The Holy Spirit in the Torah and the Prophets -- Part 3 of the Tishbyte Foundational Bible Study series


		#3 of the tishbyte Foundational Bible Study series: How the Old Covenant provides the basis to understand the New Covenant in regards anointing and authority Old Covenant section ©1997 Tishbyte Publishing q In the Very Beginning — Even at creation, we see the Holy Spirit active both in a *creative* and in a *life-giving* role. m Gen. 1:1,2 — *His creative role in the creation of the world* • The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep t The Hebrew word for “spirit”, ruach means breath. The Holy Spirit is like the breath of God. Human breath consists of oxygen, carbon-dioxide and nitrogen — the atmosphere God created. God, of course isn’t dependent on this atmosphere, but rather, wherever He goes, His own breath goes with Him. Unlike human breath, God’s breath is living and where He blows, God’s presence is there. In the New Testament, we understand that He is one of the three persons of the One God. v Rashi says, The Throne of Glory was suspended in the air and hovered over the face of the waters, sustained by the breath (ruach) of God and His command, like a dove hovering over the nest. v The Holy Spirit hovered, or brooded, like a mother hen broods over its eggs, as though bringing creation to hatch. This is also a picture of how He moves in the believers in intercessory prayer. m Gen. 2:7 — *His life-giving role at the creation of man* • The Lord God formed man...and breathed into his nostrils the breath (ruach) of life t Because God doesn’t need oxygen to survive, it obviously wasn’t oxygen that God breathed into man, but rather, His own breath, the ruach. Man was made alive with God’s own life, through His breath, the Holy Spirit. t As we saw in the first lesson, it was this life that later died as the result of man’s disobedience (Gen. 2:17). Though created to be a carrier of God’s life, man, instead, became subject to death. t Through Messiah’s work on the cross, man can be made alive once again (John 3:3-8; Rom 5:17; II Cor. 5:17). This is likewise the activity of the Holy Spirit. q The Three Modes of Impartation of the Holy Spirit’s Anointing — In the Torah, we begin to see that the Holy Spirit’s role on the Earth is to work in and through people — His creation — in order to carry out God’s plan on the Earth. One good way to understand this activity is to note the three ways in which the Holy Spirit is imparted to people for the purpose of carrying out divinely appointed tasks: *anointing by transference, anointing with oil, and spontaneous anointing. m Anointing by transference* — In this mode, transferring the Holy Spirit’s anointing shares much in common with the transfer of uncleanness and guilt. The three concepts are inseparable, so that to fully understand the one, we have to look at all three. t *uncleanness was transferred by touch* v The people of Israel were commanded to “separate the clean from the unclean” (Lev. 20:24-26). This was because man had become inherently unclean through the sin of Adam (Lev 16:16). Y Touching a dead carcass, or touching someone with an unclean disease causes one to become ritually unclean (Lev 11:24; 15:16-24) Y While in an unclean state, one could not participate in worship at the temple (Num. 19:11-13) Y The means of becoming ritually clean includes immersion l Lev 15:5,16; 17:15; 11:24-28; 14:8 — Most of these references contain the phrase, He (or she) shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water and be unclean until evening, then he shall be clean. Ritual immersion, according to rabbinical practice, was done by totally immersing one’s self in a stream or a naturally filled pool (Mishnah: Mikvaot). This was the practice commanded by John the Baptist, so it was also the fore-runner of Christian baptism. l John the Baptist said of Jesus, he would “baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire”(Matt 3:11). The Holy Spirit, in this way, cleanses, as well as empowers the individual for service. In this way, not only is one legally entitled to enter the sanctuary, as by immersion in water, but the bad habits and attitudes that caused the blemish in the first place are also cleansed from the personality as though burned with fire. Thus, under the New Covenant, immersion for ritual cleansing takes on an added dimension in which the Holy Spirit is directly active. v Immersion was also a part of the ceremony for the appointment of the priest (Ex 40:12-15). t *guilt was transferred* by the laying on of hands on the head of the sacrificial animal. v Lev 1:4; 3:2; 4:4; etc. — Then he shall put his hand on the head of the ...offering... For every sacrifice, the one offering it had to lay his hands on the head of the animal to identify himself with it. By thus identifying the animal with the man who brought it, the guilt of the man was legally transferred to the animal. v Lev 16:21 — Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel... On the day of atonement, the priest laid hands on one of the goats for the sacrifice, and confessed the sins of the people. That goat was released in the wilderness so that it carried away the sins transferred to it. t *The Holy Spirit’s power for leadership was transferred* from Moses to Joshua by the laying on of hands — Deut 34:9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him... m Institutional anointing — by anointing with oil. This is