As often happens when studying various passages of Scripture simultaneously, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to new insights and correlations. It’s no wonder we say that the Word is alive!
I’m currently leading a weekly in-depth, verse-by-verse study of the book of Acts at my church, and for my own personal study and reflection, I am reading through the book of Isaiah. I love the juxtaposition of studying both Old and New Testament books at the same time. It’s like ham and eggs—different, but complementary! This morning, however, I ate an omelet!
Lemme ‘splain! No, there is too much… Lemme sum up:
A couple of days ago, I taught on the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-13. We observed that there were three external signs given to Jesus’ disciples as sensory evidence of the internal arrival and infilling of the Holy Spirit: Sound. Sight. Words.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 2:1-4
Insights from the Word
This morning I read Isaiah 32 which contains prophetic words concerning the “Kingdom of Righteousness” as well as a warning to the “women of Jerusalem.” Isaiah 32:1 says, “See, a king will reign in righteousness, and rulers will rule with justice.” This could be interpreted as a Messianic prophecy.
Then the eyes of them who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
The fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
Isaiah 32:3-4
I realize this is plucking a verse out of context; therefore, I am not going to force this to mean something it doesn’t. But there is no denying a strong correlation between the two passages: Sight. Sound. Words. And something happening internally—an increase of knowledge and understanding.
Was this a prophecy fulfilled at Pentecost? Possibly. One could postulate that the “king reigning in righteousness” is Jesus and that the “rulers ruling with justice” are the Twelve apostles sitting on thrones at the renewal of all things (cf. Matthew 19:28). Or, it’s just as possible that this prophecy has nothing to do with Pentecost.
Either way, though, these verses in Isaiah describe what happens when we receive and are filled with the Holy Spirit: We see things more clearly. We hear the Lord. We know and understand Him and His Word. And we are given words to speak the truth clearly to those who the Lord brings our way.
Amen, and amen.