One of the Holy Spirit’s primary works has been to give revelation to key leaders of God’s people in the progress of God’s redemptive history, culminating in Holy Scripture, which was written by men who were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
But the Holy Spirit also gave some of these same leaders special empowerment in addition to direct revelation. For example, the Old Testament describes the Holy Spirit being “upon” Moses and the elders of Israel, Joshua, judges such as Gideon and Samson, and prophets such as Elijah and Micah. He also uniquely came upon Israel’s kings, Saul and David.
Theocratic Anointing
This Spirit empowerment gave individuals a variety of special abilities primarily so that they could lead God’s people. This is why such special empowerment is sometimes called “theocratic anointing.” In fact, often the prophecy itself was given as a sign that these individuals were chosen and empowered by the Spirit for such leadership.
For example, as ruler of Israel (Acts 7:35), Moses had a special anointing of the Spirit (Nm 11:17). God confirmed that anointing in the sigh of the people through the miracle of changing Moses’s staff into a snake (Ex 40:30–31). Later, Moses “took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it” (Nm 11:25). The special empowerment by the Spirit was so that the elders could “bear some of the burden of the people” as rulers alongside Moses, and they prophesied as confirmation that they were to share the burden of leadership.
That leadership passed on to Joshua as Moses’s successor, who then is described as “full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him” (Dt 34:9). God specifically told Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Jo 1:56). And God confirmed Joshua’s leadership of the people with the crossing of the Jordan river on dry ground (Jo 4), a supernatural miracle that would have immediately brought to mind Moses’s miracle of crossing the Red Sea (Ex 14:31). The result was that Joshua was confirmed as ruler of the people: “On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life” (Jo 4:14).
Four judges of Israel, are described as having this special Spirit anointing: Othniel (Jgs 3:10), Gideon (Jgs 6:34), Jepthah (Jgs 11:29), and Samson (Jgs 15:14). It is not a stretch to assume that this theocratic anointing came upon all of the judges whom God appointed as leaders of his people.
When leadership of Israel moved to a monarchy, so did the theocratic anointing of the Spirit. After Samuel anointed Saul as king of Israel (1 Sm 10:1), “the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them” (1 Sm 10:10). The same happened later to David: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Sm 16:13). Likewise, Solomon’s prayer for wisdom was, in effect, a request for the same special empowerment from the Spirit (1 Kgs 3:9). The first result of the empowerment given to him by the Spirit was his ability to wisely judge the case of the two women fighting over the death of one of their babies. This exercise of divine empowerment confirmed Solomon as leader of God’s people: “And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice” (1 Kgs 3:28).
Prophets, too, appear to have had a special empowerment from the Spirit, though perhaps this would not necessarily be called theocratic anointing since they were not rulers. Yet the purpose of such empowerment was similar: to confirm them as messengers of God. For example, the Spirit was known to carry Elijah to places unknown (1 Kgs 18:12), and Micah declared of himself, “I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might” (Mic 3:8). Indeed, as we have already noted, Spirit empowerment and direct divine revelation went hand in hand.
So this empowerment was primarily given by the Spirit to equip leaders of God’s people, often resulting in unique wisdom, physical strength, and revelation from God, to bring God’s people into order with God’s plan and purposes. And the miraculous works performed by these individuals as a result of the Sprit’s anointing were for the purpose of confirming them as rulers and messengers of God in the sight of the people.
This act of the Holy Spirit was never permanent. The Spirit left Samson after Delilah cut his hair, for example, causing him to lose his special strength (Jgs 16:20). The most notable illustration of this is when “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul” after his sin (1 Sm 16:14). Just prior to that, Samuel had anointed David as the new king of Israel, “and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Sm 16:13). This also explains why David prayed that God would not take his Holy Spirit from him after his sin with Bathsheba (Ps 51:11). David wasn’t afraid that he would lose the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit that brings salvation—once we are saved, we never lose the Spirit in that sense (Eph 1:13–14). Rather, what David feared was that the Spirit would remove his special anointing empowerment given to him as king of Israel.
This special Spirit empowerment was even applied to non-believers on occasion. King Saul is, of course, an example of this. Though God anointed him as king of Israel and gifted him with special empowerment from the Spirit, his actions revealed that he was not a true follower of Yahweh. Likewise “the Spirit of God came upon” Balaam and caused him to bless Israel, though Balaam’s desire was to curse Israel (Nm 24:2).
