As we continue "Counting the Omer" we arrive at Day #9. There are 9 Fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control (Galatians 5:22-23), thus the number 9 symbolizes divine completion. Christ died on the Cross at the 9th hour (3:00 pm in modern time); the time when He "gave up the ghost" and uttered His final words before facing death:
Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." And when He had said this, He breathed His last.
~ Luke 23:46
Maybe our global preoccupation with supernatural apparitions makes the term "Holy Ghost" seem so terrifying to children when actually, He is a beautiful transcendent expression of sensing God's presence or nearness. The term "Holy Spirit" is a better translation into modern language than "Holy Ghost" from the Hebrew term "Ruach HaKodesh."
See the excerpt below from WikiPedia:
In Judaism, the references to The Spirit of God, or "Ruach HaKodesh, abound. The term ruach ha-kodesh(Hebrew: רוח הקודש, "Holy Spirit" also transliterated ruah ha-qodesh) occurs once in Psalm 51:11 and also twice in the Book of Isaiah. Those are the only three times that the precise phrase "ruach hakodesh" is used in the Hebrew Scriptures, although the noun ruach (רוח, literally "breath" or "wind") in various combinations, some referring to God's "Spirit", is used often. The noun ruach, much like the English word breath, can mean either wind or some invisible moving force.
In the Greek, the Holy Spirit is defined by the word "Paraclete", see Wikipedia description below:
Paraclete comes from the Koine Greek word παράκλητος (paráklētos, that can signify "one who consoles or comforts, one who encourages or uplifts; hence refreshes, and/or one who intercedes on our behalf as an Advocate in court."
Ask someone you love dearly to do this exercise: Shut your eyes and then ask them to put their face as close as possible to your face without physically touching your skin or making a sound. You will definitely be able to sense their presence even without any other sensory clues. Now, imagine this Presence as the greatest Comforting feeling you have ever experienced. That is the nearest I can come to explaining the Presence of the Holy Spirit to those who haven't yet had a "close encounter" with the Almighty.
In an earlier devotional, we outlined the triune nature of God. The Father, the Son (Word made flesh) and the Holy Spirit are One and the same God, but different essences ("ousias") of our ONE God. This should be a concept that is easy for us to grasp since we readily accept that human beings are also comprised of three parts: body, mind and soul. Since, the scriptures tell us that we are created in the image of God, this tri-unity ought to make perfect sense to us.
However, it brings up this question: WHY does God express Himself in three different ways? I'm not sure I can be so presumptuous as to answer this question for the Maker of the Universe, but I can answer it from the perspective of why I believe we need all three:
1. The God of the Old Testament is The Lawgiver. The Judge. He is forceful, huge and intimidating. This essence of God allows us to understand Law and Justice. We learn right from wrong and the serious consequences of not obeying. We learn a "fear of the Lord" which is the necessary requirement for the beginning of all wisdom.
2. Christ the Messiah, The Word, is represented in the humble bodily Personage of Yeshua. Now, He is someone we can all relate to. Jesus represents Mercy. The Word is the manifestation or transmission of lawful living. Jesus does not come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it.
3. The Holy Spirit is required for "rehabilitation." It is His Power placed within us to overcome and to change for the better. As Law-breakers, we need to be rehabilitated from the Adamic fallen world.
Thus, we need all three: Justice, Mercy and Rehabilitation operating in our lives for the completion of Salvation to escape the prison of this fallen world. We need ALL of our Triune God in order to be released and set free!
This reminds me of the following story. A little boy was huddled under his covers one evening during an unusually loud thunderstorm. He struggled to be brave, but finally he cried out to his parents in the next room:
"
Mom, Dad...can I come and sleep with you? His dad replied: No, son...you'll be fine. But I'm scared! Go back to sleep...Just ask God to watch over you. Where is He? I can't see Him. God is everywhere--He will protect you. Just go back to sleep. A minute or so passed by with more thunder and lightening: Hey Dad? Yes son? I think I need somebody with some skin on."
Ah yes...we can feel this little boy's angst!
I don't know if the colloquialism "Give me some skin" is still popular anymore, but it was very prevalent when I was growing up. God was willing to "give us some skin" when He came as our Messiah, Jesus Christ.
For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
~ Hebrews 4:15 (Berean Study Bible)
Although Jesus IS the perfect physical embodiment of God Almighty (Col 2:9), even He acknowledged that the Holy Spirit was Who was needed after His resurrection:
Nevertheless, I tell you the Truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter [Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
~ John 16:7
When God became Man in the person of Jesus, He willingly took on physical limitations. We don't see Jesus cloning Himself and showing up in 50 places at once while in the flesh. Jesus knew that each "temple" of man would ultimately need the Light of the Presence of God (the Holy Spirit) to abide within them if there was any hope of becoming "more than conquerors" to this present world of darkness.
As we "Count the Omer" from Passover to Pentecost, let's pray for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. In the Final Days, God promised to pour out His Spirit upon us:
In the last days, God says, I will pour our My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. And everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.
~ Acts 2:17-18, 21
Any other conclusion is truly scary.
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
~ 2 Peter 2:20
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, You told us through Your Holy Word that when we are too grieved in spirit to pray, groaning in grief and without words, that Your Holy Spirit would pray for us. We find ourselves in that position today dear Lord. Help us as we go through this time of spiritual mourning. The earth is rocked with the labor pains that you told us in advance was to be a signal of Your soon return. As we long for Your 2nd physical return, strengthen our inner heart, soul and spirit with the strength to endure and persevere. Instruct us to not become entangled again with the pollutions of the world but to set our minds on the Heavenly Kingdom that is soon to arrive. We pray this prayer in the Name above all names, the King above all kings, the Lord above all lords...Yeshua our great God and Savior.
~Amen.
