The spirit וח רוהר Essence of life

141. Son.7:8 "I said, 'I will climb the palm tree, I will take hold of its fruit stalks.' Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, And the fragrance of your breath like apples,

Your breathיח רור

Air coming from her lungs

142. Isa.2:22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?

breath ה מנשמ Wind in a person’s nose

143. Isa.4:4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the Spirit of

וח רבר discernment

daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,

judgment/burning

144. Isa.11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Spirit of the Lordה ורוחיהו ר

Ability to discern

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning145. Isa.11:4 But with

righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

Breath of lipsוח רובר

Air out of his mouth

146. Isa.19:3 "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.

Spirit of Egyptiansרוח־

Willingness to keep trying, or to strategize.

147. Isa.19:14 The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

Perverse, evil ררוח

148. Isa.25:4 For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.

breathררוח

The air from a person

149. Isa.26:9 At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants

My spiritי חאף־רוח

Innermost being, desire

of the world learn righteousness.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning150. Isa.28:6 A spirit of justice

for him who sits in judgment, A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

spiritוח רולר

For a spirit of justice

151. Isa.29:4 Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.

Spirit from the ground כאוב

Spirit of the dead

152. Isa.29:10 For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.

Spirit of sleep ררוח

Spirit of insensibility

153. Isa.30:1 "Woe to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

Not of my Spirit

eeי ארוח חול ל

Contrast with the ability God gives a person

154. Isa.30:28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

His breathו חורוח

Breath of God

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning155. Isa.30:33 For Topheth has

long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

Breath of the Lordת מנשמ

יהוה Air from the mouth of God

156. Isa.31:3 Now the Egyptians וח רולא־ר

are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; So the LORD will stretch out His hand, And he who helps will stumble And he who is helped will fall, And all of them will come to an end together.

Not spirit Ghost or non-human entity

157. Isa.32:15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is considered as a forest.

The Spiritררוח

God’s Spirit who controls the world

158. Isa.33:11 "You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire.

My breathרוחכם

Air from God, understood as anger

159. Isa.34:16 Seek from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit has gathered them.

His Spiritו חורוח

God’s Spirit protecting and guiding the animals.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning160. Isa.37:7 "Behold, I will put

a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'

A spirit e

eוח רבור וAbility, desire

161. Isa.38:16 "O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; O restore me to health and let me live!

Life of my spiritי חרוח

Seems to be essence of life

162. Isa.40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

Breath of the Lord ררוח

God giving life to people and nature

163. Isa.40:13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him?

Spirit of the Lordוח ראת־ר

Spirit of the Lord

164. Isa.42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit

My Spiritרוחי

upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

165. Isa.42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,

“spirit” and “breath.” וח רור Gives life

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning166. Isa.44:3 'For I will pour out

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;

My Spiritרוחי

My spirit, ability

167. Isa.48:16 "Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."

Sent his spiritורוחו

God’s Spirit

168. Isa.54:6 "For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," Says your God.

Grieved in spiritובת צועצ

sorrow

169. Isa.57:13 "When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry all of them up, And a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land And will possess My holy mountain."

A breathררוח

A simple thing, momentary

170. Isa.57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Spirit of the lowlyוח רושפל־ר

Humble in spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning171. Isa.57:16 "For I will not

contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made.

Spirit grow faintBreath of people

כי־רוח Discouragement\Life essence

172. Isa 59:19 So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives.

Wind of the Lordררוח

Compared to a stream

173. Isa.59:21 "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, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever."

My Spiritרוחי

Holy Spirit that resides in people.

174. Isa.61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

Spirit of the Lordי נרוחאדנ ר

Holy Spirit residing in a person

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning175. Isa.61:3 To grant those

who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that

Spirit of faintingה הרוחכה ר

Lack of ability to do something

He may be glorified. 176. Isa.63:10 But they rebelled

And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

Holy Spiritוח ראת־ר The person Holy spirit

177. Isa.63:11 Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

Holy Spiritוח ראת־רקדשו The person Holy Spirit

178. Isa.63:14 As the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name.

Spirit of the Lordה ורוחיהו ר

The power of God given to people

179. Isa.65:14 "Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, But you will cry out with a heavy heart, And you will wail with a broken spirit.

Broken spirit ררוח Fractured, broken, discouragement

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning180. Isa.66:2 "For My hand

made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Contrite of spiritררוח Unto poor and humble

spirit

181. Jer.4:31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, Stretching out her hands, saying, "Ah, woe is me, for I faint before murderers."

Gasping for breath"

eeeח פיפ

Intake of air in time of pain

182. Jer.10:14 Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there

No breath וח רולא־ר Life essence

is no breath in them.183. Jer.51:1 Thus says the

LORD: "Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

Spirit of the destroyer Energy, desire to destroy ררוח

184. Jer.51:11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.

Spirit of the kings את־רוח

Rise to action

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning185. Jer.51:17 All mankind is

stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

No breathוח רולא־ר

No life

186. Lam.1:20 "See, O LORD, for I am in distress; My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword slays; In the house it is like death.

My spiritי עמע “my bowels” The word

spirit is not used in the Hebrew rather an emphatic pronoun

187. Lam.2:11 My eyes fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants faint In the streets of the city.

My spiritי עמע Again literally “my bowels

or inward parts.”

188. Lam.4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the LORD'S anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations."

Breath of nostrilsררוח

Air, implying anger

189. Eze.1:12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as

The spiritוח רהר Hard to know whether the

Spirit of God or energizing force

they went.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning190. Eze.1:20 Wherever the

spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

The spiritThe spirit

וח רהרSpirit of the living creatures

191. Eze.1:21 Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

The spirit ררוח

Spirit of living things

192. Eze.2:2 As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.

By the Spiritוח רביר ב

Spirit of God

193. Eze.3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place."

The Spiritררוח

Spirit of God

194. Eze.3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me.

The SpiritMy spirit

וח רורי חרוח

Spirit of GodHuman spirit

195. Eze.3:24 The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself up in your house.

The Spirit ררוח Spirit of God

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning196. Eze.8:3 He stretched out

the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner

The Spiritוח יר ראת ת

The Spirit of God

court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.

197. Eze.10:17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

Spirit of the living things

eee

eeה ירוחהחי ר

The life force of the living things

198. Eze.11:1 Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD'S house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

The Spiritוח יר ראת ת

The Spirit of God

199. Eze.11:5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, "Say, 'Thus says the LORD, "So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.

The Spirit of the Lordיהוה רוח

The Spirit of the Lord

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning200. Eze.11:19 "And I will give

them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

New spiritוח רור

A new spirit, A gift from God

201. Eze.11:24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me.

The SpiritSpirit of God

וח רורSpirit of God

202. Eze.13:3 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.

Own spiritם רוח

Wishes or desires

203. Eze.18:31 "Cast away from you all your transgressions New spirit

וח רור A new willingness to

which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?

follow God

204. Eze.21:7 "And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,' declares the Lord GOD."

Every spiritוח רכל־ר

The desire or hope of all people,(Heb v.12)

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning205. Eze.37:5 "Thus says the

Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.

breathררוח

Essence of life

206. Eze.36:26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

New Spiritוח רור

And a new spirit, desire

207. Eze.36:27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

My Spiritי חואת־רוח

God’s Spirit

208. Eze.37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.

Spirit of the Lordה יהו וברוח ח ר

In/by the spirit of the Lord

209. Eze.37:6 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"

Breathררוח

Essence of life

210. Eze.37:8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin

Breathוח רור

No life

covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning211. Eze.37:9 Then He said to

me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'"

Breathוח ראל־הר

Essence of life

212. Eze.37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Breathוח רהר

Essence of life

213. Eze.37:14 "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'"

My Spiritי חרוח

God’s Spirit

214. Eze.39:29 "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.

My Spirit את־רוחי

God’s Spirit

215. Eze.43:5 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.

The Spirit ררוח God’s Spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning216. Dan.2:1 Now in the second

year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

His spiritו חרוח

The king’s spirit

217. Dan.2:3 The king said to them, "I had a dream and my My spirit

י חרוח The king’s spirit

spirit is anxious to understand the dream."

