Old Testament Emblems Of The Spirit

by Reid, A. | Category: The Holy Spirit | Oct 1993

When the apostle John wished to communicate to his readers the idea of the incarnation of Christ, that the Lord had become a real man with a real body having real substance, he put it in the following words: "That which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life" (1 John 1:1). The key words ~r~- hpnrd ~A~fl beh~Id nnd handled

He was describing the physical experience of seeing and touching the

Lord: an experience caly possible when confronted by a real man having substance and form. The same things could not have been written of the Holy Spirit, for He is invisible to the eye and cannot be touched or handled by human hands. This is because the Spirit has no physical form or substance. Therefore the emblems employed in the Old Testament to convey the idea of the Person of the Spirit, must present the thought of forinless fluidity, yet at the same time portraying presence and activity. Emblems of the Spirit are therefore things like oil; fire; smoke; wind; rain etc. For the purpose of this article we will limit ourselves to two Old Testament emblems: oil and the pillar of fire and cloud.

Olive oil was the substance used in the lamps mounted on the lampstand in the Tabernacle ~x. 27:20) and for a number of other purposes in the Old Testament. But before we touch on those, we must first try to show from Scripture what leads us to think that

oil is an emblem of the Holy Spirit.

In Zechariah 4, the principal

thought being conveyed to Zerubbabel through the prophetic vision is that the Spirit of God is active, and it is His activity, not human resolve, that will bring to fruition the work of God (v.6). This is communicated in a vision of oil lamps on a lampstand, being fed from a central reservoir, which is in turn fed by two olive trees or branches. We are told in v.14 that the two olive trees represent two people; the oil which proceeds from the trees (v.12) represents the Spirit of God and the light of the lamps the Spirit fed testimony being borne to Zerubbabel and the people of those days. This interpretation of Zechariah's vision, that the lamps, oil and trees represent the testimony of the Spirit of God through human agency, would seem to be supported by reference to Revelation 11:4, where two prophetic witnesses of a future time are described as: "The two olive trees and the two lampstands" (RVM).

Having established that oil in the Old Testament is emblematic of the

Spirit, we can now look at various uses of oil in Scripture, which will show us different aspects of the Spirit's work.

The children of Israel were con"anded to bring pure olive oil to fuel the lamps that lit the interior of the Tabernacle (Ex. 27:20). The purpose of the burning lamps on their stands was to "give light in front of the lampstand" (Num. 8:2; Ex. 25:37). The lamps thus illuminated the interior of the tent and the other furnishings in it. This brings to our minds the Spirit's work in illuminating the minds of believers, relative to the truths and services of the house of God and things related to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. This is what Christ Himself taught His disciples to expect when the Spirit was sent forth:

"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He shall guide you into all the truth ... He shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you" (John 16:12-14).

In the use of oil as one of the ingredients of the meal offering, we have a picture of the Holy Spirit in association with the life of the Lord. In Leviticus 2:4, we have described for us two ways of bringing together the flour and oil of the meal offering; it was either, "Unleavened cakes of fme flour mindled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil". The mingling of the flour and oil meant that the one was totally absorbed by the other, speing to us of the complete yielding by Christ to the leading of the Spirit. The Lord's

words and actions were so in harmony with the will of the Spirit of God, that it would be impossible to distinguish the two, just as it would be impossible to separate the oil and flour once mixed. This glorious unity of the Son and Spirit is indicated to us by Luke:

"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness" (Luke 4:1). The anointing of the unleavened wafer (Lev. 2:4) would speak of the Lord's anointing with the Spirit that marked Him out as God's chosen Servant (cf. Is. 61:1; Luke 4:18).

What did the Lord mean by the words: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"? He meant that He would be with them in the Person of the Spirit. The abiding presence of the Holy Spirit was their assurance that He was with them in their mission.

The second emblem to be considered is the pillar of fire and cloud (See Ex. 13:21-22; Neb. 9:12, 19). There seem to have been two main purposes connected with this pillar. They were:

to assure the people of Israel that God's presence was with them, that He had not forsaken them, and to be a guide for them in their wilderness journey, "to lead them in the way" (Neh. 9:19).

When the Lord Jesus on the mountain in Galilee, had delivered to His disciples the great commission of going into all the nations to teach, baptize and make new disciples, He

assured them that He would be present with them even to the end of the world (MaL 28:16-20). He said this knowing that shortly He would take His leave of them and they would see Him no more. So what did the Lord mean by the words: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world"? He meant that He would be with them in the Person of the SpiriL The abiding presence of the Holy Spirit was their assurance that He was with them in their mission. The words, "Even unto the end of the world (or age RVM)", indicate to us that this promise was not only applicable to those who stood with Christ that day, but to all who would become His disciples in the unfolding age of grace. This thought is confirmed to us in the writings of the beloved disciple when he recorded the Lord's words: "He shall give you another Comforter ... even the Spirit of truth ... for He abideth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you" (John

14:16-18).

During Israel's wilderness journey, the pillar of fire and cloud was their

guide, indicating not only where they should journey to, but determining also their length of stay (See Num. 9:15-23). In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is seen as the heavenly guide in the lives of believers; not only in the sense of leading them into an understanding of spiritual truth, as we have already considered, but also leading and guiding in the outworking of spiritual principles in daily life and service for God. The apostles Peter and Paul experienced the direct guiding of the Spirit in their labours for the Master, each of them receiving specific instruction from the Spirit as to where they should and should not go (See Acts 10:19, 20; 13:2-4; 16:& 10). Through prayer, practical guidance from the Spirit as to where and in what our sphere of service should lie, is available to the believer today. Also, in our daily wrestling against our old nature, it is the guidance and leading of the Spirit that will steer our everyday conduct away from the lusts of the flesh (See Gal. 5:16, 18, 25) into an enjoyment of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).

Reid, A. | Oct 1993
The Holy Spirit