The Holy Spirit

In the last article we considered the Holy Spirit in relation to Jesus and saw that at his resurrection Jesus became a spirit being and as ‘such, is styled in Scripture, “The Lord the Spirit” (II Cor. 3:18 RV), “the Spirit” (Rev. 2:7), and “a life-giving spirit” (I Cor. 15:45 RV). He was at this stage in the outworking of the purpose of God “the Son of God with power” (Rom. 1:4) and as such was the first of many sons to be brought to glory. We concluded by saying that the further outworking of the purpose of God in bringing these many sons to glory would be accomplished by the Holy Spirit the power which Cod employed in working out His redemptive purpose through his son. It is this aspect of our subject that we intend to consider in this article,

The Promise of the Comforter

In the chapters in John’s gospel which deal with the promise of Jesus to send the Comforter (which is the Holy Spirit, Jno. 14:26) we find that the Lord made it quite plain that the Holy Spirit could not be given to the dis­ciples until Jesus himself had been glorified. In 14:12 Jesus says,

“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; BECAUSE I GO TO THE FATHER”.

In chapter 16 he is more explicit and there declares,

“It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you”.

The way to the Father was via the cross, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven; that way he must tread, but he faces it in the confidence that in going to the cross he would not leave his disciples bereaved (comfortless 14:18) but would, by means of the Holy Spirit, come to them and continue the work that God had begun in him. This Comforter, this particular manifestation of the Holy Spirit would come from the Father, but it would be the Son, the glorified Saviour, the Lord the Spirit, who would send it forth ­”The Comforter…whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father…shall testify of me” (15:26).

This is the significance of the passage in John ch.7 the alternative rendering of which we advanced in the last article. It would be out of the “belly” of the risen and glorified Jesus that “rivers of living water” would flow forth, and these rivers, the Apostle explains, related to the giving of the Holy Spirit to the believers. John the Baptist spoke of this giving of the Holy Spirit to the believers in Israel as a baptism of that people with Holy Spirit;

“He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire” (Matt. 3:11).

We may thus summarise the outworking of the purpose of God as we have so far outlined it.

Against this background I would like now to consider the teaching of Paul in Ephesians ch.4. Paul speaks first in this chapter of the things which all in the Truth had in common and then, in verse 7, he proceeds to speak of the special gifts which,on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and subsequently, had been given to the believers in fulfilment of the promise by Jesus to send the Comforter;

“But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ”.

FF Bruce in his “Expanded Paraphrase of the Epistles of Paul” renders this:

“But while we have all these in common, to each of us severally a special grace has been given, in the measure with which Christ has bestowed his gift on each”.

The believers had been given special gifts by the glorified Lord, and the Apostle proceeds to show that this had been done in fulfilment of Psalm 68:

“Wherefore he saith. when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men”.

Paul then comments,

“(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill  all things.)” (v.9-10).

Looking at Psalm 68 we find that it is an Exodus Psalm. Verse 1 is a clear allusion to the departure from Sinai as can be seen by comparing with Numbers 10:35. Verse 6 recalls the deliverance from Egypt and verses 7-8 the guiding of Israel to Sinai and the giving of the Law. It is in the context of this deliverance that the Psalmist exults in verses 17 and 18,

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that Yahweh God might dwell among them”.

These words whilst having an application to the situation in which the Psalmist was moved by the Spirit to write them, nevertheless had their origin in the Exodus and their final fulfilment, as Paul has demonstrated, in the work of God through Christ. Considering the Exodus background first, Paul in his comments shows us that the One who ascended was the same as the one who descended into the lowest parts of the earth. In Exodus ch.3:7-8 we read of the descent of Yahweh (manifested in the Angel) to deliver His people from the bondage of Egypt.

“Yahweh said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians”.

Thus we see how that Yahweh came down by manifestation in the one styled by Isaiah “the holy Spirit” in order to deliver His people. The ascending up on high is another way of saying that God had accomplished the deliverance for which He had come down – He had led captivity captive or, as Rotherham translates it “led in procession a body of captives”.

This is the situation in Exodus ch.19, Israel, the captives of Egypt, have been delivered by God who has descended going through the depths of the sea leading a procession of those who had been subject to bondage. But now God has ascended, the deliverance having been accomplished, so’that Moses in order to speak with God (v.3) has to “go up”.

The purpose of God with Israel was not accomplished at this stage. We have seen from the Psalm that it was His desire to “dwell among them”, and to this end He “received gifts for men” (Psalm 68:18). The word “received” in the Hebrew means both receive and give and Paul in his use of the Psalm in Ephesians 4 renders “GAVE gifts unto men”. Note carefully the reason why God gave gifts to men – SO THAT HE MIGHT DWELL AMONC THEM. The preparation of a dwelling place for God was detailed to Moses from Sinai.

“Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exod.25:8).

What then were the gifts which were given to men in order that the tabernacle could be constructed? –

“See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him  with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee”. (Exod.31:2-6. See also 35:30-35; 36:1).

Thus these men were given spirit gifts that they might prepare a dwelling place for God in the midst of Israel. This work was accomplished and Exod. 40:33 records the setting up of the tabernacle.

In summary let us note :-

1. God could not dwell among His people until a dwelling place had been made.
2. Spirit gifts were given so that this dwelling place might be constructed.
3. It is evident that when the tabernacle was finished (at the beginning of the wilderness journey) the need for these gifts ceased to exist, and when Bezaleel and his companions died there is no reason.to suppose that these gifts were given to anyone else.

Jesus the Antitype

We believe that the tabernacle in the wilderness is representative of the ecclesia in its present state, and that on this basis alone can we see the significance of Paul’s reasoning in Eph. 4. The Lord, he says, descended, ascended leading a multitude of captives (AV margin), and gave gifts unto men.

We have seen already that the Comforter could not come unless Jesus departed (John 16:7). He had to “ascend up on high”. But he that ascended had descended first, Paul argues, and it is very interesting to note in John ch. 16 the language of God manifestation in which Jesus says,

“I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father” (v.28).

The men he came to save were  their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:15). God descended, manifest in His Son, to save them. The vict­ory accomplished, “the Lord the Spirit” ascended up on high and on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts chapter 2, he gave gifts unto men—he baptized the people of Israel with the Holy Spirit in fulfilment of the prophecy made by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:11).