218. Dan.4:8 "But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying,

Spirit of the holy godsין הרוח־אלה v. 5 in the Hebrew Daniel

obviously had God’s Spirit but in this sense the king used it in the sense of higher powers. Most likely referring to the gods the king worshipped.

219. Dan.4:9 'O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

Spirit of the holy godsין הרוחאלה ר

Same as above

220. Dan.4:18 'This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.'

Spirit of the holy godsין הרוח־אלה

Same as above

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning221. Dan.5:11 "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, Chaldeans and diviners.

Spirit of the holy godsין הרוחאלה ר

Same as above

222. Dan.5:12 "This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel,

Extraordinary spiritה ררוח׀יתיר ר

Excellent spirit, beyond the average person

whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation."

223. Dan.5:14 "Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

Spirit of the godsין הרוחאלה ר

See above

224. Dan.5:20 "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

His spiritין הרוחאלה ר

His attitude, demeanor, arrogant

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning225. Dan.5:23 but you have

exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.

Life-breath ך תנשמת Life essence

226. Dan.6:3 Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

Extraordinary spiritיתירא רוח

Excellent spirit, beyond the average person.

227. Dan.7:15 "As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.

My spirit י חרוח Grieved in spirit, inner mind and soul

228. Dan.10:17 "For how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for

breathה מונשמ

Strength or desire

me, there remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me."

229.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning230. Hos.4:12 My people

consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them; For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.

Spirit of harlotryזנונים רוח

Spirit of prostitution

231. Hos.5:4 Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the LORD.

Spirit of harlotryזנונים רוח

Spirit of prostitution

232. Joe.2:28 "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.

My spiritרוחי

God’s Spirit

233. Hos 12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind, And pursues the east wind continually; He multiplies lies and violence. Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried to Egypt.

windרוח ה רע

Futility, trying to look for help from which will give none

234. Joe.2:29 "Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

My Spirit את־רוחי God’s Spirit who gives enablement

235. Mic.2:7 "Is it being said, O house of Jacob: 'Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these His doings?' Do not My words do good To the one walking uprightly?

Spirit of the Lord ה ורוחיהו ר Spirit of the Lord

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning 236. Mic.3:8 On the other hand I am filled with power-- With the Spirit of the LORD-- And with justice and courage To make known to Jacob his rebellious act, Even to Israel his sin.

Spirit of the Lord ה וחיהו ואת־ר ר Spirit of God giving power to Micah

237. Hab.2:19 "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a mute stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it.

Breathוח רוכל־ר

Life essence

238. Zep.1:12 "It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'

Stagnant in spiritם על־שמריה Literally “settled on his

lees” sediment of wine. Context indicates indifference and complacency. The word spirit is not used in Hebrew.

239. Hag.1:14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

Stirred the spiritאת־רוח

desire

240. Hag.2:5 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!'

My Spirit י חורוח God’s spirit

241. Zec.4:6 Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.

My Spirit י חאם־ברוחPower of God’s Spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning 242. Zec.7:12 "They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

His Spiritו חברוח

God’s Spirit

243. Zec.12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him

Spirit of manם רוח־אדבקר Life essence

244. Zec.12:10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only

Spirit of graceחן רוח

God’s spirit

son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 245. Zec.13:2 "It will come about in that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

Unclean spiritואת־רוח ה מא הט? The desire of people to

worship idols

246. Mal.2:15 "But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

Remnant spirtYour spirit

ונשמרתם ם ברוחכ

Referring to the few people who still listen to God.The people’s inclinations and heart

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

Appendices

Leader’s ManualalModel answers to questions.

Questions for Lesson One.1. What is the purpose of this course? The purpose of this course is to define the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. A secondary question would be are there any differences between the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments?2. How is it possible that we do not understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? People have avoided serious study of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. 3. How have people understood the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?

People have looked upon the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament as not as important as his work in the New Testament. 4. Concerning the Holy Spirit what is the error of eisegesis? We often “read into” the Old Testament passages what we know of the Holy Spirit. As New Testament people we know more about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. 5. What makes it hard for us to understand the word spirit? There are many ways in which the Bible uses the word and we cannot assume that the word always means the same thing.6. What are six ways the word spiritword spirit can be used? 1. Wind, 2, A compass point, 3. Breath, 4. Disposition, 5. Seat of cognition and 6. Spirit.7. What are the differences between these two passages? Isa 63:10, 11; Psalm 51:10, 11 In the first passage there is an implied restraint. The second set of verses informs us that the Holy Spirit fought against Israel instead of preserving them. 8. What is significant about the name Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? The Holy Spirit is used only three times in the Old Testament9. Why is it important to pay attention to the adjectives used with the Holy Spirit? Adjectives can also delineate the kind of work the Spirit does, the disposition he inspires, and the nature of his activities. 10. What is the relationship between ruah and kodesh? Sometimes the word is actually translated as holy. The context is describing God as separate and there is no other God like him.

Questions for Lesson Two1. What is meant by Robinson’s quote that begins with, “Robinson maintains, No primary Christian doctrine has been left so undeveloped dogmatically…?”If we define the Holy Spirit by our own experiences and leave out what the Bible says, then we are left with no real authoritative definition. 2. How does Pink describe the importance of the Holy Spirit? Wherever Christianity has been a living power, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has uniformly been regarded, equally with the Atonement and Justification by faith, as the article of a standing or falling church.3. How does Thomas describe the uniqueness of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit? The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is clearly a Bible doctrine and cannot be derived from any other source.4. What are Grudem’s 5 points about the Holy Spirit’s work? 1. He empowers, 2. He purifies 3. He reveals, 4. He unifies, and 5. He gives stronger or weaker evidence of the presence of blessing according to our response to him. 5. Besides Genesis 1:2 where do we find proof that the Holy Spirit participated in the creation? Psalm 104:24-30 says, “O Lord, how many are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; …you send forth Your Spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the ground.”6. What is Walvoord’s 5 point summary about creation? 1. Spirit was present at creation. 2. Design of creation, 3. Life of creation , 4. His work is for God’s glory and 5. Preservation of creation.7. How do we know that Isaiah teaches us the Holy Spirit’s sustaining power of creation?

Isaiah 2: 14-20 tells us that there is peace that reigns, donkeys are having fun, sheep have food, and the wild forest becomes a pasture. 8. How does Ezekiel bring the two ideas of purity and the spirit together? Ezekiel says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (36:25-26). The words water, heart, and cleansing are all associated with spirit. 9. What is the significance of the Hebrew word amar? God spoke the word “amar” and it was created. The words spoke, word, spirit and breath are all synonyms. So the word is used to describe the creative ability of God.10. How do we unravel the problem of God using evil? He doesn’t have to make evil happen. It is always present. He simply, for his purposes, whether it is for judgment, discipline or whatever the case may be, allows it to happen by his absolute sovereign choice.

