Holy Spirit Series 17

Today we will be continuing with the symbolisms used to represent the Holy Spirit.

2. Water: The water symbol is used quite significantly throughout the Bible and it has come signify both the Word and the Holy Spirit. The differentiation between the two is very subtle and so it can only be defined contextually since both the word and the Spirit work in tandem to accomplish God’s Will together. Jesus stated that, rivers of living water will flow from the hearts of those who believe in Him. Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit as the scripture revels in Jn 7:38-39. To imagine that man has been given the provision to become a fountain of this living water should inspire us to be all that God wants us to be. This provision enables the believer to become a wellspring for the Holy Spirit by whom God will minister to the lives of those around us. Jesus first introduces us to this living water in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well in John Ch.4, however, the foundation was laid in His conversation with Nicodemus about being born again Jn 3:5. These chapters (Jn 3, 4 and 7) are so arranged for us to learn about this in an orderly manner.

                       When God prophesied concerning the dispensation of the grace of God; He said that His Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh in Joel 2:28. In this verse the verb (pour out) figuratively compares the Holy Spirit dispensation to that of water being poured. The pouring here is indicative of copious quantities without limit and so the imagery to a river flow. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the new birth by water and Spirit, He was indicating to the functioning of the word (water) and the Spirit (Holy Spirit) in bringing about new birth in those who accept Jesus as their Saviour. This point we have discussed earlier.

                      Water in nature is a symbol of life and the same holds true in the Bible. However, the life here is eternal and spiritual in nature. The great thing about it is not possessing it, but it is in being able to share it with others. Therefore, the command to preach the gospel to all Mt 28:19. The river of living water symbolism can be seen in Ps 1:3 where it imparts fruitfulness and a supernatural provision of health to the blessed man. The believer in this verse is a shadow of the Tree of Life in Rev 22:2, which too is fed by a river that proceeds from the Temple of God in the New Heavenly Jerusalem. We see this life giving river in Ezk 47: 1-12 given as a prophecy, reminiscent of the flow of the Holy Spirit in ones life. I will be dealing with this portion later in the study. The Holy Spirit as discussed earlier is the Life giver while the Word is the initiator. An easy way to explain this is when God made man out of clay (the word constructs) and then God breathed into him (The Spirit gives life). So when one receives the Water, he receives life and is then a living temple for God to dwell in. Once we become His dwelling, the Holy Spirit will spring out of us bringing forth life Jn 4:14.

                        Water flows and so does the Holy Spirit and just as water refreshes thirst; the Holy Spirit satiates the thirst for God. The Psalmist penned his feelings regarding his thirst for God in Ps 42:1 whilst he sought Him in his prayers. Jesus spoke regarding this thirst to the woman at the well in Jn 4:13 saying that those who drink from Him will thirst no more. Man by nature tries to answer all of life’s problems but there comes a point where he can’t; however those who look to the Lord have a totally different experience. In Ps 121:1-2 we see the resolute decision of the writer to seek God and nowhere else, a decision that can only be reached by faith. It is to such that the Spirit of God flows in abundance. This is why Jesus said He came to give us life and to give it abundantly Jn 10:10, a life that will flow through the Holy Spirit to all who call upon His name. Amen. Ezk 47: 1-12, basically prophesies that the Dead Sea will one day be raised up and become a water body that will be teaming with life. This is also a picture of the transformation of the repentant soul from death to life 1Jn 3:14a / Jn 5:24. One simple truth here is God will always give abundantly and liberally to all who come to Him.

            At this point I will not be able to go into further details since we are only looking into the symbols of the Holy Spirit, however we delve further into this topic in greater detail when we study on the Anointing. We will continue with another symbol in our next session. Till then God Bless

Holy Spirit Series 16

Holy Spirit Symbolism

The Holy Spirit is represented throughout the Bible using a variety of symbols. The purpose of a symbol is to provide specific information without the use of words. It is also used to signify the ethos of that which it represents. The symbols are discerned only by those to whom its significance is revealed while to other it is just a depiction. It is this cryptic nature of symbols that makes it the ideal medium to communicate information without compromising its content. Parables are by nature symbolic and thus was used by the Lord during His teachings so that the common people did not understand Mt 13:10-16. In this session we will be dealing with the different symbols that have been used to represent the Holy Spirit and the meaning of each of them. There is no particular order of representation however, we will see that each representation was purposeful.

