QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (116)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   Questions about the human body:

1.    How many particles of skin do we shed each year?  1.5 pounds

2.    How many scents can our brain remember?  50,000

3.    How fast does the air travel when you sneeze?  100 mph

4.    How many miles of blood vessels are found in the human body?  60,000 miles

5.    Who has the most hair?  Blondes?  Black hair?  Brown hair?  Red hair?  Blondes!

 

B.   Now that you know the answer to these questions, you are probably no better off.  You only have some interesting things to pass on, or, you have some facts you can go check out for yourself.

 

C.   Our Questions & Answers lessons are not designed to give you a few facts or conversation starters.  They are designed to help us understand the Bible, that is, God’s will for our lives.

 

D.   Today is the first Sunday of November.  We will be answering three questions in this lesson.

 

I.             QUESTION #1:  Holy Spirit’s Role in the Old Testament

 

A.   Stated:  What was the role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?

 

B.   We do not discuss the Holy Spirit enough.  Because of this, we fear Him.  We think He is mystical.  Too, we often forget that He is a divine being just like the Father and Son.

 

C.   There are several things we find the Holy Spirit doing in the Old Testament.

1.    He was active in the Creation.

a.    Genesis 1:2

 

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 

1)    Moved:

a)    Strong (7363):  to brood    :- flutter, move, shake

b)    BDB:  to hover

2)    Some believe that it was the Holy Spirit who instilled many of the powers that exist today into the Creation:  gravity, electricity, magnetism, nuclear, etc.

b.    There are two definite things the Spirit did in Creation.

1)    He garnished the heavens (Job 26:13).

 

By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens…

 

2)    He was part of instilling life into mankind (Job 33:4).

 

The Spirit of God hath made me…

 

2.    He was the one who inspired the Old Testament prophets both to speak and to write the message of God.

a.    Two verses:

1)    2 Samuel 23:2

 

The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

 

2)    2 Peter 1:21

 

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:  but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

 

b.    Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit did for the people of God what He does today:  guides, warns, promotes holiness, etc.

3.    He empowered men for specific tasks:

a.    Bezalel was filled with the Spirit to build the Tabernacle (Exo. 31:1-5).

b.    Samson received superhuman power to deliver Israel (Jud. 14:6)

c.    Gideon and Jephthah were given the Spirit to lead in battle (Judg. 6:34; 11:29).

4.    He assisted the leaders of Israel as they governed and guided the children of God.

a.    In Numbers 11:16, God told Moses:  “Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel…”

b.    In Numbers 11:17, God promised:  “And I will come down and talk with thee there:  and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them:  and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee…”

5.    The Holy Spirit empowered various individuals to work miracles in the Old Testament (Heb. 2:4).

 

God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.

 

a.    Moses brought ten plagues upon the nation of Egypt.

b.    Naaman was cured of leprosy.

c.    The resurrection of the son of the Shunammite woman.

6.    The Spirit pointed men to the Messiah to come.

a.    There are over 300 prophecies given by the Holy Spirit regarding the Messiah in the Old Testament.

b.    Isaiah 9:6

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:  and the government shall be upon his shoulder:  and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

c.    NOTE:  Prophecies like these were written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.  They are numerous.  They are minute.  They prove the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures.

 

II.           QUESTION #2:  Taking God Seriously

 

A.   Stated:  How do we convince individuals to take God more seriously?

 

B.   Answer:

1.    How seriously we take God is determined by the amount of faith we possess.

a.    Scripture is clear:  “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17).

b.    The more Scriptures I know.  The more Scriptures I truly believe.  The more Scriptures I apply.  The more I come to understand just how serious God really is about spiritual things.

c.    Transformation, worship, service, giving, good works, home life, our daily conversation, our speech, how we labor, our examples.  All of these are serious matters in the sight of God.

2.    We learn that God is serious, too, when we see individuals faced with a choice between hardship and death or ease and life.

a.    Joseph when he chose not to lie with Potipher’s wife.

b.    Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego when they refused to bow before the king’s image.

c.    Daniel when he continued to pray to his God when it was outlawed in the land of Babylon

d.    The apostles who continued to preach in the name of Jesus even though the Sanhedrin forbade them from doing so.

3.    We learn God is serious when we see His wrath poured out on those who rebel against his will.

a.    Moses and Aaron did not enter into the promised land because Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it.

b.    The man who picked up sticks was stoned.

c.    Nadab and Abihu were slain with fire from the Lord because they offered strange fire unto the Lord.

d.    Uzzah died before the Lord for touching the ark.

e.    Ananias and Sapphira died before the Lord for lying.

 

C.   Old Saying:  God says what He means and means what He says.

1.    Our opinion about something does not change the seriousness of God.

2.    Our defiance of something does not change the seriousness of God.

3.    Our aligning with the majority does not change the seriousness of God.

 

D.   Deuteronomy 10:12

 

And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

 

III.         QUESTION #3:  The Identity of Eunuchs

 

A.   Stated:  The Bible speaks of eunuchs.  How was the identity of these individuals known?

 

B.   The Bible’s use of the word “eunuch.”

1.    The word “eunuch” is found 2 times in the Old Testament and 5 times in the New Testament.

2.    The plural, “eunuchs,” is found 20 times in 16 verses in the Bible.

 

C.   A eunuch was a man who had been castrated.

1.    This reduces the sexual desires of the man.

2.    It also eliminates his ability to reproduce.

 

D.   Jesus gave three reasons why some became eunuchs in Matthew 19:12.

 

For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb:  and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men:  and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.  He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

 

1.    Some men were born with medical conditions that would not allow them to reproduce.

2.    Some men were made eunuchs by men.

a.    Punishment for crimes

b.    Subjection to a victorious nation after battle

c.    Requirements for positions of service:  the king’s harem or a servant to a queen

3.    Some were eunuchs for the kingdom’s sake.

a.    They may have gone through a surgical procedure to become a eunuch.

b.    They may have disciplined themselves to refrain from any sexual activity in order to remain faithful to God:  single men, divorcees, widowers.

 

E.   How did others know if a person was a eunuch?

1.    The position that an individual held in the household of a king or queen (Acts 8:27)

 

And he arose and went:  and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure…

 

2.    The individual could reveal his status to others if he so desired.

3.    If others were aware that one was a eunuch, they might reveal this to other individuals.

4.    The marital status of a person should reveal that he is a eunuch:  single, divorced, a widower.

5.    Physical traits might give them away:  lack of facial hair, less muscle, high voice tone, having no children (NOTE:  This could have been due to the barrenness of the woman).

6.    The inability of one to participate in the solemn assemblies of Israel (Deut. 23:1)

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   We have gained a little bit deeper perspective of the Holy Spirit’s role in the Old Testament.

 

B.   We have been reminded that God is serious when it comes to the service that we are to render to Him.

 

C.   We have looked at a special group of people mentioned in the Bible who were known as eunuchs.