The Old Testament describes the Holy Spirit as clothing people. Gideon, Zechariah and Amasai were all clothed with the Holy Spirit. Check out Judges 6:34; 2 Chronicles 24:20 and 1 Chronicles 12:19 in an Interlinear Bible. Although English Bible translations translate the word לָבְשָׁ֗ה as ‘came upon’ that is not an accurate translation of this word. Right click on 3847 which is in blue above the word לָבְשָׁ֗ה to get to the Strong’s Concordance entry for this word.
In Hebrew the root word לָבְשָׁ֗ means: ‘to put on’, ‘wear’, ‘clothe’, or ‘be clothed’. The entry in the Strong’s Concordance for this word reads:
labash or labesh: to put on, wear, clothe, be clothed
Original Word: לָבַשׁ
Strong’s Concordance
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: labash or labesh
Phonetic Spelling: (law-bash’)
Definition: to put on, wear, clothe, be clothed
I think that it is safe to say that as the Priest King, who God placed in the Garden of Eden, Adam was also clothed with the Holy Spirit. After Adam and Eve sinned the clothing of the Holy Spirit was immediately removed from them.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Genesis 3:7 NIV
Although Adam and Eve had been physically naked prior to having partaken of the fruit, they were clothed in the Holy Spirit. Their perception of their nakedness was the immediate result of having eaten the fruit because the Holy Spirit departed from them. Sin separates us from God, and the departure of the Holy Spirit from Adam and Eve was the result of their sin. The same thing happened to Jesus on the cross when all sin was laid on Him. The Father departed from Him and He cried out: ‘My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?’
The fig leaves represent their attempt to make something to substitute for the Holy Spirit. However, it is not possible for anything to substitute for the Holy Spirit. There are too many churches that try and use something in place of the Holy Spirit. However, this does not work. These churches have no power. They have a form of Godliness, but deny the Power thereof.
