The Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead which throughout the Old Testament is known as the One God! However, the word “Godhead” is never used in the Old Testament to identify this One God! God is known as One God, even though a plural word is used throughout the Old Testament. In fact, the first sentence in the Bible uses a plural Hebrew word, which is translated into English using the singular form. Moses wrote: “In the beginning God (el-o-heem’) created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word translated “God” appears more than 2,500 times in the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, more than likely, when you read the word “God” in the Old Testament, it is the Hebrew word “eloheem!” You can see the plural nature of the word as Moses wrote: “And God (eloheem) said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: …” Notice the plural pronouns used with the word “God,” (el-o-heem’) “us” and “our” in the text! Thus, we have the Godhead, without the use of the word itself!
Therefore, throughout the Old Testament it is the “eloheem,” the “Godhead” that is being addressed! It is most important to understand that the relationship of Father and Son, common in New Testament, is not present in the Old Testament and this is a most important point to keep in mind! This relationship is a New Testament relationship and not an Old Testament one! However, it is prophesied of in Psalms: “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psa. 110:1). Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew 22:44. Jesus was David’s LORD (Jehovah) as Deity and David’s “Lord,” and son as fleshly descendant; therefore, Jesus while on earth was both flesh and Deity and the Father and Son relationship is also established in the fulfillment of this great prophecy! In the Old Testament, the word “eloheem” refers to the “Godhead” and is the force in most of the action! It is not the action of one member of the “Godhead,” but the “Godhead” itself that is being written about throughout the Old Testament! This means the Holy Spirit is active in the action of the Old Testament!
To help our understanding of the Godhead and the Hebrew words used, let us turn to Moses giving the Law to Israel in Exodus twenty: “And God (el-o-heem’) spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD (yeh-ho-vaw’, better known as “Jehovah”) thy God (el-o-heem’), which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Ex. 20:1-2). First, notice Moses, by the Holy Spirit, used two Hebrew words: 1) “eloheem” translated “God,” which is a plural term and is the same word used in Genesis chapter one, verse one. Second, notice the word “LORD” is in all capital letters in the King James Version and is the Hebrew “yehhovaw,” but in the American Standard Version is “Jehovah.” The Hebrew word “eloheem” is, as noted above, the word most often used by Moses in the Old Testament in the first five books, then, by other writers throughout the other books also. This Hebrew word, “eloheem,” a plural translated into a singular, might be better understood, had it been translated into our English word “Godhead” as it includes the three that are better understood in the New Testament relationship: 1) Father, 2) Son, and 3) Holy Spirit. The first statement in the Bible could read: “In the beginning the Godhead created the heavens and the earth” and verse twenty-six would read: “And the Godhead said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:…” Finally just here, as Moses gave the Law, it would read: “And Godhead spake all these words, saying.” The action of the Old Testament is that of the Godhead, and it is not just one member acting alone! Therefore, the Holy Spirit is included in this action!
The word Godhead appears but three times in the King James Version of the Bible and is in the New Testament: 1) Paul used the word in Athens when he said: “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead (theios) is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” (Acts 17:29); 2) when he wrote to the Romans: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead (theiotēs); so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20); and 3) in his letter to the Colossians: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead (theotēs) bodily” (Col. 2:9). It must be noted that Paul used three different Greek words in the three verses: 1) theios, 2) theiotes, and 3) theotes. These three words are related and this relationship will be noted in the second article.
If one is to understand the Holy Spirit, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the Godhead. It is hoped that this first article has built a foundation upon which to build a better understand of the subject: “THE MYSTERY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”
Frank R. Williams