“And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know. So when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.” — 1 Kings 18:12
The land of Israel was in a severe drought because of king Ahab’s sin and the Israel’s idolatry under the influence of Jezebel. During this time, Jezebel was determined to destroy the prophets of the LORD, and many were slain.
When the word of the LORD came to Elijah commanding him, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth (1 Kings 18:1). Elijah obeyed God and went to find Ahab. While he was on his way, he met Obadiah and asked him to go and tell Ahab that Elijah had come. This passage is the responds of Obadiah to Elijah request. This man was in charge of the king’s treasures. Though he served under a wicked ruler, Obadiah was a faithful man who feared the LORD greatly. During the time when Jezebel sought to destroy all the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah courageously hid one hundred of them in two caves and supplied them with food and water.
Many people think that the Holy Spirit began His work only in the New Testament, but the Scriptures clearly show that He was already moving in power throughout the Old Testament. From the very beginning, the Spirit of God was present and active among His people. He has always been the One who moves God’s servants to accomplish His purpose whether to reveal visions, show His throne, or fulfill His divine will. In Genesis 1:2, it says, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Spirit moved over the earth so that life could begin.
Is it not the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary so that life could be formed in her womb? (Luke 1:35) Is it not the same Holy Spirit who gives life to all who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ? (Romans 8:11)
This is the same Spirit whom Obadiah spoke about when he said to Elijah, “the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not” (1 Kings 18:12). Obadiah was not speaking of something strange or new. He already knew about the Spirit of God and recognized His presence upon Elijah’s life.
And Obadiah was not the only one who believed this. When Elijah was finally taken up to heaven, just as Enoch was taken by God and did not see death (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5), the sons of the prophets said, “Lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley” (2 Kings 2:16). This tells us that the presence of the Spirit of the Lord was known and not hidden from God’s people. They had seen His power manifested in their lives and among the prophets.
The Holy Spirit is our connection to our Heavenly Father.
“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” I Corinthians 2:9-16
The Bible says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). Because we are in the Lord, and the Lord is in us, we are united with Him through His Spirit. It is through the Spirit of the Lord that we come to know the heart of God. The Holy Spirit reveals to us everything the Lord wants us to understand. His thoughts, His will, and His ways. By the Holy Spirit, we are able to discern the mind of God in the things we face, to understand His nature, and to walk according to His purpose for our lives. The Spirit also unveils the mysteries of God to those who belong to Him, just as Jesus said, “He will guide you into all truth… and He will show you things to come” (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit who took Ezekiel and showed him the glory of God, His throne, and all the works of God’s people in the temple including their abominations and uncleanness (Ezekiel 8:3–10) is the same Spirit who carried Elijah and moved upon Ezekiel again and again to speak the word of the Lord (Ezekiel 11:1, 24). This same Spirit also led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, as it is written, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
He is the very Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just as Paul declared:
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” — Romans 8:11
We might think that Paul is only talking about how the Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome the desires of the flesh. But Paul is saying much more than that. He is revealing that the same Spirit who gave Jesus His glorious body after the resurrection is the same Spirit who will also transform us.
That is why it is so important for every believer to be like Obadiah, who was aware of the presence and manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians today are spiritually lifeless, and their lives show little transformation because they have not yet experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, nor have they come to truly know Him or fellowship with Him.
The Apostle Paul met this same issue with some believers in Ephesus. The Scriptures tell us:
“He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.” — Acts 19:2
Why Paul has to rebaptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus? for it is in His name that there is remission of sins. The Word says,
“When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” — Acts 19:5–6
This shows that even believers who already have faith in Christ still need to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not only our Helper. He is also our Seal. Paul says, “You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). This means we belong to God completely. The same Spirit who sealed us will be the One to carry us up in the air when Jesus returns. We see this Elijah and Enoch with Philip, who was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord after baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:39–40); with Paul, who was taken up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2–4); and with John, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” and was shown the throne of God (Revelation 4:2).
Today, you need to be like Obadiah, you need to live with awareness of the presence and manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to simply know about Him from the stories of others; you must experience Him for yourself.
Jesus gave us the right to become children of God through His death and resurrection. Because He destroyed the power of sin, He brought us near to the Father. The veil that once separated us from God was torn apart (Matthew 27:51), and now we have full access to His presence.
When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we receive power! Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). This power is not just for completion of the task were assign for us. It is for transformation. When the Holy Spirit fills your life, you are changed from the inside out. The old life is gone, and a new life begins. You will never be the same again, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).
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