Chapter I
The Principles and Concepts of the Old Testament, and the Relationship of the Gospels Authors with them
The relying of the Gospel authors and the various churches on the Old Testament, and considering themselves as an extension to it, whether by quoting the texts, or its history, requires us a pause for a comparison between the principles and concepts of the Old Testament and the principles and concepts of the Gospels to find out the truth of this reliance and this extension, and to discover the real sources that were relied upon by the Gospel authors, as well as, it requires us to show the relationship between the Old Testament and the Gospel authors, and their position on the Law in general.
For this, I will review the most important principles and concepts of the Old Testament, and compare them with the principles and concepts of the Gospels, to determine if they agree with each other or not; and if not, we should study and search to discover the sources that have been relied upon by the Gospel authors to write their accounts.
Principle III: The Spirit
The Spirit, or the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit, is an important principle in the Old Testament, which is the name given to the creature who bears the Word of the LORD and the revelation and the laws to the prophets, as well as, it has another characteristics and tasks, which were mentioned in the Old Testament. So it is in this aspect differ from the holy spirit, who is worshiped by the churches, as a third god of the three gods, who are one and have the same nature and essence, knowing that the Old Testament is based on that the Lord alone is the true God, no gods beside Him or with Him, who should be worshiped alone and serve Him alone, even though the Gospels did not talk about him as a god should be worshiped beside the Lord, this creed was developed by the church councils several centuries later!
In the following pages we will review the characteristics and tasks of the Spirit in the Old Testament, and its relationship with people, and compare them with what is written about the Holy Spirit in the Gospels and letters of the New Testament.
The first characteristic, or task, is the ability to hover
Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
This is the first text in the Old Testament mentions the Spirit of God, and shows that the spirit of God is a creature has the ability to hovering, and this indicates one of two things, the first is that it has wings and can be flying by them, the second is that the spirit of God, if it does not have wings, but has the ability to shake his body, and this characteristic certainly does not make him a god who should be worshiped beside the Lord or with Him.
The second characteristic, or task, is the ability to create by order of the LORD the Creator
Psalm 104:29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
Psalm 104:30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.
In this text we read that when the Lord takes away the breaths of creatures, they die and return to their dust, and when He sends His Spirit they are created; and He renews the face of the earth, so the task of the Spirit is the vital part of the creatures, which through it turns the inanimate objects to living creatures by order of the Lord Alone, and here it has nothing to do, or role, with the process of creation in terms of independence from the orders of the Lord, but it is doing the task that entrusted to him as other creatures that have certain tasks, such as rain which works on growth of the transplant, as in the following text:
Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;
Isaiah 44:4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses’.
So the Spirit does not have the divinity characteristics by itself, but has certain tasks by order of the Lord the only true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth alone.
The third characteristic, or task, is the ability to tell what will be happened in the future
Genesis 41:38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"
This saying is written on the lips of Pharaoh about Joseph after he interpreted the Pharaoh's dream, and we note that Pharaoh did not consider Joseph as a god nor hypostasis, or a man who has divinity characteristics which make him a god who should be worshipped beside the Lord, even though Pharaoh was a pagan, which is close to the beliefs that talk about the multiplicity of gods, yet he didn't say anything of this concerning Joseph, but he said he is a man in whom is the Spirit of God, so the task of the Spirit here is telling about what will be happened in the future.
The fourth characteristic, or task, is the ability to teach people all manner of workmanship
Exodus 31:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Exodus 31:2 "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
Exodus 31:3 "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Exodus 31:4 "to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,
Exodus 31:5 "in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.
This text refers to another task to the Spirit of God, which is teaching people, especially Bezalel, all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, etc., and knowledge to make tents, especially the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) that was made as a place of worship, as has been described in this chapter.
The fifth characteristic, or task, is the ability to self-division and conveying the word of the LORD, and coming in, upon, some people to make them prophets and speaking by them; to help them to rule over the people and deliver them
Numbers 11:17 "Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.
Numbers 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.
Numbers 11:26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.
Numbers 11:29 Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’S people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!"
In these paragraphs we read that the Spirit has ability to self- division, and any man who the LORD puts His Spirit upon him becomes a prophet.
