Hello beloved and welcome to this Bible study on the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. We are continuing with our study. Before we continue though, let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much that we can come to you in Jesus' precious name. Thank you that we can study the Holy Spirit and to understand a little bit more of your revelation about Him. And Father, thank you so much that we can be busy with your Word and we can grow and be edified. And we pray, Father, that you will please burn your Word into our hearts, allow our minds to understand so that you may be glorified in and through our lives. We pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Right now, in part one of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, we looked at the Holy Spirit's involvement in creation. And then in part two, we looked at the Holy Spirit's ministry to people in the Old Testament. And now in part three, we basically continue to look at the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of people in the Old Testament. Now, in the Old Testament, we see that the Holy Spirit basically works in the lives of people in three ways. Okay, the first one is the Holy Spirit basically lives in some people. That's how he works. For example, if we take Joshua, for example, in Numbers 27 verse 18 we read, And the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hands on him. Right? So basically what do we see? We see that the Holy Spirit was in Joshua. Now obviously in the Old Testament, remember that the Holy Spirit basically lived in people for a specific period of time for a specific task. Now Joshua, for example, remember he led Israel into the Promised Land, Moses took them to the edge right to the point where they were going to enter and he didn't go further than that but Joshua took him further and the Holy Spirit and this is what what we read now it says take Joshua the son of Nun with you a man in whom is the Spirit Okay, so in that sense, Joshua had the Spirit of God in him. Then David, in 1 Samuel 16, verse 12 and 13, we read, so he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good looking. This is talking about David. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one So then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Here we see, you see the difference between what happened with Joshua and what we see here with David. With David, when he was anointed as the King of Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him. But with Joshua, it says, a man in whom is the spirit. So the Holy Spirit was in Joshua, but he came upon David, all right? From that specific day forward. With what purpose? Obviously the purpose was so that David could be the kind of king that God wanted him to be over the people of Israel, right? That's why after David was anointed, Basically the Holy Spirit came upon David so that David could be the kind of king that God wanted him to be. There's another example of the Holy Spirit coming upon someone and that's Othniel. In Judges chapter 3 verse 10 it says the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. That is upon Othniel. And then he judged Israel. So the Holy Spirit came upon him. Another one is in Judges chapter 11 verse 29 it says, Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed through Mitzvah of Gilead and from Mitzpah of Gilead he advanced towards the people of Ammon. And here we see on Jephthah that the Holy Spirit came upon him. But we also read that the Holy Spirit came upon Balaam in Numbers chapter 24 verse 2. It says, And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes, and the Spirit of God came upon him. Right, so we have the Holy Spirit in Joshua, but we have the Holy Spirit coming upon people like Baal and Jephthah and Othniel and David. Right, so those are two ways. The third way is that the Holy Spirit basically filled some people to do a specific task or a particular task. And this is, for example, Bezalel in Exodus chapter 31. verse 1 to 5. Bezalel, this is what we read about him, it says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God. Okay, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. You see, he was filled with the Spirit of God. Can you see that? For what purpose? He says he was filled with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, in all manner of workmanship to design artistic works to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood and to work in all manner of workmanship we call it the gift of workmanship when the Holy Spirit enables someone, fills a person, that that person has the gift of workmanship so that that person can do all kinds of things. Now obviously this was surrounding the tabernacle, but he had the gift, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Bezalel, so that he could actually do all these crafts and do it exceedingly well. Okay, so those are basically the three ways. The Holy Spirit filled some people, the Holy Spirit came upon some people, and the Holy Spirit came into or went into some people. All right? And this we see clearly in the Old Testament. Now, we can say three things really about the way that the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of people in the Old Testament. we can say that the Holy Spirit entered into a person but he did not have any connection with that person's spiritual condition for example Jephthah he was the son of a prostitute and he was living among idols Balaam was an unbeliever but yet the Holy Spirit came upon him But the Holy Spirit also entered people to enable them to do specific jobs. And basically, once again, He didn't have anything to do with the changing of their lives, but He came upon them so that they could do that specific job. The Holy Spirit came, how can I say, into certain people, He indwelt certain people, but He didn't have anything to do with that person's spiritual condition. and he came upon certain people and he didn't have anything to do with his spiritual condition either. And then obviously the Holy Spirit entered people in the Old Testament but it was sometimes just for a very short period of time. Another thing that the Holy Spirit did that is, I believe, very important for us to remember is that the Holy Spirit held back the powers of evil in the Old Testament. We know the Holy Spirit does it in the New Testament as well. The Holy Spirit actually also, how can I say, gives restraining grace to certain people. People can actually become very, very evil. People can become godless and evil and wicked. And then the Holy Spirit, His restraining grace comes upon them. God's restraining grace basically prevents evil from destroying the earth. If it wasn't for God's restraining grace, I believe this world would have been destroyed by now. but because God has basically given his restraining grace and it's the Holy Spirit that restrains and because the Holy Spirit restrains that's why there can be a kind of a peace on this earth where people can kind of live together in harmony in some what of harmony and it's all because of God's restraining grace All because of God's restraining grace. Sorry for that phone. At the end of the day, it is important for us to understand and to remember that God's restraining grace prevents evil from destroying this earth. Let's take an example. Remember when God judged the earth with a flood? Remember the Bible says to us that the earth was filled with violence and that the people were evil? So what did God do? God destroyed the earth. He destroyed the people on the earth and he saved eight people. But all the others he destroyed. Now we can say, is that restraining grace? Yeah, God's restraining grace was, how can I say, present and it was working. Otherwise the people might have killed Noah and his family. But it was God's restraining grace that was still keeping back the evil that it didn't take over the whole of the earth including Noah and his family and then what God did was