I’m completing a survey of the Spirit of the LORD in the Old Testament that I began at the start of 2018. I am doing this for several reasons. One, the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit are often misunderstood by God’s people. As the Third Person of the Triune God, Holy Spirit emphasizes the supremacy of God the Father, and the centrality in redemption of God the Son, Jesus Christ. It is Holy Spirit’s purpose to glorify the Father through the Son. He doesn’t draw attention to Himself.

Secondly, God is one in all His actions; so it’s not clear where the Spirit of the Lord is distinguishable from the other Persons unless scripture says so. And, of course, a non-Trinitarian reader would simply say that since God is Spirit, so referring to His Spirit is simply another way of referring to God. It took the coming of Messiah in human flesh, and His plain declaration of the Holy Spirit’s Personhood for us to see the distinction God’s Triune nature; and even then, no one can fully explain the Holy Trinity, because it is unexplained in Scripture. Try as we might, a fully accurate explanation of the Holy Trinity is impossible, because God in His being is infinite, and transcendent to the comprehension of all His creatures, including the angels.

Third, the Holy Spirit is a hidden and mysterious Person to us who perceive the world through our natural senses. Just as the wind is imperceptible to us until we feel the air move, God and His ways are imperceptible until we see the results of His actions.

Fourth, I’ve been speaking about the Holy Spirit because Scripture reveals God. Scripture explains scripture, so that our understanding of God is built, as it were, piece by piece from different stories and affirmations. So the Old Testament revelation of the Spirit of the Lord is an essential foundation to appreciating the unveiling of the Third Person of God in the life and word of our Lord Jesus.

Finally, I am speaking about the Holy Spirit, because I yearn to see the move of God in our generation and in this prison among men like you. I know He’s the dynamic agent of God who can bring this into effect. I yearn for a great revival to once again come upon this great country, the United States of America, as it did earlier in our history. We need revival and reformation again in our country before the Lord returns and hundreds of millions of people are swept into hell unawares, because of their complacency and unbelief.

The Old Testament clearly anticipated an outpouring of the Spirit of God upon the people of God, which began on Pentecost Sunday fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection. The apostles used Scripture to explain and validate to Jewish listeners that this new move of God was anticipated by their prophets, and fulfilled through Jesus’ atonement.

Our modern, highly automated and hi-tech world naturally distances us from the realms of the spirit that inhabited the thought of people throughout the ancient world. But the pace and pressures of this world also make it harder to connect to and move with the patient rhythm of life that the Spirit will lead us to when we fully rest in Jesus. His ways are peace, led by the Prince of Peace. You will experience this in greater force when you step back into the world from prison, and feel the pressures and responsibilities of life and the myriads of decisions and opportunities that confront you.

God wants you to be mindful that He is real, that He surrounds you, and that you are more than just an intelligent flesh and blood animal. You have a spirit, an immortal soul, that will continue after your physical body dies. How you live spiritually will determine the outcome of your eternity. If you are truly saved, and the Spirit of God indwells your spirit, you need not fear the punishment of hell. But you are constantly in danger of sliding backwards into the grip of sin when you become complacent about your spiritual life.

I trust that you are those who want your life from now on to count for good, so that you may reap the full reward of God’s honors in heaven and have friends surrounding you who were touched by your love. When you live that way, you know that you’re a living instrument in Christ’s hands; and you’re fulfilling God’s will for your life.

Today at I want to look at five prophets from four different periods of Israel’s history. I want to look at them in chronological, not biblical order. The first prophet we’ll look at is Joel, chapter 2. Joel is the second of the twelve Minor Prophets at the end of the Old Testament, found after Hosea and before Amos.

The time of Joel’s writing, or even his tribal background, is unknown. His frequent references to Judah and Jerusalem suggest he was from the southern kingdom of Judah. Conservative scholars tend to identify him with the ninth century before Christ of Judah’s King Joash. He used a phrase “the day of the LORD” to describe a locust plague rather than the day of final judgment on the world as later prophets used it. He also made references to three Tyre, Sidon and the Philistia who exploited Judah’s political weakness. Joel’s placement as the second of the twelve minor prophets and before an eighth century prophet, Amos, supports an earlier time for Joel’s book.

