Holy Spirit - Filled With
November 14, 2021Today's message was the third in a series about the Holy Spirit. The message is here.
While there are a number of words in Hebrew that mean various degrees and applications of fill, fulfill, fill up, etc., probably male (maw-lay) is the most important. Literally it means filling up a physical space, like oceans filling at Creation and the related mandate to Man to populate (fill up) the world.
More related to the sense of permeating that was mentioned in the message is a common metaphysical use of maw-lay. It is used to say the righteous are filled with blessings and the wicked filled with curses. Skilled workmen are filled with the Spirit of God; also filled with wisdom (Ex. 35:35). Old Testament blessings are typically materialistic whereas those of the New Testament tend to be spiritual.
In an inanimate sense but still metaphysical, maw-lay is used to describe Jerusalem filled with innocent blood and Israel filled with idols. Violence fills the earth (Gen. 6:13).
The Tabernacle and Temple are maw-lay'd with the glory cloud, the sacred presence of God (Ex. 40:34-35).
Maw-lay can also refer to completion, as in the fulfilment of a pregnancy (Gen. 25:24) or completing the days of purification (Lev. 12:) or completing the period of a vow (Num. 6:5, 13).
Just to note another word, saba. It's a synonym of maw-lay, of sorts, but more in the sense of filling to satisfaction, as with food. God provides to satisfaction with regard to food in the wilderness. It can also refer to fill the spirit to satisfaction.
Once again, most of this info came from the Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (see the Credits page).
On a side note, some say the Old Testament, including the Torah, is "filled with" prophecy about the coming of Christ.
It is often suggested that the Old Testament Holy Spirit comes UPON people whereas the New Testament Holy Spirit dwells WITHIN people (a.k.a FILLS people). This is not entirely accurate. The Old Testament does have plenty of references to the Holy Spirit coming upon people, but it also has examples of people being filled with the Holy Spirit: [Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship."] (Exodus 31:3). See also Deuteronomy 34:9.
Here's a chart I found this week showing Old Testament references to the spirit of God (from here). It includes a few we've already talked about, and quite a few more.
