The Holy Spirit - Session 9 - Israel's Judges and Prophets

The Church of Divine Guidance (CDG) Sunday morning adult bible study group is doing a study of The Holy Spirit. The study will look at who the Holy Spirit is, His role in the Trinity, His interaction with man, His role in and after man's salvation. This is an intense study of the Holy Spirit in scripture. We are using the bible as our primary reference resource. These posts are my notes for each session. Please study with us. You can participate by asking your questions or making comments below. We welcome your thoughts, questions, comments, and prayers

Review

Before we get into what I want to talk about today let's review what we have already learned.

The Holy Spirit is a member of the Holy  Trinity

He is a person and has;

•  Intelligence
•  Feelings
•  A will
•  He prays
• He does miracles  
• He can be lied to
• He can be insulted
• He teaches
• He directs

As God He has attributes that only God has He’s

• Omnipotent

• Omnipresent

• Omniscient

Names

• Author of Scripture:
• Convictor of Sin
• Deposit/Seal/Earnest/Guarantee
• Guide
• Intercessor
• Revealer
• Spirit of God/the Lord/Christ
• Spirit of Life
• Teacher
• Witness

Symbols

• Dove
• Fire
• Wind
• Water
• Oil
• Cloud

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is mentioned in connection with

• Creation
• Revelation
• Filling

The filling is in some cases seen a temporary as in the case of Saul and Samson and also leaving the temple.

Ezekiel 10:18 (NLT)18  Then the glory of the LORD moved out from the door of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim.

Next we talked about the special relationship with the nation of Israel because God made a covenant with Abraham because of his faith.  Abraham believed that God would do what He said that He would do so God chose Abraham’s offspring to be the nation through which salvation would come through Jesus.

Then we started looking at examples of the Holy Spirit empowering man to do specific things.  That brings us to today.  

We will continue with examples of the Judges.  Last week we discussed Othniel, the first Judge, then Gideon, and Jephthah.

Continuing with the Judges

Samson

Judges 13:25 (NLT)25  And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14:6 (NLT)6  At that moment the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it.

Judges 15:14 (NLT)14  As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists.

Judges 16:28-30 (NLT)28  Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.”29  Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands,30  he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime.

What about Samson what can we learn?

That as long as the Holy Spirit is with you you can accomplish great things even those you may think are impossible.  But unlike Samson even though we blow it the Holy Spirit doesn’t leave us. There were consequences for Samson ultimately losing his strength, his freedom, and his sight,  and for him a time that the Holy Spirit left him.   But the reason for rejoicing is that  even though there are consequences we have our guarantee

2 Corinthians 1:22 (HCSB)22  He has also sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment in our hearts.

2 Corinthians 5:5 (HCSB)5  And the One who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (HCSB)13  When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.14  He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.  

The Prophets

Elijah and Elisha

1 Kings 18:12 (HCSB)12  But when I leave you, the Spirit of the LORD may carry you off to some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But ⌊I⌋, your servant, have feared the LORD from my youth.

This was during the famine that Elijah had said would last until he said so, or really God said so.  

1 Kings 17:1 (HCSB)1  Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”

Ahab sent a guy named Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace,  to look for some water for the king’s livestock.  Obadiah by-the-way had hidden 100 prophets in some caves so they wouldn’t be killed.  Meanwhile God had told Elijah to go tell Ahab the king there would be rain.  Obadiah ran into Elijah and Elijah told him to go tell Ahab that he wanted to see him and the verse that we read was his reply.   Obadiah knew that Elijah was empowered by the Holy Spirit and he was afraid that if he told Ahab that Elijah wanted to see him when Ahab got there the Holy Spirit would have taken him somewhere else.

It didn’t happen that time but we do know that it happened later to Elijah.

2 Kings 2:9 (HCSB)9  After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell ⌊me⌋ what I can do for you before I am taken from you.” So Elisha answered, “Please, let me inherit two shares of your spirit.”

2 Kings 2:11-15 (HCSB)11  As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.12  As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Then he never saw Elijah again. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.13  Elisha picked up the mantle that had fallen off Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.14  Then he took the mantle Elijah had dropped and struck the waters. “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.15  When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

And when the sons of the prophets... saw him. Still watching, they saw Elisha use the cloak. The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. Elisha had been granted the same gifts Elijah had, as evidence of his having been anointed to the prophetic office. - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.

2 Kings 5:26 (HCSB)26  But Elisha questioned him, “Wasn’t my spirit there when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to accept money and clothes, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves?

This was after the Naaman a commander in the army of Aram which had invaded Israel and captured some territory (Read 2 Kings 5) went to Elisha to be healed of leprosy and after he was healed he wanted to pay Elisha and he wouldn’t accept payment.  His servant, without Elisha’s knowledge went after the guy and lied and got he to give him some silver and some clothes.  When the servant, whose name was Gehazi came back Elisha busted him with those words.

That brings up a point I need to make about the Holy Spirit’s empowerment and expressions of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.  There are some instances where the Holy Spirit and the human “spirit” seem almost to merge.

2 Kings 2:15 (HCSB)15  When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were facing him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him.

The Holy Spirit is referred to as the spirit of Elijah.

Now back to the Holy Spirit’ empowering the prophets.

Isaiah

Isaiah 48:15-17 (NLT)15  “I have said it: I am calling Cyrus! I will send him on this errand and will help him succeed.16  Come closer, and listen to this. From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.” And now the Sovereign LORD and his Spirit have sent me with this message.17  This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.

God was speaking through Isaiah and telling the people that Cyrus would be the person who delivered them from captivity and he was telling them  before the nation of Israel ever went into captivity in Babylon 150 years before he was born.

Here’s what the Wycliffe Bible Commentary says about verse 16

In verse 16 the pre-incarnate Christ identifies himself as the one sent by the Father and the Spirit to convey God's prophetic message to the inspired prophet. - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.

What do you notice here?

The three persons of the Trinity.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 2:1-3 (NLT)1  “Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.”2  The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words.3  “Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day.  

This was Ezekiel’s call and commission to speak for God to the nation of Israel.   This was after the great vision of the glory of God that Ezekiel saw in chapter 1.  

Ezekiel 1:28 (NLT)2  All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the LORD looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.

You remember the song Ezekiel saw the wheel way  in the middle of the air?

Ezekiel saw the wheel;

Way up in the middle of the air.

Now Ezekiel saw the wheel in a wheel;

Way in the middle of the air.

Ezekiel 3:12 (NLT)12  Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. (May the glory of the LORD be praised in his place!)

Ezekiel 3:14 (NLT)14  The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the LORD’s hold on me was strong.

There are other referenced to the Spirit interacting with Ezekiel in 3:24, 11:1, 5, 24, 13:3, and 43:5

Next week we will finish with the prophets and then we will talk about others in the Old Testament who were empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Audio of Session 9 - Israel's Judges and Prophets
The audio has additional discussion that you may find interesting

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