THE SPIRIT IN THE PROPHETS 123 Third, there is also the Divine operation in a region. perhaps somewhat higher, being one in human experience and history. This embraces those cases in which extraordinary feats of strength and daring are referred to the Spirit of God. Thus the Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, and he judged Israel and went out to war (Judg. iii. 10); upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abiezer was gathered unto him (vi. 34); upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead against the children of Ammon (xi. 29); on Samson, and he rent the lion in pieces as one rends a kid (xiv. 6); on Saul, when the Ammonites besieged Jabesh-Gilead, and his anger was kindled exceedingly (1 Sam. ii. 6). Some of these cases may be referred to again. What struck the beholder in these cases was the presence of a power and efficiency superhuman. These heroes were acted upon, and showed a power not their The power of acting on them was God-the Spirit own. of God. This And perhaps to this division belongs the ascription of prophecy at first to the Spirit of God. The early prophets, as we see from what is related in connection with Saul, were the subjects of a lofty enthusiasm, which sometimes became an uncontrollable excitation or ecstasy. visible external affection of the prophet was probably what attracted attention and was ascribed to the Spirit of God, i.e. the inspiration of which the excitation was the symptom was due to the Spirit of God. I do not allude here to any question whether or how God was present with these prophets. I merely say that it was probably the phenomenon of excitation which was observed, and which suggested and the immaterial element in man. And it may seem that it was this latter that God breathed. I have never been able to see my way through these two uses of in the Old Testament. The point of union between them is, I think, here, that is spoken of the immaterial part when special reference is made to vitality. I think when the phraseology I have referred to that of the spirit being taken, was used the question was not pursued where it went. Later the question was asked, as in Ecclesiastes: "Who knows whether the spirit of man goeth up, and the spirit of beast goeth down?" (iii. 21). On the exegesis adopted above the connection between the Spirit of God and life or vitality in the creature is evident. to the observer the presence of God-the Spirit of God. It is probable that it was the external excitation and elevation of the prophet that was described as the effect of the Spirit of God, and not as yet anything ethical or spiritual in the contents of what the prophets uttered. We may infer this from the remarkable passage in 1 Sam. xviii. 10, where it is said that an "evil spirit of God fell upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house." In later times, when prophecy threw off this excitation and became an ethical intercourse of the mind of man with God, a thing almost normal,-as in the case. of Jeremiah, who repudiates all such things as prophetic dreams, and claims for the prophet simple entrance into the counsel of God, the phraseology formed in earlier days still remained, but with another sense. The prophet is still called in Hosea the man' of the Spirit'; and Micah says in significant language: "Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord . . . to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sin (iii. 8). The power which seemed formerly physical had now become moral. Fourth, there is the same in the sphere of intellectual gifts. "There is a spirit in man," says Elihu, and "the breath of the Almighty giveth him understanding." Intellectual powers are regarded as the product of God's Spirit, i.e. of God. Artistic skill, as in the case of Bezaleel, is ascribed to the Spirit of the Lord. Fifth, so, too, in the sphere particularly of moral life. All the religious emotions and vitality of man, the endowments which we call spiritual, are said to be due to the Spirit of God. Hence the Psalmist prays: "Take not Thy holy Spirit from me" (li. 11), which is almost equal to a prayer that his mind may not cease to be religious, to have thoughts of God, and aspirations towards God. Of course, connected with this, the Spirit of God is the source of all theocratic forces or capacities in the mind of man. Here God is personally most active; here He communicates Himself in most fulness. Hence the prophet is full of might by the Spirit of Jehovah to declare to Israel his THE SPIRIT OF JEHOVAH 125 sins (Mic. iii. 8). And the Messiah has poured out on him the Spirit of Jehovah, not only as a spirit of the fear of the Lord, but as a spirit of wisdom and government (Isa. xi. 2). This is by far the largest of the various spheres. But it is familiar, and it is not necessary to enlarge upon it. Now, perhaps this slight induction might justify the general remark that the Spirit of God is, so to speak, the constant accompaniment of God, the reflection of God. The Spirit of Jehovah is Jehovah Himself—the source of life of all kinds, of the quickening of the mind in thought, in morals, in religion, particularly the last. God is all, and all comes from Him. The ideas, God and Spirit of God, are parallel, and cover one another. This calling what is really God by the term the Spirit of God, is the strongest proof