Ephesians - Lesson 29

In this lecture, I want to spend some time thinking about the spirit and the messianic age in Ephesians. As I've worked through the letter, verse by verse, I have mentioned quite a bit the spirit and the messianic age, and have a messianic age, ushers in the age of the spirit, and what God has done for us in Christ is a work of God in Christ by the spirit. And so the reason why there's their Jew and Gentile relations change, the reason why there are the exhortations for wives to submit to their husbands, husbands love wives as Christ loved the church, the parent-child relationship, slave-master relationship, all of these things are transformed by the messianic age so that in Christ Jesus, the social distinctions that exist aren't eradicated, but they are transformed.

And one reason why, the reason why perhaps, is because the messianic age has dawned in Christ. And so I want to spend some time thinking about that, and really what I'm saying is, I want to spend some time thinking about the kingdom of God in the book of Ephesians. Because Paul, although he doesn't mention the kingdom of God explicitly in multiple places, in terms of the phrase kingdom of God, he mentions it one time, kingdom of God, he does talk about the inheritance, he does talk about Christ in the letter, in Christ, in Messiah, in Messiah, in Messiah, and he links the Messiah with the Spirit, so he is, in my view, clearly articulating that the kingdom has been ushered in by means of Jesus' death and resurrection and exaltation, and the Spirit has brought to realization everything the prophetic scriptures have promised about the Messiah, and Jesus is in fact that Messiah to whom those scriptures pointed.

So the first thing I want you to want to do is think with you about just some different places in Ephesians that we've already seen where the Spirit is mentioned. The word Spirit is mentioned 14 times in Ephesians, and one time it refers to the Spirit of the anti-God power, so that's clearly not a reference to the Holy Spirit. But every other time it refers to the Holy Spirit.

There's one example that we saw in a previous lecture where one translation talks about the Spirit of the mind, but I translated that to refer to the Spirit renewing the mind, and so I see that as a reference to the Spirit. So if I'm right then, there are 13 references to the Holy Spirit in this letter, and I want to want to state those to you quickly and read these verses to you and remind you some of the things we've said, and then I want to go back to the Old Testament scriptures to show you that this is in fact what Paul is drawing from, and that the Old Testament is anticipating this age that Paul discusses. And I'm going to show you particular passages in the Old Testament that link the messianic age with the Spirit, and then I want to think about some passages from the world of Second Temple Judaism, which likewise does a similar thing, so that you can see that there is this line of thinking starting in the Old Testament, continuing within certain parts of Second Temple Judaism, and brought to realization in the New Testament where these Jews are thinking about this new messianic age which ushers in the age of the Spirit.

But notice first in Ephesians, Paul mentions the Spirit for the first time, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13, he says, So I want to highlight that word promised. The fact that it was promised assumes that a promise was given prior to the giving of the gift, and that promise links back, I think, with the Old Testament, which we'll see in a moment. Joel 2, for example, Ezekiel 36, for example.

So what Paul is saying here is that their experience of the Spirit in Christ, and it's very important, it says in him, but he's already said in the previous verses that God chose us in Christ, so Messiah and the Spirit are linked, and therefore they are sealed by the Spirit because they are believing the gospel, the gospel drawing in from Isaiah, the good news of God's salvation plan includes the ushering in of the Spirit, where the Spirit will be poured out, and Jews and Gentiles will be brought into this kingdom by means of the Messiah. You were sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians, you are part of the Messianic age.

You are the realization of what God had always promised, what He's always promised. You are experiencing this in the Messiah. Why? Because the Messiah ushers in this new age, the age of the Spirit.

Ephesians 1, verse 17, this is the section where Paul prays, and he's praying for the Ephesians that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom. Now, again, this is a matter of how one might translate the verse. Some translations might say give you the Spirit of wisdom, but I think he says, as the ESV translates it, gives you the Spirit, capital S, wisdom that comes from the Spirit.

So that's how I'm reading it. He wants the God to give them wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him that comes from the Spirit. Now, why would I interpret it that way? Well, because he makes the point in the letter, in a moment, that the Spirit plays a role in revealing the mystery.

And so it makes sense for them, for Paul to say he wants these Ephesians to understand what they understand. In fact, that's where he goes in the prayer. He prays that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened.

