The Spirit Empowered Pattern

Acts 1:8 New King James Version

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Come upon: Luke uses an Old Testament phrase to describe the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The phrase is used six times in Judges; three of which are in reference to Samson.

The Spirit Empowered Pattern (Old Testament):

1. The Holy Spirit is Needed Because the Mission is Too Great.

a. Numbers 11:14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.

b. Numbers 11:16 So the LORD said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.

c. Numbers 11:17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.

2. The Holy Spirit Produces Inspired Speech.

a. Numbers 11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.

i. וְלֹא יָסָפוּ (welōʾ yāsāp̱û, “and did not do so again”) is from the root yāsap̱(“to do again,” “to repeat”). The standard understanding is that these elders were given a temporary gift of prophecy that served to validate their ministry as the aides of Moses, but they did not continue to prophesy. The NIV margin has “Or prophesied and continued to do so.” This is derived from an alternate reading found in the Targumim, presumably based on weloʾ yāsup̱û from sûp̱, “to come to an end,” meaning, “and they did not stop.” The MT reading is surely preferable here.[1]

b. 1 Samuel 10:6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

c. 1 Samuel 10:10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

3. The Holy Spirit Comes Upon Imperfect People.

a. Numbers 11:26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp.

4. The Holy Spirit’s Empowerment is for All People.

a. Numbers 11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

b. Numbers 11:28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”

c. Numbers 11:29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”

The Spirit Empowered Pattern (New Testament):

1. The Holy Spirit is Needed Because the Mission is Too Great.

a. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

b. Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

c. Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

d. Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

2. The Holy Spirit Produces Inspired Speech.

a. Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

b. Acts 2:16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

c. Acts 2:17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

d. Acts 2:18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

e. Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.

f. Acts 10:45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

g. Acts 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,

h. Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

3. The Holy Spirit Comes Upon Imperfect People.

a. Acts 1:13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.

4. The Holy Spirit’s Empowerment is for All People.

a. Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

b. Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

NIV The New International Version MT Masoretic text [1]Ronald B. Allen, “Numbers,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990), 795.