HOLY SPIRIT ATTRIBUTES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. For over a year now, I’ve been preaching a series of messages on the Spirit of the Lord as revealed in the Old Testament. We learned that the Author of Scripture discreetly inserted His name in the Bible where He wanted us to comprehend His nature and work.

The Bible gives us a progressive revelation. Things understood today were not understood by the human race before God called Abraham, or by the Jews before the coming of Jesus. God patiently revealed the Spirit of the Lord, but not to where the Jews could understand Him as a distinct Person in a Triune Godhead. This only came to light with the coming of Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity. So let me briefly summarize attributes of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the Hebrew Bible.

First, we learned that the words for spirit in the Hebrew, ruach, as well as the Greek word pneuma in the New Testament, simply mean “breath” or “wind”. The context of scripture tells us whether the word means God’s spirit, another spirit, a human spirit, a breath or a breeze of air. The surrounding passage indicates when the Spirit of God is speaking about Himself or a less-than-divine spirit.

Genesis 1 revealed God’s Spirit as the order-producer and life-bearer in creation. He is a dynamic agent, Who creates as only God can. Early Genesis also revealed that the Spirit strives to set people apart for God’s purpose and to obey His will, that is, to be holy.

The life of Joseph shows us that God’s Spirit can give humans supernatural insight to serve a redemptive purpose – saving God’s chosen clan of people from starvation. The Spirit’s impartation thus preserved the Israelites to be His vessel of salvation to the entire world. Spirit impartation to chosen leaders also had the same effect of producing order in God’s kingdom on earth. The Spirit informed prophets to guide the people of Israel and establish divine order in their governmental affairs.

This is a really important truth about God’s ways and will for us. God’s Spirit advance God’s purpose in us and through us, but never without us. God honors the natural dominion He has bestowed on humanity. He has always accomplished His work through us and not without us. Jesus came to make disciples; and Christians are “little Christs”.

The Spirit of the Lord also came mightily upon some Israelite leaders to rouse up the people of God for war or to do a great work. The Spirit anointed Samson with superhuman strength to keep Philistine power in check. The Spirit empowered King Saul to muster all Israel to defeat the Ammonite besiegers of Gilead. The Spirit anointed David to kill Goliath, but also to be the Psalmist of Israel. The Psalms have taught and inspired God’s people everywhere for three thousand years.

Isaiah the son of Amoz was the greatest writing prophet and seer in the Bible. This court prophet, who lived over 700 years before Jesus, had the most profound insights into our Savior, the Anointed One. He was the one anointed with the seven spirits of God to proclaim good news to the poor and liberty to captives, to heal the broken-hearted, open blind eyes, set free the downtrodden and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Isaiah 40-66 prophetically revealed the New Covenant that Jesus inaugurated through His death. He planted seeds of hope in the Jewish people when their idolatry fated them to captivity and exile.

The Spirit gave Ezekiel with powerful visions to prepare the exile community in Babylon for the destruction of Jerusalem. They were to understand this destruction as God’s judgment upon His people and land for forsaking him unto idol worship. Their captivity became a place of collective penance for failing their divine mandate to be God’s holy people; but it was also protection from destruction, so that one day God would bring His captive people home. Thus the same Spirit who executed judgment among the apostate idolaters also nurtured and preserved the remnant who became the forbears of the godly leaders who returned to Judea, rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.

JOHN, THE FORERUNNER. If you have your Bible, please turn with me to Luke chapter one.

The first century in Judea of the current era was a time of general sustained distress. Rome had completed its strategic vision of encompassing the Mediterranean Sea under its control. They had demonstrated their ruthless will to power when they conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC and slaughtered an estimated 12,000 people. And again, when they overthrew the Hasmonean dynasty in 37 BC and installed King Herod as a subordinate ruler, there had been a general massacre. Before Herod died, he ordered the massacre of infants and toddlers, seeking to eliminate a Messiah born in Bethlehem. The Jewish people felt oppressed and were looking for a political savior who would restore Jewish law free from foreign domination.