1.      Dove: The symbol of the Dove is seen during the Baptism of Christ Mt 3:16/Mk 1:10/Lk 3:22. This was the sign given by God to John the Baptist to identify the Messiah Jn1:32-34. The Dove is not the exclusive symbol of the Holy Spirit, it has been also used to signify the Church (Songs 5:2) and Mourners (Is 38:14). However, it’s best known for its representation of the Holy Spirit. Why did God give the dove as a symbol to John the Baptist? The dove symbolism was already well known throughout the ancient world even before the time of Christ. In ancient Sumeria it was the symbol of the goddess Inanna, in Babylon it was Ishtar, in Greece it was Astarte and Juno in Rome. Typically these goddesses symbolised war, sex and fertility. They personified the worship of the queen of heaven, who was originally Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, King of Babylon. Form what I have gathered one of the first reasons for God to give this symbol was to break the worship of the pagan goddesses by nullifying the gender representation by the dove. God specifically told John the Baptist that the Holy Spirit will descend upon the Messiah and when it did happen He came in the form of a Dove! This point lines up with what we studied about the character of the Holy Spirit in the previous session, where we looked into the feminine characteristics of the Holy Spirit. The traditional rabbinical teachings suggests that the hovering of the Spirit of God over the waters in Gen 1:2 is like the brooding of the dove. One thing I would like to point out is that this symbol was only known to John the Baptist although many people would have seen it during Christ’s baptism. Only John was privy to its significance. To everyone else it would be one of two meanings:

1. A dove came and sat on someone getting baptized.

2. If they took John seriously the dove would become a symbol of the gods choosing Jesus for some great purpose and so they would follow Him.

I am inclined to consider the latter to be part of God’s plan since the same scenario is seen in the life of Jonah, who was vomited out by the great fish. Consider this that the Ninevites worshipped the fish god ‘dagon’. It would only be natural for such a people to listen carefully to what Jonah had to say. God will use anything to get man to listen to Him.

Just a tit bit

The Dove in the Bible is first seen when Noah sent it out to check if the waters had abated. We today all know that the olive bearing dove is a symbol of peace and how ironic is it that the meaning of Noah is rest, peace, and comfort. Noah was the actual symbol of peace to those to whom it was prophesied that the wrath of God was coming and so thus they named him. The dove on the other hand was an instrument by which this peace was confirmed. According to Jewish teachings the dove was used because of its nature. A nature that always propelled it to return home no matter how far away it was from it. The Bible states that the Ark rested upon Mt. Ararat and typically if the waters were to recede the mountain top would be the first to be dry.  So, logically what Noah was trying to see was if the dove’s original home was dry and habitable.  However, the dove can be a symbol of peace through it being the used as a sacrificial animal for the sin and burnt offering giving man temporary peace with God Lev 1:14/ 14:22. Mary offered doves once her days of purification were complete in Lk 2:24.

              Coming back to the dove being a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the one area that it would really signify the Holy Spirit is in its mannerisms. It is monogamous in its choice of a partner. The Holy Spirit once given to us will never be taken away (possibly) unless we forsake Christ through apostasy and blasphemy. Another one of its characters is its gentleness, a character that Christ exhorts His followers to have Mt 10:16. As mentioned earlier the dove always returns to its home no matter how far the separation. One way or the other it will always find its way home, a trait that was used by the military to send forth and receive messages. The Holy Spirit will also one day return home to the Heavenly Father after accomplishing the purpose for which He was sent. This return will only take place after the word of God has been accomplished, because the Holy Spirit and the Word always working in tandem as we have already discussed because they work together to fulfil the purpose of God before returning Is 55:11. An imagery of this very verse is the cry of Christ upon the cross when He said “it is finished” and “into Your hands I commit My Spirit”.