Questions for Lesson Three1. Why is it important for us to understand the Holy Spirit as a person?The personality of the Holy Spirit has been denied throughout the ages. It has been pointed out that the noun “spirit” should correctly be seen as an “it” rather than a “he.”2. In our day what is our difficulty of finding information in the Old Testament regarding the Holy Spirit as a person? (Any of the following can be correct)a. Testament there is very little in the way of a clear presentation of the personal distinctness of the second person of the Trinity and even less of the personal distinctness of the Spirit of God. b. The Holy Spirit is not given a formal name like Jesus. c. Phrases like “Holy Spirit” and “Spirit of God” do not suggest personality.3. How has the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, in church history and in our present day, been taught erroneously?Arius denied the full deity of the Holy Spirit. Sabellius denied that the Holy Spirit is a diving person distinct from the Father and the son, although admitting the deity of the Holy Spirit. Today, Mormons present the spirit as a divine being separate, not distinct, from the Father and The Son in the Trinity. Jehovah’s Witnesses see the Holy Spirit as a powerful force, not a person, and do not accept His full deity4. Why do we have to be careful in what we hear taught about the Holy Spirit?We need to compare what we hear and what is taught in Scripture. If what we hear contradicts Scripture we must ignore and reject it. 5. What is one way that we know what our conscience is telling us is not the Holy Spirit?We must be very careful that our conscience not violates Scripture.6. How does Exodus imply the person of the Holy Spirit?The gifts Bezalel was given were wisdom, understanding and knowledge. The fact that these gifts were given to him by the Holy Spirit indicates that the Holy Spirit had have these abilities before he have them to Bezalel. These abilities and gifts are characteristics of a person. 7. What has been the misinterpretation of Acts 2:18?The argument states that you cannot describe a person as a liquid. This kind of interpretation grossly misunderstands that Luke is not speaking literally but figuratively.

8. What was the problem people had with Micah’s words?They did not believe that the Spirit would work in the way he was describing that is, severe discipline.9. How do know about the personality of the Holy Spirit from Ezekiel 2?Grammatically the masculine form is used. We have the Spirit speaking. 10. Name two of the four conclusions that Wolvoord makes.1. “Without denial of the one Essence of the Godhead, the personality of the Holy Spirit must be affirmed and is subject to proof unassailable by any who accept the Scriptures as authoritative.” 2. “The Holy Spirit possesses the essential of mind or intelligence.” “The Scriptures explicitly affirm that the Holy Spirit exercises a moral and sovereign will comparable to that of the other Persons of the Trinity.” “On the human level, possession of life is taken as proof of possession of personality.” 3. “The personality of the Holy Spirit affirmed by the use of personal pronouns in relation to him.” 4. The personality of the Holy Spirit affirmed by the fact that he is regarded as a person by those who place faith in him.”

Questions for Lesson Four1. What is the importance of understanding the Holy Spirit as both a person and God? Indeed both the personhood and the deity of the Holy Spirit are necessary for the doctrine of inspiration of scripture. 2. What hermeneutical principle must be thought of constantly when studying the Holy Spirit”the hermeneutical principle of scripture interprets scripture. 3. How does the language of the Bible show the close relationship of God and the Holy Spirit?The word “of” has the meaning of “Possession or belonging to.” Anything that is so closely related to deity must be deity himself. 4. How do we know that Scripture does not teach the Holy Spirit as an it?The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as the person by using personal pronouns. 5. What are four lines of proof of the deity of the Holy Spirit?a. The Holy Spirit is eternal, b. omnipresence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit, c. omniscience, meaning all-knowing, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit d. Omnipotence, meaning all-powerful, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.6. How do we know that the Holy Spirit was present all during the Old Testament?Nehemiah, who lived long after the Israelite’s 40 years of wandering in the desert said, “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.”7. What is the importance of understanding the name Jehovah?The Holy Spirit is equated with God.8. What is the Apostle Paul’s view of Isaiah’s relationship with the Holy Spirit?The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers.” So we see that what is distinctly ascribed to Jehovah in the Old Testament is ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the New which means the Holy Spirit is identified with Jehovah.9. Did the Old Testament writers know that they were being used by the Holy Spirit to write? Give an example.

King David clearly understood that the Holy Spirit was speaking prophecy through him, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.10. Explain this quote of Torrey? “The name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way it would be impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite being with that of the Deity.”The Old Testament’s use of the character of God along with what we know of the work and person of the Holy Spirit brings us to the definite conclusion that the Holy Spirit must be deity.

Questions for Lesson Five1. What is the difference between revelation and inspiration? Revelation is to make something known but inspiration makes sure that the written information is recorded with no mistakes.2. Of what importance does the person of the Holy Spirit have to the doctrine of inspiration? We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who speaks divine words. If the Holy Spirit was not a person how could he communicate with us in ways that are valid and understandable? If he was not God then how could we be sure that what we are told is true? 3. What are the qualifications of a prophet?1. God must be the one who calls him. 2. He must speak only those words that God gives him. 3. If the prophet speaks his own words then he dies. 4. The proof is that his prophecy comes true. 5. We are not to be afraid of a false prophet. 4. What is the grammatical indication that the Holy Spirit was working within a person in the Old Testament?There are two words that are used. On in the word for “in” which infers more than just coming upon a person. There is the word that means to be full or filled up with an internal application. 5. How do we know that the prophets were speaking God’s words?The word of the Lord came to Isaiah,” “Thus says the Lord,” “Thus says the Lord of Hosts” or “God said.”6. What is the importance of Isaiah chapters two through four?God uses the personal pronoun many times. 7. How do we know that a writer’s personal thoughts are to be accepted as God’s word?We must insist that the writer wrote his opinion under the direction of the Holy Spirit. In several passages it is revealed that David knew that he was writing as a prophet with the power of the Spirit.8. Did the writers always understand what they were talking about?No. We read of Isaiah’s mind being in turmoil. Isaiah had to admit that God’s thought were not his thoughts. Daniel had to ask God what the visions meant.9. List 5 ways how the Holy Spirit communicated to his people. In your own words explain three of them. a. used words, b. prophets saw it, c. of visions and dreams. d. they were audio, e. is to the prophet alone, f. a gentle stillness, g. dictation, h. wrote his words directly, i. spoke in the first person, j. another writer has spoken God’s word, k . frenzy and raving10. How do we know that What the work of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the prophets?God spoke to other people who did not have the position of prophets. Eve, Cain, and Hagar received revelation from God but that information did not make them a prophet.

Questions for Lesson Six1. How do we know that God spoke to non-prophets?God spoke also to others than prophets, e.g., [for example] to Eve, Cain, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob 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.2. Do we have any indications that the Spirit was working in people for more than a one time experience?This seems to be a one-time event but obviously it is a gift that the men had over a period of time. With a million people to govern there were always problems to solve. 3. How were Joshua, Eldad and Medad wrong in their thinking?Moses had a totally different mindset toward what is happening. Moses tells Joshua and the young man that they are thinking of this incident altogether wrongly. In essence, he tells them they want to retain unilateral authority in this camp when God is showing otherwise. 4. What is the significance of the Hebrew word describing a person being clothed with the Spirit?In the normal sense of wearing clothes the clothes adapt to the movements of the person wearing them. However in this verse we have the opposite. Gideon, being clothed with the Holy Spirit, was enabled to perform actions that were normally beyond human abilities.5. Why would God use an immoral man like Samson?we must remember that it is God who is using Samson to punish the Philistines. 6. What is one gift that we often overlook or forget that is definitely a gift of the Spirit? It comes as a surprise that the Holy Spirit is also in the business of endowing people with artistic abilities. We have the Zerubbabel’s spirit being stirred up to build the temple. 7. What surprises us about God’s use of the pagan king Cyrus?These verses teach us clearly that God used Cyrus to accomplish his purpose. Cyrus is called God’s “Anointed” and “Shepherd.” As a shepherd Cyrus was involved in Israel’s deliverance and restoration. 8. What is your reaction to Kuyper’s statement which says, “There is no reason to consider Saul one of God’s elect…evidently this work of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with regeneration…for a time it may operate upon a man and then forever depart from him; while the Spirit’s saving operation, even though suspended for a time, can never be wholly lost.”The answers will vary. Some students won’t like it or don’t know what to do with it. The important word is “reaction” and how they defend their views. 9. What are three common characteristics of the Holy Spirit?The three characteristics are the Spirit is selective, temporary and task oriented.10. What is the confusion people can have when reading about the spirit?The confusion comes when the word spirit can be used contextually as wind, breath or discernment but the implicit meaning of the word can include the ability or discernment that is given by the Holy Spirit.