Between the time of the final Jewish prophet Malachi and the birth of John the Baptist, there had been nearly four centuries without a prophet to give an authoritative word from God. Yet there was a sense of expectancy that God was going to do something new. Jewish scribes familiar with the prophecy of Daniel could clearly see that Rome was the fourth and basest kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2, and the last and most terrible beast of Daniel’s vision in chapter 7. According to their interpretation of Daniel’s visions, Messiah as the glorious Son of Man would bring an end to this last, bestial empire and establish His everlasting kingdom. So there was a hope of a Messiah who would arise to overthrow Rome’s crushing rule with divine assistance.

There were also Jews who sought a spiritual restoration of Israel. The pious Pharisees yearned for a Messiah who would restore the kingdom of David and enshrine the Torah as Israel’s law forevermore. The Essene sect, who hid the Dead Sea scrolls in Qumran, lived separated lives from most Jews. They sought to keep themselves pure spiritually, uncompromised by the decadent Roman culture infiltrating their country. They, too, hoped in a coming Messiah to restore holiness to the land of God’s Chosen People.

Luke wrote about an aged man named Simeon who “was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel… And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” So there was a general sense of hope and expectancy that God was going to do something astounding in their generation. Now let’s read Luke 1:5-7:

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

A devout, middle-aged Jewish couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth, lived among the community of priests in Jerusalem. Yet they suffered the indignity of Elizabeth’s barrenness, which in ancient times was seen as a sign of divine disfavor. Their piety, noble lineage and Zachariah’s priesthood protected them from public humiliation. But they must have endured much private sorrow and social embarrassment at their unanswered prayers for a child. Elizabeth resigned to her fate after menopause, until something momentous occurred to her husband. Reading in v. 8:

Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

There was a crowd people in the Temple Court outside the holy place where Zacharias was making the afternoon incense offering. Incense represented the prayers of the people, and the people in the Jewish Court adjoining the holy place were offering their own petitions to God. This was the peak time of daily prayer at the very center of national worship. Reading on from v.11:

And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

Notice how the angel answered Zacharias’ petition precisely when he was in the holy place offering incense as a national representative of the Jewish people’s petitions to God at the most important time for prayer in their daily religious cycle.

The name John, Yohanan in Hebrew, means “God is gracious” or “God is generous.” God graciously and generously answered Zacharias’ and Elizabeth’s prayers to give them a son, who we all know as John the Baptist. Continuing in v.14:

You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

There are some important biblical parallels here that you might miss. The angel said John would drink no wine or liquor. That is the mark of someone under a Nazirite vow. There is one other similar prophet, who also was the adopted son of a high priest, mentioned in the Bible. That was Samuel the high priest. Before Samuel was even conceived, his mother Hannah dedicated him to the Lord, and promised that no razor would ever touch his head. That was the mark of a Nazirite vow. Samuel became the most Holy Spirit anointed prophet in in Israel’s history since Moses.

What do we make of this fact about John’s birth and upbringing? There is a direct correlation between holiness, being set apart for a sacred purpose, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But that isn’t all Gabriel said about John. Reading on from v.16: “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The angel first said of John that he would many Jews back to the Lord their God. Remember, these were old covenant times when Gentiles had no promise from God to be their present redeemer. But John’s calling was just like ours – to share the Good News with others in order to turn people back to God.

Gabriel made a specific reference to the closing words of the final prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi, who lived in the 5th century BC: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.”

The angel stated that John would go before Him, meaning the Messiah, God incarnate, as a forerunner. His mission would be to prepare the Jewish people’s hearts for the coming of Jesus. He would clear the way as one filled with the spirit and power of Elijah.

What was it about Elijah that marked John the Baptist’s ministry? Elijah was a fearless prophet who confronted Ahab, the wicked king of northern Israel. John the Baptist would later confront Herod Antipas for his adulterous marriage to his half-brother’s wife. Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal; John confronted the worldliness and materialism of first century Judea. Elijah dressed in animal skins and lived for a season being fed by ravens. John lived on locusts and wild honey in the desert wilderness. Elijah restored the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel to the northern Kingdom of Israel and caused many to turn away from Baal worship. John the Baptist attacked sinfulness in Judea and Galilee to prepare people to meet their Savior, the Messiah.

