In this message we shall consider the elements of the compound Spirit.
In God’s creation the Spirit of God was active: “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2b). Anything substantial must have an element, and the Spirit of God is surely something substantial. What element is in the Spirit of God? The element of the Spirit of God is God, divinity.
As we have pointed out in a foregoing message, the spirit of a certain substance is the extract of that substance. For example, the spirit of a grape is not merely the grape itself; it is the extract of the grape. In the same principle, we may say that the Spirit of God is the extract of God. This Spirit has divinity, that is, the element of what God is. Because creation came into being by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God has the element of divinity, then, according to Romans 1:20, creation manifests God’s eternal power and divinity.
After God created man, He came to contact him. Jehovah is the name of God in relation to man. In Genesis 1 we have only the title God, but in Genesis 2 we also have another title, Jehovah, because in this chapter God begins to have contact with the man created by Him. Therefore, Jehovah is a title used for God’s contact with man. It denotes God’s relationship with man.
The name Jehovah is derived from, or is a form of, the verb to be. Exodus 3:14 says, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Jehovah is the One who was, the One who is, and the One who is to be. “Was,” “is,” and “will be”—all these are forms of the verb to be. Actually, the verb to be can be applied only to God. He alone is, was, and will be. He alone is the eternal, self-existing One. Our life is short. If we do not have God, we shall not continue to be and even we are not actually existing now, for the verb to be cannot be applied to us as it is uniquely applied to God. The verb to be is the basic verb. Everything else depends on this. For example, eating depends on being, on existence. If I did not exist, how could I eat? All other verbs, perhaps numbering in the thousands, depend on this unique verb, the verb to be. Only God is the One who is; He alone is the I Am, the ever-existing and self-existing One.
In order for God to be related to man, He must be triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. According to Exodus 3, Jehovah refers to the Triune God. This is indicated in 3:6, where God says, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” After God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM” and told him to tell the children of Israel, “I AM hath sent me unto you,” He went on to say to him, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (v. 15). In 3:14 God says, “I AM hath sent me unto you,” but in the next verse He says, “Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you.” This indicates that Jehovah is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. This title of God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—implies the Three of the Godhead, the Trinity. In our Life-study of Genesis we pointed out that much of the book of Genesis is related to God as the God of three persons: Abraham, the father; Isaac, the son; and Jacob, the supplanter, the subtle one who was eventually transformed. The God of Abraham signifies the Father; the God of Isaac, the Son; and the God of Jacob, the Spirit. Jehovah, God in His relationship with man, is the Triune God. Therefore, the Spirit of Jehovah is the Spirit with the element of the divine Trinity.
Many verses in the Old Testament speak of the Spirit of Jehovah: Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Samuel 10:6; 16:13, 14; 2 Samuel 23:2; 1 Kings 18:12; 22:24; 2 Kings 2:16; 2 Chronicles 18:23; 20:14; Isaiah 11:2; 63:14; Ezekiel 11:5; 37:1; Micah 3:8; Zechariah 7:12. Whenever God came to contact people in the Old Testament, He was the Spirit of Jehovah with the element of the Trinity. Actually, the Spirit of Jehovah is the extract of the element of the Triune God.