Numbers 27:18 And the LORD said to Moses: "Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;
Deuteronomy 34:9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
In these texts we read that when Joshua was filled from the spirit of wisdom; this helped him to rule the children of Israel.
Judges 3:9 When the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
Judges 3:10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.
In this text we read that the Spirit of the LORD when comes upon a man helps him to judge his people, and deliver them.
1 Samuel 10:6 "Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
1 Samuel 10:7 "And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.
1 Samuel 10:8 "You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do."
1 Samuel 10:9 So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.
In this text we read that when the Spirit comes upon a man will predict about some signs, and turning into another man, i.e., Prophet, once these signs have been fulfilled means that the Lord is with him.
1 Samuel 10:10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
In this text, which is part of the story of Saul, we read that Saul became a prophet when the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, even he became a saying; "Is Saul also among the prophets" (I Samuel 10/13)!
1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1 Samuel 16:15 And Saul’s servants said to him, "Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you.
In this text we read that the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and came upon David, that is what made David a prophet, and we read his last words in the following text:
2 Samuel 23:1 Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
2 Samuel 23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.
2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.
This text says that David is anointed of the Lord, and the Spirit of the LORD spoke by him, and His word was on his tongue, and then begins by mentioning the words, he says "the God of Israel said ...".
This means that the task of the Spirit of the Lord is convey the word of the LORD to the prophets. For the Spirit of the Lord does not stay in a man only if he remained obedient to the commandments of the Lord.
Also, we find that David asks the Lord to not take the Holy Spirit from him, as in the following text:
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
The sixth characteristic, or task, of the Spirit is that he leads the believers in their ways
And these ways are spiritual ways through teaching them the commandments of the Lord, and physical ways as was the case with the children of Israel after their exodus from Egypt; the Spirit led them to the Holy Land, as it is written in the Old Testament, as in the following text:
Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
The seventh characteristic, or task, of the Spirit is that he conveys the Lord's promise of victory through the prophets
Let's read the following text:
2 Chronicles 20:14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
2 Chronicles 20:15 And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:16 ‘Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel.
2 Chronicles 20:17 ‘You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem’! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you."
In this text we read that the Spirit has conveyed the Lord's promise of victory to the children of Israel over their enemies, for the Lord with them, and for the battle is not them, but God’s, which is what has been achieved, as is written in this chapter of Book 2 Chronicles.
The eighth characteristic, or task, of the Spirit is that he encourages the prophets to call for keeping the commandments of the Lord, and warning of transgressions against the commandments of the LORD
Let's read the following text:
2 Chronicles 24:20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you’."
2 Chronicles 24:21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 24:22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, "The LORD look on it, and repay!"
In this text we read that when the Spirit of God comes upon a man, it delivers the word of the LORD to the people, therefore when the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada, it has delivered the word of God to the Jews, and this story is unlike the previous one, because here we read that the Lord warned the children of Israel, that He will forsake them if they do transgress against His commandments, and worship other gods beside Him.
This is also mentioned in the book of Nehemiah, but in general, as in the following text:
Nehemiah 9:30 Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
The Spirit testifies to the LORD by conveying his commandments through the prophets, and who does not abide to them will get the punishments and curses which the LORD has mentioned.
In addition, the Lord has given to the Spirit the ability to instruct people through the prophets, as in the following text:
Nehemiah 9:20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst.
Ezekiel 11:5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me, "Speak! ‘Thus says the LORD: "Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.
In this text we read that the Spirit of the Lord when fell upon Ezekiel was not mixed with him, but it was separate, so Ezekiel was feeling the Spirit of the Lord, and he could hear his words, therefore when he started talks to him said to him "Speak''.
Ezekiel 2:2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.
In this text we read that the Spirit of the Lord, when speaks to the prophets, it enters in them.
In brief, if the Spirit comes upon a man, he becomes able to prophesying, and this appears clearly in the following text:
Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
Joel 2:29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
So, does the Spirit of God have these tasks only, or it has other tasks?
