The Holy Spirit - God's Spirit
E-book and Audio series
PART 2 - The Roles and Activities of the Holy Spirit
Chapter 17 - OT Prophecies of the Holy Spirit upon the Messiah
Summary: In this chapter we look at some OT prophecies pertaining to the role of the Holy Spirit during the Gospel Period, as increased spiritual activity was related to the promise of the Messiah.
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Study Notes - No.17 OT Prophecies of the Holy Spirit upon the Messiah
(Some of these issues are discussed in more detail on the audio recording.)
We’ve begun to look at the work of the Holy Spirit during the period covered by the Gospels. We started off looking at how, after a long period of inactivity, there was renewed spiritual activity, starting with the angel’s announcements, and the Holy Spirit coming upon people in various ways.
Last week, we concentrated on Christ's pre-existence, and then His condescension, i.e. how He existed in some form before Bethlehem, but then “emptied Himself”, “became nothing”, “made Himself of no reputation” and came to earth as a human being without supernatural qualities. He couldn't just do anything at any time from birth, and there are no miracles recorded before His baptism. After His baptism, the Spirit came upon Him, enabling Him to perform the extraordinary deeds familiar to most people. It is my contention that the Holy Spirit was actually quite active during the Gospel period, and this was primarily through the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ’s baptism is a pivotal point in the work of the Holy Spirit in His life and ministry, and we'll look at that in the next study. It’s after that point that we start to see the Lord preach, and to perform miracles. It was also the event which highlighted to John the Baptist the identity of the promised Messiah.
So, there’s a lot happening at Christ’s baptism, and some of it is a bit difficult to understand. But it’s even harder to understand if we aren’t aware of the background, so this study is about how the increase in the Holy Spirit’s activity with Christ’s first coming had earlier been prophesied, and that the Spirit’s increased activity was related to the promise of the Messiah and the glorious kingdom of God on earth. In essence, we’ll look at some OT prophecies pertaining to the role of the Holy Spirit during the Gospels. It’s a study that’s well worth doing, as it helps to explain a lot of what was happening when Christ walked the earth, and why God’s Holy Spirit was so involved in this.
Let’s now read some of those OT prophecies speaking about Gospel times.
Isaiah 11
Isaiah 11 Speaks of a promised time of blessing, and the One who would usher it in.
READ Isaiah 11:1-5 to get a sense of the promise
- some of this was fulfilled in gospel times
v.1 – a descendant of David (whose father was Jesse)
v.2 the Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him (other “spirits” here also traits of His.)
v.3 supernatural judgement – still future, largely
v.4 "He will strike the earth …" - future
v.5 true of Him at all times, but v.6 etc speaks of glorious times still yet future
v.1,2 – true of Christ during first advent, and a foretaste of His second advent.
He would have the Holy Spirit upon Him.
The One who would usher it in came 2000 years ago, but He had to suffer and die first, so the glorious kingdom did not eventuate at that time. Besides, the people were not ready for it and rejected Him.
Note also Acts 3:19,20 - "Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ... and that He may send Jesus Christ"
Isaiah 61
Isaiah 61 is another prophecy that people in Christ's time would have been familiar with.
READ Isaiah 61:1-4 … speaks also of future kingdom times
v.1 the Spirit of the Lord is upon me
how? why? to preach good tidings, to heal, proclaim liberty, to proclaim the acceptable (favourable, year of His pleasure, etc – more about this word in a moment) year of the Lord.
Isaiah 61 is quoted in Luke 4:14-24 - READ this passage
- Christ applies these words to Himself -
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ... he has anointed me to preach ... to heal ... recovery of sight to the blind ..." and finishes by saying, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing"; however, He stops before quoting further and saying it is the year of vengeance. Everything else in that Isaiah 61 passage, up to that point, had been “fulfilled” or completed in Him
v.19 “acceptable” “(NIV – favour) (Gk dechton) – the right time, the time of God’s will
– same word in v.24 – “no prophet is accepted”
Isaiah 35
READ Isaiah 35:4-6 your God will come ... healings, etc ...
True of Christ’s first coming
Note that this passage is referred to in the NT (along with Isaiah 61:1, mentioning the Spirit)
(BOOKMARK Is 35)
READ Matthew 11:1-6 - Christ's message to John the Baptist in prison - look at the works I am performing; this confirms that I am the promised Messiah referred to in Isaiah 35.
