Lesson 4: God’s Spirit & The Guiding Of Israel

Getting Started: The Lord promised that He would be with Moses (Exodus 3.12). How was the Lord’s presence evident?

At the conclusion of our last lesson we noted how God’s presence was with Israel because His Spirit was with Israel (see Isaiah 63.7-14). Note the prophet’s words in vs. 11: “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses…?” We know that the Lord led His people out of Egypt, His presence being found in the pillars of cloud and fire (Exodus 13.21-22), but He also led them by giving His Spirit to the shepherds of His flock, the leaders of Israel.

Moses & The Spirit

In our previous lesson we noted how the Lord’s presence with Moses was seen in both miraculous signs and inspired speech (Exodus 4.1-9,12). It would seem that the Lord’s presence with Moses was not limited to the times when he worked miracles or declared the oracles of God. In Numbers 11 we read of yet another occasion when the people of Israel complained against the Lord, and suffered the consequences of their ingratitude. Moses lamented to the Lord that “I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me” (vs. 14). The Lord responded by instructing Moses to gather 70 men from among the elders and officers of Israel. Now note what the Lord said He would do for these 70: “I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.”

True to His word once Moses had gathered the men together in the tabernacle, “the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and 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” (Numbers 11.25). Many years later, Nehemiah reflected on the fact that the Lord “gave your good Spirit to instruct them” (Nehemiah 9.20). From the inception of Israel as the people of God, the Lord sought to lead them and guide them; He did so by giving His Spirit to His chosen leaders.

The Spirit & The Leaders of Israel

Joshua was apparently one of the 70 who received a portion of the Spirit, because we read in Numbers 27.18 that he was “a man in whom is the Spirit”. Significantly, this passage details how Joshua was to be the next leader of Israel. Moses was to lay his hands on Joshua and commission him in the sight of all the people (vss. 18-23). Now note how Joshua is described in Deuteronomy 34.9: “Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him.” For Joshua to be able to lead the people, he needed the same guidance Moses had; he needed the Spirit to be with him. Perhaps, this is what the Lord meant when He promised Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1.5).

The Lord was with Joshua and it was while he led the people that “the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers” (Joshua 21.43). Alas, following the death of Joshua and his generation “there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2.10). The time of the Judges was one of national unfaithfulness and calamity. However, the Lord had not forgotten His people or the promises that He had made, so He “raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (Judges 2.16). God was with these leaders of Israel; His Spirit was upon them.

• “The Spirit of the Lord was upon” Othniel (Judges 3.10).
• “The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon” (Judges 6.34).
• “The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah (Judges 11.29).
• “The Spirit of the Lord began to stir” Samson when he was young (Judges 13.25). The Spirit would also “rush upon” him at various times (Judges 14.6,19; 15.14).

Even though Israel’s request for a king was a rejection of their true King (see 1Samuel 8.7), the Lord still anointed His chosen with the Spirit. Saul was anointed as the first king of Israel by Samuel in 1Samuel 10.1 and was then told that a sign would confirm that he was the Lord’s anointed. A part of that sign was that “the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy… and be turned into another man” (1Samuel 10.6; compare Numbers 11.25). God did exactly as He promised, and His Spirit rushed upon Saul (1Samuel 10.10). Significantly, once Saul turned aside from following the Lord and another man was anointed, “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul” (1Samuel 16.14).

David was the Lord’s chosen to replace Saul, “a man after His own heart” (1Samuel 13.14). When he was anointed by Samuel, “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward” (1Samuel 16.13). The Lord’s Spirit being with David would not only allow him to prophesy (2Samuel 23.2), but would lead God’s anointed “on level ground” (Psalm 143.10). Significantly, when David sinned against the Lord (Psalm 51.4), his fear was that like Saul before him, the Lord’s presence would be removed: “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51.11).

Finally, we must consider the Spirit’s role in the work of the prophets. These spokesmen of God who were moved by the Spirit (see 2Peter 1.21) were sent by the Lord to lead the people to repentance and back to the ways of the Lord. The Spirit was known to be with Elijah and then Elisha (see 1Kings 18.12; 2Kings 2.15-16) and His Spirit commissioned both Isaiah (Isaiah 48.16) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2.2).

The Spirit & The Messiah

The Lord both made Israel into His special people and also guided them. Thus, His Spirit was with the leaders of the people and when the people departed from the ways of the Lord, His Spirit was with the prophets who sought to bring the people back. And the Lord declared regarding the future Messiah, the “shoot from the stump of Jesse”, that “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 fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11.1-2). The Lord’s Spirit would continue to guide His people.