The Holy Spirit. Mitch Pacwa

(1 Samuel 16:14) and is seeking to kill David and his men.

      Stop here and read 1 Samuel 20-24 in your own Bible.

      In this case, the Spirit of God that was manifest among the prophets led by Samuel now fall upon a first and a second set of messengers who have been dispatched by Saul to capture David. The prophetic Spirit so takes control of them that they cannot fulfill their assigned task of taking David. Finally, Saul himself goes looking for David, and the Spirit of God comes upon him as well, prophesying in such an ecstasy that he strips himself naked and prophesies all day and night. In this situation, the Spirit of God is neither about giving any messages — no words are recorded — nor about augmenting Saul’s power, as in 1 Samuel 10:10-13. Rather, the Spirit of God uses the ecstasy to prevent Saul from apprehending and harming David, whose gift of the Spirit is helping him lead Israel.

       The Books of Kings

      These books include much more material about the prophets, especially about Elijah and Elisha. The Spirit of God does not come prophetically upon the kings in these books as he did in 1 Samuel, upon Saul and David. However, on three occasions, the Spirit of God does come upon three prophets: Elijah, Elisha, and Micaiah ben Imlah (Micaiah the son of Imlah).

      Study

       Micaiah ben Imlah

      The second mention of the Spirit of the Lord concerns a prophet contemporary with Elisha — Micaiah ben Imlah.

      Stop here and read 1 Kings 22:1-28 in your own Bible.

      The situation is that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and Ahab, king of Israel, decide to fight a campaign against Syria to retake the Israelite city of Ramothgilead (now in modern Jordan). Jehoshaphat asks to consult the prophets of the Lord but is dissatisfied with their eager, positive response — he can tell the prophets are in the pay of King Ahab and that they will say whatever Ahab wants them to say. Micaiah ben Imlah is called, against Ahab’s desires, and tells the kings that the false prophets all have lying spirits in them. Zedekiah, the leader of the false prophets, asks a rhetorical question of Micaiah that assumes he himself has the Spirit of the Lord and Micaiah does not. This question indicates that both men, and presumably the rest of the court, believe that the Spirit of the Lord is in the true prophets, while he is not in false prophets. The issue is how to discern the identity of the true and false prophets.

      Micaiah warns that Zedekiah will see by the historical results: Will Ahab be victorious, as Zedekiah prophesies, or will he lose to the Syrians, as Micaiah prophesies? This criterion is based on Deuteronomy 18:22: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.”

      Of course, Micaiah spoke the true prophecy: the battle was lost, and both kings were mortally wounded and died (1 Kings 22:29-40). Micaiah was the true prophet with the Spirit of the Lord.

      Study

       Elisha

      In our next passages, Elisha receives the Spirit of Elijah. When Elijah was at Mount Horeb (the northern dialect name for Sinai), listening to the Lord speak in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12), the Lord instructed him to choose Elisha as his successor. As the end of Elijah’s ministry approaches, the two prophets cross the Jordan.

      Stop here and read 2 Kings 2:9-18 in your own Bible.

      While the term “Spirit of the Lord” is not used, Elisha does make a request to “inherit a double share of your spirit” (2 Kings 2:9). This refers to being a “man of God,” a term used for Moses, Elijah, and Elisha because they were prophets who not only spoke God’s word but also were used to perform miracles. This was distinct from prophets who primarily spoke God’s words without miracles. On the assumption that the “spirit of Elijah” (2 Kings 2:15) is God’s Spirit, making it possible to speak God’s word and do miracles, Elisha picks up Elijah’s mantle, strikes the Jordan River with it, and says, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” (2 Kings 2:14). At that moment, the water parts, and Elisha crosses the river without getting wet.

      Speaking the word and seeing the miracle was proof that God had given Elisha “the spirit of Elijah,” making Elisha a man of God like Elijah. He would continue to prophesy and do miracles until his death, and even afterward.

       Bones of Saints

      2 Kings 13:20-21 is the text lying behind the use of the bones of saints as relics to bring healing:

      So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet. (RSV-SCE)

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