As an aside, John was filled with the Spirit from birth - Luke 1:15 - but didn’t perform any miracles in his life. Neither did he know all things. He was filled with the Spirit for a purpose – to preach, and that he did.
BOOKMARK Matthew 11 – Back to Isaiah 35
With hindsight we can say that this passage as a whole is still yet future in its fulfilment.
READ v.1-7 – future times, but a foretaste in Gospel times, and an indication that this Jesus was from God.
Isaiah 42
READ Isaiah 42:1-7, quoted in Matt 12 – READ Matthew 12:14-21
(v.16 – warned people not to tell others – why? Mark 1:40-45 a good example of why.
Multitudes of people seeking entertainment became a real hindrance. Physically draining, chaotic scenes, etc. How do you talk with people in a personal way in such a setting?)
cp Matthew 12:18 “that it might be fulfilled …” a quote from Isaiah 42
He will not come with great force, defeat the foreign power (the Romans) then set up His glorious kingdom. First, He had to come as the suffering servant – at His next coming, He will defeat the foreign powers, then set up His glorious kingdom.
v.18b – “I will put My Spirit upon Him” – this part of Isaiah 42 was fulfilled at His baptism.
This aspect of the first coming was “fulfilled”. The glory of His second coming awaits fulfilment.
READ Matthew 12:22-32
- attribution of Christ’s works to Beelzebub, but really from God’s Holy Spirit.
Concluding Thoughts
We can see that it was prophesied that the Holy Spirit was always going to play a big part in the life of God’s promised chosen One when He finally came along after hundreds of years of silence. We’ll consider that turning point of the Lord’s baptism next week.
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this final thought -
Why look at OT books yet again?
If your Bible, Old and New Testaments combined, is 1000 pages long, and you start reading the Bible from page 700, are you going to miss some things that led up to that point? Of course.
“All scripture is God breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Your Bible has 1189 chapters. If we only needed an instruction book on how to live the good Christian life, it could be covered in about 10 chapters. Let’s be generous and say 100 chapters – what are the other 1000 for? They help us understand who God is, and what He thinks, and how He thinks and operates, and we are exhorted to know Him better.
We are told so much in the OT about these things, which is why we are told that ALL Scripture is profitable.
(Some of these issues are discussed in more detail on the audio recording.)
We’ve begun to look at the work of the Holy Spirit during the period covered by the Gospels. We started off looking at how, after a long period of inactivity, there was renewed spiritual activity, starting with the angel’s announcements, and the Holy Spirit coming upon people in various ways.
Last week, we concentrated on Christ's pre-existence, and then His condescension, i.e. how He existed in some form before Bethlehem, but then “emptied Himself”, “became nothing”, “made Himself of no reputation” and came to earth as a human being without supernatural qualities. He couldn't just do anything at any time from birth, and there are no miracles recorded before His baptism. After His baptism, the Spirit came upon Him, enabling Him to perform the extraordinary deeds familiar to most people. It is my contention that the Holy Spirit was actually quite active during the Gospel period, and this was primarily through the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ’s baptism is a pivotal point in the work of the Holy Spirit in His life and ministry, and we'll look at that in the next study. It’s after that point that we start to see the Lord preach, and to perform miracles. It was also the event which highlighted to John the Baptist the identity of the promised Messiah.
So, there’s a lot happening at Christ’s baptism, and some of it is a bit difficult to understand. But it’s even harder to understand if we aren’t aware of the background, so this study is about how the increase in the Holy Spirit’s activity with Christ’s first coming had earlier been prophesied, and that the Spirit’s increased activity was related to the promise of the Messiah and the glorious kingdom of God on earth. In essence, we’ll look at some OT prophecies pertaining to the role of the Holy Spirit during the Gospels. It’s a study that’s well worth doing, as it helps to explain a lot of what was happening when Christ walked the earth, and why God’s Holy Spirit was so involved in this.
Let’s now read some of those OT prophecies speaking about Gospel times.
Isaiah 11
Isaiah 11 Speaks of a promised time of blessing, and the One who would usher it in.
