Post by Mark on Jul 25, 2009 5:32:27 GMT -8
In John 20:22, Messiah Yeshua commanded His disciples to "receive the Holy Spirit." In Greek the command is second aorist active imperative. To most of us this means that this reception of the Holy Spirit was not/is not necessarily to occur at a specific time (second aorist) and also that the Spirit is to be actively (consciously and purposefully) received.
This command may be taken as repeated later by Paul in 1st Thessalonians 5:19 where we are commanded to "quench not the Spirit." And may be applied as His admonition to "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." (Ephesians 4:30). It is a command. It is not a passive non-response that we receive God’s Holy Spirit, not like catching a passing virus or smelling a pleasant aroma that happens to be passing by.
The significance of this may be often overlooked in Acts 1 and 2, where Luke makes a peculiar point that "commandments had been given them by the Holy Spirit…" (Acts 1:2). By many, the introduction of the Holy Spirit into the lives of these mortals was to be considered a new thing; but Peter certainly didn’t consider it to be so:
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
(2 Peter 1:21 KJV)
It is a profound concern to me, today, that we have not abandoned our dispensationalist thinking, that the manner in which Adonai works with His people today is somehow different that what He has employed through the ages.
The conversation I had with a Conservative Jewish man a couple of weeks ago was life-changing for me, not that he convinced me that Yeshua must not be the Messiah (as was his intention); but that the manner in which I had hitherto involved myself in teaching and understanding the Scriptures is utterly flawed. Our logical reasoning and laying together the order of Scripture for our understanding is not enough. It is not a process of intellectual development and reasoning skills. It is rather an invitation to walk with Adonai, through His Spirit, among the gardens of His Word.
Where the Conservative Jewish position comes in is the argument that the New Testament Scriptures are not an intuitive progression from the Tanakh. You can’t just get the things declared by Messiah Yeshua nor His disciples by reading the Old Testament. They are undeniably resting on the foundation provided, and the Apostolic writings no way compromise the established writ of
; but no fool can pick up the Old Testament and come to the conclusions arrived at in the New by logic or reason alone. It was necessary that the Spirit of God speak to specific individuals who would then pass on this revelation through their writings and teaching.
The Conservative Jewish fellow would
his head in self-satisfaction that his point had clearly been made upon this point. Yet, we can carry the same conclusion backward. The writings of the haf-, the Psalms and Prophets are not simply a logical progression of . One cannot arrive at the conclusion that Jerusalem is the City of God, that David will be established King and that the Messiah will rule the world in peace simply from . These revelations were given to men of God upon the foundation of , consistently in alignment with ; but not solely extrapolated from the texts.
We need to learn from this in our present exegesis of Scripture. We need to put down our theological academia and quiet our minds to the Spirit of God, to let Him speak. Certainly I am not saying abandon the Study of the Scriptures, for truly, they are the garden of God’s will that He wishes to share with us; but we cannot understand what is there when we wander through them alone.
Today’s portion, Deuteronomy 1-3, speaks well to this for me. When the people of Israel were first commanded to enter into the Promised Land, they rebelled and would not go; but when faced with the alternative judgment, they went without God’s Presence among them. How we should fear to enter into the commandments of God without His Presence beside us. How we should learn to rest and worship in the Presence of His Sprirt… receiving for ourselves the Holy Spirit of God.
This command may be taken as repeated later by Paul in 1st Thessalonians 5:19 where we are commanded to "quench not the Spirit." And may be applied as His admonition to "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." (Ephesians 4:30). It is a command. It is not a passive non-response that we receive God’s Holy Spirit, not like catching a passing virus or smelling a pleasant aroma that happens to be passing by.
The significance of this may be often overlooked in Acts 1 and 2, where Luke makes a peculiar point that "commandments had been given them by the Holy Spirit…" (Acts 1:2). By many, the introduction of the Holy Spirit into the lives of these mortals was to be considered a new thing; but Peter certainly didn’t consider it to be so:
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
(2 Peter 1:21 KJV)
It is a profound concern to me, today, that we have not abandoned our dispensationalist thinking, that the manner in which Adonai works with His people today is somehow different that what He has employed through the ages.
The conversation I had with a Conservative Jewish man a couple of weeks ago was life-changing for me, not that he convinced me that Yeshua must not be the Messiah (as was his intention); but that the manner in which I had hitherto involved myself in teaching and understanding the Scriptures is utterly flawed. Our logical reasoning and laying together the order of Scripture for our understanding is not enough. It is not a process of intellectual development and reasoning skills. It is rather an invitation to walk with Adonai, through His Spirit, among the gardens of His Word.
Where the Conservative Jewish position comes in is the argument that the New Testament Scriptures are not an intuitive progression from the Tanakh. You can’t just get the things declared by Messiah Yeshua nor His disciples by reading the Old Testament. They are undeniably resting on the foundation provided, and the Apostolic writings no way compromise the established writ of
; but no fool can pick up the Old Testament and come to the conclusions arrived at in the New by logic or reason alone. It was necessary that the Spirit of God speak to specific individuals who would then pass on this revelation through their writings and teaching.The Conservative Jewish fellow would
his head in self-satisfaction that his point had clearly been made upon this point. Yet, we can carry the same conclusion backward. The writings of the haf-, the Psalms and Prophets are not simply a logical progression of . One cannot arrive at the conclusion that Jerusalem is the City of God, that David will be established King and that the Messiah will rule the world in peace simply from . These revelations were given to men of God upon the foundation of , consistently in alignment with ; but not solely extrapolated from the texts. We need to learn from this in our present exegesis of Scripture. We need to put down our theological academia and quiet our minds to the Spirit of God, to let Him speak. Certainly I am not saying abandon the Study of the Scriptures, for truly, they are the garden of God’s will that He wishes to share with us; but we cannot understand what is there when we wander through them alone.
Today’s
portion, Deuteronomy 1-3, speaks well to this for me. When the people of Israel were first commanded to enter into the Promised Land, they rebelled and would not go; but when faced with the alternative judgment, they went without God’s Presence among them. How we should fear to enter into the commandments of God without His Presence beside us. How we should learn to rest and worship in the Presence of His Sprirt… receiving for ourselves the Holy Spirit of God. 