Questions for Lesson Seven1. What is a misunderstanding people have of the major and minor prophets?

People often think that the difference between the major and minor prophets is that the minor are less inspired than the major.2.What were some of the problems Zerubbabel was facing?He was fighting lethargy, smallness of vision, and lack of faith within Israel. Without, he was fighting the determined opposition and evil cunning of God’s enemies.”3. Why is Smeaton enthralled by the prophet Isaiah?Isaiah has scattered throughout his prophecies allusions to the Spirit so manifold and various, in express description and in brief turns of phrase, that it might not be difficult to put together, from his word, the complete doctrine of the Spirit.4. Why was Israel’s rejecting the guidance of the Holy Spirit such a bad thing?It was through the Holy Spirit’s guidance that Israel knew that God was leading, guiding and protecting them. This made Israel’s sin of rejecting God all the more heinous because it was a clear rebuffing of God’s commands.” 5. How do we know that the servant mentioned in Isaiah 11 is more than a normal human being?He will be endowed with superhuman abilities which could be no less than a divine being, a future Messiah. The leader will have a long list of abilities that go beyond what is normal in a human being. He will be endowed with superhuman abilities which could be no less than a divine being, a future Messiah.6. State briefly the problem that is found in Isaiah48:16.Are the words and his Spirit part of the subject, or are they to be construed as an object? If the Spirit is subject, the teaching is that the Lord together with His Spirit has sent the servant. If, on the other hand, the words are object, then the verse teaches that the Lord has sent the servant and also sent His Spirit7. What are we told about the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 32:14-20?The Holy Spirit’s job will be to change the geography of the land. He will be affecting the growth of crops, animals and weather. The Holy Spirit will give righteousness, quietness and confidence. 8. What is significant about the Holy Spirit and David in n 1Samuel 16:13. The Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” Definitely we have the metaphor of oil as the Spirit’s presence upon David. It would also mean that David was able to accomplish all his great feats through and by the Spirit of the Lord9. What is the significance of the use of the word “pour” when referring to the Holy Spirit?It is also interesting to note that Isaiah uses the word “pour” and not “sprinkle.” This would indicate the idea of abundance. Psalm 133:2 gives this same idea of lavishness. “It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.” There is so much oil used that it does not stay on top of the head. It spills down on to his face beard, then on to his robe and to the ground. 10. What is the overall reaction of Israel when they read of Isaiah’s descriptions of the future servant?

Questions for Llesson Eight.1. Where do we find a possible first hint to the limitation of the presence of the Holy Spirit?

Perhaps the first indication of the Spirit’s limited presence can be found in Genesis 6 where it says, “Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years" (v.3). Here the Lord is speaking saying that he has had enough of the sinful race.2. What drastic change do we find between Genesis 1:31 and 6:5”And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” And “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”3. What do Nehemiah and Asaph have in common that may indicate at least a temporary withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the people? Nehemiah says that because the people would not listen to the Holy Spirit judgment came upon them. Asaph cries that the prophet is no more. It is possible that the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn or at least severely restricted from working in Israel for a period of time.4. Why does it seem correct the think Elisha had the Spirit with him all the time?Humanly speaking Elisha was able to do more miracles and work than Elijah. While Scripture does not demand it, it would seem feasible that the Holy Spirit was with Elisha his whole life as a prophet.5. How does the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “remain” help us understand the duration of the Holy Spirit?Hebrew word ,nuah means “rest נוח settle down, and remain.” The same word is used to describe birds resting, of a person resting from ones enemies and feet resting in the river. It could be argued that none of these examples prove a permanency. However the very meaning of the word argues against some sort of temporariness.6. What evidence do we have that the Spirit was permanently in one person?1 Samuel 16. In verse 13 we read, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.” 7. How does Ezekiel’s use of the word “to walk” help us in understanding the permanency of the Holy Spirit?When we combine the “new heart” and a “new spirit” with the idea of walking, ,halak חלך there is an idea of a more permanent way of life. Halak can have the meaning of “a continuance of an action.” It makes sense to understand that Ezekiel is looking forward to the time when God’s people will live a more consistent godly life. This consistency carries the sense of a more permanent situation. 8. What is the significance of Micah saying, “I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord” in the perfect tense?Concerning the Perfect as a simple tense, Collins, a Covenant Seminary professor says, “The verb form presents the action as having simply been done, even if it is a process or a complex of actions. The use of “process” and “complex” could point to a meaning that includes the continual process of an event or thing.9. How does the New Testament’s application of Isaiah 11:2 show the permanence of the Holy Spirit residing in a person?As New Testament people we know this verse is referring to Jesus. We know that Jesus has the Holy Spirit permanently (Luke 4:18)10. What is the relationship of the Spirit and the 70 leaders God chose for Moses?

There seems to be an implicit understanding of permanence or at least for a long time but we cannot be assertive about this. Logically it would seem that these leaders would have the Spirit on them all the time because they would continually have to make decisions as presented to them.

Appendix C. An Excurses on the Septuagint

What is the Septuagint?Question:What is the Septuagint?"

Answer: The Septuagint (also known as the LXX) is a translation of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek language. The name “Septuagint” comes from the Latin word for seventy. The tradition is that 70 (or 72) Jewish scholars were the translators behind the Septuagint. The Septuagint was translated in the third and second centuries B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt. As Israel was under the authority of Greece for several centuries, the Greek language became more and more common. By the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., most people in Israel spoke Greek as their primary language. That is why the effort was made to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek – so that those who did not understand Hebrew could have the Scriptures in a language they could understand. The Septuagint represents the first major effort at translating a significant religious text from one language into another.

It is interesting to note that many of the New Testament quotes from the Hebrew Bible are taken from the Septuagint. As faithful as the Septuagint translators strived to be in accurately rendering the Hebrew text into Greek, some translational differences arose. In comparing the New Testament quotations of the Hebrew Bible, it is clear that the Septuagint was often used. This is the result of the fact that by the late 1st century B.C., and especially the 1st century A.D. – the Septuagint had “replaced” the Hebrew Bible as the Scriptures most people used. Since most people spoke and read Greek as their primary language, and the Greek authorities strongly encouraged the use of Greek, the Septuagint became much more common than the Hebrew Old Testament. The fact that the Apostles and New Testament authors felt comfortable, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in using the Septuagint should give us assurance that a translation of the original languages of the Bible is still the authoritative Word of God.Tne Website offers about 130 N.T. quotes of the LXX https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/quotes01.cfm Nov. 14, 2017This would be a very interesting study especially in light of how the N.T. relates to the O.T. through the LXX. 1. It would involve study in Greek and Hebrew noting the differences between how the Hebrew writers wrote in the O.T. and 2. how the Greek writers understood the O.T. writers. 3. A final way would be to ask the following questions: Why did the N.T. writers quote

the LXX and not the original documents? Was it simply because they did not know Hebrew well enough? Did they actually consider the LXX as the authentic Word of God?” Were such documents already nonexistent? Such research would be worth of a chapter in someone’s book.

Model Exam with answers

1. How is it possible that we do not understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? People have avoided serious study of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. 2. Concerning the Holy Spirit what is the error of eisegesis? We often “read into” the Old Testament passages what we know of the Holy Spirit. As New Testament people we know more about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. 3. What is significant about the name Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? The Holy Spirit is used only three times in the Old Testament4. What is meant by Robinson’s quote that begins with, “Robinson maintains, No primary Christian doctrine has been left so undeveloped dogmatically…?”If we define the Holy Spirit by our own experiences and leave out what the Bible says, then we are left with no real authoritative definition. 5. How does Pink describe the importance of the Holy Spirit? Wherever Christianity has been a living power, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has uniformly been regarded, equally with the Atonement and Justification by faith, as the article of a standing or falling church.6. How do we know that Isaiah teaches us the Holy Spirit’s sustaining power of creation? Isaiah 2: 14-20 tells us that there is peace that reigns, donkeys are having fun, sheep have food, and the wild forest becomes a pasture. 7. How has the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, in, in church history and in our present day, been taught erroneously?Arius denied the full deity of the Holy Spirit. Sabellius denied that the Holy Spirit is a diving person distinct from the Father and the son, although admitting the deity of the Holy Spirit. Today, Mormons present the spirit as a divine being separate, not distinct, from the Father and The Son in the Trinity. Jehovah’s Witnesses see the Holy Spirit as a powerful force, not a person, and do not accept His full deity8. How do know about the personality of the Holy Spirit from Ezekiel 2?Grammatically the masculine form is used. We have the Spirit speaking. 9. What is the importance of understanding the Holy Spirit as both a person and God? Indeed both the personhood and the deity of the Holy Spirit are necessary for the doctrine of inspiration of scripture.

