| Christian Life and Doctrine | January 1974 |
The Spirit on All Flesh
“The Spirit [shall] be poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.” —Isaiah 32:15-17
WE HAVE seen that the Spirit, or power of God, has continued to operate in connection with the accomplishment of his purposes with respect to the earth ever since the completion of that tremendous work of creation to prepare our planet for human habitation. We read that even when the earth was still empty and void “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”—Gen. 1:2
In the case of the inanimate things of creation, God’s Spirit, or power, operates arbitrarily to accomplish his purposes; but in the case of man, created in his own image, it operates upon the basis of adequate instructions pertaining to the divine will under any given circumstance or circumstances. It may exercise influence in the heart of an individual, or a group of individuals, to move in a general course, but always upon the basis of imparted information.
The information concerning the will of God is often referred to in the Scriptures as his “Word,” and the imparting of that Word is sometimes described by the expression, “Thus saith the Lord.” At times this expression might refer to a message he gave to a prophet to deliver to his people; at other times—in Old Testament history—God frequently spoke to his people through an angel.
Throughout the age of the prophets God was causing his Word to be recorded in a permanent form, and these writings we now call the Old Testament. Beginning with New Testament times the Lord used his Spirit-inspired prophets to set forth his will on all points pertaining to their association with him in the divine plan. Thus we could refer to both the Old and New Testaments as “scripture given by the inspiration of God,” and the Apostle Paul wrote, “All scripture given by inspiration of God [inspired by the Holy Spirit], is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”—II Tim. 3:16,17
Will Not Return Void
The Lord’s Word describes the Creator’s grand design on behalf of mankind as a work of reconciliation. Man, in the beginning, transgressed divine law, and thus through sin became alienated from his Creator. But God in his love made provision for man’s restoration to his favor, and that provision is through Christ. Paul wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”—II Cor. 5:19
God’s enthusiasm for this provision for reconciliation which he was prompted by his love to make, and of its ultimate and full accomplishment, is set forth beautifully in Isaiah 55:6-11. We quote:
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
The Earth Filled with God’s Glory
In Isaiah 6:1-3 we are presented with a prophecy which reveals that eventually the glory of the Lord will fill the earth. But this is a prophecy—not a description of conditions as they existed then, or actually exist in the earth today. Another prophecy which emphasizes a similar thought pertains to the great future part which Jesus will play in the Creator’s grand design, and reads, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear [reverence] of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”—Isa. 11:1-9
Here we have described a beautiful atmosphere of righteousness and peace in God’s holy “mountain,” or kingdom, and it is shown to prevail throughout the earth because of the righteous rulership of the Branch which grows out of the root of Jesse. This is none other than Jesus, the righteous Ruler, in his millennial kingdom, in which his faithful followers of the present time will live and reign with him. It will be a righteous rulership because “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.”
The Spirit of the Lord will radiate from Jesus, and from all who participate in that future kingdom, and in due time will fill the whole earth. It will not only be exemplified in the righteous rulership of the millennial kingdom, but will reach the people through the Word of the Lord which then will be made known to all mankind. The prophecy of Isaiah 2:2,3 emphasizes this. Here again the messianic kingdom is likened to a mountain—the mountain of the Lord—and concerning it we read:
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
In Micah 4:1-4 we have a similar prophecy to the one quoted above in which the Lord’s mouthpiece enlarges upon the thought of learning the Lord’s ways and walking in his paths, as a result of the Word of the Lord which will then go forth from symbolic Jerusalem. He explains that as a result of learning the Lord’s ways they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; that nations will no longer lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Here is another result of the influence of God’s Holy Spirit operating throughout the earth. Truly that will be a blessed time!
The Words of the Lord Not Now Clear to All
The words, or instructions, of the Lord have gone forth to his own people in a limited way throughout the centuries. The humble of heart, in the spirit of obedience, have been guided by them. Micah 6:8 speaks of those who “walk humbly with their God.” We walk humbly with our God when, in full devotion, we accept his will for us as outlined in his Word, and do that will regardless of what the cost might be to us.
