3. The Body of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit revealed himself bodily so that we might know him in a personal way.

...his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.

I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between Earth and Heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem… (Ezekiel 8:2-3)

Ezekiel 1-11 shows the Holy Spirit in action. His numerous encounters with the prophet Ezekiel give us many insights about who the Spirit is. Three principles become apparent as we seek to interpret Ezekiel 8 and other passages as God intended them to be read: as revelations of the glory of the Holy Spirit.

1. The being called the Spirit throughout the Book of Ezekiel is indeed the Holy Spirit.

Ezekiel refers to someone called the Spirit ten times in the book, but in chapter 11 Ezekiel states specifically that this spirit is the Spirit of God—that is, the Holy Spirit. That means that Ezekiel was not seeing an angel as many people suppose.

… the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Say, ‘thus says Yahweh…’” (Ezekiel 11:5; LEB).

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God (Ezekiel 11:24).

Ezekiel is taken aback by his encounter with the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not have an angelic nature. He has a nature far superior to the angelic nature, the divine nature. The divine nature gives him the appearance of fire and glowing metal, and allows him to do things angels cannot do.

2. The spirit who entered Ezekiel twice could only be the Holy Spirit.

God prohibits angels from entering the bodies of humans. God's design is that every person should control our own spirit. God intends for our spirits to be strengthened by his Spirit—not by any angels. This is why demon possession is such a great evil.

Demon possession is when a rebellious angel violates God's design. God's design if for every human being to develop self-control. Demons want humans to forfeit their self-control, while the Holy Spirit produces self-control in a person. When he indwells a believer, he does not violate that person's free will.

Any Bible passage which demonstrates a spirit entering a man’s body to benefit that man is a revelation of the Holy Spirit. Here are two examples:

… the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet… (Ezekiel 2:2).

Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet (Ezekiel 3:24).

So, we see that the Spirit who entered Ezekiel’s body was the Holy Spirit. He entered Ezekiel's body to raise Ezekiel to an upright position just like he entered the bodies of the dead in the Valley of the Dry Bones.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the Spirit; prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, Spirit, from the Four Winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the Spirit entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army (Ezekiel 37:9-10)

The Spirit who is resurrecting people in the passage above is introduced in the chapter as the Spirit of Yahweh. The Spirit of Yahweh sets Ezekiel down in the middle of a valley at the start of the chapter.

The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of Yahweh and set me in the middle of a valley (Ezekiel 37:1).

3. The Holy Spirit snatches Ezekiel up, something the Spirit is known to do.

The Spirit of Yahweh set Ezekiel down in the middle of a valley.

The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of Yahweh and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones (Ezekiel 37:1).

Nobody can set someone down until they’ve first picked them up. So the Holy Spirit must have picked Ezekiel up from some location other than the valley. Does that sound like something the Holy Spirit would do? Would he have snatched Ezekiel up from some place?

Let's note that the Spirit is famous for snatching people up. For example, the Spirit snatched away the deacon Philip.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him (Acts 8:39; NASB).

The men of Elijah’s day knew that God’s Spirit was famous for snatching people up. Do Christians know that now, or have they forgotten this characteristic behavior of the Spirit? Look at what men used to say about the Holy Spirit:

… it will happen that I will go from you and the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you up to where I do not know… (1 Kings 18:12; LEB)

Perhaps the Spirit of Yahweh has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley (2 Kings 2:16).

The Spirit picks people up and can set them on top of mountains.

So, in the Old Testament, this whisking people up was a well-known behavior of the Holy Spirit. Not that angels aren’t capable of doing the same thing, but since the Scriptures repeatedly say that the Spirit whisked Ezekiel up off his feet, we know that this was not an angel.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the LORD rose from the place where it was standing (Ezekiel 3:12).

The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away… I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River… (Ezekiel 3:14-15)

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the House of the LORD… (Ezekiel 11:1)

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God (Ezekiel 11:24).

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the Inner Court, and the Glory of Yahweh filled the Temple (Ezekiel 43:4).