where we get the use of the word “anointing” as meaning the activity of the Holy Spirit on a person’s life. There are three situations in which oil was used to anoint: that of *the cleansing of the recovered leper, the anointing of the high priest, and the anointing of the king. t Lev 14:9-20 the cleansing of the recovered leper —* Again, we see the recognisable pattern in which the Holy Spirit’s anointing is related to cleanness. v Verse 9 ...he shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean — the leper is immersed in water v Verse 17 ...the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear...on the thumbon the big toe...the rest...he shall put on the head... — the leper is anointed with oil v Traditionally, it is believed that leprosy was divine judgement for blasphemy and slander, just as Miriam was so judged for speaking against Moses (Num. 12); and King Uzziah, for intruding on the holy part of the temple (forbidden to all but the priest) (II Chron 26:16-21). Even after recovery, the process of cleansing, described in the above passage, takes a week, which includes the immersion, and anointing with oil in a similar manner as that of the High Priest. On one hand, this shows us the seriousness of the sin of slander and strife. On the other hand, it is a pattern of a sinner coming into the kingdom of God by the blood of the sacrifice, through baptism, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. t *the anointing of the high priest and the utensils of the tabernacle* — In this situation, we see what appears on the surface to be no more than a ritual, but when done in obedience to God’s command, results in the visible and tangible glory of God. v Ex 29:4-7 — Aaron and his sons are immersed and then anointed by pouring oil on the head. v Ex 40:9-38 — Both the tabernacle, the utensils and Aaron and his sons are anointed. The end result (vs. 34,35) was the visible glory of God in a cloud such that Moses couldn’t enter the tabernacle. t *the king’s anointing* v Sam 10:1; 16:1-13 — Samuel anointed Saul, and later, David as king of Israel v Every king after this time was anointed at his ascension to the throne t the legitimacy of the anointing • The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed... I Sam 24:6; 26:11; II Sam 1:1-16; Psalm 105:9; Acts 23:1-5 — The anointing with oil in this way is to be taken seriously. Even when David was being unjustly pursued by King Saul — with the intent to kill — he dared not violate the sanctity of Saul’s anointing. There is a divine legitimacy about the office even though the person occupying the position may be corrupt, as King Saul certainly was; as was also the High Priest presiding at the hearing of the apostle Paul. t *the Anointed One* The Hebrew word for one who is anointed is Moshiach or “Messiah” (in Greek, this word is Christos, or “Christ”, which was the word used by Greek speaking Jews of the first century). The high priest or the king would have been referred to as “Messiah” or the anointed one. In the prophetic scenario, it came to mean the one who would ultimately be the successor to King David that restored the kingdom to Israel. We will develop this theme in more detail in the next lesson, The Hope of Messiah. m Spontaneous anointing — that of the prophets. In the scriptures, we also notice that the Holy Spirit was active with the prophets, who weren’t appointed to a special office by any ritual. They were simply “filled with the Holy Spirit”, or the Holy Spirit “came on them”. We use the term “anointing” in regards to this “filling” even though oil was not generally used to initiate the Holy Spirit’s activity. t *the spirit of prophecy* — We see that the most remarkable manifestation of this anointing is in the area of revelation, or wisdom. Another major one is “mighty acts” or miracles. v Ex 31:1-3 — Bezalel, involved in building the tabernacle, was given the spirit of wisdom, understanding and knowledge v I Kings 7:13-14 — In a parallel passage regarding Solomon’s temple, Hiram was given the spirit of wisdom, understanding and skill. The three aspects of spiritual wisdom in both cases can be listed as: Y knowing the over all plan, or vision; Y knowing the intermediate steps, or the short range goals; and Y knowing the technical details how to carry out the steps. v Isaiah 11:2 — This passage speaks of Messiah. Some interpret these qualities to be the seven spirits of God in spoken of in Rev 1:4, including the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Most of these relate to revelation and wisdom. One, the “Spirit of might” would the miraculous physical acts. t Num. 11:24-30 — *the spontaneity of prophecy* • Then the Lord came down in the cloud...and took of the Spirit that was upon him (Moses) and placed the same upon the seventy elders... The anointing that was on Moses was transferable to the 70 elders. When they received this transfer, they began to prophecy. v Eldad and Modad were among the elders but didn’t make it to the gathering, but they began prophesying anyway in the camp v When Joshua was worried about them prophesying like that, Moses spoke the desire of God’s heart, “I wish all of Israel would prophecy.” This desire finds its promise in Joel 2:28-32, and the beginning of its fulfilment in Acts 2. t Deut 18:15-22; 13:1-5 — *the prophets to come after* • God said through Moses that He would raise up prophets. This statement has two applications: v