10. What are four lines of proof of the deity of the Holy Spirit?a. The Holy Spirit is eternal, b. omnipresence,meaning everywhere present, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit, c. omniscience, meaning all-knowing, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit d. Omnipotence, meaning all-powerful, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.11. What is the difference between revelation and inspiration? Revelation is to make something known but inspiration makes sure that the written information is recorded with no mistakes.12. Of what importance does the person of the Holy Spirit have to the doctrine of inspiration? We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who speaks divine words. If the Holy Spirit was not a person how could he communicate with us in ways that are valid and understandable? If he was not God then how could we be sure that what we are told is true? 13. Of what importance does the person of the Holy Spirit have to the doctrine of inspiration? We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who speaks divine words. If the Holy Spirit was not a person how could he communicate with us in ways that are valid and understandable? If he was not God then how could we be sure that what we are told is true? 14. How do we know that the prophets were speaking God’s words?The word of the Lord came to Isaiah,” “Thus says the Lord,” “Thus says the Lord of Hosts” or “God said.”15. How do we know that God spoke to non-prophets?God spoke also to others than prophets, e.g., [for example] to Eve, Cain, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob 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.16. What is one gift that we often overlook or forget that is definitely a gift of the Spirit? It comes as a surprise that the Holy Spirit is also in the business of endowing people with artistic abilities. We have the Zerubbabel’s spirit being stirred up to build the temple. 17. Why is Smeaton enthralled by the prophet Isaiah?Isaiah has scattered throughout his prophecies allusions to the Spirit so manifold and various, in express description and in brief turns of phrase, that it might not be difficult to put together, from his word, the complete doctrine of the Spirit.18. What is significant about the Holy Spirit and David in n 1Samuel 16:13. The Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” Definitely we have the metaphor of oil as the Spirit’s presence upon David. It would also mean that David was able to accomplish all his great feats through and by the Spirit of the Lord19. What do Nehemiah and Asaph have in common that may indicate at least a temporary withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the people?20. How does the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “remain” help us understand the duration of the Holy Spirit?

Hebrew word ,nuah means “rest נוח settle down, and remain.” The same word is used to describe birds resting, of a person resting from ones enemies and feet resting in the river. It could be argued that none of these examples prove a permanency. However the very meaning of the word argues against some sort of temporariness.

Model Exam with no answersno answers

1. How is it possible that we do not understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? 2. Concerning the Holy Spirit what is the error of eisegesis? 3. What is significant about the name Holy Spirit in the Old Testament? 4. What is meant by Robinson’s quote that begins with, “Robinson maintains, No primary Christian doctrine has been left so undeveloped dogmatically…?” 5. How does Pink describe the importance of the Holy Spirit? 6. How do we know that Isaiah teaches us the Holy Spirit’s sustaining power of creation? 7. How has the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, in church history and in our present day, been taught erroneously?8. How do know about the personality of the Holy Spirit from Ezekiel 2?9. What is the importance of understanding the Holy Spirit as both a person and God?10. What are four lines of proof of the deity of the Holy Spirit?11. What is the difference between revelation and inspiration?12. Of what importance does the person of the Holy Spirit have to the doctrine of inspiration?13. Of what importance does the person of the Holy Spirit have to the doctrine of inspiration?14. How do we know that the prophets were speaking God’s words?15. How do we know that God spoke to non-prophets?16. What is one gift that we often overlook or forget that is definitely a gift of the Spirit? 17. Why is Smeaton enthralled by the prophet Isaiah?18. What is significant about the Holy Spirit and David in n 1Samuel 16:13. 19. What do Nehemiah and Asaph have in common that may indicate at least a temporary withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from the people?20. How does the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “remain” help us understand the duration of the Holy Spirit?

20. How does the Hebrew word meaning “rest” or “remain” help us understand the duration of the Holy Spirit?

Appendix BA The Use of the word spirit in the Old Testament.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning

1. 1.Gen.1:2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface

At the creation ורוחActivity of the Spirit of God

of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

2. Gen.2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Creation when God gave life to Adam

לנפש Breath of life

3. Gen.6:3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

God’s limited patience when he saw the sinfulness of the human race.

רוחי My Spirit

4. Gen.6:17 "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

Before the flood when God declared that he would destroy all life on the earth.

ררוח

The Hebrew word is to be understood as not the Holy Spirit but the life essence of a person.

5. Gen.7:15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

Context of all animals which have life.

ררוחBreath of life

6. Gen.7:22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.

Death of all life in the flood

Essence of life רוח

Scripture Content Hebrew Meaning

7. Gen.41:8 Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

His spirit was troubled, perplexed.

רוחוPharaoh’s mental condition, or thinking, disposition

8. Gen.41:38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?"

Pharaoh speaking to his servants about Joseph

רוח Divine spirit. recognition of an ability from God.

9. Gen.45:27 When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

Spirit of Jacob when he learned that Joseph was still alive. רוח Vigor, vivacity

10. Exo.28:3 "You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

Spirit of wisdom that was given by God

רוחDiscernment, gifting

11. Exo.31:3 "I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship

Speaking God’s Spirit gifting Bezalel

רוח God’s Spirit directly involved with giving people artistic ability.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning

12. Exo.35:31 "And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship;

Spirit of God

רוחGod given ability

13. Num.5:14 if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,

Spirit of jealousy

רוח־קנאהProtective, descriptive of a mindset, emotional

14. Num.5:30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply all this law to her.

Spirit of jealousy רוח Protective, descriptive of a mindset

15. Num.11:17 "Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.

The spirit of Moses given to others הרוח Applied to the gift of

administration and decision making.

16. Num.11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.

The spirit given to the 70 הרוח Applied to the gift of

administration and decision making.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning

17. Num.11:26 But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp.

Spirit give to two additional men הרוח Applied to the gift of

administration and decision making.

18. Num.11:29 But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!"

Spirit given to two additional men

רוחו

Applied to the gift of administration and decision making. It is the Holy Spirit’s work in a person.

19. Num.14:24 "But My servant Different spirit רוח A spirit of obedience to

Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

follow God.

20. Num.24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Spirit of God רוח Enablement of God

21. Num.27:18 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;

Joshua has leadership ability to take over after Moses

רוח Applied to leadership given by the Holy Spirit.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning

22. Deu.2:30 "But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.

Hardened spirit

רוחו Mental acts and decisions

23. Deu.34:9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Spirit of wisdom

רוחAbility recognized by other people

24. Jos.5:1 Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.

No spirit in them רוח People had no desire, no courage

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

25. Jdg.3:10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.

Spirit of the Lord רוח־יהוה Specifically God’s Spirit

26. Jdg.6:34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

Spirit of the Lord

ורוהA direct enablement by God,

27. Jdg.9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

Evil spirit רוה An actual spirit, demon. More than just ill-will between two people

28. Jdg.11:29 Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went

Spirit of the Lord רוה Direction given by God.

on to the sons of Ammon.

29. Jdg.13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Spirit of the Lord

רוחThe Spirit began to work in Samson.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

30. Jdg.14:6 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Spirit of the Lord רוח Spirit given empowerment, strength to overpower a lion.