when God brought the flood he destroyed everyone on the earth except the Aten all the animals that was in the ark and why did he do it because evil prevailed and basically God started all over again what did God do at the Tower of Babel Remember? At the Tower of Babel, God confused the languages. And why did He do it? So that the people would stop with their evil desires. What did they want to do? They wanted to climb up to the Most High. They wanted to be like God. They wanted to climb up to God. They built this tower. So what did the Holy Spirit do? The Holy Spirit basically held them back. He was keeping the powers of evil back. And remember at that stage, the mystery religions of which Semiramis was basically the instigator. She was the mother of the mystery religions basically that developed during that period of time around Babel. So what was happening was you had this mystery religions coming in. Instead of the people of the earth, how can I say, covering the earth, they were staying in this one city, and they were united in what they wanted to do, and that was to climb up to the Most High God. Obviously, I think it was the same sin that we find in the book of Genesis, where Satan said to Eve and Adam, if they eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, they will be like God. So, I mean, who doesn't want to be like God? If you have a sinful nature and you have a desire to be someone and you have this pride that builds up in you, who doesn't want to be like God and replace God? You see, that's the problem with wicked mankind. That's the problem with sinful nature. That's the problem with, how can I say, with human beings who has a pride that is in them. So, what happens is, The people in the days of or the Tower of Babel, when they built the Tower of Babel, they wanted to be like God. It's the same sin over and over and over and over again, even today. Beloved, we find exactly the same sin. If you look at the Word of Faith movement, for example, why do they have such a thing as the little God's doctrine? The little God's doctrine says that we are of the God kind because when God created, he created after their own kind. He says so if you have the animal kind and you have the bird kind or whatever, then they say, but then God created us as human beings because we created in his image. They say we are created as a God kind, which means we are little gods. It's exactly the same thing that happened in the Garden of Eden. Even though we are talking about 6,000 years later. But it's exactly the same sin. And it's evil. But what is the sin? People want to be like God. Actually, I think it's actually worse than that. People don't just want to be like God. I think people want to replace God. They want to kick God out and they want to be their own God. You find it among the Mormons, where the Mormons believe that each person will have their own planet and they will be a savior on that planet and they will be god of their planet. You know, that kind of thing. It's just absolutely ridiculous, but then that's what it is, Hinduism. where you reach nirvana, where you, how can I say, you go through the stages until you reach Godhood. Where you find out that you are actually God. It's rampant all over the world. And then you find these people that wants to live forever. Why do they want to live forever? Because they've got a God complex. They want to be like God that lives forever. They just want to live forever. And obviously they don't want to just live forever. They want to have authority over others. But those are the things that we see today. And beloved, if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit, who basically holds back the powers of evil. Then evil would flood the whole earth, the whole world. So at the Tower of Babel, when God confused the languages, I believe it was an act of God's mercy, an act of God's grace. because people just had these evil desires in them. So when their languages were confused, they were scattered all over the earth and they didn't continue with their wickedness in wanting to be like God or to want to climb up to God and to replace God. Beloved in God's restraining grace even now is there. So we see that part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to restrain. Basically He is the restrainer Otherwise, evil would easily destroy the whole earth. Remember that Satan hates God. He hates God's people. And because he hates God and he hates God's people, he would like to destroy everything that God created. Now we know that God created the earth and when God created the earth it was good. Actually later on he said it was very good. But then sin entered into the world and the curse came upon the earth and the creation that we see now is not the creation that God created in the beginning. This is a fallen creation, this is a creation under a curse. So all the beauty that we see is nothing in comparison to creation when God created it and it was good. But still, even in this fallen state, even in this sinful state, Satan hates creation. He hates everything that God created, and he wants to destroy everything that God created. And it's God's restraining grace that basically prevents evil from destroying the earth. So we are grateful, or we should be grateful. We should be so so grateful that God in his mercy withholds evil from basically taking over the earth. God's restraining grace over us at times when we are able to do things against a fellow brother or a sister or we can do something against somebody else God's restraining grace is there to basically prevent us from doing it. So we see in the Old Testament God's restraining grace basically restraining evil and we see how God works in the Old Testament in the lives of people where at times he fills some people Now, even if it's for a short period of time, He filled them so that they can have the gift of craftsmanship or workmanship to do amazing work with their hands. And God just filled those people. And then, obviously, the Holy Spirit also came upon some people. And it's normally just for a specific purpose or for a specific time. And then the Holy Spirit also lived in some people. and this we see very clearly in the Old Testament Beloved, so if we talk about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament we can say to one another even though we don't see a lot yet the Holy Spirit was active very active in the Old Testament and we can see it in the lives of the people of the Old Testament That concludes part three of our weekly Bible study on the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. And this concludes basically the study. It's only the three parts that we are going to look at. So God willing, next time we continue. to look at the Holy Spirit different aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit and who the Holy Spirit is and and what the Holy Spirit does so we can have a good idea of the work and the person of the Holy Spirit let's pray Heavenly Father thank you so much that you have revealed to us in your Word in the Old Testament how the Holy Spirit dwelt in certain people and came upon certain people and filled certain people. And that the Holy Spirit is the one who restrains evil in this world, so it doesn't take over. Thank you so much, Father. We pray that as we take these things to heart and as we think about it in our minds, I pray, Father, in Jesus' precious name, that You as the living Almighty God will allow us to grow yes, in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but also that we will grow in knowledge of your Spirit, so that the third person of the Trinity can also be glorified in and through our lives. And we pray, Father, in Jesus' name. that you be with us and as your spirit works in us that we will be obedient to you in all things this we pray in jesus name amen beloved thank you very much for listening may the lord bless you and keep you may his face shine upon you god willing until next time bye bye