We will continue with the symbolism in our next session. Till then God Bless

The Holy Spirit Series 15

The Personality of the Holy Spirit

To begin this topic I must emphasize one point that we must not forget and that is to remember that the presence of the Holy Spirit at a personal level is a prophecy and promise being fulfilled. The 1st Prophecy was made by God in Joel 2:28-3:1, since the prophet Joel served during 835-796 B.C. Isaiah would be the second prophet to prophecy regarding the Holy Spirit in Is 32:14-18 and 44:3-5; while Ezekiel would the 3rd to prophecy regarding Him in Ezk 36:26, 37:13-14 and 39:28-29. These prophecies became a promise to the children of Israel and was revealed to be so by Luke in Acts 2:33. What this means is that He is literally the representation of God, the Lord Jesus and Himself all at the same time. He would therefore, always exalt the Father and Christ in all His works. When we read portions in the Bible where the Holy Spirit expresses Himself, we must not forget that He would be displaying the characteristics of the Father and Christ as well. However, there are some exclusive attributes that are solely His and these are what I would like to dwell upon.

A.   He is grieved: The Bible admonishes us not to grieve the Holy Spirit in Eph 4:30. How do we grieve Him? If we read the verse above and those following we can see that the Holy Spirit is grieved when the spirit of our mind is not renewed (Eph 4:23-24), causing us to be unchanged in our attitudes, behaviours and actions. This will happen when we resist Him and His work in our lives. Stephen the Martyr accused his accusers of resisting the Holy Spirit and persecuting and killing those sent by God with His message. When the Light comes it  reveals what the darkness hides in each of us. When this happens the correct response must be to acknowledge our sins and confess them. However, not everyone does so as the Bible states

 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” Jn 3: 19-21 

The resistance comes when we love sin more than God. This grieving process of the Holy Spirit does end. It ends with the Holy Spirit being quenched 1 Thes 5:19. Why does it say quenched? This is because the Holy Spirit arrival was first signified by tongues of fire which rested on the faithful in the upper room in Acts 2. I will talk more about this Fire later. As believers we are all being moulded into the image of Christ and the process continues till Jesus returns. However, as we transform our ministry is also revealed. Unless this transformation progresses; the lives that we are to bless may be lost or given to others to bless (like what was told to Esther). We may end up as paupers and standing against the Will of God, even after receiving the Holy Spirit, Shocking as it may seem, this warning was given to the Church and not to the world. 

B.    Blasphemy: This is the most serious sin as warned by Christ (Mat 12:31–32), one that has no forgiveness. Why is this so and why did Christ say even if people blaspheme Him they will be forgiven but not the Holy Spirit? The very fact that Jesus left His glory and took up human form is the reason for this. When we talk about Jesus we cannot exclude His humanity which made Him of a lower standing. However, He is later glorified by God (through His Death and Resurrection) and exalted (through His Ascension) to His current state and position. This current state and position is at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come Eph 1:21. I believe at the time that Jesus spoke this verse He implied that He being in human form would be undergoing many things, as it was ordained by God however, the Holy Spirit being in His original form with God was not to be blasphemed  in any manner as is God the Father. We must remember that Jesus was crucified under the pretext of blasphemy against God! The punishment for Blasphemy was death Lev 24:13-16

         Blasphemy comes from the Greek word blasphemia which means to “speaking ill, impious speech, slander.” In today’s context it is to speak with irreverence of that which is considered Holy. Basically at its core it means to slander with a false accusation, much like what the scribes accused Jesus of casting out demons using demons. They implied that the power Jesus used was demonic! Whenever we falsely accuse God we are in danger of blasphemy. God told Job to pray for his three friends because they had spoken wrong regarding Him and their forgiveness would be upon Job’s prayer Job 42:7-9. The Holy Spirit is here to be all that we need Him to be in our lives to help and mould us into Christlikeness. He will never leave us nor forsake us, however we can circumvent His work in our lives by disobedience.  

C.   He can be Insulted: We are insulted when the good we do or the image we have is questioned or abused. Likewise people can insult the Holy Spirit when they turn away from Christ and embrace false doctrines and religions, thereby becoming an apostate. The Bible says this action of sinning wilfully by trampling the blood of Christ underfoot insults the Spirit of Grace Heb 10:29. I have always wondered who in their right mind would reject Christ after having experienced God and His goodness. The answer that I have so far received is:

“Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has placed His seal of approval on Him.” Jn 6:26-27

