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Session 3

Prophets and the Spirit of God

“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.”

— St. Augustine

A rather odd beginning to the study of the role of the Spirit of God among the prophets is Balaam the son of Beor, the first prophet mentioned in the Bible to have “the Spirit of God [come] upon him” (Num 24:2). What makes this so odd is that Balaam lived “at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw” (Num 22:5), which was ancient Pitru on the Euphrates River, twelve miles south of Carchemish, a city in the pagan region of Mesopotamia. In other words, Balaam was a pagan prophet who had been summoned by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel (Num 22:2-7).

At first, God forbids Balaam to go, but then, after King Balak sends a second delegation of even more important nobles to plead with him, God does permit it, on the condition that Balaam speak only what God gives him to say. On the way south to Moab, Balaam’s ass sees an angel blocking the road and stops his progress three times until Balaam can also see the angel. The angel repeats that Balaam can only speak what God tells him to say, and Balaam makes that point with Balak before offering sacrifices prior to speaking his words.

“A Seer of the Gods”

Balaam is the subject of a sixth century B.C. Aramaic text on a stone stela covered in white plaster, found at Tell Deir-Alla, a ruin on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River Valley. In that pagan text, Balaam is identified as a “seer of the gods,” who receives nighttime messages urging godless people to repent. This stela in a pagan city confirms that Balaam was a well-known prophet on the east side of the Jordan River, and his summons by the Moabite king is sensible enough.

Balaam speaks four different oracles, just as “the LORD put a word” in his mouth (Num 23:5). Each oracle is a blessing on Israel, rather than the curse sought by King Balak, prompting Balak’s growing anger and fear.

Stop here and read Numbers 23:27-30, 24:1-4, 10-14, and 25:5-9, 15-18 in your own Bible.

The Spirit of God then comes upon Balaam, and he takes “up his discourse” (Num 23:7). This description of Balaam receiving his fourth and final oracle begins with Balaam telling King Balak to prepare seven altars and sacrifices — a rejection of the typical pagan prophet looking for omens, such as patterns in the flight of birds or the position of the fat attached to the livers of the sacrificed animals, which was very popular in Mesopotamia and elsewhere. Instead, Balaam looks toward Israel’s camp, and “the Spirit of God came upon him” (Num 24:2). In the first two oracles, “the LORD put a word” in his mouth; here God’s Spirit comes upon him more directly. In that Spirit, Balaam “hears the words of God” and “sees the vision of the Almighty” (Num 24:4), and he then speaks the greatest of his four oracles blessing Israel. Even when Balak’s anger interrupts him, he continues on with even stronger words for Israel and against the pagan tribes of Moab, Sheth, and Seir.

Though Balaam was a pagan, he was subject to speaking the Lord’s words and to the influence of God’s Spirit. This will be the criterion of all true prophecies and prophets in Israel from Balaam forward.

Study

The Books of Samuel

The Spirit of God comes upon prophets only twice in the Books of Samuel, where the focus is much more on the role of the Spirit with the early kings Saul and David. On two occasions, the prophets do not speak oracles or give messages but act ecstatically. Both of these episodes were recorded primarily because they involved King Saul, once in a positive light and then in a negative light.

The first mention of the Spirit of the Lord is in 1 Samuel 10:5-7, immediately after Samuel the prophet anoints Saul king. Samuel gives three signs from God that Saul has been chosen as king (see 1 Sam 10:2-4 for the first two), the third of which speaks of Saul receiving the Spirit of the Lord to prophesy.

Stop here and read 1 Samuel 10:5-8 in your own Bible.

Saul is promised that the “Spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon” him, not so much to rule as to prophesy and “be turned into another man” — that is, enter an ecstatic state (1 Sam 10:6). Saul first receives the Spirit of the Lord to bestow prophetic ability on him as a sign that he is king. It is not at all directly related to his capacity to rule the people. This may be the case because the monarchy is such a new institution. Only later, in 1 Samuel 11:6, does the Spirit of the Lord come mightily upon Saul to empower him to be a king who rallies the tribes and leads them in battle to protect the town of Jabesh from Ammonite invaders coming from their main city (modern Amman — named after these Ammonites). In 1 Samuel 10:10-13, the Spirit of the Lord gives him ecstasy as a sign and nothing more lasting. Nothing is said about any words he prophesied. The only result is that the people observe it and make a proverb about their king entering the prophetic ecstasy, even though he is now accepted as their ruler.

A second similar experience occurs years later when Saul has been taken over by an evil spirit (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)

Consider

The Chronicler