SYMBOL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(This is one of the chapters of the book GOD AND HIS ETERNAL PLAN)
As all of us Christians know, the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity of God.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, as mentioned in…
JOHN 1:1-3 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
The creation of all things by Jesus Christ corresponds to the biblical description of how God carried out His creation, as recorded in…
GENESIS 1:1-3 – 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 And God said: Let there be light, and there was light.
We can see in verse 3 that God created light by His word. God also created everything else by the same word. That word of God is Jesus Christ.
In the second verse of Genesis chapter 1 it is also stated that at that time the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit and was also the wisdom of God. This was recorded in…
PROVERBS 8:22-31 – 22 In the beginning of the LORD’s creation, in ancient times, before any other thing was made, I was brought forth. 23 I was appointed from everlasting, from the beginning, before the foundation of the earth. 24 When there were no depths or springs flowing with water, I was brought forth. 25 Before the mountains were settled, or the hills, 26 Before the LORD made the earth, or the fields, or the first dust of the world, I was brought forth. 27 When God established the heavens, when he set a compass upon the face of the deep, I was there. 28 When he established the clouds above, and established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he established the boundary of the sea, that the waters might not transgress his commandment, when he established the foundation of the earth, 30 I was beside him as a master worker, and I was his delight all the day, rejoicing before him continually. 31 My joy was in the inhabited part of his earth, and my delight was with the sons of men.
In the Bible verses just cited we can see that God’s wisdom was present before He created all things.
We also know that God is the First, so the words I AM BORN are used to refer to the Holy Spirit, meaning that the Holy Spirit is the One who comes from God, just as Jesus Christ is the Word that comes from God.
And the words I WAS BESIDE HIM AS A MASTER WORKER show that the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of God, also took part in creation. That is completely consistent with the word of God recorded in…
PROVERBS 3:19-20 – 19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens. 20 By his knowledge the depths broke apart, and the clouds dropped the dew.
Thus, in these two verses and the original verses cited above, the word of God states that God created all things by His word (that is, Jesus Christ) and also by His wisdom (that is, the Holy Spirit).
It is also through the word of God in the Bible that we know that the Holy Spirit is not only the wisdom of God but also the strength and power of God, as clearly revealed in…
JOB 12:13 – With God are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding belong to him.
And in…
JEREMIAH 10:12 – It is the LORD who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, who stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
And one more verse in…
JEREMIAH 51:15 – It is he who by his power made the earth, who established the world by his wisdom, who stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
From the above verses we can see that God’s wisdom and His power are mentioned together. That means that the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God’s wisdom as well as His power.
There is also another important truth about the Holy Spirit. While God’s Word describes Jesus Christ as a man, His Word describes the Holy Spirit as a woman.
This has NOT been accepted by theologians in the Protestant Church, because they fear that doing so would be misunderstood as being influenced by Catholic doctrine. The Catholic Church has erred greatly in proclaiming Mary the queen of heaven and even praying to her for confession. These things are completely unsupported by the Bible, and on the contrary, they have caused God’s people to have a prejudice about the image of the Holy Spirit as a woman, and from there, they have misunderstood other parts of God’s word.
But Christians must note that the male image of Jesus Christ and the female symbol of the Holy Spirit are not meant to refer to the ordinary relationship between men and women in the physical world, but are meant to show Christians the spiritual union between Christ and His Church, which is purified by the Holy Spirit, made holy by Her power to be set apart from the world and to be worthy of eternal life in Heaven.
The Word of God says that the Church is established by the power of the Holy Spirit and is regarded as a pure virgin in union with Christ. It is recorded in…
2 CORINTHIANS 11:2 – For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I have betrothed you to one Husband, that I may present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
By the power of the Holy Spirit the church is made, and is reckoned as the body of Christ, as it is said in…
EPHESIANS 5:23 – For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
But IF the Holy Spirit, who is present in the Church, were to be represented as a man, the union between Christ and the Church would be in contradiction to the truth of God, which forbids homosexuality between men, as written in…
LEVITICUS 18: 22 – You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.
It is for this reason that the Word of God in the Bible pictures the Holy Spirit as a woman so that the union between Christ and His Church is completely worthy of the model of purity in marriage according to God’s Truth.
That is why in the book of Proverbs, wisdom is described as a woman, as it was written in…
PROVERBS 3: 13-20 – 13 Blessed are those who find Wisdom, those who gain Understanding, 14 for She is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with Her. 16 Long life is in Her right hand; in Her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all Her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of Her; those who hold Her fast will be blessed. 19 By Wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by Understanding He set the heavens in place, 20 by His knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.
When we think about the characteristics and benefits of Wisdom mentioned in the above verses, we will see that they all correspond to the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.