The people flocked to Christ but Jesus openly admonished their misplaced priorities. Many come to Christ to get what they want. It could be for healing, deliverance, financial breakthroughs, solution to family problems so on and so forth. When they do receive it, their love and attention begins to wane. I have seen this happen first hand over the years. Some even leave the faith because they do not get what they wanted in the way they liked and when they like. God does not conform to our whims and fancies although He does entertain it at times but we must not forget that He is God. The Holy Spirit is to dwell in all those who accept Jesus. How much of our nonsense does He put up with on a daily basis ranging from our faithlessness, to all our filthy habits and traits? He continues His persistent presence in our lives regardless of how we live and imagine the insult when one departs from the faith. It is like slapping God in the face or spitting upon it, like the Roman soldiers only they did not receive anything from God. We must not take the Holy Spirit for granted. There will always be that spiritual struggle in our lives and yes we do sin wilfully on many things knowing that it is wrong to do so. Many men of God have fallen into adultery, and all sorts of sins but are they beyond forgiveness. No! not unless they have completely turned away from Him. Therefore ,we must value His grace and mercy and always seek His face while He is near us. Never ever turn away from God because of your guilt on the contrary go boldly before Him accepting your sin Heb 4:15-16. Heaven rejoices when we are saved now imagine the sadness when one turns away. It is saddening to even think about it.

D.   He expresses His Will: Yes the Holy Spirit expresses His Will though He does the Will of God the Father. The expression of His Will is always in line with the Will of God the Father. This expression is seen in 1 Cor 12:11, where the gifts are distributed to each believer as per the will of the Holy Spirit. This would seem strange but let’s consider the fact that since the Holy Spirit dwells in us He is the most knowledgeable person regarding our individuality and how uniquely God has made us. He with this knowledge I believe grants the gifts that are best expressed through us based on our call and what God has ordained for us to do. As per the verse I believe God has granted Him freedom to grant gifts as He sees fit.

We will next be looking at the person of the Holy Spirit as signified by different symbols in the Bible. This is wonderful portion of this study and I am looking forward to sharing it with you. Till next time. God bless.

The Holy Spirit Series 14

We have come to a new topic and this one is not an easy one. Some of the concepts I will be touching on is going to be hard to understand but it must be dealt with since the evil one is using our ignorance to deceive us and divert our faith away.

The Character of the Holy Spirit:

So much can be said about the character of the Holy Spirit but it will never be complete since we do not know everything about Him yet. What we will be dealing with is the personal character of the Holy Spirit as revealed through scripture which distinguishes Him from within the Godhead. We spoke about the Trinitarian doctrine a few months ago. I would like to state once and for all that the Trinity does not mean three different individuals unlike what is found in paganism. YHWH/ Yahweh is the name of the Godhead which consists of three natures not three individuals. Traditional Jews do not use this name rather they call Him ‘HaShem’ or ‘Adonai’. The most opposing doctrine out there; that has been used to malign the Triune Godhead is the threefold gods of paganism, which actually consists of three individual gods, whose nature and character are vastly different and do not work together unlike Yahweh God. In India it is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva being the primary trinity, however the most worshipped is Shiva, Parvathi and Ganesh. In Egypt it is Osiris, Isis and Horus. In Babylon it is Baal, Ashtoreth, and Tammuz and in Greece Zeus, Athena and Apollo and the list goes on. The number of tri-unified gods is unbelievable and if anyone wants to look into this further a must read is The Two Babylons by Rev. Alexander Hyslop, who has revealed the truth regarding this tri-unified pagan godhead that opposes the one true God. Biblical doctrine speaks of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but the pagan godhead speaks in terms of mother, son and father! And in some cases an all-male trinity.

                            I am aware that the some movements have won a lot of points with people using this pagan godhead example to discredit the triune nature of God. I say this because I was personally canvased using the same ploy.  I was able to stand up to the challenge because of what the Lord had taught me and this is the very same reason I am moved to teach you today.  God says that, “My people are destroyed because of the lack of knowledge...” Hosea 4:6. This is the sad state of general Christendom, where Biblical knowledge is very rarely pursued and those that do are far and few.

                           So, what is the basic character of the Holy Spirit? This is question is also very difficult to answer since no one can really reveal Him except God. However, we do have some of the character attributes and traits mentioned to piece together an outline of the personality of the Holy Spirit. One of the first traits mentioned is in the second verse in the Bible.