The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst... — meaning a special prophet who will come, and have the same impact on Israel as Moses did. This is speaking of Messiah. Deuteronomy gives us a prophetic scenario leading up to this: Y Deut 28-29 — the results of disobedience: Because they ignore God’s covenant, the children of Israel will be persecuted, and finally driven out and scattered throughout the Earth. Y Deut 30:1-10 — restoration to the land of their fathers: All of Israel will be re-gathered to the land of Israel, and the age of Messiah will commence. v Prophets in general — If the prophet’s words are indeed from God; i.e. they agree with the Torah (13:2; 18:20), and the predictions come to pass (18:22); this can be taken as proof that the prophet is from God. It is Israel’s responsibility to listen to him. Y Throughout the Old Testament, we see the prophetic anointing as being parallel to the institutional anointing of the priest and king. l The institutional anointing was by automatic succession, the new priest or king being officially appointed by those sharing authority; or else meeting the criteria, such as birth in the royal family; whereas the prophet simply popped up out of nowhere. l The authority of the institutional anointing was by virtue of divinely established institution, whereas the authority of the prophet was by virtue of truth — his words confirming the words of the Torah, and coming to pass, often accompanied with visible power; though the truth spoken was often in conflict with the institutional authority (Amos 7:12-16). Y The function of the prophet: l to bring God’s Word to the situation he lives in (Deut 18:15-22; Jer 20:7-9) l to warn (Amos 3:2-8; Eze 3:16-21) — in this function, some prophecies are conditional (book of Jonah) l to speak God’s plan into existence (Jer 1:4-10) l intercessory prayer (Eze 22:30,31) Y The prophet was often the agent of change l Moses, a prophet, established the priestly dynasty of Aaron. Likewise, kingly dynasties were often established through prophets — i.e. Samuel established both the dynasties of Saul and David (Sam 10:1; 16:1-13); Ahijah prophesied over Jeraboam, launching him into kingly ministry (I Kings 11:28-39); Elijah, through his junior prophets, anointed Jehu as king of Israel, and Hazael as king of Syria (I Kings 19:15-18; II Kings 8:8-15; 9:1-10). Most kings who simply followed the normal succession within the dynasty of their fathers were anointed by the priest. l Three people especially were agents of change in the Old Testament: w Moses — established Israel as a nation with the Torah, and the priesthood; w Samuel — began the school of the prophets, whereby the prophets who followed were established on the Torah; and established the Davidic dynasty, from which Messiah would come w Jeremiah — who brought the kingdom of David and Solomon, along with all the rest of the divinely established institutions to a close. By his prophetic words, his role was to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, to plant and to build (Jer 1:10). Under the prophetic anointing, he spoke against the establishment, doing and saying things that under normal circumstances would be considered treasonable, or at the very least, presumptuous. In fact, he was accused of sedition, and put into a dungeon for it. l Vital messages for all time w Some, today, say that only churches that run under the presbyterian system are valid. Others say that only those with a single leader having autocratic authority are valid. Yet others say that only those leaders appointed by an apostle are to be recognised. In the Torah and the Prophets, we see all of these as valid sources of authority at some time or another. In the New Testament, apostolic succession was established, like in the Old Testament, through the prophets, or the original twelve apostles. That became the institutional authority. However, when this became corrupt, some, like those prophets who claim their authority on the basis of truth, began ministering in opposition. This was valid to a point, in that it was authority based on truth. Now, we have many denominations, or institutions as a result, all with institutional authority. However, just as the Davidic kingdom came to an end at the Babylonian invasion, these also will come to an end, but not by the actions of any single individual (any more than Jeremiah actually did anything other than prophecy and warn). w We are told repeatedly in the Bible to obey and respect those over us in the institutional sense. A good example of this faithfulness is the life of David. Even though the prophet Samuel had made the pronouncement that the Holy Spirit had left King Saul, David, never the less, respected the institutional anointing (Sam 24:6; 26:11), not daring to do anything to harm King Saul or remove him from office, even when Saul was pursuing David with the intent to kill. Even Samuel, with the prophetic anointing, didn’t encourage revolt, but only spoke forth Saul’s rejection by God. Those who think they might have a prophetic calling to override the institutional functions of authority need to be very careful that they are acting in the Spirit of God, and are truly dead to themselves and alive to Christ — not just a simple matter of “God told me so — so there!”