Joel called for national repentance after a devastating locust plague of multiple types of insects that stripped the foliage of Israel’s crops. Joel 1:14-16 gives the prophet’s initial response: “Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. ¹⁵ Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty. ¹⁶ Has not food been cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God?” Joel’s response was to call the nation to repent and cry out to the Lord for mercy.

In response, God promised agricultural restoration to the people of Judah. He said in vv. 2:25-27: “Then I will restore to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. ²⁶ You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; then My people will never be put to shame. ²⁷ Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other; and My people will never be put to shame.”

I have shared that promise of God to “restore the years that the locusts have eaten” with many people who have suffered costly setbacks in their fortunes. You can claim that promise for yourselves, even when you were responsible for much of the misfortune that befell you. Your old sin nature is not the new man in Christ who you are today; so believe with God in His restoring power for you!

Then Joel revealed an awesome promise from God. Continuing in vv.28-32: “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. ²⁹ “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

³⁰“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³² “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.”

The Apostle Peter cited these verses from the prophet Joel on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured on 120 disciples praying in the upper room. The disciples went outside and began proclaiming God’s mighty deeds in tongues, which others heard in a variety of languages. Acts 2:21 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That day 3,000 Judeans turned to Jesus for salvation, and were baptized for the remission of their sins.

Imagine that – nearly 900 years before the Day of Pentecost, God moved on the prophet Joel to prophesy the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit that gave birth to the Christian Church! Joel prophesied of young and old receiving God’s Sprit outpoured and dreaming prophetic dreams and seeing divinely-inspired visions. In the last two weeks I have spoken to men in this prison who have had a vision and prophetic dreams.

In the first case, a relatively young convict – then at the Pen – experienced a vision that led him to confess an unsolved murder. God showed him the wife, son and daughter of the man he murdered and indicated that his confession would help bring the ex-wife to the Lord. According to the Seattle Times report from his guilty plea at a trial in 1995, “He explained that God has saved him, and owning up to his crimes is a small price to pay. [He said], “I didn’t come here to bargain. I came to try and give this family some measure of justice. God spoke to me and said now that I’ve taken away your bitterness and pain, what about the people you’ve hurt? This isn’t about me. This is about the family whose husband and father I killed. It’s about them knowing the what and why behind it.”

As a result of his confession, instead of getting out of prison this year, he will serve over twenty more years before he is eligible for parole, and likely will die in prison. But through his confession, the wife of the deceased came to know the Lord. Her pastor used to visit him, and she constantly inquired about him until she died and went to heaven. I have also used his story, with his permission, to witness to my niece’s boyfriend – an unsaved, German man who just earned his doctorate in philosophy in a prestigious British university.

I believe the outpouring of the Spirit Joel prophesied about is continuing until today through the Church. That is why I believe it is valid to pray for a baptism in the Spirit to occur in your life, even after you entrust your soul to Christ for salvation. You DO receive God’s Holy Spirit when you are saved. You have all of Him, but He may not have all of you. I believe speaking in tongues as an act of faith can be a gateway for the fullness of the Spirit coming into your life. I encourage you to pray for more of the Spirit and His gifts to be manifest through you.

Now turn to Micah chapter 3. Micah is the sixth of the twelve Minor Prophets at the end of the Old Testament. The prophet Micah was a contemporary, and likely a prophetic ally and friend, of prophet Isaiah’s in the late eighth century BC. Like Isaiah, he prophesied for roughly forty years during the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He made dire prophecies of judgment against the political kingdoms of Samaria and Judah for their national idolatry. Micah saw the conquest of Samaria and the devastation of Judah by the Assyrians.

Micah rebuked the kings of Israel and Judah for hating good and loving evil, who were like cannibals in their rapacious greed. “Then they will cry out to the Lord, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time because they have practiced evil deeds.”