The ninth characteristic, or task, of the Spirit is that he has the ability to become a lying spirit in the mouth of all the false prophets
The Old Testament talks about another characteristic or task for the Spirit of God, that he has the ability to become a lying spirit in the mouth of all the false prophets, as in the following texts:
1Kings 22:19 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.
1Kings 22:20 "And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead’? So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
1Kings 22:21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him’.
1Kings 22:22 "The LORD said to him, ‘In what way’? So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets’. And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so’.
1Kings 22:23 "Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you."
2 Chronicles 18:18 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.
2 Chronicles 18:19 "And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead’? So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
2 Chronicles 18:20 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him’. The LORD said to him, ‘In what way’?
2 Chronicles 18:21 "So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets’. And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so’.
2 Chronicles 18:22 "Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you."
In these texts we read that the spirit of the LORD is one of the hosts of heaven, and has the ability to become a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets, and tells lies and wrong, and this is a strong evidence that the Spirit of the LORD is a creature, Unlike what the churches say about him; that he is the third god of three gods who are one and have the same nature and essence, who they worship them! And here we should read some texts in the Gospels to figure out if the Gospels authors have the Spirit of the LORD, or the lying spirit, or they do not have any spirit, but they have written their Gospels through their knowledge, or their information, and their approach and way only.
John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
In this text John says in his Gospel that it's written in the Old Testament that Jesus is the son of Joseph of Nazareth!
And all churches are aware that this text is not written in the Old Testament, as well as Jesus is not the son of Joseph, as they say!
So, has this text been written through the Spirit of God or by the lying spirit?!
Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."
This text also not found in any books of the Old Testament. So has this text been written through the Spirit of God or by something else?!
Matthew 27:3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Matthew 27:4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? You see to it!"
Matthew 27:5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Matthew 27:6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood."
Matthew 27:7 And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
Matthew 27:8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Matthew 27:9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced,
Matthew 27:10 "and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me."
In this text Matthew says that the story of thirty pieces of silver is written in the Book of Jeremiah; even though it is written in the Book of Zechariah, as in the following text:
Zechariah 11:12 Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
This error and the inability to know the book that mentioned the story of the thirty pieces of silver; did it come from the Spirit of God or from the lying spirit, or from another source has nothing to do with the spirits?!
Matthew 23:35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 23:36 "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
In this text Matthew says that the one who was killed by the Jews between the temple and the altar is Zechariah the son of Berechiah, although the Old Testament says that the one who killed by the Jews is Zechariah son of Jehoiada, as in the following text:
2 Chronicles 24:20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you’."
2 Chronicles 24:21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 24:22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, "The LORD look on it, and repay!"
This error and inability to distinguish the difference between Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, who was killed by the Jews and the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah; did it come from the Spirit of God or from the lying spirit?!
Mark 2:25 But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:
Mark 2:26 "how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"
In this text Mark says that David went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and was with him a group of people, while Old Testament says that David went to Ahimelech, not Abiathar, and he was alone, there was no one with him, as in the following text:
1 Samuel 21:1 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one is with you?"
This error in determining the name of the priest, which was written by Mark, and that there was a group of people with David; does it indicate that it was written by the Spirit of God or by the lying spirit?!
Acts 7:14 "Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people.
In this text Luke says in the Acts of the Apostles that the number of the children of Israel who went to Egypt is seventy-five people, while the Old Testament says that the number who went to Egypt is seventy people, which has mentioned their names in Genesis, as in the following text:
Genesis 46:26 All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all.
Genesis 46:27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
This error in determining the number of persons who went to Egypt; is it from the Spirit of God or from the lying spirit?!
From these examples and many others, which are written in the Gospels, we can get a good idea about the difference between the Spirit of the LORD and the spirit, who has inspired the Gospels authors, as the churches say! And this is another reason to search for the sources that have been relied upon by the Gospels authors.
As for what has been developed by the church councils about the Spirit as a god who should be worshiped with the Lord or beside Him; each verse in the Old Testament reject and condemn this saying; because despite some tasks of the Spirit such as breathing life into some of the creatures, it does not do this by himself but by order of the LORD, it does not make him a god with the Lord or beside Him, as shown previously.
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