The operations and activities of the Holy Spirit are found scores of times throughout the Old Testament. In every instance, the Holy Spirit was imparting something of His supernatural Self to whatever it was the situation demanded. In each event, the human recipient was keenly aware that it was not himself but God’s Spirit that was responsible for what was being accomplished. He was always to the rescue when something beyond the mere ability of man was needed. Even from the designing of implements to be used in the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 31, the Spirit of God came upon Bezaleel and Aholiab for the fashioning of gold, silver, and bronze, all requiring craftsmanship beyond human ability to provide, and it was the Holy Spirit who enabled these men to do the work and provide the exquisite beauty that was beyond themselves. Imagine, if you will, Bezaleel and Aholiab, upon hearing what it was that they were to fashion, and their exclaiming, “We can’t do that. This is too much.” That would be a fair and honest admission. But, when mere human agency is empowered by the divine agency of the Spirit of God…well, with Him all things are possible.
Enter, then, the period of the judges, a peculiarly vulnerable time in the history of ancient Israel. Moses and Joshua are both gone. God raises up judges to preside over the nation. At times, their past required abilities they simply did not have. Time and again, in a gracious partnering with man, the Holy Spirit provides all that man was lacking for the need at hand. In Judges, chapter 6, it was Gideon upon whom the Spirit of the Lord came, and he was able to draw followers unto him and lead them to victory. Who can forget the mighty Samson who was not Samson because of Samson. It was because of the Spirit of the Holy One that Samson had his incredible strength. The record tells us that, when attacked by a lion, Samson dispatched him with his bare hands, all because the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. His great physical prowess again came to the fore when he broke the ropes that bound him and subsequently slew the enemy with the jawbone of an ass. What? Could these things actually have happened? Could God actually be God? Case closed.
All the writing prophets from Isaiah to Malachi were each endowed with supernatural vision and ability to proclaim what people needed to hear for the present, and to predict and prophesy what was coming in the future. Omnipotence and omniscience, coupled with the always omnipresence of the Holy Spirit, were in each instance precisely what was needed to accomplish the plan and program of God for Israel and her people. And all these are merely instances of which we are aware because they were recorded in the Scriptures. We may safely assume there were many more that were not recorded. God, the Holy Spirit, worked mightily and frequently on behalf of His people all throughout the Scriptures.
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