He wants God, by the Spirit, to continue to awaken them to the reality of this mystery revealed in Christ that Jews and Gentiles are sharing these same spiritual blessings that we will see outlined, that we saw outlined in chapters 2 and 3. So just know the age of the Spirit is the age in which the Spirit is granting wisdom and knowledge of God with respect to the mystery. Now, another thing that I'll say here, just remember that he's talking to Gentiles here. And by virtue of the fact that he's telling these Gentiles that they are in Christ and that they have the Spirit and that they share with Jews these same spiritual blessings, is evidence that we are living in the Messianic age.

Because, as we'll see in a few moments, the prophetic literature talked about the age in which the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, the age in which the nations will go streaming into Jerusalem. And Paul is reminding them, you Gentiles, this is what comes in 2 as well, you Gentiles, you're now part of all this, and this is what God has always promised. The promised Holy Spirit has brought the promises of God to pass for Jew and Gentile redemption in Christ.

Now, chapter 2 is the example, verse 2, where he uses the word Spirit, not to refer to the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of the One that is now working in the sons of disobedience. But I think even this reference is helpful for the point that I'm trying to make, because the Spirit ushers in the age of the Messiah, ushers in the age of the kingdom of God. But there is an anti-God kingdom that is at war with the kingdom of God.

And that's a kingdom that has another Spirit working in the sons of disobedience. Now, that kingdom has been triumphed and conquered by Christ. He's reigning over that kingdom.

But that kingdom also has a king. Paul actually calls him a prince in verse, or ruler, doesn't say, the translation of ESV is prince, but the word is actually a ruler. So this is important when we think about what he's saying about the Messianic age, that Jesus is the exalted Christ over all things, and he is pouring out the Spirit on all flesh who are in Christ.

But then you have this anti-God ruler, Satan and all his anti-God dominions, earthly and demonic dominions. They are beneath the feet of Jesus, subversive or subverted to him, but yet they have power to exercise control over the darkness beneath the sovereign power of God. But the Messianic age has triumphed over this ruler and his Spirit.

The evidence of that is God has snatched out of the darkness these Jews and Gentiles, and he's placed them into this kingdom of light so that they both together inherit the inheritance of the kingdom, which is what he says in 2, 1 to 10. Remember, we were dead in trespasses and sins. God made us alive together with Christ.

He raised us up. He exalted us with Christ at his right hand, in Christ by the Spirit, pulling us out of darkness, snatching us away from the ruler over the anti-God powers. And that's why he gives the exhortations in 4, 17 throughout 5 to walk in the light, walk in a manner worthy of our calling, because the kingdom of God triumphs over the anti-God powers.

Further in chapter 2, verse 18, Paul refers to the Holy Spirit, for through him we have both access in one Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, to the Father. And then in verse 22, in him you also, talking to Gentiles, remember, are being built together into a dwelling place, a place for God, by the Spirit. Think with me back to Genesis chapter 11.

In Genesis chapter 11, we have one tongue, one speech. I think you still have different types of people in Genesis chapter 11. Not everybody is huddled up into one community.

I mean, you have a lot of people by the time you get to 11. But what you seem to have in Genesis chapter 11 is a dialect that's universal, until that dialect is used to make a name for those who have the one dialect as opposed to worshiping and honoring God. It seems, though, in the Genesis chapter 11 text that there's some kind of idolatry taking place here, and God confuses the speech of these nations or communities of people so that they have to scatter throughout the world because they can't understand each other.

When you get to Acts chapter 2, the Spirit's poured out. And when the Spirit's poured out, you have these Jews in Jerusalem, Peter and others, they're speaking the Word of God. The way I read Acts chapter 2, Peter doesn't necessarily know the language that others are hearing.

He's speaking in his own dialect. And yet you have these folks from different nations and different communities from all over the world who hear their own dialect, the gospel in their own dialect by means of this Galilean sort of accent. And what we see there is that that is the ushering in of the Messianic age by the power of the Spirit.

Now, of course, the Messianic age was ushered in when Jesus was incarnate. But my point is, the exaltation is when the Spirit's poured out. The exaltation of Jesus Christ, and Paul says this, I think, in chapter one, he says it more explicitly in Romans chapter one, the exaltation of Jesus Christ at God's right hand, that is his inauguration.

Before Jesus became a human being, he was God and preexistent. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. Jesus has always been the second person of the Trinity, eternal, sharing in God's divine, Yahweh's divine identity as God.

But Jesus took on flesh at the incarnation, human flesh, or Jewish flesh, and he entered into the seed of David by virtue of being conceived supernaturally by the Spirit in Mary's womb. And so when he was born into this world, he was born as a son of David. He grew up in a Jewish home, they did Jewish things, and he is the Jewish Messiah because he's a Jew.

