Fifty years ago many people did much of the maintenance and repair on their automobiles. Although, the basic workings of the internal combustion engine hasn’t changed, with modern engineering and computer components it is much more difficult to do much to a car or truck today.
That comparison has some similarity to God’s Holy Spirit in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament. In the OT, God dealt directly with his people through prophets and priests and other leaders. Today, however, we have to go into the pages of God’s Word to learn more about his Holy Spirit and we do not have visible evidence of His leading and guiding us.
Of the thirty-nine books of the OT, twenty-three refer directly to the Holy Spirit. In the OT the Holy Spirit is mentioned using different names and titles. A few of the descriptors are; Spirit, Spirit of God, Spirit of Jehovah, Spirit of the Lord, and Holy Spirit. Of the eighty-eight distinct references to the Holy Spirit in the OT, there are 18 different names applied to him . There is nothing in the OT that gives credence to the NT theology of the Trinity and the distinct personality of the Spirit in the full NT sense.
In Genesis 1:26 NASB we read, “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” This reading implies plural personalities, but there is no clear distinction made. One would be hard-pressed to prove from OT scripture that the Spirit of God is a personality distinct from God.
However, the OT does identify a distinction between God and the Holy Spirit. Psalm 139:7 NASB states, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” God is present everywhere because God is Spirit . His presence occurs from the heights of heaven to the depths of the grave. No matter where we are, God’s Spirit is there to guide us.
There are multiple passages in the OT that indicate that God and the Holy Spirit are not identical beings.
One poignant passage involved King David after his grievous sin with Bathsheba. Psalm 51:11 NASB reads, “Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”
These are the words of one who has walked with God but who knows that the relationship has been shattered. For about a year, David has lived with unforgiven sin because he has not repented of his actions and he created a gulf between himself and God. Now he hopes, by God's grace, that the barrier be removed and that he may once again be brought into the fellowship of the Lord.
When Samuel the prophet had first anointed him as a youth to become the future king, "from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power” . It would be frightening to know that you had been cast away from God’s presence. David, the man for being known as a man after God’s own heart , now feels the loneliness that comes from being away from God and His Spirit. David now experiences his own un-holiness in light of God’s holiness. This account of David demonstrates that God and God’s Spirit had distinct roles in his life and actions.
So, there are many OT passages that support the NT concept of the Trinity. In Isaiah 48:16 NASB we read, “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.” Here, Isaiah is saying in essence, “Okay, people, listen up – God is active and alive – He has plans for us as a nation – and he wants us to be a part of His redemptive plan, so rest assured that God and His Spirit are here with us.”
Nature has always been seen as a manifestation of God’s creation and power. We ‘oh and ah’ at spectacular sunsets, cascading waterfalls, majestic mountains, cavernous canyons, scenic seashores and a host of other natural beauty that we attribute to God’s creative power. And OT writers acknowledged nature as a part of God’s work through the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:2 reminds us “that the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters” as our world was formed. There is order and beauty out of cosmic chaos and God’s Spirit moved from the very beginning.
The MESSAGE paraphrase of Job 26:13 underscores a role of the Spirit, “With one breath he clears the sky, with one finger he crushes the sea serpent.”
The term Spirit that is used 345 times in the NT comes from the root word (pneuma) which means breath. The foundations presented in the OT are much less numerous but show an active role in nature. Psalm 104:30 NKJV reads, “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.” Our four seasons are a continual reminder of God’s Spirit renewing the face of the earth.
And not only do we find God’s Spirit in nature but also in ourselves. The Israelites exhibited some extraordinary powers as they followed God’s leading. Men like Moses, Joshua, David, Gideon and the Prophets had their abilities of power, wisdom and knowledge heightened through the power of God’s Spirit.
Gideon felt inadequate to defend the nation of Israel but God’s Spirit empowered him. Enemy alliances combined to fight against Israel but notice the account in Judges 6:33-34 NIV, “Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.” Gideon found courage and inspiration through God’s Spirit.
In Job 33:4 NASB we find Elihu counseling Job on his creation when he said, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” He was correct in recognizing creation theology, but his counseling skills were lacking.
Humans are regarded in OT Scripture in all parts of being, body, mind, and spirit as the direct result of the action of the Spirit of God. Sometimes God used normal power and at other times extraordinary power in the workings of His Holy Spirit.
Direct action by God’s Spirit is seen in the building of the Tabernacle. In Exodus 31:3-5 NASB we read where God had chosen Bezalel to be the master craftsman in making the artistic work for the Tabernacle. The text tells us, “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.”
God heightened the ability and skill of Bezalel and Israel built the tabernacle with the aid of God’s Spirit.
In the book of Judges 3:10 we find the Holy Spirit conferring powers on judges and warriors. Israel had turned away from God and the text tells us that “they did evil in the sight of the Lord.” The Spirit of the Lord raised up Othniel to be a judge of the people and gave Israel success in war and they had a forty-year period of rest as a nation.
These demonstrations of the Spirit’s power in the OT make it apparent that they were for the purpose of imparting great strength and valor to God’s chosen commanders who were to lead his people to victory against their enemies. It is interesting to note that the Spirit was imparted without regard to the faith of the individual. Gideon had to give God two tests before he was convinced.
Another interesting individual regarding God’s Spirit was Daniel. His ability to interpret dreams came through the power of God’s Spirit. The king had summoned all of his wise men but they were unable to tell the meaning of his dream. The queen suggested Daniel because she recognized the Spirit of God within him. Because of Daniel’s trust and confidence in God the Spirit empowered him to tell the meaning of the king’s dream and as a result he was elevated to a position of power in the kingdom.
