And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
Here, I believe we see a New Testament truth in the Old Testament. Paul said to the Ephesians, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24) To the Galatians he wrote, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” (Galatians 6:15) And he said to the Corinthians “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (1 Corinthians 5:17)
Thus we have ourselves truly a Biblical truth, in that we find it throughout the whole bible. I know we must be careful to not super-impose New Testament doctrine on Old Testament characters. However, this is just too compelling to not do so.
The Spirit of the LORD that came upon Saul in the days of Samuel is the same Holy Ghost that came upon Jesus at the river Jordan, Mary, John the Baptist, and the twelve disciples at Pentcost. And He is the same Holy Ghost that comes upon man, woman, and child even to this day. The great and wonderful doctrine that spans from the old pages of the Bible all the way to the new and fresh days of today’s church is that of the new creature. Just as the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters in creation and formed new life, he can move upon the soul of man and create a new life.
You will never be the same after the Spirit of the LORD has come upon you. Those to whom the Spirit of the LORD has come cannot deny Jesus’ most amazing grace in being turned into another man. If you’ve ever had an old-fashioned dose of the Holy Ghost, you’ll never be the same.
Amen.
The big question in all this is…
What about this business of prophesying? What happened to prophesying? Where did it go? Anybody prophesy at church this Sunday, aye? I’ll tell you what Peter said about prophesying.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy… (Acts 2:16,17)
So? Where’s the prophesying? Uh… that was a transitional period? Uh… it was a sign gift? Uh… you can’t get doctrine out of Acts?
Whatever.
Here’s something I’ve thought about recently. Have you ever heard that Jesus was prophet, priest, and king. There’s something special about that triple combo. “And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.” (1 Kings 1:34) Nothing here to say other than all three are mentioned here in this verse: prophet, priest, and king. Old King Solomon wisely said, “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12) Adonijah must not have know that because he was missing a prophet.
Now Jesus is King of kings of course. And he is our high priest. To this there is no doubt. John was in the Spirit on the Lords days and saw the Lamb of God and all of heaven’s host bow down before him and sing this song, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests…” (Revelation 5:9,10)
Paul explained to Timothy this amazing thing “We shall also reign with him… ” (2 Timothy 2:12) And again in the Revelation it says, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Reveleation 20:6)
Kings and priests? Amazing. But Jesus was not just Priest and King; but also Prophet. Jesus was God’s spokesman; he foretold many things; and he performed many miracles. If there ever was a perfect prophet, Jesus surely was Him. Now, I would say that a prophet’s main occupation is to prophesy? That’s a what a prophet does: prophesy!
Is it possible that we may also be prophets with Him, much like we are kings with Him and priests with Him? Blasphemy! There are no more prophets! That’s what I’ve been told all my life!
Alright. Fine. I’ll leave it alone. But I’m going to secretly meditate on this next passage of scriptures.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit… But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal… to another prophecy… But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” (1 Corinithians 12:4,7,10,11)
And though I have the gift of prophecy… (1 Corinthians 13:2)
Notice those four word but the same Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit is God, don’t we? Do we not believe that God is immutable? “I am the LORD, I change not…” (Malachi 3:6) The same Spirit that guides us into all truth, lives in us, and bears witness with our spirit, is the same Spirit that came upon Saul that he would prophesy with the prophets. And he did it.