DID YOU KNOW: Where was the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

Where was the Holy Spirit in the times of the Old Testament?

We previously discussed where Jesus was before the New Testament, but it is even more logical to ask that question about the Holy Spirit.  Jesus and the Apostles are very clear that the Holy Spirit is God and is part of the Trinity (along with the Father and Jesus, the Son).  If that is the case, why did it take until the New Testament to learn about Him?

But it turns out that - like Jesus - the Holy Spirit is all over the Old Testament, once you know what to look for.  The first mention is Genesis 1:2.

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  (Genesis 1:2 ESV)

And it pops up again just a few chapters later in Genesis 6:1-3.

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in[a] man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:1-3 ESV)

The "Spirit of God" or "God's Spirit" or "My Spirit" appears all over the Old Testament.  The last reference is in Malachi 2:15.

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. (Malachi 2:15 ESV)

So, if the Holy Spirit appeared all over the Old Testament, what the special significance of Pentecost?  Before this event, the Holy Spirit would endwell or empower just one person at a time.  For instance, it came upon King Saul when he was anointed king of Israel by Samuel, but then left him and eventually came upon King David when he was anointed king.  After Pentecost, anyone who became a Christian received the Holy Spirit, and could be empowered by Him.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Anytime you think the Old Testament and the new Testament might be in conflict, check again!

DID YOU KNOW: *More* Biblical Stats

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What are some MORE interesting statistics about the Bible?

People seemed to enjoy the first list of interesting stats about the Bible, so here's a follow-up with even more statistics for your ledger.

• Number of books in the Bible: 66 
• Chapters: 1,189 
• Verses: 31,101 
• Words: 783,137 
• Letters: 3,566,480 
• Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260 
• Commands: 6,468 
• Predictions: over 8,000 
• Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses
• Number of times the word "God" appears: 3,358 
• Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 7,736 
• Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200

DID YOU KNOW: Some Biblical Stats

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What are some interesting statistics about the Bible?

The Bible is a long book (or rather collection of books) and has been around for a long time, so scholars have had plenty of time to crunch the numbers.

• About 50 Bibles are sold every minute.
• There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
• The 66 books of the Bible is divided into 1,189 chapters consisting of 31,173 verses. 
• The Old Testament has 929 chapters, the New Testament 260.
• The longest line in the Bible is Esther 8:9 - 89 words, 425 letters. 
• The longest word in the Bible is Maher-shalal-hash-baz: Isaiah 8:1.
• The shortest verse in the NIV Bible is John 11:35: "Jesus wept."
• The longest book chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, the shortest is Psalm 117.
• There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after it. 
• Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: "It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man."
• Obadiah, with 21 verses consisting of 602 words, is the shortest book in the Old Testament, and the third shortest in the Bible.
• II John has the fewest number of verses of any book in the Bible - it is the shortest book in the Bible.
• III John has the fewest number of words of any book in the Bible.
• Job is the oldest book written in the Bible - it was written by an unknown Israelite around 1500 BC.

DID YOU KNOW: Where was the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

Where was the Holy Spirit in the times of the Old Testament?

We previously discussed where Jesus was before the New Testament, but it is even more logical to ask that question about the Holy Spirit.  Jesus and the Apostles are very clear that the Holy Spirit is God and is part of the Trinity (along with the Father and Jesus, the Son).  If that is the case, why did it take until the New Testament to learn about Him?

But it turns out that - like Jesus - the Holy Spirit is all over the Old Testament, once you know what to look for.  The first mention is Genesis 1:2.

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  (Genesis 1:2 ESV)

And it pops up again just a few chapters later in Genesis 6:1-3.

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in[a] man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:1-3 ESV)

The "Spirit of God" or "God's Spirit" or "My Spirit" appears all over the Old Testament.  The last reference is in Malachi 2:15.

