The Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament, preparing for the coming Messiah both in word (prophecy) and in deed (action). The ‘old school’ prophets, as the Israelites might call them, were capable of parting the waters (Moses and the Red Sea, Joshua and the Jordan River, Elijah & Elisha and the Jordan River), and several even brought people back from the dead with the Spirit’s help (Elijah and the Shunammite widow’s son, Elisha’s bones). Today, many believe resurrection was only a Jesus thing, or just a Jesus and Lazarus thing, but the Holy Spirit has been restoring life throughout the Lord’s relationship with His chosen people.
I think we have a tendency to put God in too small a box. We instinctively want to limit God’s power and authority to things we can understand, touch, see, taste, hear, and smell. We have only fleeting glimpses, like looking in a mirror, of the real magnitude of His holiness, justice, righteousness, grace, and mercy, which sustain us. If the Creator wants someone who is dead to live, He can do it. John the Baptist proclaims, “God is able to raise children of Abraham from these stones.” If only we can understand our true relationship with our Creator. It is not as equals, nor even as a parent-child. We are like little balls of mud and air with His life breathed into us, or a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Now, maybe, we can begin to understand the magnitude of the works of the Spirit, providing for our very existence, let alone the blessings of food, clothing, and shelter we receive daily.
Practice doing good in this life while you can, for the days are evil.
Grace & Peace, Charles.