We need to be careful about calling out people in authority about their sins. We don’t live in a theocratic society where people are expected to live according to the strict Law of Moses. But there may come a time where you have to take a stand over ethics violations you see that could bring potential harm to work colleagues or loss to the firm you’re serving. That’s when you need to pray for discernment and ask guidance from wise people around you about the best approach to expose a wrongdoing.

Sadly, whistleblowers are often caught in the cross-hairs of a higher-up’s retribution rather than rewarded for exposing corruption. John the Baptist lost his life for exposing King Herod’s sin, but became one of the most esteemed martyr’s in heaven for doing so. Living by faith does require being courageous sometimes, and being willing to suffer loss for the sake of the truth or the gospel. Both Elijah and John the Baptist were courageous. We can be, too; for we have the same Holy Spirit.

Malachi also prophesied in chapter three of the coming of Messiah, and the messenger (John the Baptist) who would precede Him. John would later quote in his brief prophetic ministry.

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. ² “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.”

John was called by God – by Messiah Jesus, specifically, before he was born human – to be His messenger. He set the example for all of us. Even though Jesus has already come, and His name has been heard by everyone, He is not known vitally by most. They don’t know Jesus personally, intimately, as their Redeemer. Our innate selfishness, the subtle lies Satan infuses into our thinking and a heedless culture around us put obstacles in the way of faith. God’s messenger helps clear these out of the way by speaking words of grace and truth to the listener.

Do we not also clear the way for Jesus to come into the life of an unbeliever when we share the good news about Jesus? Like him, we’re dependent on the Holy Spirit to make our witness effectual. Unlike John, however, we have the complete gospel to empower our witness – that Jesus died on the cross for our sins according to the prophetic scriptures, was buried, and was raised again on the third day.

Romans 1:16 says that simple message is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Just mentioning that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us new life can be a life-changer to a humble listener. So when you start your day ask God to fill you with the spirit and power of Elijah – His Holy Spirit – and see what happens! The same Spirit who worked mightily in Elijah and John the Baptist now lives in you, when entrust yourself to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Miracles can begin with you, when you pray and testify to the glory of God!

Zacharias the priest asked how it could be that Elizabeth could conceive a child when she was past the time of conception. “The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

Zacharias knew quite well that Abraham and Sarah had conceived Isaac when he was 100 years old and she was 90. There was a historic, biblical precedent for a miraculous conception after menopause. So Gabriel’s sanction on his tongue was justified, but also magnified the miracle of John’s conception. With Mary, however, who questioned how she could conceive a child when she was a virgin, Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her to conceive the Son of God. There was no precedent of a virgin birth that merited the angel to rebuke Mary.

When Mary learned that her great-aunt Elizabeth was now in her sixth month of pregnancy with John, she rushed to be with her and spent three months with her – probably to help Elizabeth and witness the birth of her son. Mary must have known that Elizabeth’s pregnancy was miraculous, and was important for her to visit; otherwise, why would Gabriel have mentioned it?

As soon as Mary walked into the door of her home, John the Baptist leaped within her womb, and the Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. She cried out extraordinary, prophetic words to a humble teenage girl. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

Mary needed the Holy Spirit’s affirmation from a godly, noble Jewish woman like Elizabeth that she was indeed bearing the Christ-child. She called Mary “the mother of my Lord” before Mary shared a word about Gabriel’s annunciation of her virgin conception of Jesus. Elizabeth commended Mary’s faith in believing what God had spoken to her, even though she nothing about Gabriel’s visitation.

Baby John, only six months in Elizabeth’s womb, leaped when Mary walked in the door. The Holy Spirit whom Gabriel said would fill John in his mother’s womb immediately responded to God incarnate forming in Mary’s womb. This should tell us something about the sacredness of life upon conception, and the real humanity of the unborn child.

