The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are called the Torah (which means guide). Jewish people know them as the Books of the Law or the Law of Moses. If we look at all of the Hebrew documents and copies of the Torah, the Hebrew spelling of the word Torah occurs in Genesis and Exodus every fifty letters. Then, in Numbers and Deuteronomy, it’s spelled every 49 letters – backward – literally pointing to Leviticus in the middle of those four books.
In the Book of Leviticus is spelled the name of God – YHVH – or Yahweh, every seven letters. The message of the entire Book of Leviticus points to the fact that it’s going to take a spotless, sinless Lamb to atone for the sins of the people – that’s Jesus. Every page and every letter of Scripture, down to each jot and tittle, is not only from God and is accurate, but it all points to Jesus. It’s not a human book, because it comes from eternity. It was authored by the God who sits on the outside of time and sees the end from the beginning. He’s the Alpha and the Omega.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 APMC
“He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds …”
God has put a “homing device” in us that longs for eternity – something beyond this temporal world – and opening this Book is the only thing that can tap into that longing. It’s amazing – but it’s not enough just to open the Book – we need to know how to make it come alive when we open it. There’s a way to get into it where it’s dead, and there’s a way to get into it where it bursts off the page and makes our heart swell and explode with Life! We want the Bible to be living and powerful, which is also God’s intent and desire for us in reading it.
1 Peter 2:2 AMP
“Like newborn babies [you should] long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may be nurtured and grow in respect to salvation [its ultimate fulfillment]…”
If we’re healthy, then we’ll literally crave it. That’s a sign we’re in a healthy place as believers. If we don’t crave it, it’s a sign that we haven’t yet experienced the Life that it gives.
Isaiah 55:10,11 AMP
“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, making it bear and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me void [useless, without result], without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
When we get in the Book, where it comes to life out of a relationship with God, it will water us – cause us to bear fruit – cause us to sprout and come to life – provide us the “seed” that we need to do everything necessary in our life – and it will literally be Bread and Life to us.
Isaiah 55:1,3 AMPC
“Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing]. Incline your ear [submit and consent to the divine will] and come to Me; hear, and your soul will revive…”
How do we incline our ears?
How do we come to him and hear what this Book is trying to say? What is God trying to say to us through his Word? If we want revival, this is where it starts:
Ephesians 5:25-27 AMPC
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].”
This is an interior washing, not exterior – that’s the goal. Pharisees focused all their attention on cleaning the outside of the dish.
Jude 1:11,12 NKJV
“Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water [water of the Word], carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.”
How do we fix this? How do we avoid this? It’s really not that complicated. When we get into the Book, the Holy Spirit of the Living God has to illuminate it, breathe on it, and breathe into us. We can’t read it on our own, but we have to be engaged with God, and specifically, with the Holy Spirit who Jesus sent to us when he rose from the dead. If the Holy Spirit authored the Book – inspired the writing – he is also the One who has to illuminate our understanding of it.
The Holy Spirit, in Scripture, is referred to as Breath and Wind over and over again. (Genesis 2:7; John 20:22; Acts 2). In everything we do as Christians, if the Holy Spirit doesn’t breathe on it and into it, it will inherently be dead – including when we read the Bible.
1 Corinthians 2:10-12 NLT
“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit [not the world’s spirit], so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.”
John 14:26 NIV
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
John 16:13 NIV
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth…” “The Bible without the Holy Spirit is a sundial by moonlight.” – Dwight L. Moody
“I don’t want the world to define God for me. I want the Holy Spirit to reveal God to me.” -A.W. Tozer
The disciples with Jesus versus with the Holy Spirit after Jesus had ascended back to heaven: they went from scared and bone-headed to bold – from dumb to wise – from not preachers to preachers, from normal humans to supernatural people of God, and from confused to confident. Where did that come from?
Acts 4:13 NLT
“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”
They had the Holy Spirit and they had the Word, and the combination produced power – it produced Life – and it made people marvel.
John 5:38 AMP
“You do not have His word [Scripture] abiding in you [actually living in your hearts and minds], because you do not believe in Him whom He has sent. You search and keep on searching and examining the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is those [very Scriptures] that testify about Me…”
The Pharisees and Sadducees had memorized the entire first five books of the Bible – they could quote it all – they won at Hebrew Jeopardy every time! This is who Jesus was addressing when he said, “If you had a relationship with God and you knew those scriptures, you would be able to see that they’re all talking about Me.” Education wasn’t the problem.
When we give our life to Jesus, we will have a desire to get into the Bible, but when we understand the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church – that Jesus sent him to empower, teach, guide, and engage us – then our appetite for the Bible explodes, where the words jump off the page and into our heart. Then when we pray about things, the Word will begin to speak right to them and they will become living and powerful and active to us. We can learn how to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised and sent when he returned to Heaven.
1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
The scriptures aren’t just for scholars, rocket scientists, popes, or pastors to interpret it all for us – it’s for us, and we have the Teacher – if we approach Him and His Word correctly. Human teachers are important but they’re a bonus – not the end-all.
Ephesians 1:17-19 AMP
“ [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son]. And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people), and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe.”
Acts 19:2,6 NLT
“ ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ he asked them. ‘No,’ they replied, ‘we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit…Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them…” [different than being marked or sealed: John 20 vs. Acts 2]
Prayer
Father, we come to You, recognizing that we don’t want the words of Your Book without the Author of it speaking to our hearts. Lord, You sent us the Holy Spirit – and, Holy Spirit, we acknowledge You right now – we say Hello. Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You are here and You teach us. You guide us and You help us. Forgive us for when we’ve ignored You or forgotten You – and Holy Spirit of the Living God, we’re asking that You fill us afresh right now, in Jesus’ name. Baptize us afresh in the Holy Spirit right now.
Lord, Your Word commands us to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. So, Lord, fill us now – bring new Life to us now as we seek You in faith. Let the scriptures begin to explode to life for each one of us. Lord, thank You that You’re doing it now. We receive it all by faith in Jesus’ name. Amen
How To Engage the Holy Spirit and The Scriptures:
1] Use a physical Bible and be ready to mark it up. (No Notifications/distractions) 2] Read in a translation that is clear to you.
3] Approach with humility and reverence before God.
4] Say hello to the Holy Spirit and thank Him for dwelling with and in you because of Jesus. 5] Confess and repent of any known sin or grieving thing in your heart, mind, or life.
6] Ask the Holy Spirit to open the scriptures, reveal Jesus, clarify Truth, bring understanding, and speak to you.
7] Don’t read to have read. Read to hear Him speak: When your heart leaps, stop and meditate, chew on it. Slow is fast. Don’t go in for a check mark. Go in for an encounter.
8] Thank the Holy Spirit for speaking and ask Him to remind you of the Word when needed.
Written by Pastor Bryan Mandel
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on The Bridge
Featured Image by blenderfan from Pixabay
