Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
12 February 2017 AM – Genesis 1:2 – Scott Childs
Introduction: Did you know that the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit of God in the first chapter and in the last chapter of the Bible? The Holy Spirit is God just like the Father and Jesus, yet most Christians know very little about Him. During this new sermon series, I hope you will learn much about God’s Holy Spirit. As we begin, remember that He is a Person not an influence or force. He is holy. He guides, instructs, gives wisdom, empowers, and may be grieved and quenched.
Transition: This morning we are going to find out what the Holy Spirit did during the Old Testament. We are going to be looking up MANY verses. I encourage you to look them up and to take notes.
1. What did the Holy Spirit do in the Old Testament?
a. The Holy Spirit was active in the Pentateuch (Gen-Deu)
1) The Spirit of God took part in creation. (Genesis 1:2) “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
a) (Job 33:4) “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (i.e., Job 26:13; Psa 104:30)
b) In the first verse of the Bible we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Later we learn that Jesus created all things. (John 1:3) “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” The Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son were each credited with creation because they are three Persons in one Being.
2) God’s Spirit was grieved with the sins of the human race. (Genesis 6:3) “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
3) He empowered workers in Exodus. (Exodus 35:30-31) “And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;”
4) (Numbers 11:25) “And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him [Moses], and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.”
5) God’s Spirit kept Balaam from cursing Israel. (Numbers 24:2) “And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.”
6) God gave Joshua a spirit of wisdom that must have been the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 34:9) “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.”
b. The Holy Spirit came upon the Judges
1) (Judges 3:10) “And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him [Othniel], and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim.”
2) (Judges 6:34) “But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.”
3) (Judges 11:29) “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.”
4) (Judges 13:25) “And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him [Samson] at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
c. The Holy Spirit came upon kings and prophets
1) (1 Samuel 10:6) “And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee [Saul], and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.”
2) (1 Samuel 16:13) “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. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”
3) (1 Samuel 19:20) “And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.”
4) During the O.T. the Holy Spirit only came upon men temporarily to enable them to do a task. After David sinned, he prayed, (Psalms 51:11) “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.”
5) The spirit that had empowered Elijah was the Holy Spirit. (2 Kings 2:9) “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”
6) God’s Spirit was upon other prophets. (2 Chronicles 15:1) “And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:” (cf. 2Ch 24:20).
7) (Ezekiel 11:5) “And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.”
8) (Micah 3:8) “But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.”
d. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent
(Psalms 139:7-10) “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
e. The Holy Spirit inspired the words of the Bible
1) (2 Samuel 23:2) “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me [David], and his word was in my tongue.”
2) (Acts 28:25) “And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,”
3) (1 Peter 1:11) “Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”
4) (2 Peter 1:21) “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
2. Let’s summarize and apply what we have learned.
a. Summarize
1) The Holy Spirit is the Creator.
2) He is grieved by sin.
3) He enabled men to do beyond human capability.
4) The Holy Spirit only came upon men temporarily.
5) The Holy Spirit spoke as a Person.
6) He inspired the Bible
b. Application
1) Because the Holy Spirit had part in our creation, we are accountable to Him as God and ought to obey Him.
2) When we sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit because He is holy.
3) The Holy Spirit now continually lives in every true Christian. What kind of host have you been this week?
4) We need the Holy Spirit’s enabling to live the Christian life properly. For example, (Galatians 5:16) “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” We will focus more on this in the weeks to come.
5) We ought to talk to the Holy Spirit during our prayer times. He wants to help us pray.
6) Because the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, we ought to make it a priority to read His Book every day.
Conclusion: If you are a true Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. If you have not been honouring the Holy Spirit as you should, you need to ask God’s forgiveness and make the needed changes right now.
Song: Take My Life and Let – 393