Working under the anointing

—after—

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asking Yeshua for the Immersion of the Ruach HaKodesh and Fire

I want to start this with what we get from Hebraic First Hermeneutics Study Tool, looking up The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire from Luke 3:16. Because the tool considers this phrase to be “a passage query anchored on load-bearing terms, I’ll trace the Greek back through its Hebrew conceptual roots”.

HuhA!? A software package using first person pronouns.
Ah well, such is the nature of 21st century living.
>chuckle<

The Verb: βαπτίζω → the Hebrew immersion field

The Greek baptizo (βαπτίζω, “to immerse, dip, submerge”) is not a Greek-invented rite. In Second Temple Judaism it renders the Hebrew concept of tevilah ( טְבִילָה) — ritual immersion in a mikvah ( מקְִוהֶ), a gathering of living water.

Concrete picture: to be surrounded-within, brought under. Immersion is total envelopment —you go under something greater than yourself. This is the concrete kernel John draws on.

Note the root of mikvah — קוה (q-w-h), “to gather, to hope, to wait expectantly.” The same root gives us tikvah (hope). The immersion pool is a gathering — and John announces One who gathers not water but Ruach and Esh (Spirit and fire).

First Occurrence (binyan av)

The binyan av principle holds that a word’s originating context in Scripture establishes its semantic core.

רוּחַ ruach — first appears Genesis 1:2: “and the Ruach Elohim was hovering ( מְרַחֶפֶת) over the face of the waters.” The originating context binds ruach to water and creation — the Spirit broods over the deep before order emerges. When John pairs Spirit-immersion with the water immersion he already performs, he is invoking Genesis 1: the Ruach moving over the mayim to bring forth new creation.

אֵשׁ esh — first appears Genesis 15:17, the covenant of the pieces: “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces.” The originating context binds esh to covenant cutting (karat-brit) — YHWH Himself passing as fire through the divided sacrifice. Fire’s semantic core is not primarily punishment; it is covenant presence that both binds and consumes.

If we accept that binyan av is a valid principle (and it does seem to be), this is decisive: John’s “Spirit and fire” is not the absurd idea that teaches “Spirit for the good, fire for the wicked” as two separate baptisms. In the binyan av, both point to covenant renewal and new creation —Ruach hovering over water (Gen 1), Esh passing through the covenant (Gen 15).

Hebraic Conceptual Meaning (Second Temple context)

By the first century, immersion (tevilah) was daily reality: immersion before entering the Temple, before Shabbat, after niddah, for the ger (convert). Immersion marked transition of status — from tamei (ritually unfit) to tahor (fit for the holy). John’s crowds knew exactly what immersion did: it did not make one clean of dirt; it marked the crossing of a threshold under authority.

So when John says the Coming One will immerse in Ruach and Esh, his hearers heard: this One will bring the ultimate status-transition — not surrounding you in water but surrounding you in the very Breath and Fire of YHWH. The refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:2-3, immediately in view) purges the sons of Levi so they can bring offerings in tzedakah. Immersion in fire is cleansing for covenant service, not merely destruction.

How This Reshapes the English

“Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” in English sounds like a religious ceremony (“baptism”) plus what some consider a threat (”fire”). The Hebraic reading:

“He will immerse you — surround you totally, bring you under — in the Breath of God and the refining Fire of covenant.”

Read It This Way

Open Ezekiel 36:25-27 and read it once in your English Bible. Then re-read it holding the Luke 3:16 lens: hear “sprinkle clean water” → tevilah/immersion, and “put My Ruach within you” → the Spirit-fire John promised. Notice that the very next line is “and cause you to walk in My statutes (chuqqim) and keep My judgments” — the immersion of Spirit-and-fire is for Torah walking, not away from it. What shifts: “baptism of the Holy Spirit” stops being an isolated religious experience and becomes the promised covenant renewal that produces a Torah keeping heart. Plus, it supplies power to the ordinary believer which was not available in the Tanakh.

OK — the Pentecostal/Charismatic confusion

This all needs to be taken in context. In our day, beginning in the 15th to the early 20th centuries, the Father was bringing back the Truths of Acts into the institutional church. He actually started with the Reformation adding the faith requirement plus the Bible in the language of the people, added the Great Awakenings with rebirth, born of God, and finally the Pentecostal and Charismatic power to bring the institutional church back to where it was in the Acts of the Apostles.

The problem was what I have talked about so many times. With a spectator church, led by an overly educated priestly class, and no audience participation, the result was some pretty strange stuff.

So, my goal, is to cut out that old garbage and give us a place to start which makes practical sense.

