Ezekiel 39:29
“And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
This is one of the greatest and most anticipated prophecies in all Scripture. Going back to the time of Moses, Joshua heard a report that two men had the Spirit fall upon them and they began to prophecy, although they had not come to the Tabernacle to do so. In concern for the people, Joshua exhorted Moses to forbid them. Moses responded,
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!’”
By the time of Ezekiel, Israel had been anticipating the promise of the Holy Spirit for a thousand years. Now the prayer of Moses is turned into the promise of God. He declares a time is coming when the Spirit will be poured out on them. This is not the only promise regarding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. About a hundred years before Ezekiel, the prophet Joel made an even more amazing promise. He declared the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, making no distinction between man or woman, young or old, or slave and free. This is the promise that Peter quoted to explain the events that transpired at Pentecost and are recorded in Acts, Chapter 2. One hundred and twenty believers were huddled in a room in Jerusalem,when suddenly this promise was fulfilled. These men, who lived in fear of the world around them, were suddenly transformed, emboldened and empowered with the ability to declare the Gospel in a way that led to thousands coming to faith in Christ.
What we need, and by we, I mean each of us as individual believers in Christ, as well as our local congregations, is to be filled with the Spirit of God and allow Him to transform, equip, and emboldened us to share Christ with a needy world.
Pastor Jim
Jim Gallagher 