Then Micah rebuked the court prophets who prophesied nothing good to idol-worshipping kings in return for gifts of money, and harm to those who didn’t pay them. Micah warned in vv.6-7, “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.” Those who treat prophesying, or proclaiming the gospel, as a means of financial gain rather than a calling from God will earn the just condemnation of God.

Then Micah described what fueled him as a prophet in v. 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.”

What sets apart a true prophet of God from a hireling and a charlatan? The Spirit of God who empowers God’s servant to speak His word “with justice and courage,” to confront people with their sin and need to turn to the Lord for salvation. Before God can be a Redeemer, He must first be a Disturber – One who convicts you of your rebellion and sin.

Any time we speak and act in ways contrary to His moral will we are sinning and rebelling against God. But God wants to fill you, like Micah, “with power—with the Spirit of the Lord” so that you, too, can be a courageous witness for Christ. I doubt God is going to call you to preach national judgment on our country as Micah did. But He wants you to have the courage to witness for His Son, Jesus Christ, to those who desperately need Him.

Micah prophesied that because of Judah’s corrupt leaders, “Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins.” Over a century later, Micah’s prophecy saved the prophet Jeremiah from execution by a rebellious King Jehoiakim for prophesying calamity to Jerusalem for their national sins. The priests acknowledged that God had already spoken judgment against their capital city, which came to pass over twenty years later.

But Micah prophesied some of the most sublime promises of God – the promise of Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem Ephrathah, and repeating Isaiah’s prophecy of the nations coming to Jerusalem to worship in a millennial kingdom era where “nation will not lift up sword against nation and never again will they learn war.” It was Micah who spoke one of the greatest summaries in the Old Testament on godly living, in Ch. 6:8, “And now what does the LORD require of you but to love kindness, to do justice, and to walk humbly with your God?”

One man who followed Micah’s guidance was Daniel, who lived in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC. Daniel was taken captive as a teenage boy by the armies of Babylon to be trained as a court advisor or wise man to mighty King Nebuchadnezzar. He primarily functioned as a court advisor, but was given prophetic visions at critical times. At the beginning of his career he was given a vision explaining a disturbing dream that King Nebuchadnezzar wouldn’t divulge to anyone. Daniel’s revelation of the king’s dream saved his life and the lives of all the wise men of Babylon; and made him a favorite of Babylon’s king.

Years later, Nebuchadnezzar had another even more disturbing dream. When his Babylonian wise men couldn’t interpret it, he sought out Daniel. He called him by his Babylonian name: “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.”

Daniel gave a fearless answer to the king, explaining that it was decreed by angelic watchers over Babylon that because of the king’s pride he would be reduced to madness for seven periods of time, living like an animal till his sanity was restored. Daniel’s interpretation prepared the king to be humbled by God, and later glorify God when his sanity was restored.

I know God can give revelation through His Holy Spirit to believers today. Paul prayed for the Ephesian Church: “For this reason I too … ¹⁶ do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” Wisdom and revelation in knowing Christ comes when we get to know Christ deeply through His word, and then seek His understanding in the situations God brings our way. God wants to teach His ways through the people we encounter and our circumstances.

Let’s move forward in time to the fall of Babylon in 538 BC. King Cyrus of Persia had allowed the Jewish exiles to return to Judea after he came to power. The Jews started work to rebuild the temple in 536 BC until local officials raised an objection to a subordinate king and work on the temple halted until 520 BC in the second year of Darius the king.

God then used two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the local Jewish leaders to resume construction of the temple. God rebuked the leaders for building their own houses and leaving His house incomplete. He pointed to lean rainfall and crops as signs that they had neglected constructing His temple. Haggai 1:14 says, “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.”

Here we see a critical role of the Spirit of God under the Old Covenant. God spoke through His prophets with clear guidance for the nation, and then stirred up the spirits of the governor and high priest, along with the people, rebuild the temple. This time, when local officials questioned what they were doing, the leaders were prepared with an official answer by pointing to the Persian Empire Cyrus’ unfulfilled decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem to offer prayers to the Persian King. When they found Cyrus’ decree, the local Persian governor provided exactly what Cyrus ordered for the completion of the temple.

