Issue 54> 02 December 2002
  This site is updated weekly Sun, 29 December, 2002 11:36 PM
DARE TO PRAY
When I was a young Christian, I had always wanted to be able to pray like Abraham, interceding for Lot on the afternoon before the Lord departed from his tent and sent His two angels to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy those two cities. Genesis 18: 16 - 33 gives us an account of how Abraham took it upon himself and started to negotiate with the Lord to spare the two cities.

The Lord visited Abraham and Sarah with His two angels and after a hearty meal, as they were leaving, the Lord lingered on a while longer and was contemplating whether He should let Abraham His friend know the reason why He came to Earth. The Lord enjoyed Abraham's company so much that He was even willing to share with him what was on His heart.
"Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; an d if not, I will know," said the Lord. Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. (Genesis 18: 20 - 22)
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6 So the Lord said, "If
you have faith as a
mustard seed, you can
say to this mulberry tree,
"Be pulled up by the
roots and be planted in
the sea,' and it would
obey you."
Luke 17 : 6 NKJV

10 "And the ransomed
of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with
singing, with everlasting
joy on their heads. They
shall obtain joy and
gladness, and sorrow
and sighing shall
flee away."
Isaiah 35:10 NKJV
Hard Sayings of the Bible ( IVP Press)

Psalms 51:11-12: Who Is the Old Testament Holy Spirit?

Are we to suppose that the Holy Spirit of Psalm 51 is the same Holy Spirit to which the New Testament refers? Or is an understanding of the Holy Spirit too advanced for the state of revelation under the older covenant?

Few doctrines suffer more from neglect of the Old Testament data than the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Even those scholars who do consider some of the Old Testament evidence quickly summarize it and use it merely as a jumping-off point to address the main pieces of evidence, which are assumed to be in the New Testament.

However, if that is so, why is it that Jesus expected Nicodemus, in John 3, to know about the person and work of the Holy Spirit? Where could this "teacher of the Jews" have gained such a doctrine if the Old Testament has such a paucity of teaching on this theme? There are only three uses of the complete expression "Holy Spirit" in the Old Testament: Psalm 51:11 and Isaiah 63:10 and 11. The most common Hebrew term is ruah, appearing 378 times and translated variously as "wind," "spirit," "direction," "side" and some half-dozen other words.


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A Little More on the Land of Israel (coming soon!)


 
All references taken from RBC, Pat Robertson, Ron Rhodes, Kenneth/Gloria Copeland, Charles Slagle, Smith Wigglesworth, Selwyn Hughes, Charles Spurgeon, Manners and Customs of Bible Times, The Complete Bible Handbook, The Spirit Filled Bible(NKJV), The NIV Bible, God's Promises for your every Need, Idiot's Guide to Bible Mysteries, Hard Sayings of The Bible, Articles courtesy of Mr Andrew L W Lee.