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. (Malachi 2:15 ESV)

So, if the Holy Spirit appeared all over the Old Testament, what the special significance of Pentecost?  Before this event, the Holy Spirit would endwell or empower just one person at a time.  For instance, it came upon King Saul when he was anointed king of Israel by Samuel, but then left him and eventually came upon King David when he was anointed king.  After Pentecost, anyone who became a Christian received the Holy Spirit, and could be empowered by Him.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Anytime you think the Old Testament and the new Testament might be in conflict, check again!

DID YOU KNOW: *More* Biblical Stats

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What are some MORE interesting statistics about the Bible?

People seemed to enjoy the first list of interesting stats about the Bible, so here's a follow-up with even more statistics for your ledger.

• Number of books in the Bible: 66 
• Chapters: 1,189 
• Verses: 31,101 
• Words: 783,137 
• Letters: 3,566,480 
• Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260 
• Commands: 6,468 
• Predictions: over 8,000 
• Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses
• Number of times the word "God" appears: 3,358 
• Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 7,736 
• Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200

DID YOU KNOW: Some Biblical Stats

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What are some interesting statistics about the Bible?

The Bible is a long book (or rather collection of books) and has been around for a long time, so scholars have had plenty of time to crunch the numbers.

• About 50 Bibles are sold every minute.
• There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
• The 66 books of the Bible is divided into 1,189 chapters consisting of 31,173 verses. 
• The Old Testament has 929 chapters, the New Testament 260.
• The longest line in the Bible is Esther 8:9 - 89 words, 425 letters. 
• The longest word in the Bible is Maher-shalal-hash-baz: Isaiah 8:1.
• The shortest verse in the NIV Bible is John 11:35: "Jesus wept."
• The longest book chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, the shortest is Psalm 117.
• There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after it. 
• Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: "It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man."
• Obadiah, with 21 verses consisting of 602 words, is the shortest book in the Old Testament, and the third shortest in the Bible.
• II John has the fewest number of verses of any book in the Bible - it is the shortest book in the Bible.
• III John has the fewest number of words of any book in the Bible.
• Job is the oldest book written in the Bible - it was written by an unknown Israelite around 1500 BC.

DID YOU KNOW: *More* Biblical Stats

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What are some MORE interesting statistics about the Bible?

People seemed to enjoy the first list of interesting stats about the Bible, so here's a follow-up with even more statistics for your ledger.

• Number of books in the Bible: 66 
• Chapters: 1,189 
• Verses: 31,101 
• Words: 783,137 
• Letters: 3,566,480 
• Number of promises given in the Bible: 1,260 
• Commands: 6,468 
• Predictions: over 8,000 
• Fulfilled prophecy: 3,268 verses
• Number of times the word "God" appears: 3,358 
• Number of times the word "Lord" appears: 7,736 
• Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200

DID YOU KNOW: Some Biblical Stats

"DID YOU KNOW?" will be a summer series where we review issues of the Bible and the Christian faith of special interest. If you have a suggestion/question that you'd like addressed in a "DID YOU KNOW?" segment, please e-mail the coaches.

What are some interesting statistics about the Bible?

The Bible is a long book (or rather collection of books) and has been around for a long time, so scholars have had plenty of time to crunch the numbers.

• About 50 Bibles are sold every minute.
• There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
• The 66 books of the Bible is divided into 1,189 chapters consisting of 31,173 verses. 
• The Old Testament has 929 chapters, the New Testament 260.
• The longest line in the Bible is Esther 8:9 - 89 words, 425 letters. 
• The longest word in the Bible is Maher-shalal-hash-baz: Isaiah 8:1.
• The shortest verse in the NIV Bible is John 11:35: "Jesus wept."
• The longest book chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, the shortest is Psalm 117.
• There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after it. 
• Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: "It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man."
• Obadiah, with 21 verses consisting of 602 words, is the shortest book in the Old Testament, and the third shortest in the Bible.
• II John has the fewest number of verses of any book in the Bible - it is the shortest book in the Bible.
• III John has the fewest number of words of any book in the Bible.
• Job is the oldest book written in the Bible - it was written by an unknown Israelite around 1500 BC.