I heard about the Holy Spirit as a youth but didn’t understand much about Him. I didn’t know His role in living for Jesus.
I was like an auto owner who doesn’t understand that gasoline powers his car. He pushes it wherever he goes.
I tried to live for Jesus (not very wholeheartedly) in my strength. Half a heart and no power were a recipe for repeated frustrating failures. I don’t want anyone else to follow that discouraging path.
So, I studied references to the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible. I explored His ministry and how He relates to us and our ministries. I call this blog The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament—Part One.
Reading Joshua 14:12 in my devotions sparked this venture. “So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said” (NLT).
Caleb is speaking. He and Joshua were the only spies who returned from scouting the land of Canaan and believed the Israelites could conquer the Promised Land. Moses promised Caleb a portion of that land because he wholeheartedly followed the LORD.
The descendants of Anak were giants. They were at least as big as 300-pound-plus linemen in the National Football League. That was no problem for Caleb.
The LORD with him, he would drive them out of the land. “If the LORD is with me” caught my attention.
How was the LORD with Caleb and His people before Jesus was born? How is He with them since Jesus came? I invite you to join me on this journey.
We see the work of the Holy Spirit in building the Tabernacle according to God’s specifications. God filled Bezalel with the Holy Spirit. That gave him “great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 31:3 NLT).
Bezalel had competent help as he oversaw the project. Oholiab was his chief assistant. Furthermore, the Spirit gave special skills to gifted craftsmen to make all the things God commanded in the Tabernacle’s construction. How does that relate to us?
The Holy Spirit gives us special skills to carry out the tasks He assigns us as we work together to build His church by making more and better disciples of Jesus. Our journey through Scripture continues.
God took some of the Spirit upon Moses and gave the seventy elders the same Spirit. That equipped them to help Moses bear the burden of leading the people (Numbers 11:17, 25). When those elders received the Spirit, they prophesied. That demonstrated to Moses that God had given them the Spirit also (Numbers 11:25).
Later in Numbers, we read that Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel. Nevertheless, when the Spirit came upon Balaam, he blessed Israel. The Spirit enabled Balaam to see clearly, hear God’s words, see a vision from the Almighty, and prophesy Israel’s success (Numbers 24:1–9).
God’s Spirit uses even His enemies to accomplish His will. He did that with Balaam. As with Balaam, The Holy Spirit can clear up our foggy thinking about who God is and what He wants.
The Spirit makes us into new people by changing how we think (Romans 12:2). He might even give us occasional glimpses of where He is headed. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament--Part Two. See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.
God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free devotional discipleship resource. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 2,550 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 7,805 people. I invite you to check it out. https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness
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