(Symbols of the Holy Spirit - Part 1 | Part 2)
In the first part of this study we looked at several symbols of the Holy Spirit: the dove, fire, oil and the cloud. In this second half we will continue to look at other symbols.
Water
The Scripture: John 7:37-39
"On the...greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood up and said...'lf anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me...streams of Living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."
1. What did Jesus say on the greatest day of the Feast?
2. What will happen to anyone who believes in Him?
3. What did He mean by streams of living water?
4. Why had the Spirit not yet been given?
The Scripture: John 4:7-26
This is the account of Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman. Jesus had stopped by a well when a woman approached. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. When she showed her surprise that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan, He said if she knew who He was she would have asked Him and received living water. Jesus said whoever drank of His living water would never thirst again. He described the water as a "spring of water welling up to eternal life." Of course, the woman was very impressed and after talking more to Jesus decided He was a prophet. They spoke about the coming Messiah and then Jesus said, "I who speak to you am He."
The woman returned to her village and told everyone about her encounter with Jesus. The people were so impressed that they urged Him to stay for two more days. Because of this encounter and Jesus' testimony, "many of the Samaritans...believed in Him."
5. What did Jesus say the Samaritan woman would have asked for if she had known who He was?
6. How did He describe His water?
7. When they spoke of the Messiah what did Jesus say?
8. Because of this encounter and Jesus' testimony what happened?
Personal Question:
- Before Jesus found us and poured His Holy Spirit upon us, we were each like a dry, nonproductive piece of ground. How has this watering changed your life?
Personal Question:
- List as many uses of water as you can.
- What happens to a very dry piece of ground after it has been watered?
Plants are much better about locating water sources than humans are. Trees will send their roots out or down unbelievably long distances if there is water nearby; humans seem to be the only creatures that can die within a few feet of water. The Holy Spirit is available to all men; yet people perish every day because they will make little or no move toward the Supplier of the Water of Life.
The Scripture: Hebrews 10:22
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."
9. What aspect of water is described here?
The cleansing of a human soul is not accomplished overnight. When we walk in the Spirit, we should be led to greater and greater depths of cleansing as the Spirit increasingly reveals areas in our lives that need to be submitted to the Lord.
A Seal
The Scripture: Ephesians 1:13-14
"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope on Christ might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession."
10. When are we sealed by the Holy Spirit?
11. What do these verses say the Holy Spirit has done?
The Scripture: II Corinthians 1:22
“He, (God) has set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
12. What does the seal designate?
13. Besides being a guarantee of our inheritance, what else does the seal signify?
The Scripture: Acts 1:8
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you."
14. What else do we receive with the Spirit’s coming?
The Holy Spirit is both the sealer and the seal itself. In Scripture a seal frequently signifies a finished transaction and/or ownership and security.
Personal Questions:
- Thinking of the Holy Spirit as a seal, describe how He works in this capacity in the Christian's life. Now using the past form of the verb to seal, sealed, think of some of the ways He has sealed you.
For example, the term "pledge" has been translated guarantee, token, and earnest in various translations. One of the reasons the Holy Spirit is given to us is not only to be a pledge or guarantee that we will receive everything that has been promised in Christ, but He is also a sample or foretaste of what our future life in heaven will be like.
In Israel in Old Testament times, when someone purchased a field, for example, once the agreement was completed, the purchaser carried away with him a portion of the field's earth. This portion of earth was called the earnest or pledge. It was considered legal evidence that the field now belonged to the purchaser and that he would return to take full possession of it.
That practice also had spiritual connotations. The very soil of Israel was considered holy. If a Jew came in contact with heathen soil, he "shook the dust" from his sandals when he left because the heathen soil was "contaminated." This is why Naaman, the Syrian leper, made a special request for two mules' burden of earth to take home with him. Knowing God now, he was determined never again to offer worship from unclean earth.
We retain a vestige of the idea of a pledge or earnest in our expression "earnest money", the money we give to the owner of property we wish to buy, as a guarantee that we will follow through on the transaction.
Paul's use of this term as a description of the Holy Spirit conveys all the implications of the original attitude toward the sacredness of Israeli soil.
The writers of the Bible used many symbols for the Holy Spirit. Others include wind, cloud, breath and rain. It is profitable to meditate on each of these symbols. Ask God to help you understand what qualities of the Holy Spirit each one illustrates.
The Answers
- "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."
- Streams of living water will flow from within him.
- The Holy Spirit
- Jesus had not yet been glorified
- Living water
- As a spring if water welling up to eternal life
- "I who speak to you am He "
- Many Samaritans believed in Him.
- Its cleansing ability
- When we believe
- He acts as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession.
- Ownership
- It is a deposit guaranteeing what is to come.
- Power
All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International version
(unless otherwise indicated)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, New International Bible Society
© 2007 by JoAnne Sekowsky