What is clear, then, is that this empowerment by the Spirit is not related to other works by the Spirit that are given to all believers. This empowerment is unique gifting by the Spirit to leaders of God’s people and prophets in order that he might work his plan among them.
This fact alone reveals the unique nature of Spirit empowerment—it is not intended for every believer, or even just those who are especially holy. Rather, the Spirit empowered very specific individuals who were especially chosen by God to deliver his revelation or otherwise order the people and plan of God at significant stages in redemptive history. Between those significant transitional stages, such empowerment is not ordinary or necessary.
The Spirit empowered very specific individuals who were especially chosen by God to deliver his revelation or otherwise order the people and plan of God at significant stages in redemptive history.
Filled with the Spirit
Old Testament prophecy also foretells a similar empowerment given by the Spirit to the coming Messiah. Isaiah 11:2 prophesies,
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
This is the same theocratic anointing of the Spirit given to leaders of God’s people, especially kings of Israel.
Not surprisingly, then, the earliest examples of this Spirit empowerment in the NT apply specifically to Jesus Christ, first pictured when “the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove,” at his baptism (Lk 3:22). John the Baptist later declared that Jesus had been given “the Spirit without measure” (Jn 3:34). Notably, Jesus launched his public ministry in Nazareth when he read Isaiah’s prophecy that the Spirit would anoint the Messiah and claimed to be that very Anointed One (Lk 4:16–21).
Although Jesus himself is fully divine, Jesus often attributed his power while on earth to the Holy Spirit. He was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted (Mk 1:12), and he returned to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14). Jesus claimed that he cast out demons “by the Spirit of God” (Mt 12:28). And Jesus declares that anyone who attributed one of his works done in the power of the Spirit to Satan “will not be forgiven” (Mt 12:31). Later, Luke describes Jesus’s teaching as having been given “through the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:2) and noted how “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38).
The Holy Spirit also uniquely empowered other key spiritual leaders in the NT, such as John the Baptist, whom Gabriel promised would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Lk 1:15). Christ’s apostles, too, are described similarly. For example, on the Day of Pentecost, the apostles “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Likewise after they experienced persecution, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). After Saul was converted on the road to Damascus, Ananias laid hands on him and Saul was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17; cf. 13:9).
In these cases, Luke describes this special empowerment as being “filled with the Holy Spirit,” but it is important to recognize the difference between this special filling and the kind of filling Paul commands in Ephesians 5:18 when he admonishes, “be filled by the Spirit.”
In Luke and Acts, Luke uses the term pimplēmi in the passive voice, in which the grammar clearly indicates that the Holy Spirit is the content of the filling and that the individual filled with the Spirit does not do anything to cause it.1These appear in Luke 1:15, 1:41, 1:67; Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:9. Luke uses different terms to describe the kind of filling that is true of all believers. He uses the term plērēs in five places and plēroō once to designate a more generally Spirit filling of the disciples in Acts 13:52, and this latter term is what Paul states as a command in Ephesians 5:18. In other words, it is important to recognize the distinction between the more general Spirit filling commanded of all believers (plērēs/plēroō) and the Spirit filling given to key leaders of God’s people to empower them in their role (pimplēmi).
Ordering God’s People
The empowering of individual leaders for special service was for the ultimate purpose of bringing to order God’s redemptive plan in both Israel and the church. This is true of Moses and the elders of Israel. As Sinclair Ferguson notes,
Just as the Spirit produced order and purpose out of the formless and empty primeval created “stuff” (Gn 1:2), so, when the nation was newborn but remained in danger of social chaos, the Spirit of God worked creatively to produce right government, order, and direction among the refugees from Egypt.2Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 22.
This is true as well for his empowering of apostles in the early church, gifting them with the necessary abilities to both quickly spread the gospel message beyond Jerusalem “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and firmly establish the doctrine and practice of the early church (2 Cor 12:12, Heb 2:4). Paul clearly states in Ephesians 2:20 that the apostles and prophets, these individuals specially empowered by the Holy Spirit, served a unique function as the foundation of the church. The Spirit was ushering in a new age in God’s redemptive plan. Once the church had been put in order, the Spirit no longer had reason to empower people in that way.
In other words, while it is accurate to say that the Holy Spirit has empowered individuals in extraordinary ways, these were rare, they were specifically for key leaders of God’s people, and their function was to bring God’s purposes into order in human history. To focus on the relatively few cases in biblical history of extraordinary works of the Holy Spirit and draw from those a theology that assumes this to be his regular activity fails to take into account the purpose of these works in the overarching plan of God.
