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As I concluded in part one of this series, my goal is to get my online friends hooked on God's Word, and not just on me, or on my writings and personal intellect. Why? Because that is where our faith is derived from. So again, it is rather important that we make sure that we are promoting God's Word, and not just ourselves and our personal ideas. I am reminded of the following verse that was written by the Apostle Paul:

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."


I have mentioned before that if you visit a Christian website where all the author of that website does is talk a lot about himself and his own exploits, and rambles on and on preaching and teaching in his own words, and very rarely -- if ever -- quotes an actual verse from the Bible, watch out! Again, the Apostle Paul tells us the following:

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."


"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."


"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."


"For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."


So as I said, this is why I so heavily promote God's Word on the Bill's Bible Basics website, on my Facebook timeline, and on all of the other websites where I have a presence. I do not want you to make the same mistake that I made when I was a lot younger Christian. I do not want you to place the words of mere men above the actual Word of God. I want you to be thoroughly grounded in God's Word. After all, as King David was inspired to write:

". . . For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."


While we have gone off on one of my famous tangents -- I do hope that you have learned something from it -- it is time for us to return to our main discussion. To reiterate one of my key points, I am convinced that when an interpretation is Holy Spirit-inspired, everything just falls into place, and Scripture interprets Scripture. There is no need to try to force verses together which really don't belong together, so that they say what we want them to say. As we have already seen, this is precisely how the doctrines of men are created. In my view, it's one thing for us to be sincerely deceived by the teachings of others -- as I was for many years -- but it is quite another when we consciously go about to create false doctrines which we know do not conform to the Scriptures. As the Apostle James wrote, such "shall receive the greater condemnation."

As I was explaining earlier, as these different scenes from the Bible and various verses came into my mind over a matter of a few minutes, it was as if I was being given some new pieces of God's great jigsaw puzzle, and new colored threads were being added to the tapestry of my understanding, so that I could better grasp the mechanics of God's Spirit. It was not that I was not already familiar with these past events. Rather, it was in the fact that by being presented to me in chronological order one after the other, I began to see this particular pattern, and I began to better understand in at least a small degree how God's Spirit has operated over the course of Biblical history. Perhaps you have already seen it yourself as well.

Basically, what I came to understand through this particular experience, is that prior to the well-known outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which occurred on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, the Lord's Spirit seems to have operated in a somewhat different manner. In other words, my personal impression is that for the most part, God's Spirit abode in all its power upon one individual at a time. This may have been one of the Old Testament Patriarchs, a judge, a Prophet or a king. Let me give you a few examples which demonstrate this point rather clearly.

We all know that God chose Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. However, before this could even happen, it was first necessary for God to break Moses' pride, and purge his Egyptian upbringing out of him, by sending him into the crucible of the desert. It wasn't until about forty years later that Moses was finally ready for the great task for which he had been ordained by God. In fact, as you may recall, Moses had become such a humble, broken man, that when God called out to him from the Burning Bush, Moses was not the least bit interested in becoming the Great Deliverer of the Hebrew people, and he tried his best to persuade God that he was not the man for the job. Consider these verses that are found in Exodus chapters three and four:

"And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? . . . And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee . . . And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue . . . And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send."


Please note that my understanding of the last verse above is that Moses was basically saying "Lord, please don't send me. Send somebody else." That is why in the very next verse, we are told that God became angry with Moses. In other words, Moses was trying to tell God how to run His affairs:

"And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart."


In the end, the Pentateuch -- the first five Books of the Bible -- records that Moses did indeed return to the land of his birth, where after a great many terrifying signs being performed by the Lord, he freed the children of Israel from their cruel Egyptian oppressors. Moses was God's man for the hour. The Spirit of God rested upon him, and Moses' voice represented God's Voice on Earth during that time period. While there were other Prophets and leaders in the Hebrew camp, to my knowledge, none of them had the same powerful anointing as Moses.

In fact, as you will probably know, it was only Moses who ascended Mount Horeb -- or Mount Sinai -- on two occasions in order to receive the Commandments from the Lord. It was also only to Moses that the Lord appeared multiple times above the Mercy Seat in the tabernacle of the congregation. Later, this responsibility was passed to Aaron the high priest, and to his descendants. However, they were only allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once a year. Consider the following verses:

"And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."


"And thou shalt put it [the altar] before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee."


"And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door."


"And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat."