First, Yeshua will not force this upon you

In fact, He will not baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire unless you ask Him to do that. But, if you ask Him to do it, He does it, immediately—whether you feel anything or not. So, you are enjoined to accept that it happened to you and learn to walk in it.

Satan managed to get his garbage added to the process, like:

1. The first evidence is tongues: this is pushed with a lot of noise and emotion as a requirement. It is not true. The emotion is juvenile stuff and certainly not required or even expected. Usually the first evidence is an almost insatiable desire to read the scriptures.
2. It is an ecstatic experience: not necessarily. I never felt any emotion as I went through the entire process over about six months. It is very joyful, and that is demonstrated by many who get Baptized with the Holy Spirit.
3. You’re immediately converted to a raging, rude evangelist of the worst sort: That’s not necessary nor desired. Hopefully, you quickly find the mentor(s) the Lord will provide to disciple you, if you ask. You need to be shown how believers act, think, talk, and walk.

The intro is over, now we need to get into message that is entitled:
Working under the anointing.

Working under the anointing

How to bring the creativity of the Creator into your daily life

First, what is the anointing? First, we need to look at an important verse in 1 John 2:27:

but the anointing which you received from him abides in you,
and you have no need that any one should teach you;
as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie,
just as it has taught you, abide in him.

The anointing is chrisma in the Greek, and mashach in the Hebrew both talking about an anointment smeared on. The Hebraic tool adds : The Greek chrisma (the anointing/ointment) and Christos (the anointed) preserve this same verb-to-agent pairing. John is deliberately punning: you have received the chrisma because you belong to the Christos. Yeshua is giving you what He promised in John 14-16.

In Second Temple Judaism, anointing installed prophets, priests, and kings — the oil transferred function and standing, not information. The chrisma being talked about here was understood as the abiding presence and enabling of the ruach (Spirit), since Isaiah 61:1 binds them: “the Spirit of YHWH is upon me because He has anointed me.” To be anointed is to be Spirit-endowed and thereby taught by YHWH directly (cf. Isa 54:13, “all your children shall be taught by YHWH”). It is not a religious event.

Paul talks about this in many places. The one I like the best is found in 1 Cornthians 2:1-5.

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; ⁴ and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. ^RSV

This is a common thing in spirit-filled believers—expecting and experiencing the Ruach HaKodesh as He works through you. It’s seen in hindsight, primarily. You commonly do not feel anything different. Normally, you are not physically aware of the work of the Holy Spirit within you. But, the results are clearly beyond your personal capabilities.

Yeshua told us to expect this process. In Luke 12:11-12 he said:

And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” ^RSV

This includes church membership. 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 tells us,

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ^RSV

It’s important to remember that things of the Spirit mean nothing to those who have never asked for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It's amazing how the Ruach HaKodesh works within us

Mainly, you need to realize that the Ruach within you goes far beyond simply Torah walking. That walking does take place and we are enabled to walk it, but the power within is a major change. This is something new to the New Covenant. It’s not seen in the Tanakh, just a few prophetic hints of it. It’s not part of the Torah, but it enables us to walk the Torah.

We ask in faith, and He works in and through us—usually without any conscious awareness [except in hindsight, as I mentioned]. I expect the Ruach to do that now as I write this piece. I specifically asked Him to do it, and I am dependent upon Him to do what He has promised. That’s the anointing. As we are told in 1 Cor 4:20 “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.”

This is what is meant by the anointing. Most try to identify that by emotional feelings. You hear “I feel the Spirit moving in me” from many of the ordained elite. Even if that’s true, it is much wiser to not say things like that and let the Ruach accomplish His purposes. That will be obvious if we get out of the way.

The key is we need to ask

As Yeshua said in Luke 11:13—

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

If we want His help, we need to ask for it. That’s just simple wisdom. That should be part of your normal ongoing conversation with Yeshua throughout the day, every day.

It really helps to get cleaned up first

Asking the Holy Spirit to show you all your sin, and then repenting [תְּשׁוּבָה — teshuvah] to get cleaned up greatly helps this entire process. I try to remember to do that every time before I get into serious ministry. It greatly helps the anointing, giving you freedom to respond without fear or guilt.

The result is that your creative endeavors are transformed. This is how the scriptures were written. I’ve often wondered how much of the prophecies were understood by the prophets. I suspect, that in many cases, they had to be satisfied by the Ruach telling them that what they had written (or spoken) was good and true. I’m pretty sure that it was done in faith—as it still is today. How could they know that any given verse could be talking about near future, the coming suffering servant, the second coming as King, or the final judgement and new creation—maybe all four in pieces of the passage written. Remember, when Jesus was reading Isaiah in Nazareth, He stopped mid-sentence and didn’t mention the vengeance to come.