31. Jdg.14:19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father's house.

Spirit of the Lord on Samson רוח The Spirit gave abundant

and unusual strength

32. Jdg.15:14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands.

Spirit of the Lord רוח Abundant strength.

33. 1Sa.1:15 But Hannah replied, "No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my

Oppressed in spirit

רוח קשת־Sorrowful spirit, mental and physical state

soul before the LORD.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

34. 1Sa.10:6 "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.

Spirit of the Lord

רוחProphesying but no content given

35. 1Sa.10:10 When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them.

Spirit of God

רוחSpirit of the Lord and of God is the same spirit (see #35 in the same context)

36. 1Sa.11:6 Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry.

Spirit of God

רוח־אוו Under the Spirit’s influence Saul becomes angry and causes action on Saul’s part

37. 1Sa.16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

Spirit of the Lord came on David

רוח־אלהימEnablement of the Lord. Ongoing

38. 1Sa.16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him.

Evil spirit departed from Saul

ורוח Evil spirit

39. 1Sa.16:15 Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.

Evil spirit from God terrorizing Saul.

רוח־אלהימEvil spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

40. 1Sa.16:16 "Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well."

Evil spirit from God

רוח־אלהימEvil spirits under the control of God.

41. 1Sa.16:23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

Spirit from God

רוח־אלהימThe word “evil” is understood to be included due to context.

42. 1Sa.18:10 Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul's hand.

Evil spirit on Saul

רוח־אלהימAn evil spirit would indicate more than Saul was just in a bad mood

43. 1Sa.19:9 Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand.

Evil spirit on Saul

יהוה רוחSame as above

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

44. 1Sa.19:20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but

אלהימ רוח

when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied.

Spirit of God Spirit giving people the power to prophesy. No content of prophesy given

45. 1Sa.19:23 He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

Spirit of God

רוח־אלהימSame as above

46. 1Sa.30:12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

His spirit revived

רוחוThe Egyptian slave’s energy, mental alertness was restored

47. 2Sa.22:16 "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

Breath of his nostrils

ררוח The air that comes from God when speaking. Anthropomorphism

48. 2Sa.23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

Spirit of the Lord יהוה רוח The Spirit of God is using David

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

49. 1Ki.10:5 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD,

No more spirit in her

רוחNo more fight, or questions

there was no more spirit in her.

50. 1Ki.17:17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

No breath in him

נשמהhe died

51. 1Ki.18:12 "It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.

Spirit of the Lord ורוה God transporting him somewhere else.

52. 1Ki.21:5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, "How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?"

Sullen Spirit

רוחךAhab is angry because he did not get his way.

53. 1Ki.22:21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'

Spirit came forward הרוח Obviously and evil spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

54. 1Ki.22:22 "The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'

Deceiving spirit שקר רוח Same as above

55. 1Ki.22:23 "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of Deceiving spirit שקר רוח Same as above

all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you."

56. 1Ki.22:24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"

Spirit of the Lord

יהוה רוח־Zedekiah falsely assumed that he spoke God’s words.

57. 2Ki.2:9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me."

Double portion of your spirit ברוחך

The power by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action

58. 2Ki.2:15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

The spirit of Elijah רוח Elisha has the ability and power of Elijah. Obviously it was a God-given ability

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

59. 2Ki.2:16 They said to him, "Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley." And he said, "You shall not send."

Spirit of the Lord

רוח

60. 2Ki.19:7 "Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by

Put a spirit in him

רוחA God-given demeanor or inclination

the sword in his own land."'"

61. 1Ch.5:26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara and to the river of Gozan, to this day.

Spirit of Pul רוח God placed a plan in King Pul to carry Israel into exile.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

62. 1Ch.12:18(Heb v.19) Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty, and he said, "We are yours, O David, And with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you!" Then David received them and made them captains of the band.

Spirit upon Amasai ורוח The Spirit gave Amasai the ability to speak inspired words.

63. 2Ch.15:1 Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, Spirit of God

אלהימ רוח The Spirit would indicate Holy Spirit

64. 2Ch.18:20 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him,

A spirit

חרוח A spirit that will entice to do evil would hve to be an evil spiril

'How?'

65. 2Ch.18:21 "He said, 'I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and prevail also. Go and do so.'

Deceiving spirit

לרוח

An evil spirit

66. 2Ch.18:23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"

Spirit of the Lord יהוה רוח Zedekiah , a false prophet, referring to the Holy Spirit.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

67. 2Ch.20:14 Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph;

Spirit of the Lord

יהוה רוחThe Spirit empowering Jahaziel to comfort Israel when Moab and Ammon came to make war against Jehoshaphat.

68. 2Ch.21:16 Then the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians.

Lord stirred up the spirit

רוחGod working in the nations to punish Israel

69. 2Ch.24:20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus God has said, 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken

Spirit of God

אלהימ רוחSpirit empowering Zechariah to speak God’s words.

you.'"

70. 2Ch.36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia--in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah--the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying

Spirit of Cyrus

את־רוחכועש God influencing Cyrus to

free the Jews

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

71. Ezr.1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

Spirit of Cyrus

את־רוחכועש Same as above

72. Ezr.1:5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

Whose spirit God stirred to go את־רוחו God moved in the peoples

heart’s and minds to leave Babylon

73. Neh.9:20 "You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.

Your good Spirit

רוחךThe people of Israel had God’s Spirit guiding them in the desert.

74. Neh.9:30 "However, You bore with them for many years, And admonished them by Your Admonish by your ברוחך The Holy Spirit teaching

Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Spirit through the prophets. The one word includes a preposition and pronoun.

75. Job.4:9 "By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.

Breath of God וח רומר In the sense when God speaks to terminate people it will happen

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

76. Job.4:15 "Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up. A spirit passed by

ורוחSome kind of force or presence

77. Job.6:4 "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

My spirit drinks

רוחיLife force, essence of life

78. Job.7:7 "Remember that my life is but breath; My eye will not again see good.

As breath וח רכי־ר Life is short

79. Job.7:11 "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

My spirit

רוחיJob’s spirit

80. Job.7:16 "I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

A breath

בל הכי־ה Depending on who translates it can mean vanity, or have no meaning.

81. Job.9:18 "He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness. Get my breath

י חרוח

Feeling of being stifled, get no break

82. Job.10:12 'You have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my

Preserve spirit רוחי In context would be understood a his life

spirit.

83. Job.12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? Breath of all mankind

פש נ

רורוח ו The life essence of all people

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

84. Job.15:13 That you should turn your spirit against God And allow such words to go out of your mouth?

Spirit against God רוחך A person’s basic inclinations or desire

85. Job.15:30 "He will not escape from darkness; The flame will wither his shoots, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.

Breath of his mouth

וח רבר

The spoken word of God

86. Job.17:1 "My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.

Spirit is broken רוחי Will to live or to keep trying

87. Job.19:17 "My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers. Breath is offensive

ררוחיAir coming from the body

88. Job.20:3 "I listened to the reproof which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

Spirit of my understanding

ורוח The force in a person that helps him comprehend.

89. Job.26:4 "To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?

Whose spirit was expressed

ונשמתInformation or understanding

90. Job.26:13 "By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.

By his breatheeeבברוחו

God’s control over the universe

91. Job.27:3 For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils,

Breath of God י ב בנשמתי ת וח רור

Life force

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

92. Job.32:8 "But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.

Spirit in man רוח־חיאGod given ability

93. Job.32:18 "For I am full of words; The spirit within me constrains me.

Spirit within me רוה disposition

94. Job.33:4 "The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Spirit of God אל ־ רוח Spirit of God in creation and in sustaining

95. Job.34:14 "If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

His spirit רוחו Life essence

96. Job.37:10 "From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

Breath of God ל אמנשמת־א

Controls nature

97. Job.41:21 "His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.

Breath kindles � פשו Chapter division makes this verse hard to find.(v.13) power of god

98. Psa.18:15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

Blast of breath ררוח(v.16) creative power of God

99. Psa 31:5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.

My spirit רוהי Life essence

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

100. Psa.32:2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

Whose spirit no deceit ברוחוBasic character of a person

101. Psa.33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.

breath וח רובר

Creative power of God

102. Psa.34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Crushed in spirit רוח כאי־ Contrite spirit ד

103. Psa.39:5 "Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.

Mere breath

ל דמה־חד Fleeting, shortness of life NASB translates it breath.