Testifying of Christ
One of the fundamental problems with how many people conceive of the Spirit’s work in history like special empowerment is that they focus only on individual acts, failing to recognize how each act of the Spirit functions in the larger scope of God’s redemptive plan. This is why it is so important to recognize the Spirit’s work as that of bringing order and completion to the plan of God. This is true of creation, revelation, and empowerment: each of these is a working out of the eternal plan of God.
Ultimately, God’s plan is one of bringing himself glory through creating his kingdom on earth, ruled by man made in his image.3See my book, Citizens and Exiles. The Spirit brought this plan into order by as he created the earthly kingdom realm for man to inhabit and rule. Since Adam failed in this kingly role, God’s plan also included the sending of a Second Adam who would succeed where the First Adam failed and redeem a humanity who would rule and reign with. The Spirit’s also brought order to that part of God’s plan through the virgin conception of the Son of God.
The revelation given by the Spirit to particular individuals throughout history and ultimately inscripturated in the sixty-six books of the Bible was also inherently connected to this overarching purpose: through Spirit-given revelation, God established covenants with his people by which he would bring his plans to pass, he ordered Israel into a nation that would guard the covenants and produce the Messiah, and he prophesied of the coming King.
And empowerment of key individuals, especially the theocratic anointing of rulers of his people, was also how the Spirit moved forward the plan of God to bring the perfect Redeemer-King. And as we have seen, this work culminated in anointing the Messiah himself and empowering his apostles to witness of him to the ends of the earth.
The Spirit’s work to bring order and completion to that plan is ultimately about testifying of the Anointed Messiah. In all that he does, from bringing harmony to the world, to unfolding God’s revelation, to empowering God’s leaders, the Spirit points to Christ.
What this summary of God’s plan for history demonstrates is that the Spirit’s work to bring order and completion to that plan is ultimately about testifying of the Anointed Messiah. In all that he does, from bringing harmony to the world, to unfolding God’s revelation, to empowering God’s leaders, the Spirit points to Christ. The Spirit does not perform his work randomly, independently of the plan of God, or in order to draw attention to himself. The Spirit’s work always leads to the establishment and recognition of Christ the King over all the earth.
Jesus himself describes the Spirit’s role in this way:
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 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. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (Jn 16:12–15)
Notice what Christ says: the Spirit will glorify him. The Spirit’s revelation is truth that testifies to Christ: “This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (1 Jn 5:6).
What Christ says of the unique role of the Spirit in this age was true in the Old Testament as well. Again, all of the unique theocratic anointing moved toward the ultimate anointing of the Messianic King. Most significantly, the Scriptures he inspired testify to Christ (Jn 5:46).
Furthermore, the Spirit’s work in salvation, sanctification, gifting, and worship are all about causing his people to submit themselves to Christ as King, be conformed into Christ’s image, build up his body, and worship him rightly. These works order God’s chosen people into his plan for them.
God the Father has an eternal plan, God the Son accomplished the means for that plan to be fulfilled, and God the Spirit completes and perfects that plan directly in the world. Bringing harmony to creation, revealing God’s plan to his people, and special empowerment of unique leaders of God’s people at significant points in the outworking of that plan all involve how the Holy Spirit brings the plan of God into order.
Bringing harmony to creation, revealing God’s plan to his people, and special empowerment of unique leaders of God’s people at significant points in the outworking of that plan all involve how the Holy Spirit brings the plan of God into order.
Trust in Christ
When we truly understand the Holy Spirit’s purpose in empowering individuals throughout history, it ought to lead us to one unmistakable conclusion: the Holy Spirit of God wants us to trust in Christ. Everything he has done to order God’s plan through special empowerment led to the Anointed One, Jesus the Messiah.
The fact that the Holy Spirit empowered certain individuals in history ought not cause us to long for the same kind of empowerment; to do so is evidence that we misunderstand the Spirit’s purpose. Rather, trust in the One who came in the line of Spirit-anointed kings, the One Spirit-empowered prophets foretold, the One for whom the Spirit filled John the Baptist to prepare, the one of whom the apostles were empowered to witness: Jesus Christ.
References
| 1 | These appear in Luke 1:15, 1:41, 1:67; Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:9. |
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| 2 | Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 22. |
| 3 | See my book, Citizens and Exiles. |