. On the other hand, those who are in authority in the institutional category, need to be aware that God does anoint people spontaneously, and that we are responsible to listen when someone comes to us with truth. There is the need for both types of authority to recognise the other. q Early History of Israel — Illustrating the principal: If you have the Word* without the Spirit, you’ll dry up* If you have the Spirit* without the Word, you’ll blow up* If you have both the Word* and the Spirit, you’ll grow up* — from Dennis & Rita Bennet, The Holy Spirit and You m The period of the Judges — going around in circles t God’s command through Moses was that the people should teach the Torah to their children, especially the commandment to love God with all their heart (Deut 6:4-9; 4:9; 11:18-21). This command, if followed, would have kept the people on the right path. t Judges 2:7-10 — After the death of Joshua, and the death of all those who had seen the mighty works of God in the wilderness, the people began to turn away from the Lord. Judges 2:11-19 shows us a cycle that we see repeated throughout the book of Judges: 1 The people turned away from God 2 Foreigners invade and make life miserable 3 The people call on God 4 God sends a man or woman anointed with the Holy Spirit who brings miraculous deliverance 5 This person judges Israel, or a region of it, and the people serve God as long as the judge is alive 6 The judge finally dies and a new generation arises 7 Repeat cycle ... t Technically speaking, we can think of the judges as prophets, as they were anointed spontaneously. The most notable manifestations of the Holy Spirit on these people were the mighty acts. However, it is evident that many of them knew very little of the Torah v Gideon (chap. 6-8) after he had brought deliverance to Israel from the hoard of Midianites with only 300 men, he took his share of the spoil and made an ephod (8:22-27) which the people prayed to as though it were an image of God — contrary to the commandment not to make any graven images. v Jephthah (chap 11), while being used to fight off the Ammonites, made a rash vow to God (vs. 30,31) that on his return to his home, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out the door to meet him. When he returned home, the first living creature to come out the door towards him was his own daughter (34-40). It’s possible that the vague wording of this passage indicates that he redeemed her with an clean animal, which would have been legal by rabbinical tradition, though she had to remain virgin; but it also shows an ignorance of what is allowed in the way of sacrifice. Suppose the first creature to come out were a dog or a cat? v Samson (chap 13-16) was especially anointed by God, but played it dangerously until his weakness for Philistine women finally caught up with him. Had he obeyed the commandment not to get mixed up with women outside the covenant of Israel, he could have saved himself a lot of heartache and his anointing could have gone a lot farther. In the end, he defeated the Philistines, but at the expense of his own life. t Judges 17:7; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25 — the phrase is repeated 4 times in the last 5 chapters of Judges, In those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. The written word of God was not generally available to the people in general, and no one took the responsibility of teaching it to the people. m *Samuel* — establishing the foundation t Sam 1:1-11 — Hanna’s prayer for a son could be seen as parallel to the longing to get out of the vicious cycle of the period of the judges. Her desperation was indeed used by God to provide the right man. Though she is barren, her prayer is answered and she has a son, Samuel, who finally brings the vicious cycle to an end. t The only place where the Torah was known was in the temple, by the priests. It was only taught by the senior priests to their juniors. However, by Samuel’s time, the priesthood had become corrupt, Eli’s sons being engaged in all kinds of perverse acts. t Samuel grew up in the temple, and learned the Torah from Eli. While still a child, the Holy Spirit moved on him. v Though he was a Levite, he was not in the lineage of Aaron, and therefore not a priest. His anointing, therefore was the spontaneous anointing of a prophet, or a judge; rather than the institutional anointing of a priest. v Later, this anointing was recognised, and he judged Israel for many years. v Unlike the judges that went before, he was well versed in the Torah. He had both “the Word and the Spirit”. Y He is believed to have started a school for prophets (I Sam 10:5,6,10ff; 19:20-24; II Kings 2:3,5,7,15-18; 4:38-44; 6:1-7). The “sons of the prophets”, as the junior prophets were called, lived with the senior prophet and learned both from his lifestyle as well as his teaching. Their training would have included memorising large portions of the Torah — if not the whole thing (Ps 1:2; Joshua 1:8). Y As a result, not only the priests, but also the prophets that came afterwards knew the Torah, and there was much greater stability in the nation. Y Even if Samuel had not established the institution of the monarchy, leadership under the judges who would have come after would have been more stable. t When the people insisted on a king, Samuel established the dynasty of Saul, and then when God’s time was right, he anointed David to be the initial king of a new dynasty that would eventually give birth to Messiah — the anointed one to fulfil both the role of prophet, priest and king. Next Lesson Lesson Index