104. Psa.39:11 "With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath.

Mere breath

ההבלBreath vanity, vapor

105. Psa.51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Steadfast spirit

נכון ורוחWith equity and justice, uprightness

106. Psa.51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Holy Spirit

ורוחThe person Holy Spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

107. Psa.51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Willing spirit

נ ורוח

Your free spirit, willingness, firm

108. Psa.51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Broken spirit

רוח

Spirit broken in pieces, submissive

109. Psa.62:9 Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than breath.

Lighter than breath

בל המה

Of no value

110. Psa.76:12 He will cut off the spirit of princes; He is feared by the kings of the earth.

Spirit of princes

רוחLife essence

111. Psa.77:3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah

Faint spirit

רוחיdiscouragement

112. Psa.77:6 I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders:

My spirit ורוח A person’s mind

113. Psa.78:8 And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Whose spirit

רוחוdisposition

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

114. Psa.94:11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are a mere breath.

Mere breath הבל Not lasting a long time

115. Psa.104:29 You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they Their spirit

רוחם Breath, life, essence of life

expire And return to their dust.

116. Psa.104:30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.

Your spirit ררוחך Creative force

117. Psa.106:33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

His Spirit ו חאת־רוח God’s spirit

118. Psa.135:17 They have ears, but they do not hear, Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

No breath

וח ראין־יש־ר

There is no life

119. Psa.139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Your Spirit ך חמרוח God’s presence

120. Psa.142:3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.

My spirit

י חרוח

David’s disposition

100. Psa.143:4 Therefore my spirit Is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.

My spirit י חרוח willingness

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

101. Psa.143:7 Answer me quickly, O LORD, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

My spirit

י חרוח

Failure of willingness

102. Psa.143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

Good spirit רוחך God’s spirit

121. Psa.144:4 Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.

temporary בל הלה like a breath

122. Psa.146:4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.

Spirit departs ררוחו dies

123. Psa.150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

Everything that has breath

ההנשמה life

124. Pro.1:23 "Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

Pour out my spirit

י םרוח חלכ כ

Thoughts, my words

125. Pro.15:4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

Crushes the sprit ברוח Willingness to carry on

126. Pro.15:13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

Spirit is broken ררוח Determination, willingness to carry on

127. Pro.16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Haughty spirit eeeרוח בה גג arrogance

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

128. Pro.16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.

Contrast between God and man

ות חרוח Literally the Lord weighs the spirits

129. Pro.16:19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Humble in spirit וח רשפל־ר Humility, teachable

130. Pro.16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

His spiriteeeו חברוח ב In his spirit, controls

himself

131. Pro.17:22 A joyful heart is Broken spirit וח רור Lack of determination,

good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

weakness

132. Pro.17:27 He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

Cool spirit וח רוקרר Honorable noble spirit

133. Pro.18:14 The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit who can bear it?

Broken spirit

יש רוח־א

וח רור

Spirit of man

Wounded spirit, discouraged

134. Pro.20:27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

How the Lord guides human beings

ת מנשמ Breath or soul of man

135. Pro.25:28 Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

Broken spirit לרוחו Control over his spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

136. Pro_29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Humble spirit ררוח

Not proud.

137. Ecc.3:19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

Same breath

וח רור

Essence of life

138. Ecc.3:21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

breath of man

breath of beast

" י נרוחבנ ר Life essence of man

Life essence of animals

139. Ecc.7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning;

Patient spirit רוח Stick to it over a period of time.

Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.

140. Ecc.12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

The spirit וח רוהר Essence of life

141. Son.7:8 "I said, 'I will climb the palm tree, I will take hold of its fruit stalks.' Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, And the fragrance of your breath like apples,

Your breath

יח רור

Air coming from her lungs

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

142. Isa.2:22 Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?

breath ה מנשמ Wind in a person’s nose

143. Isa.4:4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,

Spirit of judgment/burning

וח רבר

discernment

144. Isa.11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Spirit of the Lord

ה ורוחיהו ר

Ability to discern

145. Isa.11:4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth

Breath of lips

וח רובר

Air out of his mouth

with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

146. Isa.19:3 "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.

Spirit of Egyptians

רוח־Willingness to keep trying, or to strategize.

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

147. Isa.19:14 The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

Perverse, evil ררוח

148. Isa.25:4 For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.

breath

ררוחThe air from a person

149. Isa.26:9 At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

My spirit

י חאף־רוח

Innermost being, desire

150. Isa.28:6 A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.

spirit

וח רולר

For a spirit of justice

151. Isa.29:4 Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your

Spirit from the ground

כאוב

Spirit of the dead

voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.

Scripture Context Hebrew meaning

152. Isa.29:10 For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.

Spirit of sleep

ררוח

Spirit of insensibility

153. Isa.30:1 "Woe to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

Not of my Spirit

eeי ארוח חול ל

Contrast with the ability God gives a person

154. Isa.30:28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

His breath

ו חורוח

Breath of God

155. Isa.30:33 For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

Breath of the Lord

ת מנשמ יהוה Air from the mouth of God

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

156. Isa.31:3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; So the LORD will stretch out His hand, And he who helps will stumble And he who is helped will fall, And all of them will come to an end together.

Not spirit

וח רולא־ר

Ghost or non-human entity

157. Isa.32:15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is considered as a forest.

The Spirit

ררוחGod’s Spirit who controls the world

158. Isa.33:11 "You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire.

My breath

רוחכם

Air from God, understood as anger

159. Isa.34:16 Seek from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit has gathered them.

His Spirit

ו חורוח

God’s Spirit protecting and guiding the animals.

160. Isa.37:7 "Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'

A spirit

e

eוח רבור ו

Ability, desire

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

161. Isa.38:16 "O Lord, by these י חרוח

things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; O restore me to health and let me live!

Life of my spirit Seems to be essence of life

162. Isa.40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

Breath of the Lord

ררוח

God giving life to people and nature

163. Isa.40:13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him? Spirit of the Lord

וח ראת־ר

Spirit of the Lord

164. Isa.42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

My Spirit

רוחי

165. Isa.42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,

“spirit” and “breath.”

וח רור Gives life

166. Isa.44:3 'For I will pour out 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;

My Spirit

רוחיMy spirit, ability

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

167. Isa.48:16 "Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I

Sent his spirit

ורוחוGod’s Spirit

was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit."

168. Isa.54:6 "For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," Says your God.

Grieved in spirit

ובת צועצ

sorrow

169. Isa.57:13 "When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry all of them up, And a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land And will possess My holy mountain."

A breath

ררוחA simple thing, momentary

170. Isa.57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Spirit of the lowly

וח רושפל־ר

Humble in spirit

171. Isa.57:16 "For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made.

Spirit grow faint

Breath of people

כי־רוח Discouragement\

Life essence

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

172. Isa 59:19 So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives.

Wind of the Lord

ררוחCompared to a stream

173. Isa.59:21 "As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says

רוחי

the LORD: "My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever."

My Spirit Holy Spirit that resides in people.

174. Isa.61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

Spirit of the Lord

י נרוחאדנ ר

Holy Spirit residing in a person

175. Isa.61:3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Spirit of fainting

ה הרוחכה ר

Lack of ability to do something

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

176. Isa.63:10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

Holy Spirit

וח ראת־ר The person Holy spirit

177. Isa.63:11 Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

Holy Spirit

וח ראת־ר קדשו The person Holy Spirit

178. Isa.63:14 As the cattle ה ורוחיהו ר

which go down into the valley, The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So You led Your people, To make for Yourself a glorious name.

