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INTRODUCTION
For a more clear understanding and
appreciation of the time of the Judges and Kings of Israel, it is
important that the reader know that before the Bible was completed in
96 A.D., the Lord spoke to people in dreams, visions, direct
conversation and through the Old Testament prophets.
At various times and for specific purposes, before the
Lord Jesus Christ became a man so that He could die for the sins of
the world, He appeared as "the angel of the Lord'" to people like .
Samson's mother and father in Judges 3:3-25 and to Gideon in Judges 6:
11. We find Him speaking to the Pharaoh of Egypt in a dream in Genesis
41:1-7, and also to Solomon in 1 Kings 3:5. In Numbers 24:4, the Lord
spoke to Balaam in a vision, and also to the prophet Daniel in chapter
7:1,2. In Genesis 18:1-33, the Lord spoke face-to-face in direct
conversation with Abraham. Then the Lord spoke through His prophet
Nathan to David in 2 Samuel 12: 1, and also to King Hezekiah in 2
Kings 20: 1.
The ministry of God the Holy Spirit had a special
function in the Old Testament, and an entirely different one in the
Church Age which began officially on the Day of Pentecost in 90 A.D.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon certain men for
specific purposes. For example: the Holy Spirit came upon Saul in 1
Samuel 10:6, and in 1 Samuel 28:16, the Holy Spirit was taken away
from him because of his disregard for God's Word. When Samuel anointed
David to be king of Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him and remained
with him from that day forward, even though there were times when
David grieved the Holy Spirit. (1 Samuel 16:13) In order to defeat the
Philistines, Judges 15:19 tells us that the Holy Spirit came upon
Samson.
The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism to
identify the beginning of His 3-year ministry on earth. After Jesus'
death, burial and resurrection, but before He ascended into heaven,
Jesus bestowed the Holy Spirit upon His eleven apostles to sustain
them until the Day of Pentecost. (John 20:22) At that time the
apostles were given the ability to speak in foreign languages which
they had not previously learned, and with that gift they were able to
present the message of salvation to people from all over the known
world who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast: When
those strangers heard the Gospel in their own language, many of them
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and were given eternal life. The
apostles were also given the ability to perform many miracles to prove
they were from God ... such as healing people, and even bringing
someone who was dead back to life again, as we see in the book of
Acts, which is a transitional book between the Old and New Testaments.
Those miracle gifts were given to the apostles temporarily to be used
as "credit cards" to prove they were truly representing the Lord, but
once the canon of scripture was complete, they were no longer needed
... now God deals with people through His Written Word. (1 Corinthians
13:8)
We now live in the Church Age, and every believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ is given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at
the moment of salvation. In this age the gift of Evangelism is given
to certain men for the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel to
unbelievers, and the gift of Pastor Teacher is given to certain men
who are chosen by the Lord for the purpose of teaching believers so
they can grow spiritually and find God's purpose for their lives.
(Ephesians 4: 12)
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