#3 of the tishbyte Foundational Bible Study series:
How the Old Covenant provides the basis to understand
the New Covenant in regards anointing and authority

Old Covenant section

q In the Very Beginning — Even at creation, we see the Holy Spirit active both in a creative and in a life-giving role.

m Gen. 1:1,2 — His creative role in the creation of the world • The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the deep

t The Hebrew word for “spirit”, ruach means breath. The Holy Spirit is like the breath of God. Human breath consists of oxygen, carbon-dioxide and nitrogen — the atmosphere God created. God, of course isn’t dependent on this atmosphere, but rather, wherever He goes, His own breath goes with Him. Unlike human breath, God’s breath is living and where He blows, God’s presence is there. In the New Testament, we understand that He is one of the three persons of the One God.

v Rashi says, The Throne of Glory was suspended in the air and hovered over the face of the waters, sustained by the breath (ruach) of God and His command, like a dove hovering over the nest.

v The Holy Spirit hovered, or brooded, like a mother hen broods over its eggs, as though bringing creation to hatch. This is also a picture of how He moves in the believers in intercessory prayer.

m Gen. 2:7 — His life-giving role at the creation of man • The Lord God formed man...and breathed into his nostrils the breath (ruach) of life

t Because God doesn’t need oxygen to survive, it obviously wasn’t oxygen that God breathed into man, but rather, His own breath, the ruach. Man was made alive with God’s own life, through His breath, the Holy Spirit.

t As we saw in the first lesson, it was this life that later died as the result of man’s disobedience (Gen. 2:17). Though created to be a carrier of God’s life, man, instead, became subject to death.

t Through Messiah’s work on the cross, man can be made alive once again (John 3:3-8; Rom 5:17; II Cor. 5:17). This is likewise the activity of the Holy Spirit.

q The Three Modes of Impartation of the Holy Spirit’s Anointing — In the Torah, we begin to see that the Holy Spirit’s role on the Earth is to work in and through people — His creation — in order to carry out God’s plan on the Earth. One good way to understand this activity is to note the three ways in which the Holy Spirit is imparted to people for the purpose of carrying out divinely appointed tasks: anointing by transference, anointing with oil, and spontaneous anointing.

m Anointing by transference — In this mode, transferring the Holy Spirit’s anointing shares much in common with the transfer of uncleanness and guilt. The three concepts are inseparable, so that to fully understand the one, we have to look at all three.

t uncleanness was transferred by touch

v The people of Israel were commanded to “separate the clean from the unclean” (Lev. 20:24-26). This was because man had become inherently unclean through the sin of Adam (Lev 16:16).

Y Touching a dead carcass, or touching someone with an unclean disease causes one to become ritually unclean (Lev 11:24; 15:16-24)

Y While in an unclean state, one could not participate in worship at the temple (Num. 19:11-13)

Y The means of becoming ritually clean includes immersion

l Lev 15:5,16; 17:15; 11:24-28; 14:8 — Most of these references contain the phrase, He (or she) shall wash his clothes, and bathe in water and be unclean until evening, then he shall be clean. Ritual immersion, according to rabbinical practice, was done by totally immersing one’s self in a stream or a naturally filled pool (Mishnah: Mikvaot). This was the practice commanded by John the Baptist, so it was also the fore-runner of Christian baptism.

l John the Baptist said of Jesus, he would “baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire”(Matt 3:11). The Holy Spirit, in this way, cleanses, as well as empowers the individual for service. In this way, not only is one legally entitled to enter the sanctuary, as by immersion in water, but the bad habits and attitudes that caused the blemish in the first place are also cleansed from the personality as though burned with fire. Thus, under the New Covenant, immersion for ritual cleansing takes on an added dimension in which the Holy Spirit is directly active.

v Immersion was also a part of the ceremony for the appointment of the priest (Ex 40:12-15).

t guilt was transferred by the laying on of hands on the head of the sacrificial animal.

v Lev 1:4; 3:2; 4:4; etc. — Then he shall put his hand on the head of the ...offering... For every sacrifice, the one offering it had to lay his hands on the head of the animal to identify himself with it. By thus identifying the animal with the man who brought it, the guilt of the man was legally transferred to the animal.

v Lev 16:21 — Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel... On the day of atonement, the priest laid hands on one of the goats for the sacrifice, and confessed the sins of the people. That goat was released in the wilderness so that it carried away the sins transferred to it.

t The Holy Spirit’s power for leadership was transferred from Moses to Joshua by the laying on of hands — Deut 34:9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him...