This is exactly what Matthew emphasizes in chapter one. When he mentions the 14 generations, for example, and the Messiah and all this, he's emphasizing David, David, David, Jesus is the son of David, Jesus is the Messiah, but he's greater than David because he's the son of God, who's God. And so when the Messiah is born into this world, he grows up and he starts his public ministry after he's baptized.

At the baptism, heavens are open, God the Father says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased, and the Spirit descends upon him as a dove. You have this nice Trinitarian declaration there. And then Jesus goes out and does ministry.

He does things, preaches and teaches and performs miracles to show that the declaration of God, the affirmation of the Spirit, those things are true. The proclamation of John, those things are true. That the kingdom has come in, he is the king of the kingdom, and that the Spirit has anointed him.

Remember this, Messiah, that word carries the idea of the Spirit. It's the anointed one. Jesus is anointed by the Spirit.

He's not adopted by the Spirit at the baptism. He was the eternal son of God, and he was the Messiah before the baptism. But the Spirit is anointing him, coming upon him to demonstrate that he is, in fact, the chosen one.

And then when he's crucified, he also shows he's the suffering servant from Isaiah 53. And that suffering servant is a Messiah based on Isaiah 53, because he's a servant upon whom rests the Spirit, which Isaiah talks about throughout 40 to 66. Of course, Isaiah also mentions that he calls Israel the servant.

But when he talks about the Spirit of the Lord being upon the servant, and when he talks about Jesus, when he talks about the suffering servant, these are two different servants in comparison to the servant Israel. The servant upon whom the Lord has placed the Spirit and the suffering servant, they're the same person, but different from Israel, who is not the suffering servant because the suffering servant dies for the sins of others. Israel suffers for her own sin.

So we see that the Messiah is also a suffering servant in Isaiah 53. But then Jesus is exalted, and this is so very important. We don't talk about, I don't think we talk about the ascension enough.

When he's resurrected from the dead and ascended at God's right hand, that event, and I'm taking the resurrection and the ascension as a cross resurrection, ascension as one triumphant, victorious event. The ascension is like the installation of the Messiah, the inauguration as the Messiah into his throne. Now, again, Jesus was the Messiah before the crucifixion and before the exaltation.

But my point is, we see he's also the suffering servant. But now we see that at the resurrection, we see that the suffering servant is the one promise in Psalm 110, verse one, to sit at God's right hand, exalted as Messiah, inaugurated, receiving his royal place of exaltation over everything. Paul says this in Romans chapter one, when he makes reference to Jesus being appointed as the son of God with power at the resurrection.

And what he simply means is, is that the inauguration of Jesus as the Messiah, that the exaltation is where he's installed as king over Zion in exalted form. He doesn't become the Messiah at the resurrection, but he's exalted as the resurrected Messiah. He wasn't the resurrected Messiah until he resurrected.

He was the Messiah prior to the resurrection, but the resurrection ushers in that inauguration where God is installing him as the exalted king. The very vision Daniel sees, for example, in Daniel chapter seven, he sees that vision of the son of man in an exalted state coming before the ancient of days. The son of man is a messianic title and the son of man is the Messiah.

And so the son of man is exalted. And we see from the gospels, the son of man before he's exalted, he must suffer. And then the exaltation is Daniel seven.

So here's my point saying all that, when Jesus is exalted at Yahweh's right hand, that's ushering in the age of the outpouring of the spirit upon all flesh. Messianic age is inaugurated when he's conceived and is continuing now. But the pouring out of the spirit takes place after the resurrection.

Think about Jesus's words. Hey, listen, this is what the apostles ask. Hey, Jesus, Acts chapter one, are you going to now restore? Listen very carefully.

Are you going to now restore the kingdom to Israel? And Jesus says, don't worry about that. You go wait for the spirit and he ascends. The spirit was poured out.

Acts chapter two happens. Okay, what's Acts chapter two? The fulfillment of what was promised before Jesus ascended. The spirit is being poured out.

Messiah has been anointed. God's right hand. It's also the reverse of Babel's curse.

Now here's the thing. Prior to the messianic age, speech separates humanity from each other, but at some level, humanity from God. Not because God can't understand different languages.

That's not my point. My point is the separation because of linguistic difference happened because of God's judgment upon them for not worshiping him. That's my point.

But Jesus's death and resurrection reverses that curse. It's what we see when the spirit's poured out. The apostles preach the gospel.