“…And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Gen 1:2

The Hebrew word for moved here is rachaph, which means to hover. The root of this word is `to brood. ` This word provides the imagery of a hen brooding over her eggs. This imagery is mentioned by Jesus when talking about how God has always longed to gather Jerusalem to Himself in Mt 23:37. This statement therefore gives credence to the interpretation of Gen 1:2. As mentioned in our study of the 7 offices of the Spirit we came across the Spirit of Wisdom. There is a word play here because the Hebrew word for wisdom in Is 11:2 is `chokmah` and in Greek describing the Spirit of Wisdom is `sophia`, both words are in the feminine gender! Technically I would have just overlooked the feminine tense used to describe this office of the Spirit had it not been for a statement made by Jesus when He said, “…But wisdom is justified by Her children.” In Mt 11:19. Jesus is also referring to wisdom in the feminine tense. Could it be true that the Holy Spirit is feminine? I asked the Lord this question many years ago and this is what He taught me.

Is the Holy Spirit male or female? When we talk about the trinity we always refer to it as God the Father (male), God the Son (male) and God the Spirit (male). But is this interpretation accurate? The fact is it is not. With the rise of feminism many challenges have been put forward including the accusation that the Bible is gender biased because of the importance given to the men throughout scripture. This too God taught me to be wrong. This is where the wisdom of man tries to comprehend the wisdom of God and in doing so falls far too short to actually be of any significance.

We commonly think that when God made man in His image, He made Adam as a male because God is a male and then He made Eve the female out of Adam`s rib. This is a wrong assumption. Was Adam a male in the day he was made? Let`s read Gen 1:27 carefully:

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”

At first God refers to him in a singular form then denotes to him as them (plural). Normally anyone reading it would be reading it keeping the male and female form in mind; without considering for a moment that when Adam was initially made the differentiation of male and female had not yet been recognised or assigned. So, if Adam was not assigned a gender what was he? The answer is he was Adam, in the image of God, without a defined gender. Meaning that there was no gender when Adam was made; why because God does not have a gender either. The very reason gender exists is for the sole purpose of procreation; other than that it truly serves no purpose.

However, where did the male and female definition arise? It arose the day God made Eve. When we talk about God making Eve from Adam`s rib we only consider the physical aspect. But, I tell you the rib was only the physical portion. How about the soul and spirit? Did God breathe into Eve as well? The answer has to be No! If He had, then the two can never become one. The very concept of two become one is because God Himself exists in this multiple singularity. The male and female attributes arose when Eve was taken out of Adam. The personalities were divided up and that is why we have to equal halves, which unite as one. This answers the age old question why men and women are so different. Even the Angels are genderless and thus aren`t given in marriage, since procreation has no place in Heaven, as evidenced by Jesus’ statement in Mt 22:30. Therefore there is no gender in Heaven and so no such differentiation exists within the Godhead either.

So, where did this male female attributes arise from? The answer is God Himself, since He is the One who cleaved Adam and formed Eve and assigned the character traits to distinguish between the two apart from the obvious physical differences. We need to keep in mind that everything we know as feminine has its origin from God, therefore it must exist within Him before it got assigned in creation. When asked why women are not given prominence in the Bible. I always refer to the day Adam was made in God’s Image. Since Adam was one and then cleaved into two, God still looks at it as one. That is why we have the verse “the two shall become one flesh” so if the two is one then there actually is only one to begin with. Thus whenever God counts a man He has already included the woman in that count. Please see the formula below:

Adam ^(1/2) + Eve ^(1/2) = 1

Without his helpmate man is incomplete in a count. Man is only one half while the woman is the other half. So, coming back to whether the Holy Spirit is male or female…if there is no gender in heaven then there is no gender differentiation with the Godhead however, let’s, now consider the male and female as an attribute or character rather than as an individual. We can now say that the Holy Spirit displays these feminine traits due to His function within the Godhead. We need to keep in mind that everything we know as feminine has its origin from God, therefore it must exist within Him before it got assigned in creation and that these traits are differentiated by function and not by gender.

Another point regarding this feminine trait is that everyone who accepts Jesus as their personal Saviour will be Born Again by the Holy Spirit of God into the Kingdom of God, having God as their Father and Jesus as their Husband, since we are part of the Church which is the Bride of Christ. So everyone whether male of female is going to marry Christ!

These topics are indeed really intense and can prove to be very confusing to a lot of people but that is a given since we are studying about the Holy Spirit, who has no limits or boundaries and transcends time and space. I sincerely hope that I have been able to adequately explain this concept as clearly as possible. We will continue to look into His person and see what more we can learn about Him. So stay tuned.