Destination Revelation...via the Spirit of God
What follows is an expanded presentation I gave at Sukkot last year. My attention had been captured by a phrase in John 4:24 as I was reading through John’s gospel.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
As I was meditating, Genesis 1:2 came to mind along with a lot of other verses!
“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Then a question occurred to me, “Are there two roads to Revelation? A written one - the Scriptures, and a different one, a living one, Yeshua (Jesus)? The answer was "NO! John 1:18 says, "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. So, what is the "One Road?" According to Psalm 23:3, The LORD, who is our Shepherd, "restores our soul and guides us in the paths of righteousness". Elohim (God) spoke first and He did not stutter. The Torah (Genesis - Deuteronomy) was the firm foundation of His revelation. There is evidence that not only the Torah is read every year by devout Jewish people, but an older Greek manuscript of the Gospel of Mark had margin indicators that it was also read yearly by the earlier followers of Yeshua (Jesus). Same road, same truth, same destination! Multiple trips are required to see (observe), learn (understand), and absorb (apply) all the lessons of life in our walk of following Yeshua, the light of the world. [John 8:12].
Proceeding to search the Bible for the exact phase Spirit of God and Holy Spirit, I first decided to look for the phrase in each major section of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and Brit Hadasha (New Testament).
Trip #1 – Through each major section of the whole Bible!
Torah
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
~ Genesis 1:1-5 {cf. John 1:1-5, 18; Job 33:29-30]
Prophets
Then a shoot will spring up from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and strength
The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
~ Isaiah 11:1-2 [cf. Revelation 4:5, 5:6]
Writings
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ~ Job 33:4 [cf. Genesis 1:27]
Gospels
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him, and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased. ~ Mark 1:9-11 [cf. Matthew 3:17-18, Mark 1:8]
Acts
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ~ Acts 2:38 [cf. Acts 5:32, 13:52]
Apostolic Writings
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. ~ Ephesians 1:13 [cf. Ezekiel 36:27]
Revelation
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. ~ Rev. 22:17 [cf. Isaiah 55:1]
Trip #1 was the introduction. The cross references for each section of Scripture were on a chart that I distributed before the presentation during Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).
Trip #2 – Through the Bible, again!
"I [Yeshua] will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. ~ John 14:16-17
The Promise for the Spirit of Truth is to help us, be with us, and abide with us. The world cannot see or receive Him. We can know Him because He abides with us and will be in us, even though we cannot see Him either. But, like the wind that Yeshua explained to Nicodemus, when the Spirit is with us, working in us, and moving us, His presence is the evidence of the promise fulfilled.
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." ~ John 3:8
So, how does the Spirit of Truth help us?
Spirit of Truth – Teaches / Brings to remembrance
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. ~ John 14:26
Spirit of Truth – Testifies of Yeshua / Jesus
"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me {Yeshua/Jesus} ~ John 15:26
Spirit of Truth – Guides / Discloses
"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ~ John 16:13
How does the Holy Spirit, our helper, relate to revelation?
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? [cf. Isaiah 40:13-14] But we have the mind of Christ. ~ 1 Corinthians 2:12-16
According to Paul, spiritual truth – YHVH’s special revelation in the Scriptures – is spiritually appraised [examined]. “And now for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey1 used to say.”
Worship in Spirit and Truth
Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River [Euphrates] and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
~ Joshua 24:14 [cf. 1 Kings 18:20-39]
But an hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to to be His worshipers. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him mus worship in Spirit and Truth. ~ John 4:24 [cf. Romans 12:1]
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also have been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. ~ 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
Notice what ties those three verses together – sincerity/Spirit “and truth” I discussed this in my post “True Worship”.
What I would add is that worship in the Bible was a family/corporate event, more often than not. The moedim (appointed times), first mentioned in Genesis 1:14 as “seasons” were given to all the children of Israel and either celebrated in the home on Shabbat, or at gathered assemblies whether at the Tabernacle, Temple, Synagogue, or house to house in Acts. Besides the weekly Shabbat, there are other designated Sabbaths assigned to the appointed times described in Leviticus 23, Exodus 34:21, Deuteronomy 16.
Walk by the Spirit
But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ~ Galatians 5:16
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25
Epaphras. . .informed us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason also. . .we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding., so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the LORD, to please Him in all respects, bearing in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God... ~ Col. 1:7-9
Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers may have been his testimony after his Damascus road encounter with Yeshua and may harken back to Deuteronomy 26:17 (among many others): "You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to Hisvoice. Although, that is just a thought that occurred to me.
Most students of Scripture know that Enoch walked with God, but the Scriptures reveal that he wasn’t the only one!
