Holy Spirit in the Minor Prophets
Holy Spirit in the Old Testament • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 10 viewsIn today’s message, we will read about the places the Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout the minor prophets and see how it all ties to Jesus.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
August 24th 2025
Series: Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
Sermon Title: Holy Spirit in the Minor Prophets
Topic: How the Holy Spirit speaks through different kinds of people in the OT.
Key Passages:
Topic: Holy Spirit, Isaiah
Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will read about the places the Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout the minor prophets and see how it all ties to Jesus.
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Sermon:
Hello, Family Church!
Welcome, whether you are here in person or online.
Family Moment –
Start with something personal from your family life recently to help people get to know you.
Celebrate salvation / rededications / baptisms last week.
Celebrate new disciples and disciple-makers.
PAUSE
Today, we wrap up our series walking through the places in the Old Testament where the Holy Spirit appears.
Believe it or not, we started this series in April 2024 and have finally reached the end of it today….
But not really the end…because anyone want to guess why?
That right!
We will jump into the New Testament and see what we can learn about the Holy Spirit in the New Testament….
BUT….
That will not happen until next year…
Because….next month we are going to launch into a series on building the Kingdom of God and layout some vision for some capital things we want to do as a church…
And after that we get to missions month and some AMAZING things we have planned for 2026…
So GREAT things are coming!!!!
PAUSE
If you were here last weekend, we walked through the places the Holy Spirit showed up in the book of the Bible know as the Major Prophets…
Today, we walk through the places the Holy Spirit showed up in the minor prophets…
Now if you are like me…
You are probably wondering why were some prophets major and some minor?
Were some of them more important or something?
And the answers is nope…
The major prophets just wrote LONGER books…
And the minor prophets wrote SHORTER books…
Think of it like a sermon by (Pastor Bob) and (Pastor Adam)….one is short and to the point…and one let’s just say wanders around a bit and takes a while to get to the point….
PAUSE
For your reference the books of the minor prophets are listed in your sermon notes: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
And if you want to circle a few books…the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Joel, Micah, Haggai, and Zechariah.
And in those books, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 8 times.
PAUSE
Today, we will begin with the book of
Joel
If you have your Bible with you, and I hope you do, would you open it with me there?
New Person Bible Connection:
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PAUSE
Now, as you are getting there, let me give everyone a little background because we do not like anyone at Family Church feeling like they are lost or an outsider.
And again, in your Study Bible, there are several pages of introduction you can read later today before each of these books…
PAUSE
Joel is a prophet…which means a person who speaks on behalf of God.
Joel constantly called God’s people to repent and return to God.
He was calling them to admit they have made life about something other than God and to change and return to making life about God.
Which….if we are honest… A LOT of our lives are NOT about God.
So let me encourage us all to lean in and listen.
PAUSE
Chapter 2 of Joel starts out with this warning that the day of the Lord is coming and to be ready…
Then verses 12-17 shift to call people to return to God.
Then, in verses 18-27, we see the Lord having mercy on His people.
Then, in verse 28, the Holy Spirit shows up…
Let’s start reading there…
Joel 2: 28-31 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
I want you to circle in your Bible, “Pour out my Spirit on ALL.”
Anyone know when this Bible verse was quoted in the Bible?
If you have your Bible, flip to the book of Acts 2.
Now let me remind you all of something…and we will get DEEP into this next year when we start looking at the Holy Spirit in the New Testament…
But….
When Jesus died and rose from the dead.
After that, he appeared to His followers a bunch of times.
During one of those talks Jesus had with his followers in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4-5, he told them to WAIT in Jerusalem because God the Father was going to send them the Holy Spirit…
In Acts 2, it records when that happened.
When the Holy Spirit showed up in a CRAZY way….
Let’s read that and then you will see how it ties to what you just read in Joel.
Acts 2: 1-21 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Does anyone know who that wind was???
Yes…The Holy Spirit!
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now, what does speaking in tongues mean here?
Well, it says next…
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
Stop there…
So, speaking in tongues here is VERY clear that it means people who DID not know another language were speaking that OTHER language with perfect clarity.
People heard people praising God in the native tongues and had NO IDEA how that was possible.
So here is something we need to write down.
The Holy Spirit can help me communicate to people in ways beyond my abilities.
(Repeat)
And that is some GOOD news for us because let’s be honest…
We do NOT always know what to say to our teacher.
Friend.
Parent.
Coach.
Spouse.
And so on.
But the GOOD NEWS is that IF the Holy Spirit has filled you…
You will be able to communicate things BEYOND your ability!
PAUSE
Let’s keep reading…
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
Which Prophet church?
Now look at what comes next…. Verse 17-21 Peter quotes what Joel said around 1,000 years before!
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
Again…there is that ALL again…All flesh…All people…
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Keep that verse on the screen….
Here is what I want you all to see with CLARITY…
And I LOVE that this is SO clear at the end of this series!!!!
The Holy Spirit is poured out for ALL people…
We see that in Joel and Acts…
We ALSO see in both…
Look at verse 21….
