Category Archives: Spirit

“The Spirit of the LORD came upon him…”

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Several places in the book of Judges we read that “The Spirit of the LORD came upon him…” (Judges 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14). We read of this experience elsewhere as well. What exactly does this mean? According to one commentator, “This is a common Old Testament expression signifying a unique act of God which conferred power and wisdom for victory.”1

So did this always guarantee God’s will would be done 100%? In all details?

Consider Gideon (Judges 8:24-27). He made an ephod2 from earrings given him by the Israelites, taken from the plunder of Midian. He placed this ephod on public display in his hometown of Ophrah, where the Israelites worshiped it and “it became a snare to Gideon and his family.” (Judges 8:27)

See also examples of Jephthah (Judges 11:34-40) and Samson (Judges 16:1).

All of us who have been baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), and have received the gift of the same Spirit that was given to the judges (Acts 2:38). He works within us in non-miraculous ways to help us live in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:5-27). Just like the judges though, having the Spirit of God with us doesn’t mean we’re robotically controlled by the Spirit. We should be controlled by the Spirit in that the principles Jesus taught us to live by should guide our lives and dictate the way we choose to live — but that’s the crux of the matter. As sinners, we sometimes allow our own sinful nature (read: human will) to overpower God’s Holy Spirit.

And that’s a sobering thought — that I can overpower the all-powerful God. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not mightier than He. It’s just that since He has given me the will to choose my own destiny, many times I get it wrong — way wrong! As we mature as Christians, the Spirit should be taking a more active, more powerful role in our life, but that will only happen if we let Him. Our sinful nature will still win some of the battles, but the victory will belong to the Lord if we choose to be “led by the Spirit” (Romans 8:14).


1. John MacArthur Study Bible, note on Judges 3:10.
2. An ephod was an article of priestly clothing, resembling a long vest.