m Institutional anointing — by anointing with oil. This is where we get the use of the word “anointing” as meaning the activity of the Holy Spirit on a person’s life. There are three situations in which oil was used to anoint: that of the cleansing of the recovered leper, the anointing of the high priest, and the anointing of the king.

t Lev 14:9-20 the cleansing of the recovered leper — Again, we see the recognisable pattern in which the Holy Spirit’s anointing is related to cleanness.

v Verse 9 ...he shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean — the leper is immersed in water

v Verse 17 ...the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear...on the thumbon the big toe...the rest...he shall put on the head... — the leper is anointed with oil

v Traditionally, it is believed that leprosy was divine judgement for blasphemy and slander, just as Miriam was so judged for speaking against Moses (Num. 12); and King Uzziah, for intruding on the holy part of the temple (forbidden to all but the priest) (II Chron 26:16-21). Even after recovery, the process of cleansing, described in the above passage, takes a week, which includes the immersion, and anointing with oil in a similar manner as that of the High Priest. On one hand, this shows us the seriousness of the sin of slander and strife. On the other hand, it is a pattern of a sinner coming into the kingdom of God by the blood of the sacrifice, through baptism, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

t the anointing of the high priest and the utensils of the tabernacle — In this situation, we see what appears on the surface to be no more than a ritual, but when done in obedience to God’s command, results in the visible and tangible glory of God.

v Ex 29:4-7 — Aaron and his sons are immersed and then anointed by pouring oil on the head.

v Ex 40:9-38 — Both the tabernacle, the utensils and Aaron and his sons are anointed. The end result (vs. 34,35) was the visible glory of God in a cloud such that Moses couldn’t enter the tabernacle.

t the king’s anointing

v Sam 10:1; 16:1-13 — Samuel anointed Saul, and later, David as king of Israel

v Every king after this time was anointed at his ascension to the throne

t the legitimacy of the anointing • The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed... I Sam 24:6; 26:11; II Sam 1:1-16; Psalm 105:9; Acts 23:1-5 — The anointing with oil in this way is to be taken seriously. Even when David was being unjustly pursued by King Saul — with the intent to kill — he dared not violate the sanctity of Saul’s anointing. There is a divine legitimacy about the office even though the person occupying the position may be corrupt, as King Saul certainly was; as was also the High Priest presiding at the hearing of the apostle Paul.

t the Anointed One The Hebrew word for one who is anointed is Moshiach or “Messiah” (in Greek, this word is Christos, or “Christ”, which was the word used by Greek speaking Jews of the first century). The high priest or the king would have been referred to as “Messiah” or the anointed one. In the prophetic scenario, it came to mean the one who would ultimately be the successor to King David that restored the kingdom to Israel. We will develop this theme in more detail in the next lesson, The Hope of Messiah.

m Spontaneous anointing — that of the prophets. In the scriptures, we also notice that the Holy Spirit was active with the prophets, who weren’t appointed to a special office by any ritual. They were simply “filled with the Holy Spirit”, or the Holy Spirit “came on them”. We use the term “anointing” in regards to this “filling” even though oil was not generally used to initiate the Holy Spirit’s activity.

t the spirit of prophecy — We see that the most remarkable manifestation of this anointing is in the area of revelation, or wisdom. Another major one is “mighty acts” or miracles.

v Ex 31:1-3 — Bezalel, involved in building the tabernacle, was given the spirit of wisdom, understanding and knowledge

v I Kings 7:13-14 — In a parallel passage regarding Solomon’s temple, Hiram was given the spirit of wisdom, understanding and skill. The three aspects of spiritual wisdom in both cases can be listed as:

Y knowing the over all plan, or vision;

Y knowing the intermediate steps, or the short range goals; and

Y knowing the technical details how to carry out the steps.

v Isaiah 11:2 — This passage speaks of Messiah. Some interpret these qualities to be the seven spirits of God in spoken of in Rev 1:4, including the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Most of these relate to revelation and wisdom. One, the “Spirit of might” would the miraculous physical acts.

t Num. 11:24-30 — the spontaneity of prophecy • Then the Lord came down in the cloud...and took of the Spirit that was upon him (Moses) and placed the same upon the seventy elders... The anointing that was on Moses was transferable to the 70 elders. When they received this transfer, they began to prophecy.

v Eldad and Modad were among the elders but didn’t make it to the gathering, but they began prophesying anyway in the camp

v When Joshua was worried about them prophesying like that, Moses spoke the desire of God’s heart, “I wish all of Israel would prophecy.” This desire finds its promise in Joel 2:28-32, and the beginning of its fulfilment in Acts 2.

t Deut 18:15-22; 13:1-5 — the prophets to come after • God said through Moses that He would raise up prophets. This statement has two applications:

v The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst... — meaning a special prophet who will come, and have the same impact on Israel as Moses did. This is speaking of Messiah. Deuteronomy gives us a prophetic scenario leading up to this:

Y Deut 28-29 — the results of disobedience: Because they ignore God’s covenant, the children of Israel will be persecuted, and finally driven out and scattered throughout the Earth.