But in all the ages there have been those who have professed to be God’s people, yet who have not at all times walked humbly with him. The result of this has been that they have failed to have a clear perception of his will and plan for them. They have not been guided by the Lord’s Holy Spirit. Some of those in this category are mentioned in Isaiah 29:9. We quote:
“Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry; they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink; for the Lord hath poured upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: your prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men delivered to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee, and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.”—vss. 9-12
Then, through the prophet, the Lord speaks of these people turning things upside down, and teaching the people to fear rather than love him. The learned man, the professor, the one who is trained to know God and his will, insists that he is unable to read the “book” because it is sealed. The unlearned man simply makes a plea of ignorance. He had looked up to the learned and they had failed him, and now he is helpless. The understanding of their wise and prudent men shall come to naught, but the message of God’s will as contained in the “book” will not fail. As the Bible declares, it shall not return unto the Lord void, but shall, in his own due time and way, accomplish all his good purposes.
The Book Opened
This prophecy carries through to a time when the “book” that is once sealed is opened: “Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.”—vss. 17,18
Notice chapter 32:15, which also speaks of a time when the wilderness shall become “a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted as a forest.” It is then that the Lord pours out his Spirit from on high; and it is as a result of this that the spiritually blind and deaf see and hear the words of the “book.” In other words, that will be the time when, the knowledge of the Lord filling the earth, his ways will be made plain to all mankind, and they will rejoice in his wisdom, justice, love, and power.
That will be the time also when, as Isaiah assures us, the “meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” (ch. 29:19) Isaiah continues: “For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.”—vss. 20,21
The “terrible one” who is brought low, according to this prophecy, could well be Satan, the Devil. He has been a great oppressor of the people, and also the deceiver of all nations. In the 20th chapter of Revelation, which is one of the “kingdom” chapters of the Bible, we are told of a mighty angel which comes down from heaven and binds Satan, that he might deceive the nations no more. This will, in no small way, prepare for the dissemination of the truth of God’s will in the hearts and minds of the people and enable them to understand the true knowledge of God—the “pure language” which he will then turn to the people.”—Zeph. 3:9
“Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither will has face now wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” (vss. 22-24) Yes, that will be the time when the people shall come to a true understanding of the Lord; they will learn “doctrine,” or teachings—the true teachings of God’s will for them—with no one permitted to deceive.
The restoration of Israel as a people, together with the restitution of all the families of the earth, takes place during the millennial reign of Christ. And while many of them are regathered to their land prior to this, and in preparation for it, in God’s due time he will pour out his Spirit upon them and they will have understanding and life. The Lord foretold: “When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.”—Ezek. 39:27-29
The Books Opened
Revelation 20:12 depicts a judgment day scene in which again the impartation of knowledge is symbolized by the opening of books. This is the judgment day of the world—a thousand years in length—the judgment day of the church having already passed. The work of judging the church has progressed during the present Gospel era, and those found worthy will live and reign with Christ in his kingdom, and will be co-judges with him.
The text in question reads: “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened.” This does not mean a literal standing up in an open field. The thought is, rather, of having a standing before God and being dealt with by him through Christ. And when this becomes true the “books” will be opened, and the dead will be “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
The language here is very clear, and two things are mentioned; first, the things written in the books; and second, the works of the people which, it is clear, must be made to conform to the things written in the books. And then there is another book, “the book of life.” Those who, through obedience to the things written in the opened books, pass the tests of the judgment day, have their names enrolled in the book of life. In other words, while they all died in Adam, they are now made alive in Christ.
And this will include more than merely those who will be living at the time the judgment-day work begins, for as we continue reading the prophecy we find that the dead also are brought upon the scene: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” (vs. 13) We rejoice in this blessed hope for the world of mankind. How they will rejoice to gain a true knowledge of God and his will for them through the opened “books”!
In Their Hearts
But this will be more than a “head knowledge” of God’s plan and will for the people. In Jeremiah 31:31-34 we are told of a time when a “new covenant” will be made, first with Israel, and then with all mankind. It is a beautiful description of what the pouring out of God’s Spirit upon mankind will ultimately mean, the Spirit being imparted to them through a true knowledge of God. We quote:
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The full carrying out of this promise during the thousand-year reign of Christ will mean the restoration of the human race to the perfection lost by the disobedience of our first parents, and the restoration of the divine image in man as it was at the beginning. How glorious it will be for all mankind, then, when God’s Spirit is poured out from on high!