I would challenge each and every one of you to also believe that God called you to Himself before you were born. It matters not that you detoured into sin and crime before you came to Christ. What matters is whether you end well in God’s kingdom, not whether you started well in life. Remember, the Apostle Paul was a persecutor and murderer of Jesus’ new movement before Jesus confronted him and shattered Saul’s self-righteousness.

What occurred in Elizabeth’s womb happens spiritually within us when we interact with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:15-17 says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” The Spirit filling John in Elizabeth’s womb recognized the Son of God in Mary’s womb. The Holy Spirit also leaps, metaphorically, within us whenever we rejoice in the Lord. Just like John, we know we are intimately connected to God through His Son.

Mary lived with Zacharias and Elizabeth for three months. Her Great-Uncle Zach couldn’t speak; so having Mary was obviously a big help to her Auntie. She undoubtedly saw the birth of John and witnessed what happened John’s day of circumcision. As soon as Zacharias confirmed that his son’s name would be John, his tongue was loosened, and he burst forth with praise. Starting in v.67 we read:

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: ⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, ⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant—⁷⁰ as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—⁷¹ salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; ⁷² to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant,
⁷³ The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, ⁷⁴ To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, ⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
⁷⁶ “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; ⁷⁷ To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, ⁷⁹ To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
⁸⁰ And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Zacharias’ small blunder that led to his being kept dumb for nine months magnified the miracle of Elizabeth’s conception, and made Zacharias’ words more noteworthy for their exceptionalism. Luke declares that Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit. The proof of it was the powerful content of his message. Zacharias’ soliloquy consists of twelve verses containing twelve discreet statements. We can detect a symbolic connection to the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. Zacharias’ message a proto-gospel proclamation at the end of the Old Covenant and the dawn of the New.

Zacharias’ first words were to praise God for accomplishing to two things, which are of parallel and unified significance: redemption for the people and “a horn of salvation.” The horn referred to the anointing oil that poured on the head of priests or kings to represent the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Zacharias specified this horn of salvation to be in the house of David – i.e. Messiah. So this couldn’t refer to John his son; for he was from the house of Aaron, a Levite. Zacharias, too, must have believed Elizabeth that Mary was the mother of their Savior. I believe he also felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment Mary entered their home. No doubt Elizabeth explained how baby John was responding to Mary’s presence. The Holy Spirit created a kinship link between Jesus and John before either one of them were even born.

Zacharias clearly understood salvation in more political terms. He referred to “salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us” (in v. 72 and in v. 74) “to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear.” He was probably thinking of the Romans; but God had greater enemies than them in mind for His Son to attack.

Zacharias also connected John’s calling to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant: “to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father.” What was the covenant and oath that God swore to Abraham? It was basically two-fold. The first part promised to bless and multiply Abraham’s descendants and to give them Canaan land where God had led him, to protect and bless his progeny and curse their enemies. The second part and greater part was to bless all the families and peoples of the earth through his descendant. Only one descendant could possibly be the fulfillment of that latter promise. Zacharias had lived in the company of that One while he was just beginning to grow in His mother’s womb.

To that end Zacharias closed his soliloquy by explicitly calling his newborn son a prophet: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Here, Zacharias equates salvation with the forgiveness of sins. He made another reference to the prophet Malachi, referring to Messiah as “the Sunrise from on high” who brings healing in His wings.

John became a fulfillment of God’s promise through the prophet Malachi to send Elijah before the coming of Messiah. Jesus said, in Matthew 11:14, “If you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.”

You and I also have the privilege to prepare the way of the Lord in our generation. The exciting thing about being a witness for Christ is you never know how your words will impact others or when. Sometimes the person you least respect will suddenly respond to the gospel and believe. Our role is to cast the seed of God’s word to those willing to listen; and the Holy Spirit’s role is to bring conviction that the gospel is true.

You might not see yourself as a fearless prophetic man like John; but you must settle once and for all whether you are a genuine Christ-follower as John intended to be. Do you truly affirm Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you believe His covenant promises to seal you to eternal life and give you sufficient grace to stay out of serious trouble before then? God is true to His promises. Act as though they are true, and He will prove to you that they are. Let us pray.