“the Spirit whom He has given us”(1 John 3:24, NKJV)
This final instalment concerning “the Spirit of the Lord” is of the utmost importance, as it explains what we have earlier discussed in these teachings, the typology of the raven and the dove in the story of Noah. Yet it is important to point out that revelation unfolds, also in these teachings, and that each new revelation often re-illuminates older revelations, and provides us with an enriched understanding of them.
In the teaching of Day 383, where the typology of the Jewish feasts was discussed, we said the following about the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost): That in the New Testament it runs according to the Old Testament pattern of time – 50 days between Pesach and Shavuot, and fifty days from the death of Jesus to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1).
For Old Testament believers Shavuot pointed to the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. For us in the new covenant the festival of Pentecost points to the fact that the first fruits (Ex. 34:22; Rom. 8:23) of the Holy Spirit, of our heritage in God, is merely a part of what we are sealed with (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5), keeping us until the point where we can walk into our full heritage. “And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:24). We did however not know when that time would be, or what the full heritage would entail.
Much later in our teachings, around Day 1422-1423, the raven in Noah’s story was seen as a typological symbol of the seven-fold Spirit of God who, based on the believer’s refined shalem-heart, is released to map out the earth according to God’s new covenant. That we were at that point not quite sure yet what the seven-fold Spirit may be, is clear from Day 1444-1446. Already then we mentioned our suspicion that the menorah (the seven-branch lampstand) is not symbolic of the Holy Spirit, but of the Christ, although this revelation was not argued to its logical conclusion. Therefore the menorah was still presented as if there were seven types of elements at work here, of which the work of the Holy Spirit as entity is merely one of the workings of the Spirit. We did however make it clear that the Holy Spirit is not the anointing as such, but the One who administrates the anointing. The anointing is CHRIST, the Anointed One, who literally inaugurated the Messianic Age. This is the glorious interplay between Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
In the teaching of Day 1451 Isa. 11:1-2’s seven manifestations of the seven-fold Spirit is listed. Push comes to shove when it notes that the very first Spirit that is mentioned is “the Spirit of the Lord”. One does not expect this to be a part of the whole, as we have always seen the Holy Spirit and the Seven-fold Spirit of God as equivalent to one another. Yet we have from the earlier teachings been able to distinguish a clear difference between them. We can thus see that the Holy Spirit is unmistakeably just ONE facet of the seven-fold Spirit of God!
- Selah: Pray 2 Pet. 1:2 for yourself as you study this.
- Read: 8-10
- Memorise: 9:2 (what does this Scripture mean in terms of the current teaching?)