In addition, the image of the Holy Spirit as a woman is described in the Bible in…
SONG OF SONGS 6:10 – Who is this Woman that looks forth like the appearing of dawn, beautiful as the moon, pure as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?
A careful study of this and other passages in the Bible will show us how the Word of God describes the Holy Spirit as a woman.
First of all, the words APPEARED OF THE DAWN. These words are never used in the Word of God to describe anyone, except to describe the appearance of God and of Jesus Christ, as recorded in…
HOSEA 6:3 – Let us know the LORD; let us press on to know Him. His going forth is as sure as the appearing of dawn; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter rain watering the earth.
The words APPEARING OF THE DAWN and APPEARING OF THE MORNING SUN correspond exactly in word and in symbolism as well as in meaning. These two verses also show us that God and the Holy Spirit are one, for their appearing is the same.
Furthermore, the words used to describe the Holy Spirit APPEARING AS THE DAWN also correspond to the meaning of the Lord’s words when describing Christian’s having Jesus Christ coming into their heart, as it is written in…
2 PETER 1: 19 – And we have the prophetic word made more certain, to which you will do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.
The words DAY DAWNS also means THE DAWN IS COMING, and the words MORNING STAR RISES IN YOUR HEARTS show that at the same time as the Holy Spirit comes to Christians’ life, Christ will dwell in the hearts of Christians, because the two words MORNING STAR were used by Jesus Christ to describe Himself, as it is written in…
REVELATION 22: 16 – I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the BRIGHT MORNING STAR.
The Bible says that after Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He would sit at the right hand of God to intercede for the saints. But Jesus Christ Himself said that He would be with God’s people until the end of the world. This being with Jesus Christ refers to the Holy Spirit dwelling in the hearts of Christians, as it is written in…
JOHN 16:7 – Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Her to you.
And in….
JOHN 14:16-20 – 16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that She may abide with you forever, 17 the Spirit of truth; Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Her nor knows Her; but you know Her, for She dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Thus, through the above Bible verses, we see that although Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God but He also dwells in the hearts of Christians forever through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
That means that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are one, just as He is one with God.
Therefore the words APPEAR AS THE DAWN in Song of Songs 6: 10 are meant to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit and Her symbolism as a woman.
Next, the words BEAUTIFUL AS THE MOON are intended to describe the beauty of a woman, because according to the Bible, the moon is always used to describe women just as the word sun is often used to describe men, as written in…
GENESIS 37:9 – Joseph dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying: I had another dream: The sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.
When God’s word uses the word BEAUTIFUL AS THE MOON to describe the Holy Spirit, He means beauty in the spiritual realm, that is, beauty that surpasses all beauty in the visible realm.
Such a description is consistent with the description of the beauty of Christ. We can compare the following two verses to see the intention of God’s words, as recorded in…
PSALM 45:2 – You are fairer than the sons of men. Grace is poured into your lips. Therefore God has blessed you forever.
This verse says that Christ is fairer than all men. In the same way, the word of God says that the Holy Spirit is fairer than all women, as recorded in…
SONG OF SONGS 1:8 – If you do not know, O fairest among women, go forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed your kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
This verse is meant to describe the Holy Spirit, because as we know, when God’s word describes Sarah and Rebekah, it only says that they were very beautiful, but it does not say that they were more beautiful than all the women in the world. That is written in…
GENES 12: 11 – When Abram was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: Behold, I know that you are a beautiful woman.
And in…
GENES 12: 14 – When Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And another verse describes Rebekah in…
GENES 24:6 – The young woman was very beautiful, a virgin, and had never been married. She went down to the well, filled her jar, and came up.
We must note that when the Bible describes the beauty of Christ, it is of the invisible realm, that is, in the spiritual aspect, not in the physical aspect. For as the Bible says, when Jesus Christ was in the human body, he was not beautiful in appearance, as the Bible says in…
ISAIAH 53:2 – He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or comeliness; when we saw Him, there was no beauty that we should desire Him.
So when the word of God in Psalm 45:2 describes Christ as BEAUTY MORE THAN THE SONS OF MEN, it means that it is His glorious beauty in the spiritual realm.
Likewise when the word of God in Song of Solomon 1:8 describes the Holy Spirit as BEAUTY MORE THAN WOMEN, it means that it is the glorious beauty of the Holy Spirit in the invisible realm. This is because the Holy Spirit is the wisdom and power of God, and She always dwells in the invisible realm and has never revealed Her image in the visible realm.
In the visible world, each person is beautiful in his or her own way, but in the invisible world, no one can compare to the glorious beauty of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. That is why the Bible uses the words MOST BEAUTIFUL to describe the Second and Third Persons of God.
(to be continued)