These folks who come to Jerusalem, who are proselytes and Jews from all over the nation, from all over the world, excuse me, they hear the gospel and they respond and they say, well, what shall we do to be saved? And Peter says, repent. And thousands of people convert. And there's another piece in Peter's sermon there in Acts chapter two is very important.

He cites Psalm 110 verse one. And he says that the Jesus whom you crucified, God raised from the dead, he's made this Jesus to be both Lord and Christos, Messiah. And the evidence of that is the outpouring of the spirit.

So here's my point, brothers and sisters, you cannot separate the outpouring of the spirit from the messianic age. In fact, you have no outpouring of the spirit without the messianic age. And so what Jesus is or what Paul keeps emphasizing is, is that this new age of the spirit, it ushers in, is ushered in because the Messiah has come and the age of the Messiah means the reverse of the curse has begun.

Chapter three, verse five, Ephesians. Three, five, Paul says, referring to the mystery here, I'm going to pick it up in the, in this part of the verse, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations, three, five, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. The prophets and the apostles are not creating a message for their own benefit.

It's revealed to them by God, by the spirit. In other words, the spirit has given them the insight to understand this. In other words, the spirit is approving and, and, and he is the source of the content, approving it and is the source of it.

The spirit is affirming it. I'll say more about this later. This is one reason why it's extremely problematic for the scribes to say, Jesus is a demon.

They blaspheme the spirit when they say that they're, they're contradicting what the spirit has declared about Jesus at his baptism and what he is showing through his ministry as he reveals the messianic age has dawned. And then when the messianic age dawns, creation listens to the Messiah, he casts out demons, he heals the sick, he raises the dead and the scribes say, you're a demon. And Jesus says that sin can't be forgiven because you're contradicting what the spirit says.

The unpardonable sin is to disagree what the spirit says about Jesus. You can't be saved if you don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. That's the point.

And the spirit is giving this insight to the apostles and prophets about Jesus because he ushers in the age of the spirit. It is as though the spirit is a witness to whom Jesus is. Verse 16, according to the riches of his glory, he's praying, this is his prayer again, that he may grant to you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.

4.3, he wants us to be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace because there's one body and one spirit. 4.23, and to be, he wants us to be renewed. And the ESV says in the spirit of your minds, I translate it this way, to be renewed by means of the spirit in your mind.

In other words, he wants their minds to be renewed by the spirit is how I'm understanding this verse. So notice the spirit is linked with our understanding. It's linked with our being strengthened in the faith.

It's linked with us being enlightened. It's linked with our union with Christ and all these spiritual blessings. The spirit is linked with the messianic age who brings about this transformation of Gentiles as well as Jews into this one new humanity.

And then 4.30, he says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. As we talked in previous lectures, to grieve the Holy Spirit is to live contrary to the spirit. See, this is again why I stated that if we don't walk in a manner worthy of our calling, we are demonstrating perhaps that we are not living in submission to the Messiah, that we're still sons and daughters of darkness.

And so we hear the warning that if we don't walk in a manner worthy of our calling, we will not inherit the kingdom of God. We hear that and we say, Holy Spirit, help us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling because the spirit desires us to walk in accordance with the spirit to live in step with the messianic age. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, we are not doing that.

That's what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit. That is to walk in darkness, to walk like you have not been grafted into the messianic age. 5.18, do not get drunk with wine for that is reckless living, but be filled with the spirit.

Okay, that's an interesting statement, be filled with the spirit. Well, every Christian is sealed by the spirit. Paul says this, we are sealed by the spirit.

But what does it mean to be filled with the spirit? It means, I think, that we are asking the Lord to help us live in step with the spirit and produce the fruit that the spirit cultivates. That's what the spirit-filled life is. It's not a life, in my view now, it's not a life that's manifested by means of extraordinary miraculous gifts through your life in terms of healings and miracles.

The spirit-filled life is a life that is empowered by the spirit, manifested by walking in a manner worthy of your calling. I think this fits with what he says in the context of 4.17 up to this verse where he's exhorting them to not live as the Gentiles anymore. I think it also fits with 4.1, to walk in a manner worthy of his calling.

So don't be filled with reckless living. To be drunk, that's reckless living. Don't be drunk because that is reckless living.

But be filled with the spirit, that is disciplined living. Love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, compassion, self-control, disciplined living. That's spirit-filled living.

When your words are kind, when you try to be a good person in the power of the spirit, when you're compassionate, when you're humble, when we are walking in love with humility, that's the spirit-filled life. So we pray, Lord, fill us with the spirit. Strengthen us in the spirit.

