THE HOLY SPIRIT SAT IN THE HOLIEST OF ALL AS GOD
Throughout the theophanous phenomenon of the Messianic enterprise, wrought in a man called Jesus, the Holy Spirit was there in the holiest of the temple; a place where only the high priest was privileged an access, just once a year, and must approach the room with the blood of atonement in his hands. It was a grave, awe inspiring business. It could cost the high priest his life if he should treat the ritual with any levity. History teaches that two high priests did die while performing the annual rite. At the epical final pronouncement of “It is finished,” the Holy Ghost left the temple, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;…..” in Matthew 27:51; simply because of what Pauline’s Hebrews 10:20 “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” attests to. Amen.
As a co-Creator it is quite instructive to understand that He stood side by side the Father to raise the Lord Jesus from the grave. Before the passion week Jesus had intimated on the relevance of the Holy Spirit: John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Ahead of the time Jesus would sit in the heavenly assizes, in accordance with scriptural sacerdotalism, Spirit relevance is seen in John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; 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 relevance is buttressed here in John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” God understands that Lucifer is the god of this world so, we, the holy offspring of the Most High must be empowered to deal with satanic jingoism. Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Without the Holy Spirit we can do absolutely nothing to please Jehovah God.
Is the Holy Spirit a Personage? Let us do an exploration of the Bible, where this Spirit of God is designated ‘Holy Spirit,’ ‘Spirit’ (with a capital ‘S’) and ‘Holy Ghost.’ I want to start from the Old, Jewish, Testament of Isaiah 63:10, “But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.” The word ‘vexed’ comes from the Hebraic ‛âtsab (aw-tsab’) ‘(properly) to carve, that is, fabricate or fashion; hence (in a bad sense) to worry, pain or anger.’ Only an emotionable entity can be made to go through the reaction of Isaiah’s reminiscence. Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Lupeō (loo-peh’-o) is the Greek word for ‘grieve’ which means: ‘to distress; reflexively or passively to be sad.’ For the fact that this Spirit can be grieved should be a constant warning to us that He is watching (which can only be consummated by a living Entity).
Hebrews 10:29, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” The clause, ‘done despite unto’ is one Greek word enubrizō (en-oo-brid’-zo) ‘to insult.’ I know how very easy it is to wriggle out of this glaring facts with your calculated pandering of Jehovah’s Witness sect who teach that: “The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force from Jehovah, but not God.” They infer that an inanimate thing cannot be insulted. Agreed! Acts of the Apostles 5:3 reads, “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”
There are two spirits involved here, in the above verse. If we believe that Satan has a physical palpability, then he told Ananias to ‘lie,’ which is: pseudomai (psyoo’-dom-ahee): ‘to utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood.’ Any uttered untruthfulness is an immediate affront to the Holy Spirit. It was His Divine presence that received the sacerdotal adoration as He was seated as Jehovah of Israel, in the holiest of the temple. He is still present in every feat of mankind from the day of Pentecost, because His presence is the result of God’s promise of Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
(…to be continued in the next part…)
Read part one here
H.O. Ojewale 