Likewise, Joseph was another prominent OT character who was guided powerfully by God’s Spirit. He too, was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream through the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.
In Nehemiah 9:20, it is stated that the Spirit was given to the Israelites, along with Moses and the elder for instruction and strengthening during the wilderness wanderings .
The Holy Spirit is mentioned in the construction of the temple and in the rebuilding of the temple . God’s Spirit was at work in the lives of the children that they did not recognize, just as he is with us today and we are unaware of his presence and actions.
And, a prominent and distinctive role in the OT of the Holy Spirit was in the area of prophecy. The word prophet means, “one who speaks for God.” When God had a new revelation for his people or when He wanted to impress a principle upon their conscience He would send His Holy Spirit and usually this was through his chosen messengers – the prophets. And just like today, not everyone accepted the messenger or the message.
The prophet was God’s mouthpiece to His people. Hosea was one of those prophets who had a difficult task. At the festival of tabernacles , the people were jubilant but their hearts had forsaken God. It was Hosea’s task to deliver a dark message from God as they carried out the sinful practices of their pagan neighbors on the threshing room floor. But, in hostility they turned on Hosea and called him a fool. But despite their rejection, Hosea was God’s watchman and spokesman. Like Ezekiel , Hosea stated that his message was from God and ascribing that his message came directly from the Spirit of God.
Many of the prophets declared that they were speaking by the Holy Spirit. Isaiah said, “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. ”
In contemporary language, I have heard it said that the role of a preacher today is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Isaiah was God’s designated mouthpiece to carry the “good news” to Israel. And through the power of God’s Spirit that good news was embodied in the prophecy of both a servant and a Messiah – namely Christ himself.
Jeremiah echoed similar words in chapter 1:4, “Now the word of the Lord came to me...” and Ezekiel said, “the Spirit lifted me up” and “the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me” as he pronounced God’s judgment on Israel.
In Nehemiah 9:30 NASB it says this about God, “You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear.” The people ignored God’s Spirit even though he was present in God’s prophets.
King David acknowledged God’s Spirit in 2 Samuel 23:2 NASB when he said, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” The context here was David writing a song of hope and he acknowledged that God’s Spirit was guiding him and that God’s Word was on his tongue.
These are a few of many examples of God’s Spirit leading people in the OT. And in the NT, Peter underscores this fact by saying, “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
All of the OT prophets acknowledged that their writings and prophecy was the result of God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit was a powerful force in the daily affairs of OT people. And their prophecy always pointed to the day that God’s Spirit would be given to all of God’s people.
The prophecy acknowledged in Acts was foretold by Joel 2:28 NASB, “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.” In Hebrew, the phrase “pour out” means lavish or excessive amount. So, the prophet is saying that God will extravagantly pour out His Spirit on all people, regardless of nationality, race or gender.
When the Holy Spirit fell on the men and women in the upper room in Jerusalem and the apostles began to speak in tongues, Peter quotes this entire section, indicating that God accomplished that day what he promised in the book of Joel . Discerning Jews in the early church would have recognized this as fulfilled prophecy in their place and time.
And, in the book of Isaiah, we find multiple references to the Spirit in connection with the promised Messiah. Jews anticipated that the Messiah would come from the lineage of their revered King David. They were quite familiar with Isaiah 11:1 NASB which reads, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.”
In the first of the “servant songs” Isaiah 42:1 NASB, reads “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.
For us today it is easy to recognize “My Servant” as Christ – the promised Messiah, but through original Jewish eyes this was more of a riddle than a clear understanding of exactly what was to unfold. God knows that the only one who is fit to be empowered with His Spirit is the Messiah who will justice to the nations with tenderness and compassion.
In Isaiah 61:1ff occur the words that Jesus quotes and applies to himself in Luke 4:18 which read, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED.”
As we have already mentioned the word for “spirit” in both Hebrew and Greek is translated breath. And knowing that breath is required for life underscores the idea that the Holy Spirit is the giver of physical life.
But more importantly he is our Guide or Helper in convicting us of sin and leading us to Christ. Jesus’ words to his followers in John 16:7 NCV, “But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come.”
Physically, this morning we enjoy God’s Spirit with each breath we breathe of the very oxygen He created. Spiritually, do you enjoy the transformation that God made possible through the sacrifice of His Son? Is God’s Spirit guiding and helping you as you live each day?
If you need to respond to the Spirit’s prompting this morning . . . please come now, as we stand and sing a song of encouragement.
Sources used in this sermon:
Black, Garth W, Empowered by the Grace of God, Mustang, OK, Tate Publishing, 2014, pp.37-43
The College Press NIV Commentary – Psalms Volume 2
1 Samuel 16:13-14
Acts 13:22
Daniel 5:11-14
Numbers 11:17, 25
1 Chronicles 28:11-12
Zechariah 4:6-7
Hosea 9
Ezekiel 2:2; 8:3; 11:1, 24
Isaiah 61:1 NASB
Ezekiel 11:1, 5
Numbers 11:17, 25
1 Chronicles 28:11-12
Zechariah 4:6-7
Hosea 9
Ezekiel 2:2; 8:3; 11:1, 24
Isaiah 61:1 NASB
Ezekiel 11:1, 5
The College Press NIV Commentary - Hosea-Micah