Enable us by the spirit. We know we're filled with the spirit when we live a life in obedience to the spirit. And we can only live a life of obedience to the spirit if we are in Messiah and we've been liberated from the powers of darkness.

If we're in the kingdom, we're able to live in the power of the spirit because the spirit comes when the Messiah comes and rescues people from darkness. Then 6.17, Paul says, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. And in verse 18, pray at all times, look at this, pray at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication.

Just notice here, I'll say more about this in a subsequent lecture, but just notice here that Paul links together the sword of the spirit, the Word of God, with praying in the spirit. You know, a weapon or weapons that we use proactively to stand against Satan is the Word of God and prayer. The Word of God is the sword of the spirit and we pray in the spirit.

How do you pray in the spirit? Well, I think you're praying in the spirit when you're filled with the spirit and you're praying in compliance with what the Spirit has revealed in His Word. Now, of course, we also pray for things like health and for our daily needs, but that's in His Word. Pray that the Lord's prayer, Matthew 6, pray that the Lord will give us our daily bread.

That's a good spirit-filled prayer. An example of not praying in the spirit would be when you're praying for evil to take place toward those whom you hate. But instead, we can pray, Lord, this is a spirit-filled prayer for our enemies.

Lord, this is how I pray. Lord, may my enemies repent. And if they don't repent, would you judge them rightly? It's a good prayer.

It's a spirit-filled prayer. You know why? Because it frees me up not to retaliate evil for evil, and it frees me up to entrust them to God. So we pray for mercy and grace, but what if they don't repent? We pray for God to give them what they deserve, to judge them justly.

That's what we pray, as opposed to trying to take justice in their own hands in a way that might be contrary to the Spirit. Of course, thank God we live in a country in the United States where we have a legal system, we have laws that help us to bring about justice in a legal way, and that is good, and that is right to do. But here's my point.

Sometimes the justice system does not promote justice. It doesn't. So then what then? Well, as you would if the justice system did promote justice in a particular situation, you do the same thing when it doesn't promote justice.

You trust God, and you pray for your enemies, and you entrust them to God to do what is just and right. So you think about these verses together in Ephesians, then it is, to me, strong evidence. These verses provide strong evidence that Paul is in continuity with what the Hebrew Scriptures have promised and what these Jews were waiting for.

He's in discontinuity with Second Temple Jews in that they don't see this being realized in a figure named Jesus of Nazareth. We'll talk more about that in a moment, but let me go back to the Old Testament material now, and let me show you this is anchored in the Hebrew Scriptures. I'll go back to Isaiah chapter 11.

So now I want to speak about a few texts in Isaiah, Joel, and then Ezekiel, and then I'll conclude this lecture in terms of the text by looking at some texts in early Judaism. But first, let's look at Isaiah chapter 11. So I've mentioned Isaiah multiple times.

Isaiah is a very important letter book for Paul. It's important not only in Ephesians, it's important in Galatians, and it's important in Romans. There have been books written about the importance of Isaiah in Romans and Galatians, and the basic way I understand Isaiah is the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, primarily they are about judgment.

And the northern part of the kingdom is going to exile, judgment's coming to the southern part of the exile, but there's also promises that are given that Yahweh is going to deliver Israel out of exile and rebuild the city. But you also have promises that go beyond temporal exile that come later. But in the first 39 chapters, largely judgment mingled with some hope for salvation.

Isaiah chapter 1 begins the prophecy by emphasizing the whole head of Israel is sick. Israel has become a whore. She has been unfaithful to her God.

That's what Isaiah 1 says. That's not my word. Now, Isaiah uses this language.

And then you get some hope along the way, but for the most part, it's judgment. It's judgment. This is what God is going to do to judge His people and what He has done to judge His people.

But then in 40 to 66, things change and primarily speak about salvation that's coming. But in the first 39 chapters, you have this glorious chapter in Isaiah chapter 11, wherein, this is a very important point here for my thesis, wherein Isaiah links the coming of the Spirit with the Messiah. So chapter 11, notice in verse 1, Isaiah says, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Now, I just want to remind you of what is obvious. Isaiah comes years after David, correct? David's way back in the Samuels and in the Chronicles and those books. And here we have Isaiah talking about someone who's coming from the shoot or the stump of Jesse.

A branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And then notice this. So in other words, I think we can say that this person coming is the Messiah.

He's a king. In verse 2, and the Spirit of the Lord, there's the Spirit, shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. The meek shall inherit the earth. Remember that in the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the poor.