The paradigm shift: the Ruach power in daily living

It takes a while to get accustomed to the fact that the nine gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 are always available if the Ruach decides you need them. The Ruach HaKodesh is always within you ready to move on your behalf. All you need to do is ask and expect. Whenever 2 or 3 are gathered together, or simply in your personal walk.

This anointing is supposed to be a normal part of your daily life, all day, every day. But you need to ask for His help. Plus, He’ll keep it all in faith. Objective proof will be sparse.

I ask for this help when I am searching for graphix and creating illustrations for these pieces. The piece above is an AI graphic from Adobe Stock, which I touched with color and added type. It’s a tough illustration to create—a spiritual concept. I still hope to find something better to use for this article. (The second one is a little better >grin<)

I don’t use AI to write, but to research. I quote it carefully and note it. But my writing is strongly dependent upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It’s a faith operation, and I just pray that He can work freely through me.

I ask for this help when cooking to add spices and such. I ask for His help when talking with people to be able to say something that has a transforming effect. I ask Him for His opinion on what to read or view.

He's within us, but we have to ask for His help and power
(it's part of the faith requirement)

He will not force us, though His discipleship and discipline are astoundingly effective. It works so much better to ask for His help.

One area I’ve been working on is help with writing better prompts for AI. I can’t seem to communicate with a dumb computer very well. It’s just a machine. It’s usually that I’m expecting associations which are impossible for a machine. It’s not a God-created mind—created in His image.

Also, it doesn’t work to try and second-guess God. Sheer foolishness. I take what He gives me and get His approval on any changes I believe are necessary. One of my faults is that I get enthused and forget to ask for His approval. I have learned that this can be a real problem [plus I publish far too many typos].

Another thing is that I have found that praying quietly in my prayer language enables me hear Him better. You need to try every way you can conceive of to make your communication with Yeshua better. I started with binary [yes/no] questions. I have gradually asked for a more conversational discussion. He has provided that as soon as He thinks I’m ready.

There is no prayer that will offend Him and cut you off. He’s not hesitant to tell me if I am trying something which won’t work. In His eyes we are still little children in the flesh, living in the Training Place of Mankind, and He loves us. As I often say, I can hardly wait until I know as I am known. (Though I can barely conceive of that.)

Creativity may well be part of your character description

I know it is for me because Yeshua has confirmed that to me. I’m not very good at it. But, it is the core of who I am in Christ. He’s led me to believe that the more I progress in my calling here, the faster I’ll be useful in the Kingdom once He comes to pull us all out of here. There we will be working on projects that He directly assigns us.

Yeshua told us in John 14 that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” In John 16, He added “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

Ask the Lord who you are designed to be. That’s where you will find fulfillment and satisfaction in your daily life.

But mainly ask Him like a little kid, just chattering, and asking why, all the time. He loves that. It’s one of the ways we can grow in him more quickly. It’s one of the ways you come to know Him better.

Even if you are not creative, He is

You can learn to rely upon His creativity. Talk about thinking outside the box. Yeshua created the box in the first place. [mutter, talk about a crazy mixed metaphor]. You can trust Him to add the creative spark we all need—as needed. Just ask Him for ideas. This is truly part of the reason why the Ruach HaKodesh was sent to tabernacle within each of us.

As an example, I’m convinced that this is why I get much more creative help from John, rather than Paul, Peter, and James. Whoever wrote Hebrews has a bit of that creative spark also. I love Paul, but he is closer to a lawyer/theologian type. John just says things which open me up to possibilities I’ve not thought about. I suspect that is why the Lord gave the Revelation to John.

John is also the person given the task of explaining the Holy Spirit to us and how He works. Paul is just pedantic & logically presents the gifts. John is much more creative. There are reasons why Moses only barely mentions Bez’alel and Oho’liab [just gives a prospectus] and says nothing about how they did it [designed and built the tabernacle in the wilderness Exodus 31]. One of the first people I want to look up after we’re called up is Bez’alel. The designers for Solomon aren’t mentioned. I’m fairly sure they’ll be part of the creative team in the Kingdom—as will I.

I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to help design The King’s new palace. I can imagine just asking Jesus in my mind about an idea I have. He’ll be able to see it and get me straightened out immediately. [I just had a couple ideas I want to make sure the Lord has in the palace.] That sounds like wonderful fun.

The Ruach HaKodesh is within you to help

Just ask Him.

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