Examples:
Enoch - Gen. 5:22, 24, Heb. 11:5
Noah – Gen. 6:9
Abraham – Gen. 17:1, Gen 48:15
Isaac – Gen. 48:15
Levi – Malachi 2:6
David – 1 Kings 3:6
Hezekiah – Isaiah 38:3
What I found interesting about that list of men was s that some were prophets, some were priests, and some were kings. Although they all walked with God, and therefore “pleased HIM” their individual service for Him was different based on His calling and purpose for their ministry! That thought led me to Hebrews 11. Where Enoch is mentioned as “pleasing God” a Hebraic idiom1 meaning to “walk with God”! The “heroes of the faith” all are described performing different acts of faith – from Abel to the “And what more shall I say” list in vs. 32-38. The conclusion:
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. ~ Hebrews 11-39-40
Now, consider these connections in the Brit Hadasha (New Testament) by both Paul and John.
God is true – John 3:33
> Walk in truth – 2 John 1:4, 3 John 1:3
God is faithful – 1 Cor. 1:9, 10:13
> Walk by faith – 2 Cor 5:7
God is love – 1 John 4:8, 16
> Walk in love – Ephesians 4:2
God is light – 1 John 1:5
> Walk as children of light – Eph 5:8
> For the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and trut ~ Ephesians 5:9 [cf. John 8:12]
God is Wise - Roman 11:33
> Walk in Wisdom – Ephesians 5:15
Bottom line:
For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2:10
I will discuss Hebrew idioms in another post, but understand that in first century, “good works” was an idiom for keeping the commandments! It actually makes sense, when all of the apostles have lists of “evil deeds” to be avoided that are included in the 613 instructions of the Torah. Just something to think about.
Witness by the Spirit
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses... ~ Acts 1:8
Now He said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. . .”Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-29
...And they were filled with the Holy Spirit...~ Acts 2:3
But Peter...raised his voice and declared to them...this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy...Even on my bond slaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth My Spirit and they shall prophecy. ~ Acts 2:14-17
"The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses. ~ Acts 3:13-15 [cf. Acts 3:11-26]
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. ~ Acts 4:13
And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard." ~ Acts 4:18-20
And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." ~ Acts 17:2-3
The bottom-line message of the apostles in Acts: Christ raised from the dead! Acts 2;24, 7:56, 8:35, 13:30
Yeshua, (Jesus) fulfilled the spring appointed times of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Shavuot (Pentecost) at His first coming as written in the four Gospels and Acts. My understanding is He will fulfill on earth the appointed times of Yom Teruah (Trumpets), Yom Kipper (Day of Atonement}, and Sukkot (Tabernacles) at His second coming according to Revelation. We are living between those time frames. My question is: If we are still in Acts 1:8 mode, what should we be proclaiming, teaching, walking, living now? What are we commanded to do and teach according to Matthew 28:19-20?
Final thoughts regarding the Holy Spirit for consideration…
1. The Spirit within us will produce the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. ~ Galatians 5:22-23
2. The Spirit upon us will be manifested as we function in our Spiritual gifts. I will save this topic for another post.
3. Paul also gave reproofs, along with all of his positive teaching regarding the Holy Spirit:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ~ Ephesians 4:30
I’ll discuss “quenching the Spirit” in a “Spiritual Gifts” post. I think most people would understand what Paul meant by “quenching”. His admonition to not “grieve the Spirit” always puzzled me before I learned that the Tenakh is the dictionary for the Brit Hadasha3 – not the other way around!
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the LORD,
Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
That is rebellion, and that is how we grieve the Holy Spirit according to Isaiah 63:10-11
But they rebelled And grieved the Holy Spirit
Therefore He turned Himself to become there enemy
He fought against them.
Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.
Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them…
From Genesis 1:2 all the way through to Revelation 22:17 the Spirit of God is living, active, and manifested!
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!
And let the one who hears say, "Come."
And let the one who is thirsty come;
let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. ~ Revelation 22:17 [Isaiah 55:1, 8-13, John 7:37-39]
Let us worship the LORD in Spirit and in Truth ~ John 4:24
Let us walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called ~ Ephesians 4:1
Let us bear witness to the truth of the written word ~ John 17:17, Psalm 119:142, 151, 160 - Jesus did ~ John 18:37
Let's bear witness to the Living Word – Yeshua/Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ~ John 8:12, Job 33:28-30
May Abba multiply His grace and peace to all of us who wholeheartedly seek Him and serve Him in Spirit and Truth.
Debra Parker
1Paul Harvey, [9/4/1918 – 2/28/2009], The Rest of the Story was a segment of his radio broadcasts for ABC News Radio from 1951 to 2008.
2Brad H. Young, editor of The Newer Testament: Hear What They Heard, [copyright 2020], Hebrew Heritage Bible Society, in cooperation with the Gospel Research Foundation, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Reader’s Edition: An English translation which affirms the New Testament’s authentic Hebrew Heritage. hebrewheritagebible.com
Page 387, the idiom ‘been found pleasing to God” is the translation of the LXX for Enoch “walked with God” (Genesis 5:4)
3Brad Scott, TheTanakh: The Dictionary of the New Testament, [copyright 1997, 2004, 2009], Wildbranch Ministries, wildbranch.org