Spirit of the Lord The power of God given to people

179. Isa.65:14 "Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart, But you will cry out with a heavy heart, And you will wail with a broken spirit.

Broken spirit ררוח Fractured, broken, discouragement

180. Isa.66:2 "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Contrite of spirit

ררוח Unto poor and humble spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

181. Jer.4:31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, Stretching out her hands, saying, "Ah, woe is me, for I faint before murderers."

Gasping for breath

"eeeח פיפ

Intake of air in time of pain

182. Jer.10:14 Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

No breath וח רולא־ר Life essence

183. Jer.51:1 Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And

Spirit of the destroyer Energy, desire to destroy ררוח

against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

184. Jer.51:11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.

Spirit of the kings

את־רוח

Rise to action

185. Jer.51:17 All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

No breath

וח רולא־ר

No life

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

186. Lam.1:20 "See, O LORD, for I am in distress; My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword slays; In the house it is like death.

My spirit

י עמע “my bowels” The word spirit is not used in the Hebrew rather an emphatic pronoun

187. Lam.2:11 My eyes fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants faint In the streets of the city.

My spirit

י עמע Again literally “my bowels or inward parts.”

188. Lam.4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the LORD'S anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations."

Breath of nostrils

ררוחAir, implying anger

189. Eze.1:12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.

The spirit

וח רהר Hard to know whether the Spirit of God or energizing force

190. Eze.1:20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

The spirit

The spirit

וח רהר

Spirit of the living creatures

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

191. Eze.1:21 Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

The spirit

ררוח

Spirit of living things

192. Eze.2:2 As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.

By the Spirit

וח רביר ב

Spirit of God

193. Eze.3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place."

The Spirit

ררוחSpirit of God

194. Eze.3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me.

The Spirit

My spirit

וח רור

י חרוח

Spirit of God

Human spirit

195. Eze.3:24 The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself up in your house.

The Spirit ררוח Spirit of God

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

196. Eze.8:3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.

The Spirit

וח יר ראת ת

The Spirit of God

197. Eze.10:17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

Spirit of the living things

eee

eeה ירוחהחי ר

The life force of the living things

198. Eze.11:1 Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD'S house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

The Spirit

וח יר ראת ת

The Spirit of God

199. Eze.11:5 Then the Spirit of יהוה רוח

the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, "Say, 'Thus says the LORD, "So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.

The Spirit of the Lord The Spirit of the Lord

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

200. Eze.11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

New spirit

וח רור

A new spirit, A gift from God

201. Eze.11:24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me.

The Spirit

Spirit of God

וח רור

Spirit of God

202. Eze.13:3 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.

Own spirit

ם רוח

Wishes or desires

203. Eze.18:31 "Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?

New spirit

וח רור

A new willingness to follow God

204. Eze.21:7 "And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it

Every spirit

וח רכל־ר

The desire or hope of all people,(Heb v.12)

will happen,' declares the Lord GOD."

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

205. Eze.37:5 "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.

breath

ררוח Essence of life

206. Eze.36:26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

New Spirit

וח רור

And a new spirit, desire

207. Eze.36:27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

My Spirit

י חואת־רוח

God’s Spirit

208. Eze.37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.

Spirit of the Lord

ה יהו וברוח ח ר

In/by the spirit of the Lord

209. Eze.37:6 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"

Breath

ררוחEssence of life

210. Eze.37:8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Breath

וח רור

No life

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

211. Eze.37:9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'"

Breath

וח ראל־הר

Essence of life

212. Eze.37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Breath

וח רהר

Essence of life

213. Eze.37:14 "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'"

My Spirit

י חרוח

God’s Spirit

214. Eze.39:29 "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.

My Spirit

את־רוחי

God’s Spirit

215. Eze.43:5 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.

The Spirit ררוח God’s Spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

216. Dan.2:1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, His spirit

ו חרוח

The king’s spirit

Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.

217. Dan.2:3 The king said to them, "I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream."

My spirit

י חרוח The king’s spirit

218. Dan.4:8 "But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and I related the dream to him, saying,

Spirit of the holy gods

ין הרוח־אלה v. 5 in the Hebrew Daniel obviously had God’s Spirit but in this sense the king used it in the sense of higher powers. Most likely referring to the gods the king worshipped.

219. Dan.4:9 'O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, since I know that a spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream which I have seen, along with its interpretation.

Spirit of the holy gods

ין הרוחאלה ר

Same as above

220. Dan.4:18 'This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.'

Spirit of the holy gods

ין הרוח־אלה

Same as above

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

221. Dan.5:11 "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

Spirit of the holy gods

ין הרוחאלה ר

Same as above

King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.

222. Dan.5:12 "This was because an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned and he will declare the interpretation."

Extraordinary spirit

ה ררוח׀יתיר ר

Excellent spirit, beyond the average person

223. Dan.5:14 "Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

Spirit of the gods

ין הרוחאלה ר

See above

224. Dan.5:20 "But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him.

His spirit

ין הרוחאלה ר

His attitude, demeanor, arrogant

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

225. Dan.5:23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But

Life-breath

ך תנשמתLife essence

the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.

226. Dan.6:3 Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

Extraordinary spirit

יתירא רוח

Excellent spirit, beyond the average person.

227. Dan.7:15 "As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.

My spirit י חרוח Grieved in spirit, inner mind and soul

228. Dan.10:17 "For how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me."

breath

ה מונשמ

Strength or desire

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

229. Hos.4:12 My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them; For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.

Spirit of harlotry

זנונים רוח

Spirit of prostitution

230. Hos.5:4 Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of harlotry is within them, And they do not know the LORD.

Spirit of harlotry

זנונים רוח

Spirit of prostitution

231. Joe.2:28 "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; My spirit

רוחיGod’s Spirit

And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.

233. Hos 12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind, And pursues the east wind continually; He multiplies lies and violence. Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried to Egypt.

wind

רוח ה רע

Futility, trying to look for help from which will give none

234. Joe.2:29 "Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

My Spirit את־רוחי God’s Spirit who gives enablement

235. Mic.2:7 "Is it being said, O house of Jacob: 'Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these His doings?' Do not My words do good To the one walking uprightly?

Spirit of the Lord ה ורוחיהו ר Spirit of the Lord

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

236. Mic.3:8 On the other hand I am filled with power-- With the Spirit of the LORD-- And with justice and courage To make known to Jacob his rebellious act, Even to Israel his sin.

Spirit of the Lord ה וחיהו ואת־ר ר Spirit of God giving power to Micah

237. Hab.2:19 "Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, 'Awake!' To a mute stone, 'Arise!' And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it.

Breath

וח רוכל־ר

Life essence

238. Zep.1:12 "It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'

Stagnant in spirit

ם על־שמריה Literally “settled on his lees” sediment of wine. Context indicates indifference and complacency. The word spirit is not used in Hebrew.

239. Hag.1:14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

Stirred the spirit

את־רוח

desire

240. Hag.2:5 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!'

My Spirit י חורוח God’s spirit

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning241. Zec.4:6 Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts.

My Spirit י חאם־ברוח

Power of God’s Spirit

242. Zec.7:12 "They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

His Spirit

ו חברוח

God’s Spirit

243. Zec.12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him

Spirit of man

ם רוח־אדבקר Life essence

244. Zec.12:10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that

Spirit of grace

חן רוח

God’s spirit

they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

245. Zec.13:2 "It will come about in that day," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

Unclean spirit

וח רואת־ר ה אהט)מא The desire of people to

worship idols

Scripture Context Hebrew Meaning

246. Mal.2:15 "But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

Remnant spirt

Your spirit

ונשמרתםם ברוחכ

Referring to the few people who still listen to God.

The people’s inclinations and heart

247. Mal.2:16 "For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."

Your spirit

ם ונשמרתם ברוחכ People’s inclinations