Ironically, I believe the reason Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of the temple was that Jewish rabbis had pointed Cyrus to Isaiah’s prophecies (44:28 – 45:5) naming Cyrus (Kerosh in Hebrew) as the one who would rebuild Jerusalem and lay the foundations of the temple, as well as subdue nations.

God reassured the people in Haggai 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!” God wants YOU to know that His Spirit is abiding with you, too – right here, right now, and everywhere you go! God is with you, not against you. That is why it’s so important to be feel connected to the Holy Spirit. He is God’s agent working on your behalf.

I believe the Holy Spirit wants to stir His people to act boldly to build God’s kingdom, and can give the favor with people of means and authority to open doors for the gospel. There’s a local preacher from Venezuela named Oscar Oxford whom I met a few months ago. Oscar was led by the Holy Spirit to start street missions in Guatemala City in the 1980s. He had good success but ran into resistance when he sought to conduct meetings in the capital city’s National Theater from the Director.

God opened the door for Oscar to meet President Efrain Rios Montt; and President Montt asked him to preach before his staff and generals. Thereafter, Oscar had free access to conduct rallies in the National Theater. And the Director of the theater was one of the first to come forward to be saved!

Zechariah, son of Berechiah, was a seer. He received numerous visions and encounters with angels that pertained to the future of Judea and the coming of Messiah. Along with Haggai, God promised through Zechariah that His house would be built and that Judea’s cities would prosper. He later prophesied over Governor Zerubbabel in Ch 4:6-7, “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. 7 ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’

This is God’s word to us all about the way His Spirit works through us. He says, “I don’t want you to rely on human strength or political power to accomplish the work of my kingdom. I want My people to depend on My grace to accomplish My work through you. If you depend on your abilities to accomplish My work, then you will take pride in yourself rather than glorify Me.”

That’s why the Apostle Paul, who was the most influential Christian of the first century, was told by Jesus when he prayed three times for the removal of a painful infirmity: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” God wants us to believe and then experience that it’s not by human ability or political maneuvering that He does His will. God intends to receive all the glory for the work that only He can do; and we get all the benefit when He does.

The last Scripture I want to look at is in Zechariah chapter 12. Zechariah 12 is an eschatological prophecy – it pertains to the end times. It describes a military alliance of many nations coming against Jerusalem to overthrow it. Jerusalem will become “an intoxicating cup” that causes nations to become overcome with rage against the Lord before they are destroyed. Then God 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.”

This is a prophecy of the Jewish people finally coming to faith in the Messiah whom they spurned. The Holy Spirit is poured out on the House of David – representing the government of the Jewish people – as a Spirit of grace and supplication. “They will look on Me whom they have pierced” applies specifically to Jesus, the Son of God; and then the Spirit shifts to the third person and says, “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.”

Sadly, the Jewish people have rejected their Jewish Messiah for almost 2,000 years and so have been estranged from their God and unable to partake of the New Covenant that He promised them six centuries before Christ.

The Spirit of grace and supplication is with you today. Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” This is not a reference to speaking with tongues. These are the Holy Spirit’s eternal communion with the Father through the Son. He is affirming what needs to be done on our behalf in the right way at the right for the right effect – our ultimate good!

Like the Jewish people at the end of the age, the Spirit of grace also is moving us to look on Jesus whom we have pierced with our sins and be ever grateful that He gave His life for us. Unlike them, however, we don’t have to mourn or weep over what He did for us.

Instead, we are to rejoice and give thanks for the indescribable gift of God’s Son for our salvation, the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit who lives in our hearts. The Holy Spirit seals us for eternal life, baptizes us into the life of the Triune God, and indwells us individually and collectively forever. He is the One who empowers us with divine grace to live the Christian life. And He is the One who will ensure that when you entrust yourself to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that everything that ever happens to you will turn out for your ultimate and eternal good.

So I want to ask each and every one of you to search your hearts to ensure that you have committed your life to Jesus Christ for your salvation. He is here in this room today, by His Spirit, to lead you into His everlasting way. Let us pray.