The Holy Spirit. Mitch Pacwa
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by Samuel.
Study
The political leadership within Israel is understood to be instituted and guided by the Lord’s Spirit from the time of Joshua through the time of the first kings, Saul and David. Because of their sins, their successors are not portrayed as being so filled with the Spirit. In fact, their sins are included in Israel’s royal histories with an honesty rarely seen among their neighboring kingdoms. This history points out that the institution of leadership might be begun with the Spirit, but the sins of the people can make them incapable of sensitivity to his divine influence. Even when someone like Saul has the Spirit rush upon him, he can lose the presence of the Lord’s Spirit because of his disobedience to God’s commands. Human inconstancy is a serious issue in their life of the Spirit, such that sin might block his actions and cut off the life of the Spirit.
Recall the Book of Wisdom on the Lord’s Spirit and judgment of people:
For your immortal spirit is in all things.
Therefore you correct little by little those who trespass,
and remind and warn them of the things wherein they sin,
that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in you, O Lord. (Wis 12:1-2)
The Spirit of the Lord works to correct the people of Israel for their national sins, especially of idolatry, and the sins of the kings, especially disobedience. It is not farfetched to think that Wisdom 12:1-2 may be a reflection how individuals and institutions who were inspired by the Spirit of the Lord can go wrong due to human sin, and the same Spirit will bring the correction. Every human, especially those who claim to have Spirit-inspired authority, must stay extra alert to their responsibilities lest their trust in the Lord sour into self-confidence that precedes their downfall, as with Saul and others.
Discuss
1. What differences do you see between the action of the Lord’s Spirit in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament?
2. How can someone have the Lord’s Spirit for power but not wisdom (see Samson)?
3. What is the relationship between the Spirit and human sin?
Practice
This week, think about how the Holy Spirit acted in the lives of Old Testament figures. What aspects of the Holy Spirit that were shown in the Old Testament can you see in your life or the lives of believers around you? How can you more fully develop the wisdom and power offered by the Spirit in your life? Consider if it is possible that some sin might be blocking the power of the Spirit to work through you.
Session 3
Prophets and the Spirit of God
“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.”
— St. Augustine
A rather odd beginning to the study of the role of the Spirit of God among the prophets is Balaam the son of Beor, the first prophet mentioned in the Bible to have “the Spirit of God [come] upon him” (Num 24:2). What makes this so odd is that Balaam lived “at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw” (Num 22:5), which was ancient Pitru on the Euphrates River, twelve miles south of Carchemish, a city in the pagan region of Mesopotamia. In other words, Balaam was a pagan prophet who had been summoned by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel (Num 22:2-7).
At first, God forbids Balaam to go, but then, after King Balak sends a second delegation of even more important nobles to plead with him, God does permit it, on the condition that Balaam speak only what God gives him to say. On the way south to Moab, Balaam’s ass sees an angel blocking the road and stops his progress three times until Balaam can also see the angel. The angel repeats that Balaam can only speak what God tells him to say, and Balaam makes that point with Balak before offering sacrifices prior to speaking his words.
“A Seer of the Gods”
Balaam is the subject of a sixth century B.C. Aramaic text on a stone stela covered in white plaster, found at Tell Deir-Alla, a ruin on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River Valley. In that pagan text, Balaam is identified as a “seer of the gods,” who receives nighttime messages urging godless people to repent. This stela in a pagan city confirms that Balaam was a well-known prophet on the east side of the Jordan River, and his summons by the Moabite king is sensible enough.
Balaam speaks four different oracles, just as “the LORD put a word” in his mouth (Num 23:5). Each oracle is a blessing on Israel, rather than the curse sought by King Balak, prompting Balak’s growing anger and fear.
Stop here and read Numbers 23:27-30, 24:1-4, 10-14, and 25:5-9, 15-18 in your own Bible.
The Spirit of God then comes upon Balaam, and he takes “up his discourse” (Num 23:7). This description of Balaam receiving his fourth and final oracle begins with Balaam telling King Balak to prepare seven altars and sacrifices — a rejection of the typical pagan prophet looking for omens, such as patterns in the flight of birds or the position of the fat attached to the livers of the sacrificed animals, which was very popular in Mesopotamia and elsewhere. Instead, Balaam looks toward Israel’s camp, and “the Spirit of God came upon him” (Num 24:2). In the first two oracles, “the LORD put a word” in his mouth; here God’s Spirit comes upon him more directly. In that Spirit, Balaam “hears the words of God” and “sees the vision of the Almighty” (Num 24:4), and he then speaks the greatest of his four oracles blessing Israel. Even when Balak’s anger interrupts him, he continues on with even stronger words for Israel and against the pagan tribes of Moab, Sheth, and Seir.
Though Balaam was a pagan, he was subject to speaking the Lord’s words and to the influence of God’s Spirit. This will be the criterion of all true prophecies and prophets in Israel from Balaam forward.
Study
The Books of Samuel
The Spirit of God comes upon prophets only twice in the Books of Samuel, where the focus is much more on the role of the Spirit with the early kings Saul and David. On two occasions, the prophets do not speak oracles or give messages but act ecstatically. Both of these episodes were recorded primarily because they involved King Saul, once in a positive light and then in a negative light.
The first mention of the Spirit of the Lord is in 1 Samuel 10:5-7, immediately after Samuel the prophet anoints Saul king. Samuel gives three signs from God that Saul has been chosen as king (see 1 Sam 10:2-4 for the first two), the third of which speaks of Saul receiving the Spirit of the Lord to prophesy.
Stop here and read 1 Samuel 10:5-8 in your own Bible.
Saul is promised that the “Spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon” him, not so much to rule as to prophesy and “be turned into another man” — that is, enter an ecstatic state (1 Sam 10:6). Saul first receives the Spirit of the Lord to bestow prophetic ability on him as a sign that he is king. It is not at all directly related to his capacity to rule the people. This may be the case because the monarchy is such a new institution. Only later, in 1 Samuel 11:6, does the Spirit of the Lord come mightily upon Saul to empower him to be a king who rallies the tribes and leads them in battle to protect the town of Jabesh from Ammonite invaders coming from their main city (modern Amman — named after these Ammonites). In 1 Samuel 10:10-13, the Spirit of the Lord gives him ecstasy as a sign and nothing more lasting.