Y Deut 30:1-10 — restoration to the land of their fathers: All of Israel will be re-gathered to the land of Israel, and the age of Messiah will commence.

v Prophets in general — If the prophet’s words are indeed from God; i.e. they agree with the Torah (13:2; 18:20), and the predictions come to pass (18:22); this can be taken as proof that the prophet is from God. It is Israel’s responsibility to listen to him.

Y Throughout the Old Testament, we see the prophetic anointing as being parallel to the institutional anointing of the priest and king.

l The institutional anointing was by automatic succession, the new priest or king being officially appointed by those sharing authority; or else meeting the criteria, such as birth in the royal family; whereas the prophet simply popped up out of nowhere.

l The authority of the institutional anointing was by virtue of divinely established institution, whereas the authority of the prophet was by virtue of truth — his words confirming the words of the Torah, and coming to pass, often accompanied with visible power; though the truth spoken was often in conflict with the institutional authority (Amos 7:12-16).

Y The function of the prophet:

l to bring God’s Word to the situation he lives in (Deut 18:15-22; Jer 20:7-9)

l to warn (Amos 3:2-8; Eze 3:16-21) — in this function, some prophecies are conditional (book of Jonah)

l to speak God’s plan into existence (Jer 1:4-10)

l intercessory prayer (Eze 22:30,31)

Y The prophet was often the agent of change

l Moses, a prophet, established the priestly dynasty of Aaron. Likewise, kingly dynasties were often established through prophets — i.e. Samuel established both the dynasties of Saul and David (Sam 10:1; 16:1-13); Ahijah prophesied over Jeraboam, launching him into kingly ministry (I Kings 11:28-39); Elijah, through his junior prophets, anointed Jehu as king of Israel, and Hazael as king of Syria (I Kings 19:15-18; II Kings 8:8-15; 9:1-10). Most kings who simply followed the normal succession within the dynasty of their fathers were anointed by the priest.

l Three people especially were agents of change in the Old Testament:

w Moses — established Israel as a nation with the Torah, and the priesthood;

w Samuel — began the school of the prophets, whereby the prophets who followed were established on the Torah; and established the Davidic dynasty, from which Messiah would come

w Jeremiah — who brought the kingdom of David and Solomon, along with all the rest of the divinely established institutions to a close. By his prophetic words, his role was to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, to plant and to build (Jer 1:10). Under the prophetic anointing, he spoke against the establishment, doing and saying things that under normal circumstances would be considered treasonable, or at the very least, presumptuous. In fact, he was accused of sedition, and put into a dungeon for it.

l Vital messages for all time

w Some, today, say that only churches that run under the presbyterian system are valid. Others say that only those with a single leader having autocratic authority are valid. Yet others say that only those leaders appointed by an apostle are to be recognised. In the Torah and the Prophets, we see all of these as valid sources of authority at some time or another. In the New Testament, apostolic succession was established, like in the Old Testament, through the prophets, or the original twelve apostles. That became the institutional authority. However, when this became corrupt, some, like those prophets who claim their authority on the basis of truth, began ministering in opposition. This was valid to a point, in that it was authority based on truth. Now, we have many denominations, or institutions as a result, all with institutional authority. However, just as the Davidic kingdom came to an end at the Babylonian invasion, these also will come to an end, but not by the actions of any single individual (any more than Jeremiah actually did anything other than prophecy and warn).

w We are told repeatedly in the Bible to obey and respect those over us in the institutional sense. A good example of this faithfulness is the life of David. Even though the prophet Samuel had made the pronouncement that the Holy Spirit had left King Saul, David, never the less, respected the institutional anointing (Sam 24:6; 26:11), not daring to do anything to harm King Saul or remove him from office, even when Saul was pursuing David with the intent to kill. Even Samuel, with the prophetic anointing, didn’t encourage revolt, but only spoke forth Saul’s rejection by God. Those who think they might have a prophetic calling to override the institutional functions of authority need to be very careful that they are acting in the Spirit of God, and are truly dead to themselves and alive to Christ — not just a simple matter of “God told me so — so there!”. On the other hand, those who are in authority in the institutional category, need to be aware that God does anoint people spontaneously, and that we are responsible to listen when someone comes to us with truth. There is the need for both types of authority to recognise the other.