Luke's gospel, poor in spirit, Matthew, but in Luke's gospel, blessed are the poor. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness, the belt of his loins.

Now I could keep going. In verses 6 and following, it talks about the lamb dwelling with the wolf. This is what happens in the Messianic age.

You know, the creation's disrupted in the best of ways. And just going back to this point here regarding the spirit, the spirit is upon the one coming from Jesse. Another text I want to refer you to, Isaiah chapter 42, verse 1. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him.

It seems to be echoing Isaiah 11, where the spirit of the Lord is upon him. So here's the connection I want to make with Isaiah 11. Who's the shoot coming from Jesse? It's the servant.

How do you know that? Because the spirit is upon him in Isaiah 11. The spirit's upon him, the servant here. The servant title is a Messianic title.

How do you know that? Because he's linked with Jesse. I think these Jews, when they hear Jesse, they hear King David. I put my spirit upon him.

He'll bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice. Bruce Reed, he will not break, burning flack, burning wick, he will not quench, so on and so forth.

Another example here, again, I'm just making the argument that when Paul talks about the Messianic age and the spirit, when he links those together, that he is doing so in a way that is consistent with what was anticipated and promised in the Old Testament. Isaiah 61, verse 1. This is a very important text because Jesus cites this text or reads this text in the Gospel of Luke. Isaiah 61 says, the spirit, verse 1, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has, look at this language, the Lord has anointed me.

That word, the verb, mashach, to anoint. The Hebrew word for anointed one, the noun, mashiach. And the idea is, Christ, that's a noun, the Messiah is the anointed one.

So here's the point here. The spirit of the Lord God upon me, remember the servant back in Isaiah 42, the spirit of the Lord was upon the servant, remember that language, yes? And then we have, now the spirit of the Lord is upon the anointed one, the servant upon whom the spirit rests, and the anointed one, they're the same people. They're the one that's coming through Jesse.

It's the Messiah. So in other words, the Messiah is the anointed one. Well, how do you know? Because the spirit's upon him, you see.

And because of what he does, which is what this text says. He brings good news, there's gospel language. The Greek translation of that is uangelizostai, the form, uangelizos, the form of that word, the word that we talked about when we talked about defining uangelizo, uangelomai, good news, and to preach the good news.

So the good news is announced here. What's the good news? The good news is that the Messiah is bringing liberation, freedom, setting the captive free. How can he do that? Because the Messianic age ushers in an age where the king triumphs over the anti-God powers.

Isn't that what Isaiah says? He comes to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. The Messianic age is an age of jubilee is the idea.

Debt set free, all that slave set free. When the Messiah comes, it doesn't mean everybody is, all the slaves are physically set free in this life. But it does mean the social order in this life is transformed.

How do you know that? Well, just look at what happens in the gospels. Jesus reads, we'll look at it more carefully in a moment, but Jesus reads this text, says that this has been fulfilled in my hearing. After he leaves that synagogue, he goes out and he casts out demons, performs miracles, heals people.

He's setting people free, showing you that not that everybody gets a healing, but showing you that the Messianic age has dawned and that the creation, which is in chaos and which is, is enslaved to sin and the anti-God powers is now, has now begun the process of being liberated from sin's power. The evidence of which is the King is here and he's performing miracles. He's turning creation upside down in the best of ways.

And he's calling a motley crew of people thinking of the gospel of Luke, especially a motley crew of people of Jews and Gentiles. He's a light of revelation, Isaiah 49, 6, a light of revelation to the Gentiles. As you see in Luke chapters one and two, he is a light of revelation to Zacchaeus, someone of high social clout, but he's also a light of revelation to Gentiles who don't know God.

So you have the Messiah when he comes, he's ushering in this age of the spirit, where the curse that took place in the garden and because of the garden is being reversed. The year of Jubilee is realized in the coming of the Messiah when the kingdom is ushered in by the spirit. Proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, verse two, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes.

I'll stop there. So that's Isaiah. Let me give you a couple other additional passages.

We've already talked about these a little bit, but I'm going to go back to them once again. I'm going to go back to Ezekiel chapter 36. Again, Isaiah is a text that deals with the exile of God's people.

Ezekiel is a text that deals with the exile of God's people. These latter prophets are giving these promises of redemption in the context where they are in bondage. The people are in bondage and they're in bondage, remember, because of their sin.

