Who is the Holy Spirit?

It is amazing to me that so many Christians have a fairly good understanding of who Jesus is, they have a reasonable understanding of who the Father is, but they have little to no understanding of who the Holy Spirit is. In fact, the Holy Spirit has almost become a taboo subject in many churches. It is as if there are believers who do not want anything to do with the Holy Spirit in case something weird happens. Why would we think like that? What is weird about the Holy Spirit? What are we really afraid of?

Over the next few weeks I would like us to begin to look at who the Holy Spirit is, what He does and how He impacts our lives. My intention is to lay the ground work for us to prepare ourselves for Pentecost Sunday and to help us as a body to get ready to allow the Holy Spirit to be poured out in a fresh way in our church so that we can receive ‘power from on high’ and go out and do the things that we are called to do.

So let’s take a quick overview of some passages in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is mentioned.

The Holy Spirit is an active part of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit has been with the Father and Jesus from the beginning of time. Genesis 1:2 says this, ‘Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’ So right in the very beginning when God the Father was about to open His mouth and speak forth all of creation, the Holy Spirit was there hovering over the waters of the formless earth.

During the time of Pharaoh the Holy Spirit was actively involved in people’s lives and this was a visible activity. In Genesis 41 we find Pharaoh in a little predicament. He has had a number of dreams and needed an interpretation. The person who came to assist him was Joseph. Because of the interpretation Joseph brought, he was put in charge of the land of Egypt. This is the criteria Pharaoh, a pagan king, used for Joseph’s selection – Pharaoh looked for a man like Joseph who the Spirit of God was inside of. Genesis 41:38 says, ‘So Pharaoh asked them, ‘Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?’

When we think of the Holy Spirit today we think of fruit of the Spirit or we think of the gifts of the Spirit. Somehow we think that the gifts are a New Testament thing – but that is not the case. In Exodus chapter 31 we see that the Spirit of God gifts men with skill and ability. Exodus 31:3 says, ‘and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts…’ Again in Exodus 35:31 we read that the gifting of skill to be a craftsman was not something that was just attributed to a person, but it was attributed to being a gift from the Spirit of God. Moses said of the same man mention in Exodus 31:3, ‘and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts’ Obviously this gentleman was very good at what he did – but why should we be surprised by that – his gift was not something he gave himself, but the Spirit of God gave it to him.

In Numbers 11:17 we read God say, ‘I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.’ The Spirit of God rested on Moses and the Lord says here that the same Spirit that was upon Moses would be put on each of the 70 leaders who were to assemble with Moses. The Holy Spirit enables leadership. In verse 25 of this chapter there is an interesting exchange. Moses prays for each of the leaders and takes the Holy Spirit and puts him on each leader. Their response is audible – they prophesied. Interestingly at the end of this verse it says that these leaders never did this again. I wonder if they were ever in the position like this where the Holy Spirit was on them, or if they even asked Him to come on them again.

Numbers 11:29 indicates that the experience of the leaders and the elders must have been a good thing because Moses says that he wishes that all the people could have the Holy Spirit ‘put on them’. It appears that at this time, the Holy Spirit was restricted on whom He could fall. Contrast that to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and the prophecy from Joel that Peter quotes from on that day and we see that the Holy Spirit ‘will be poured out on ALL flesh’. It looks like Moses’ request came true – just a few hundred years after his outcry in Numbers 11:29.

In Numbers 24:2 we read that Balaam experienced the Spirit of God resting on him. It was written of Joshua son of Nun, that he was ‘a man whom in whom is the Spirit…’ in Numbers 27:18. Judges 3:10 states that the Spirit of God came upon Othniel so he could be Judge. The same thing happened to Gideon in Judges 6:34. In fact if you read through the book of Judges you will see time and time again when the Spirit of God came upon a Judge.

Even this very cursory look at the mentions of the Holy Spirit in the early books of the Bible shows us that the Spirit was active in the creation of the world, He was involved in interactions between the Father and Moses, He came upon the elders and leaders and enabled them to prophesy, He came upon the Judges and gave them wisdom, victory in battles and strength.

The same Holy Spirit that worked at the beginning of the Bible is the same Holy Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost, and is the same Holy Spirit that will be poured out on you, if you want it.

I would encourage you to take some time over these next few weeks to consider the person and work of the Holy Spirit and to prepare your heart and spirit for Pentecost Sunday. If God is pouring out His Spirit and gifting men then wouldn’t you like to be in that line to receive His gifting?