EVERYONE who calls upon the name of the Lord…. will be what church?
Saved…
I LOVE this reminder!!!
God will pour His Spirit out on ALL people…male, female…slave, free…adults, kids…EVERYONE…
And the Holy Spirit will guide us to understand we are broken sin filled people….
The Holy Spirit’s goal is to help ALL of us realized we need to call on the Name of the Lord…Jesus…to be what church?
Saved….
Write this down…
The Holy Spirit is here to guide me toward salvation.
(Repeat)
I love how the Old Testament and New Testament are both guiding us to the same place!
We need the Savior Jesus.
PAUSE
Now we do not have time to dive into all these passages…
In your notes, you will see
Micah 2:7, 3:8, and Haggai 2:5.
Those are the places the Holy Spirit is mentioned, and we do not learn a new aspect of how he works in our lives there, so we will not dive in there.
And Micah 2:7 might say the Lord has grown impatient, depending on your translation, but in the Hebrew, it is Spirit as an FYI.
PAUSE
Then, in the Book of Zechariah, we have four places where the Holy Spirit is mentioned…
And they tie to what we just saw….
Let me show you...
Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Here is what Zechariah is saying…write this down…
The Holy Spirit can help deliver us.
(Repeat)
Now you might ask…’
Deliver us from what?
Well…here in Zechariah, they are talking about rebuilding the Temple that was destroyed…
God delivered his people from another nation that held them as slaves…
In the same way that God can deliver you from being a slave to:
Alcohol, drugs, lust, debt, fear, and so on….
The Holy Spirit is here to help you and me overcome all the sinful things that plague us…
The Holy Spirit is here to guide you and me away from things that will destroy us…
The only question is if we will lean into the Holy Spirits leading in our lives…
PAUSE
Then, in Zechariah 6:8, the Spirit is mentioned during a prophetic dream.
Zechariah 7:12 talks about the Holy Spirit speaking through prophets.
Zechariah 6:8, Zechariah 7:12
And then we get to Zechariah 12:10…which again ties to everything we have been talking about today…
Let’s read it….
Zechariah 12:10“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy,
so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced,
they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Anyone want to guess who Zechariah is talking about?
Yes…Jesus…
And let’s keep this in context.
When Zechariah said this…Jesus had not been born.
NO ONE knew about Jesus then…
Zechariah said this around 518-520 BC.
Jesus died between 30-33 AD.
So, this was spoken 550 years BEFORE it happened.
And let me just pause here…
If you are listening to this message, and you do not believe in Jesus, I am SO HAPPY your listening...
Have you ever though about the odds of a person who says they believe in God saying something God said would happen…and it coming true 550 years later….
I asked Chat GPT that question about this verse and it said…let me put it on the screens….
The odds of one specific prophecy coming true 550 years later—especially in detail and in a way that is not staged or vague—are astronomically low, especially when dealing with specific people, places, and events.
The odds of just one precise prophecy like Zechariah 12:10 being fulfilled 550 years later without manipulation are safely in the realm of 1 in millions at minimum—possibly far higher.
Love it!!!
AI confirms….crazy how amazing it is what this one random guy said coming true...which it did….
And if you are new to church…
Jesus did not just fulfill ONE prophecy…no he fulfilled some 300!!!!
So, I asked AI about the odds of that….and let me show you exactly what ChatGPT said…
Anyone fulfilling 300+ Prophecies is essentially immeasurable.
And then it went on to say this…and this is making me think AI might be awesome…
The fulfillment of highly specific, messianic prophecies across hundreds of years is one of the strongest apologetic claims in Christian theology.
Even skeptical scholars admit the historical challenge of explaining how multiple ancient Jewish texts came to match Jesus' life so closely without post-event editing or manipulation.
Wow…
Do you realize even AI admits…Jesus doing what Jesus did shows something beyond human ability or reason has to be considered.
PAUSE
So let me pose some questions…
Who was Jesus?
Who is Jesus to you?
How can Jesus have fulfilled hundreds of things people said about him hundreds or thousands of years prior with 100% accuracy?
Even if it was ONLY what Zechariah said today….how is that possible?
PAUSE
I want you to realize it is possible because Jesus was, is, and always will be the Son of God.
And you are listening to this message today because the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, Jesus’ Spirit wanted you to hear this message…
And you might wonder why…
Why did he want me to hear it…
Go back to that point you wrote down earlier…
PAUSE
He wanted you to hear this because the Holy Spirit is drawing you to understand you are broken and you need Jesus…
And so, we are going to close out our service today with an extended time of prayer to give you an opportunity to give your life to Jesus…
As the band comes, let me share with you our Life Application for today.
Let me give you your life application today.
If you are new, or newer, to Family Church, we LOVE to end our messages with something for you to talk about with someone else.
Something to help you apply the message to your life.
So here is this week’s Life Application…
Life Application: The Holy Spirit wants to help you get Jesus into the CENTER of your life. What needs to change in your life to get Jesus at the CENTER of everything? As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.
Prayer:
Make sure to do a salvation call!
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