And also remember this, that in the prophetic tradition, God is still dealing with his people in covenantal categories related to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 27 and 28. You will be blessed if you obey the law and the land. You will be cursed if you disobey the law and the land.

Leviticus 18.5, if you obey the law, you live in the land. You disobey the law, you die in the land. When some people within the covenant community in the Old Testament scheme of things, when some people in the Old Testament community disobey the law, the whole nation suffers as a result because it's a covenant that God's making, not just with an individual, but with the people, you see.

And so then Isaiah and Ezekiel, they are living in a world wherein their people are suffering because of their sin. But Isaiah and Ezekiel, they're trusting the Lord, but yet they feel the weight, particularly Ezekiel, feel the weight of exile because of their part of the nation. So to these prophets, you get the promise of deliverance.

So therefore, say 3622, say to the house of Israel, and remember Northern Kingdom, Israel, Southern Kingdom, Judah. So you get these promises of restoration of the kingdom that are given, restoring the kingdom, bringing the Southern and Northern Kingdom at some point together in the Messianic age. And what that looks like and how that works out, it's debated, but the basic point I'm making is that what Paul describes as this restoration in Christ of Jews and Gentiles, the Old Testament prophets are anticipating that.

So verse 22, therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I'm going to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, that is non-Gentile people. When you see the word nations here, think non-Gentiles. In fact, the Greek translation of this term is a term in the plural that refers to Gentiles in the New Testament.

It's the term that's ethnos in the singular, but it's ethnesin in the plural. It's the same word Paul uses in Galatians when he says that God revealed, as a language of revelation, God revealed his son in him so that he might announce Jesus as the good news amongst the Gentiles. So you profane my name against the nations and the nations will know that I am the Lord God, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes, I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land, I will sprinkle clean water on you now.

Here's a question here exegetically. Here's a question for us, okay? When will Israel experience this restoration? In the context of Isaiah, it's when Yahweh will sprinkle them, verse 25, with clean water. Okay, what does it mean to be sprinkled with clean water? So that they will be clean and all their uncleanness and from all of their idols, he will cleanse them.

What does it mean to be sprinkled with clean water? Well, verse 26, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. Ah, okay. You see what Ezekiel was saying? The moment when Israel experiences this restoration is when Yahweh puts his spirit within them and gives them a new heart.

Moses said the very same thing. He talks about the need for Israel to circumcise their heart, but then he says God must circumcise your heart. Read Deuteronomy 10 and Deuteronomy 30 side by side.

That God must circumcise the heart and the way in which God circumcises the heart is by putting his spirit within them. This is Paul's language in Romans chapter 2, when he says true circumcision is of the heart of the spirit, not of the flesh. This is Paul's point in Ephesians 2, 1 to 10, when he says God made us alive with Christ.

In other words, God making us alive with Christ is Paul's way of saying what Ezekiel says. He's put his spirit within us. Notice further, I will remove, verse 26, the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

He's talking about inward transformation. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you, look at this, cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel is anticipating a day when God is going to take the initiative and work supernaturally in the hearts of Israel to give them a transformed spirit by the spirit to enable them to obey.

If I could just connect it again to Ephesians, the commands that Paul gives these Gentiles, they're able to obey what he commands because they have the spirit along with the Jews, Ephesians 2, who have the spirit because in Christ, that's how we experience the spirit because the Messianic age ushers in the spirit. So, so again, I'm just going to connect it to Paul again very quickly and come back to the Old Testament. So, so the, the reason why the attention then is, is placed upon Messiah, that Paul wants Messiah to be the, the one in whom we believe and trust is because the Messiah brings the spirit, not the law.

The law did not produce the spirit and the law could not cultivate in the heart only what the spirit could do. The law is not evil. It was good.

But notice what Paul, what, what Ezekiel says, he says, you're in exile because of disobedience to the law. The law is outside of you. You don't have the ability to do what it says to keep you out of exile.

Your hearts are evil. So the Lord must cause you to walk in his statues. He does that by the spirit.

And he says, I will, I will deliver you from all your uncleanness, verse 29, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I'll make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field. So, so on and so forth.

These promises are linked to the coming of the spirit. These promises are linked to new creation. And we see the spirit poured out in the Messianic age.

Look at Isaiah, or excuse me, Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 31, also a book that talks about the restoration promise of hope. Behold, Jeremiah 31, 31, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant. That phrase new covenant there, it's important.

It implies that there's an old covenant. Okay, what's the old covenant? The old covenant is the Mosaic covenant. This is one thing we have to remember.

