Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Joel 2:28 ¶ "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Joel 2:28 ¶ "It shall come about after this That I shall pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. |
Bible Question:
Why did God wait so long to send the Holy Spirit? I have been thinking lately about why God waited so long to send the Holy Spirit. Some people believe the Earth to be millions of years old. And even if you believe in a young Earth like myself, the world is at least 6000 years old. Yet God has only sent the Holy Spirit to be in people's lives for the last 2000 years. Before that, there were probably less than 50 people (ie. Old Testament prophets and judges) out of millions of people around to world who had that privilege. Since we know that God wanted to give the Holy Spirit to people. And we know that He could have done it at any time. Why did He wait so long? |
Bible Answer: Greetings my friend, The Holy Spirit was in no way 'silent' before He came at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13).. :-) He has been very active throughout the Old Testament: 1) The Spirit gave life to the creation (Psalm 104:30; Job 33:4) 2) The Spirit gave order to the creation (Isaiah 40:12; Job 26:13) 3) The Spirit gave adornment to the creation (Psalm 33:6; Job 26:13) 4) The Spirit gave preservation to the creation (Psalm 104:30) 5) The Spirit selectively indwelt certain people (Gen. 41:38; Num. 27:18; Dan. 4:8; 5:11-14; 6:3) 6) The Spirit 'came upon' many (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 1 Sam. 10:9-10; 16:13) 7) The Spirit filled some (Ex. 31:3; 35:31), even though His filling was not necessarily permanent (Ps. 51:11) 8) The Spirit gave enablement for service (Ex. 31:3; Judges 14:6) 9) The Spirit was a general restrainer of sin (Genesis 6:3) 10) The Spirit used the spoken word for revelation (Ex. 19:9) 11) The Spirit used dreams for revelation (Gen. 20; 31) 12) The Spirit used visions for revelation (Isaiah 6:1) 13) The Spirit used the written word for revelation (John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:13) 14) The Spirit was the Author of revelation in the Old Testament (2 Sam. 23:2; Ezekiel 2:2; Micah 3:8) 15) The Spirit was the Author of the inspiration of the Old Testament (2 Sam. 23:2-3; 2 Tim. 3:16; Mark 12:36; Acts 1:16; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 10:15-16) In conclusion, I would say that the Holy Spirit was very active in God's dealings with man throughout the Old Testament. Blessings to you my friend, Makarios |