THE Spirit

Isaiah 11:2
And 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 the fear of the LORD.


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In speaking of Jesus, Isaiah prophesies that God's Spirit will rest upon him. The Holy Spirit is the very spirit of God. Here Isaiah describes 3 pairs of the Holy Spirit's attributes:
wisdom and understanding;
counsel and might;
knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah says even more explicitly that the Holy Spirit is THE Spirit of these things. Only the Spirit of God can give true wisdom and understanding in it's fullest measure. Only the Holy Spirit can give true counsel and empower people with the strength (or might) of the Lord. Only the Holy Spirit can give knowledge of God, and enable the proper fear of God. I think even in our fallen nature, we are able to touch on these things, but we are unable to experience them in their fullness. We can have a certain measure of wisdom and understanding, but until the Spirit comes upon you and dwells in you, the fullness of wisdom and understanding are not possible for anyone.

This does not discount the fact that the heart is wicked above all things and that we are hopelessly dead in our sin. But being made in God's image, by default, gives us a measure of divine wisdom. Atheists and haters of God have this. But they nonetheless are blinded because they reject the fullness of God's wisdom in his Spirit.

For myself, there are days that being a Christian feels so hum-drum and flat. I honestly don't always feel like I have a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of God. But this verse reminds me that these things are always present in my life, but I choose to stand on them or not.

It also helps me reorder my priorities and it gives me a direction to focusing my life. Today I need to lean on the Holy Spirit for all wisdom, counsel, strength, and knowledge. Also, and maybe most importantly, to fear the Lord properly. In verse 3 of Isaiah 11, it says that the Messiah's joy will be in the fear of the Lord. It says he will delight in the fear of God. This is a funny phrase, isn't it? that delight will be found in the fear of something?

But I think wisdom and understanding leads to that truth. The simple fact that God exists, deserves our fear. Who doesn't fear things greater than themselves? From astronomical catastrophes to cockroaches, we fear things. Ultimately, only God is worthy of fear, but we can't give him that if we don't know him or if we aren't familiar with his riches and his depth. The Spirit of God provides this, and this is the foundation of knowledge and understanding.

When this is the foundation of all my wisdom, I can properly access counsel and knowledge and might and understanding. Since this is a prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus had these things to a perfect degree, and the Scripture then goes on to describe what the Messiah would do under the power of the Spirit, what his reign and character would be like. To really understand how the Spirit of God works with a person, I need to go to Jesus and study him; learn from him and seek his wisdom. There isn't any other way. Isaiah never prophesied that God's Spirit would rest on Hanzo and empower me to lead his kingdom; I need to seek the King first and foremost.