This will help us when we read Paul. If we think this way, the old covenant was written on tablets of stone. It's external.

It wasn't bad. It wasn't evil. It was good.

Psalm 19, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, a whole Psalm celebrating God's law, thanking God for God's law and how it converts the heart and so on and so forth. The law is perfect and it's holy and it's good. Yes, and amen.

But we have to understand on this side of salvation history, now that Christ has come and the Messianic age has dawned and has ushered in the age of the spirit, that there's a new age now in Christ that is better than the old age, because the new age brings the spirit transformation of the heart. So when Jeremiah talks about making a new covenant, he does not mean a new covenant based on the law of Moses. It's a covenant that is different from the law of Moses, because he says, I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the old that I made.

The new ones contrasted with the old, not just by the author of Hebrews, by Jeremiah himself, that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That's a reference to Sinai, is it not? My covenant that they broke and they made that golden calf and did some other things. Though I was their husband, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days.

After what days? After the Mosaic covenant, I would argue, comes to an end. And when does that happen? Now I'm inferring here in the Messianic age, because he says, I will write it on their hearts. You read Ezekiel beside Isaiah and beside Jeremiah.

I think we can infer from all of those prophetic texts that the day in which this happens is when the spirit is put within God's people. And the day in which that happens is when Jesus comes, dies, resurrects from the dead, pours out the spirit, the gospels announced about Jesus, people respond to the gospel by faith, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit, whether they are Jews and Gentiles. That's what he is promising.

The promises given to Israel and the promises given to Judah are fulfilled and realized in the Messianic age when Jews give their lives to Jesus Christ. And Gentiles are included within those promises when Gentiles give their lives to Jesus Christ. Paul is with the prophetic tradition on this.

Now, maybe one more text from the Old Testament. And I want to spend some time thinking a little bit about Second Temple Judaism's outlook on this question. At least where this concept of Messiah and spirit is talked about in Second Temple Judaism.

So let's look at Joel here. Book of Joel chapter two, verse 28. Book of Joel is a book that has a great deal to say about the day of the Lord.

And Joel, he seems to describe the day of the Lord in a couple of different ways. One, the day of the Lord is a day where God pours out his wrath in real time in history by means of plagues that are poured out. I think you see that in chapter one.

But then there's this comprehensive day of the Lord that points to the future where God is going to pour out wrath upon those who don't turn to him. And then there's this invitation for anyone who calls on the name of Yahweh, the Lord, will be saved from that day of wrath. But as he's talking about this day of the Lord, he's also talking about this day when the spirit will be poured out.

In other words, the day of salvation that he's inviting people to heed is a day when the spirit is ushered in. So, for example, Joel chapter two, verse 28, shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. This is the text Peter cites on the day of Pentecost, 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.

Even on the male and female servants in those days, I will pour out my spirit and I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, the moon to blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and it shall come to pass, verse 32, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Zion and for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, there should be those who escape as the Lord has said and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord, listen to this language, calls.

Walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called. So this day of the Lord from which sinners will escape, they escape by means of experiencing the Spirit, which they can only do by trusting in the Messiah. So here's my point.

This day of the Spirit, when the Spirit's poured out, that's the messianic age. It's not the age in which the Mosaic covenant is giving you the Spirit. It's the age in which Messiah comes and pours out, pours out the Spirit.

Well, in summary, here's my point and then I want to turn toward the second temple text. The point that I'm making simply is, is that what Paul describes in Ephesians is prophesied in the Hebrew scriptures, that the messianic age introduces the age of the Spirit and that the messianic age brings to fulfillment what the prophets prophesied, that Jews and Gentiles will experience the Spirit, Israel will be restored by being transformed by the power of the Spirit. Those who believe in Jesus the Messiah and follow Him experience restoration and that restoration in Paul's view takes place by means of Jew and Gentile being recreated into one new humanity.

You know, one little piece here to this, I haven't talked about this a lot, but when you think about Israel and Judah, recent scholarship has pointed this out, remember the northern kingdom Israel had Samaria within it and Samaritans were not Jews. The Samaria was a piece of that northern kingdom. We see this in 2 Kings, if I recall, and you can look at a map and see it as well of the ancient world, but then we think of Judah, we think of Jerusalem, right? So, even when the prophets were talking about the restoration of Israel, within that they had this Samaria Gentile region in their mind as part of that restoration.

So, my point would be even in the prophetic tradition you have the restoration including Gentiles and Paul is saying that restoration happens in Jesus Christ. That's the point.