In our willingness to consciously invite the Holy Spirit—as the presence of the Father in the light of His countenance, in the form of a bull with horns—into our lives, the emphasis regarding His power lies in the passage from Proverbs 14:4, which states:

 

 

It is our willingness—expressed through a conscious invitation to the Holy Spirit—that enables us to receive His powerful communication in the form of the LORD’s ‘light blue flame’, which is accompanied by His power and leads to abundant harvests in the future. This refers to a threefold harvest found in the fields of the blood of the Lamb (Note: Passover), the fire of the Spirit based on the principles of God (Note: Shavuot—Feast of Weeks), and His glory (Note: Sukkot—Feast of Tabernacles).

 

The Hebrew word for ‘horn’ is ‘qärän’ and signifies strength and power. According to the Word of God, it is used as a shofar and as an anointing vessel. The Hebrew word ‘to shine – qāran’, as used in Exodus 34:29, is related to the Hebrew word for ‘horn—qärän’.

 

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant [Note: had horns] because he had spoken with the Lord.

 

This means, therefore, that Moses reflected the face of God in the form of a bull, while he was surrounded by God’s fatherhood in the form of priesthood and accompanied by the Spirit of strength. God’s presence, with which Moses was surrounded, resulted in the manifestation of the fear of the LORD among the people of Israel (cf. Exodus 34:30).

 

30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant [Note: Hebrew ‘qāran’], and they were afraid to come near him.

 

The Hebrew word for ‘oxen’ used in Proverbs 14:4 is ‘‘äläṗ’, which conveys the idea of ‘being taught’ within a family context, by being yoked alongside an older ox —like a young ox— to learn from it. This instruction is connected to God’s immeasurable abundance, since the word ‘‘äläṗ’ also means ‘thousand’. It is, for example, the presence of the angels around God’s throne, multiplied by ‘thousands’ in the text (cf. Daniel 7:10a i.c.w. Revelation 5:11).

 

10a-b A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.

 

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

 

 

The phrase ‘taking up the yoke’ clarifies Jesus’ statement about His easy yoke, which we are called to take upon ourselves as a responsibility and to learn from Him (cf. Matthew 11:29-30).

 

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

 

In addition, the ‘bull’ is connected with the first Hebrew letter ‘Aleph’, which carries the numerical value ‘1’ and means, among other things, ‘cattle, leader, strength, master/ LORD’. The pictographic representation of the Hebrew letter ‘Aleph’ is a ‘bull’s head’.

 

The ‘Aleph’ is the so-called ‘Father letter’ because everything begins with the Father, who as the Almighty is beginning and end, as the Hebrew word for ‘Father – āb’ begins with an ‘Aleph’ (cf. Revelation 1:8).

 

Revelation 1:8:
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

 

The Hebrew word used for ‘bull’ in Proverbs 14:4 is ‘šôr’, which describes, among other things, ‘safe travel with watchful eyes as a caravan on a journey’ (cf. Hebrews 13:14).

 

14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

 

(Note: part excerpt from the Elberfelder Study Bible on the words ‘bull – šôr’ and ‘traveling caravan – šûr’ from the Elberfelder Study Bible, with the word key number: 8103, 8104, 8105*)

 

 

Since with God the first has special significance and everything begins with the power of His Word, according to this principle there is an emphasis on the first Hebrew letters of ‘oxen’ and ‘bull’, as both are mentioned in Proverbs 14:4 (cf. John 1:1-3 i.c.w. Exodus 13:2; Exodus 23:19a).

 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

 

2 ‘Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.’

 

19a ‘Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. …’

 

When the first Hebrew letter of the cattle and that of the bull are combined, the result is the Hebrew word ‘אש – ‘ēš’, which means ‘fire’.

 

Since the Holy Spirit descended at Shavuot —the Feast of Weeks—in the form of tongues of fire upon the approximately 120 saints, settling upon their heads, we can recognize here, in connection with the mentioned ‘light blue flame’, communication through power-filled words (cf. Acts 2:1-4 i.c.w. Matthew 10:20; Luke 4:32; John 6:63; 1 Corinthians 2:4).

 

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

 

… 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

 

32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

 

63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life.

 

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, …

 

It is no coincidence that, at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Shavuot/Pentecost, the wind came first and filled the place where the approximately 120 saints were sitting—the house. After the wind filled the house, tongues of fire rested upon each one of them.

 

The wind is a reference to God, who is Spirit and encircles all the saints who respond to the instruction of the living Word and dwell in a higher spiritual place of governance (Note: seated; cf. John 4:24a i.c.w. Luke 24:49; Ephesians 2:6).

 

24a God is spirit, …

 

‘… 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

 

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, …

 

From this it follows that the Holy Spirit identifies with each individual saint and the gifts He has assigned to them (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:11).

 

11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

 

This identification with the individual leads to speaking fervently in the Spirit about what God inspires (cf. Romans 12:11).

 

11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.

 

It is the Spirit of Strength, associated with the color light blue according to Isaiah 11:2, which is located in the fifth position of the Menorah.

 

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord – …

 

 

Thus, we are called to nourish the Holy Spirit through our hunger, much like an ox that is fed with straw. It is connected to inner processes, and surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s work by setting aside our own will can also present challenges.

 

Furthermore, we should be willing, as a spiritual family in Christ Jesus, to allow ourselves to be yoked to His light yoke so that He may lead us into the center of the will of God the Father, and so that we may learn from Him and apply what we have learned in our lives (cf. John 13:34-35; John 16:13-15 i.c.w. Romans 8:15).

 

34 ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’

 

‘… 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.’

 

15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’

 

In His power, we are able to let go of every attempt to prove or show something to ourselves or others, and we are likewise enabled to accept the Father’s grace, which seeks to transform us through His work and can lead us to the place for which we have been destined from eternity. Only love that does not seek its own (Note: that is not self-centered) endures for all time.

 

May this light blue flame burn within us and fill us with strength for the glory of God in the days to come...

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel and Tina Glimm