q Early History of Israel — Illustrating the principal:

If you have the Word without the Spirit, you’ll dry up

If you have the Spirit without the Word, you’ll blow up

If you have both the Word and the Spirit, you’ll grow up

— from Dennis & Rita Bennet, The Holy Spirit and You

m The period of the Judges — going around in circles

t God’s command through Moses was that the people should teach the Torah to their children, especially the commandment to love God with all their heart (Deut 6:4-9; 4:9; 11:18-21). This command, if followed, would have kept the people on the right path.

t Judges 2:7-10 — After the death of Joshua, and the death of all those who had seen the mighty works of God in the wilderness, the people began to turn away from the Lord. Judges 2:11-19 shows us a cycle that we see repeated throughout the book of Judges:

1 The people turned away from God

2 Foreigners invade and make life miserable

3 The people call on God

4 God sends a man or woman anointed with the Holy Spirit who brings miraculous deliverance

5 This person judges Israel, or a region of it, and the people serve God as long as the judge is alive

6 The judge finally dies and a new generation arises

7 Repeat cycle ...

t Technically speaking, we can think of the judges as prophets, as they were anointed spontaneously. The most notable manifestations of the Holy Spirit on these people were the mighty acts. However, it is evident that many of them knew very little of the Torah

v Gideon (chap. 6-8) after he had brought deliverance to Israel from the hoard of Midianites with only 300 men, he took his share of the spoil and made an ephod (8:22-27) which the people prayed to as though it were an image of God — contrary to the commandment not to make any graven images.

v Jephthah (chap 11), while being used to fight off the Ammonites, made a rash vow to God (vs. 30,31) that on his return to his home, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out the door to meet him. When he returned home, the first living creature to come out the door towards him was his own daughter (34-40). It’s possible that the vague wording of this passage indicates that he redeemed her with an clean animal, which would have been legal by rabbinical tradition, though she had to remain virgin; but it also shows an ignorance of what is allowed in the way of sacrifice. Suppose the first creature to come out were a dog or a cat?

v Samson (chap 13-16) was especially anointed by God, but played it dangerously until his weakness for Philistine women finally caught up with him. Had he obeyed the commandment not to get mixed up with women outside the covenant of Israel, he could have saved himself a lot of heartache and his anointing could have gone a lot farther. In the end, he defeated the Philistines, but at the expense of his own life.

t Judges 17:7; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25 — the phrase is repeated 4 times in the last 5 chapters of Judges, In those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. The written word of God was not generally available to the people in general, and no one took the responsibility of teaching it to the people.

m Samuel — establishing the foundation

t Sam 1:1-11 — Hanna’s prayer for a son could be seen as parallel to the longing to get out of the vicious cycle of the period of the judges. Her desperation was indeed used by God to provide the right man. Though she is barren, her prayer is answered and she has a son, Samuel, who finally brings the vicious cycle to an end.

t The only place where the Torah was known was in the temple, by the priests. It was only taught by the senior priests to their juniors. However, by Samuel’s time, the priesthood had become corrupt, Eli’s sons being engaged in all kinds of perverse acts.

t Samuel grew up in the temple, and learned the Torah from Eli. While still a child, the Holy Spirit moved on him.

v Though he was a Levite, he was not in the lineage of Aaron, and therefore not a priest. His anointing, therefore was the spontaneous anointing of a prophet, or a judge; rather than the institutional anointing of a priest.

v Later, this anointing was recognised, and he judged Israel for many years.

v Unlike the judges that went before, he was well versed in the Torah. He had both “the Word and the Spirit”.

Y He is believed to have started a school for prophets (I Sam 10:5,6,10ff; 19:20-24; II Kings 2:3,5,7,15-18; 4:38-44; 6:1-7). The “sons of the prophets”, as the junior prophets were called, lived with the senior prophet and learned both from his lifestyle as well as his teaching. Their training would have included memorising large portions of the Torah — if not the whole thing (Ps 1:2; Joshua 1:8).

Y As a result, not only the priests, but also the prophets that came afterwards knew the Torah, and there was much greater stability in the nation.

Y Even if Samuel had not established the institution of the monarchy, leadership under the judges who would have come after would have been more stable.

t When the people insisted on a king, Samuel established the dynasty of Saul, and then when God’s time was right, he anointed David to be the initial king of a new dynasty that would eventually give birth to Messiah — the anointed one to fulfil both the role of prophet, priest and king.

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