"And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him [the LORD], then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,"


As many of you will know, once Moses had completed his last mission for the Lord by leading the children of Israel to the eastern border of the land of Canaan, not far from the city of Jericho which lay across the Jordan River, he died on the mountain of Nebo at the summit of Pisgah, at the age of one hundred and twenty years. He was then secretly buried in an unknown valley in the land of Moab. Today, this region is a part of Jordan. Consider the following verses:

"But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see."


"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."


As we briefly read in the previous group of verses, prior to Moses' death, the Lord commanded him to pass the baton of leadership to Joshua, who was the son of Nun. You may recall that due to their murmuring and lack of faith when the spies returned from searching out the land of Canaan, aside from Moses himself, all of the older generation of the Israelites from twenty years old and up were condemned to die in the wilderness, save for Joshua, and Caleb, who was the son of Jephunneh. Consider the following verses:

"And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still."


So as I was saying, due to his faith and obedience to both the Lord and Moses, God commanded that Joshua be anointed as the new leader of Israel upon Moses' death. Not only was the political and military authority passed on to Joshua, but even more importantly, we are told that Moses laid his hands upon Joshua, and the spirit of wisdom was passed to him as well. Consider the following groups of verses where God Himself is encouraging Joshua:

"And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses."


"And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed."


"And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel."


"Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."


Thus we see that the concentration of spiritual power was passed from one man -- meaning Moses -- to one man -- that is, Joshua. While it is true that the high priest had his spiritual authority as well, Joshua was the de facto leader who had the anointing, just as Moses had the anointing; and it was Joshua who led the Israelites in their conquest of the land of Canaan for about the next forty years. Just as his predecessor Moses had done, Joshua completed his mission for the Lord, and died at the age of one hundred and ten, as we see by the following set of verses:

"And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:"


"So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel."


"And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel."


As we learn from the Scriptures, following the death of Moses and his generation, and the death of Joshua and his generation, there was a period during which the Israelites were ruled by judges. The first of these was Othniel, who was the son of Kenaz, who was the brother of Caleb. Other notable judges included Gideon, Deborah, Baruk and Samson. Each of these individuals received the Lord's spiritual anointing in their time.

Eventually, however, the period of the Prophets and kings arrived. Just as Moses had previously laid his hands upon Joshua in order to transfer his authority and spiritual anointing to him, it was likewise the job of the Prophets -- such as Samuel -- to anoint each new king with oil, which itself was symbolic of the Lord's spiritual anointing upon that particular king. It should be noted that Samuel was in fact both the last judge, as well as a Prophet.

As you may know, Saul was the first of the Israelite kings. As I explain in a few other articles, while it was not God's desire that the Israelites have an earthly king to rule over them, sadly, due to their stubbornness and hard-heartedness, God decided to grant them their request. Thus, the Prophet Samuel anointed Saul with olive oil. Sometime after that, the spiritual anointing falls upon Saul as well. Consider the following group of verses where the Lord instructs the Prophet Samuel to grant their misguided request:

"Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."


Despite the fact that the Prophet Samuel then described to the Israelites what kind of a ruthless king Saul would be, nevertheless, those stubborn people still insisted that they wanted an earthly king like the heathen nations around them. Thus, in obedience to the Lord, Samuel acquiesced to their desire, as we can determine by the following set of verses:

"Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city."


In the next two chapters, the LORD points out Saul to Samuel, and after Samuel has communed and dined with Saul for a bit, he eventually anoints Saul with oil, signifying that Saul is now to be the first king of Israel. Consider the following group of verses which verify these points:

"Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people."


"And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God . . . Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?"


Shortly after Samuel anoints Saul with oil, he informs Saul that soon the Spirit of the Lord will fall upon him, which is to signify that God is with Saul. That is exactly what happens, as we see by the following group of verses:

"After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee."


"And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place."


Sadly, as you may know, sometime later, Saul displeased the Lord when he leaned to his own understanding, and refused to destroy some of the enemies of Israel, as he had been instructed to do by Samuel. As a result, the Lord rejected Saul, as we can determine by the following set of verses:

"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou."


While Saul still ruled over Israel for forty years, we are told that God's Spirit -- meaning the anointing -- departed from him, and an evil spirit oppressed Saul instead. At the same time, the Lord instructed the Prophet Samuel to anoint a young shepherd boy named David as the next king of Israel. Thus we see that God's Spirit departed from one person, and settled upon another one instead -- meaning David -- when Samuel anointed David with oil, as we see by this group of verses:

"Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee."


Please go to part three for the conclusion of this series.

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