READ Isaiah 11:1-5 to get a sense of the promise
- some of this was fulfilled in gospel times
v.1 – a descendant of David (whose father was Jesse)
v.2 the Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him (other “spirits” here also traits of His.)
v.3 supernatural judgement – still future, largely
v.4 "He will strike the earth …" - future
v.5 true of Him at all times, but v.6 etc speaks of glorious times still yet future
v.1,2 – true of Christ during first advent, and a foretaste of His second advent.
He would have the Holy Spirit upon Him.
The One who would usher it in came 2000 years ago, but He had to suffer and die first, so the glorious kingdom did not eventuate at that time. Besides, the people were not ready for it and rejected Him.
Note also Acts 3:19,20 - "Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ... and that He may send Jesus Christ"
Isaiah 61
Isaiah 61 is another prophecy that people in Christ's time would have been familiar with.
READ Isaiah 61:1-4 … speaks also of future kingdom times
v.1 the Spirit of the Lord is upon me
how? why? to preach good tidings, to heal, proclaim liberty, to proclaim the acceptable (favourable, year of His pleasure, etc – more about this word in a moment) year of the Lord.
Isaiah 61 is quoted in Luke 4:14-24 - READ this passage
- Christ applies these words to Himself -
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me ... he has anointed me to preach ... to heal ... recovery of sight to the blind ..." and finishes by saying, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing"; however, He stops before quoting further and saying it is the year of vengeance. Everything else in that Isaiah 61 passage, up to that point, had been “fulfilled” or completed in Him
v.19 “acceptable” “(NIV – favour) (Gk dechton) – the right time, the time of God’s will
– same word in v.24 – “no prophet is accepted”
Isaiah 35
READ Isaiah 35:4-6 your God will come ... healings, etc ...
True of Christ’s first coming
Note that this passage is referred to in the NT (along with Isaiah 61:1, mentioning the Spirit)
(BOOKMARK Is 35)
READ Matthew 11:1-6 - Christ's message to John the Baptist in prison - look at the works I am performing; this confirms that I am the promised Messiah referred to in Isaiah 35.
As an aside, John was filled with the Spirit from birth - Luke 1:15 - but didn’t perform any miracles in his life. Neither did he know all things. He was filled with the Spirit for a purpose – to preach, and that he did.
BOOKMARK Matthew 11 – Back to Isaiah 35
With hindsight we can say that this passage as a whole is still yet future in its fulfilment.
READ v.1-7 – future times, but a foretaste in Gospel times, and an indication that this Jesus was from God.
Isaiah 42
READ Isaiah 42:1-7, quoted in Matt 12 – READ Matthew 12:14-21
(v.16 – warned people not to tell others – why? Mark 1:40-45 a good example of why.
Multitudes of people seeking entertainment became a real hindrance. Physically draining, chaotic scenes, etc. How do you talk with people in a personal way in such a setting?)
cp Matthew 12:18 “that it might be fulfilled …” a quote from Isaiah 42
He will not come with great force, defeat the foreign power (the Romans) then set up His glorious kingdom. First, He had to come as the suffering servant – at His next coming, He will defeat the foreign powers, then set up His glorious kingdom.
v.18b – “I will put My Spirit upon Him” – this part of Isaiah 42 was fulfilled at His baptism.
This aspect of the first coming was “fulfilled”. The glory of His second coming awaits fulfilment.
READ Matthew 12:22-32
- attribution of Christ’s works to Beelzebub, but really from God’s Holy Spirit.
Concluding Thoughts
We can see that it was prophesied that the Holy Spirit was always going to play a big part in the life of God’s promised chosen One when He finally came along after hundreds of years of silence. We’ll consider that turning point of the Lord’s baptism next week.
Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this final thought -
Why look at OT books yet again?
If your Bible, Old and New Testaments combined, is 1000 pages long, and you start reading the Bible from page 700, are you going to miss some things that led up to that point? Of course.
“All scripture is God breathed and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Your Bible has 1189 chapters. If we only needed an instruction book on how to live the good Christian life, it could be covered in about 10 chapters. Let’s be generous and say 100 chapters – what are the other 1000 for? They help us understand who God is, and what He thinks, and how He thinks and operates, and we are exhorted to know Him better.
We are told so much in the OT about these things, which is why we are told that ALL Scripture is profitable.