that the idea of the spirituality of God underlay the idea of God; just as 'the spirit of man' indicated that in man spirit is the main element. Hence, whatever development we may trace in the Old Testament in the doctrine of God, there will be a corresponding development in that of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God being God in operation, an advance on the conception of God, a tendency to give the thought of God a prevailing direction, as, e.g., the ethical or redemptive, will be followed, or rather accompanied, by the same advance and tendency in regard to the Spirit of God. And here perhaps a distinction should be alluded to which no doubt is connected with such a tendency-the distinction between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the Lord, or Jehovah. The distinction has no bearing on general principles, inasmuch as Jehovah is God under a certain aspect. But the aspect is important. Jehovah is God as God of Israel, God as King of the redemptive kingdom of God in Israel. And the Spirit of the Lord is the Lord operating as redemptive God in Israel. This very idea in itself gave a particular direction to the thought of God, and therefore to that of the Spirit of God. ethical and spiritual naturally came to the front. The Holy Spirit' occurs very Spirit given to men such as Gideon, Jephthah, and others was this theocratic redemptive Spirit; it was Jehovah operating in men for redemptive purposes-saving and ruling His people. And the Spirit of prophecy became almost exclusively ethical. And, of course, the further down we come the more this conception of God, and consequently of the Spirit of God, became the prevailing one, until it became almost the exclusive one. The Spirit of God under the name of the rarely, only three times in the Old Testament, in Ps. li. and twice in Isa. lxiii. Both these compositions may be late. Judging from usage, e.g. holy hill, holy city, holy place, holy arm, etc., which mean hill of God, city of God, etc., the phrase 'Holy Spirit' probably at first merely meant Divine Spirit, Spirit of God, emphasising the fact that He was the Spirit of God. But, of course, as the ethical being of God more and more became prominent, the same advance in the ethical quality of the Spirit also took place, and the expression Holy Spirit was specially employed to express this idea. The general conclusion which seems to follow from these things is: that the Spirit of God ab intra is God active, showing life and power, of the kinds similar to those exhibited by the spirit of man in man; that the Spirit of God ab extra is God in efficient operation, whether in the cosmos or as giving life, reinforcing life, exerting efficiency in any sphere, according to the nature of the sphere, whether physical, intellectual, or spiritual; and that the tendency towards limiting the Spirit of God to the ethical and spiritual spheres is due to the tendency to regard God mainly on those sides of His being. 4. What the Spirit is. But now, on the second question, What is the Spirit of God of which the above things are said? If the Spirit of God be God exercising power or efficiency, does He work it per se or per alium? Is the Spirit of God numerically QUESTION OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE SPIRIT 127 another, distinct from God in the Old Testament? This question is exceedingly difficult to answer. Of course, the language used, whether of the Spirit of God ab intra or ab extra, might be used, and no doubt is used now, to express the conception of the Spirit as a distinct person. But it is doubtful if any Old Testament passage can be found which requires this sense; and it is doubtful if any passage of the Old Testament has this sense, if by the sense of the Old Testament we mean the sense intended by the writers of the Old Testament. It should be said further, that the idea of the personality of the Spirit is not one that we should expect to be prominent in the Old Testament. For we have to start from the idea that the Spirit of the Lord is the Lord-not an influence from Him, but the Lord Himself. This is the first step to any just doctrine of the personality of the Spirit. The Old Testament, however, seems to teach these things: (a) The Spirit of God is always something, as we say, supernatural, and it is always God. The Spirit of God is not an influence exerted by God at a point from which He is Himself distant. God is always present in the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is God actually present and in operation. And this lays the foundation for the New Testament doctrine. (b) The Spirit of God is not a substance communicated to man. The Old Testament knows nothing of a spiritual substance. God is not any where called a Spirit in the Old Testament: He has a Spirit; but Spirit is not a substance. It is an energy. The various figures used of the communication of the Spirit, as to fall on, to pass on, to rest on, and the like, express either the supernaturalness of the gift, or its suddenness and power, or its abiding influence. One peculiar expression is used, the Spirit of God clothed him, implying the complete enveloping of all the human faculties in the Divine. This phrase is still used by the Mohammedans. When they whirl or jerk their heads back and forward till they fall down in a faint, then they are clothed.' The |