THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
The Holy Spirit is all over the book of Isaiah. This book has been named the “gospel” of the Old Testament. Isaiah was one of the major prophets of Israel. The Holy Spirit surely gave Him such messianic prophecies: from Jesus’ birth, to His earthly ministry to His crucifixion all the way to His Millennial reign. (See Is. 9:6-7, Is 42:1-4, Is. 53; Is 65:20-25). The name Isaiah means: “Jehovah is Salvation.” God used him to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ, His ministry and the Holy Ghost: the divine agent in the work of salvation.
Lets begin at the main one:
Isa 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” NKJV
Jesus laid claim to the fulfillment of this prophetic word in the Gospel of Luke. (See Luke 4:18.) The Holy Spirit is the One who empowered Jesus for ministry. He’s the One who made Jesus the Christ (the Anointed One.) Everything Jesus accomplished was by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who anoints all of us for service.
Many people don’t understand that Jesus ministered in this world as a man, anointed by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 2:6-8 shows us that He gave up His divine privileges and took the humble position of being born as a man. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. So Jesus stripped Himself of His divine nature and depended solely on the Holy Spirit.
That’s the only reason He could expect us to do the same works that He did and even greater works than He did. (See John 14:12)
Jesus said that He cast out demons by the Spirit of God. (Matt. 12:28) So should you and me. He healed the sick by the power of the Holy Spirit. (See Acts 10:38) So should you and me. He was even raised back to life after His death on the cross by the Holy Ghost. (Romans 1:4 and 8:11) So should walk in newness of life by the Holy Spirit. He was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit for everything: for dominion, for wisdom and understanding, for counsel, for strength, for knowledge and for the reverential fear of the Lord.
Talking of Jesus, Isaiah said in Isa.11:2 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. That’s the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit on Christ Jesus, and is available to us.
What about you and me? If we’ll thirst for and yield to the Holy Spirit, He’ll do mighty exploits through us and we’ll find out that He is quite multigenerational. He’ll move into and flow though you and your whole family. (See also Isaiah 59:19, 21).
Isa. 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. NKJV