When I bought my first car – a bright yellow Ford Pinto - I learned how to do a lot of the maintenance on my car. I could change the oil, replace the spark plugs, replace and adjust the points and my distributor cap and even adjust the carburetor. Other than change the oil and possibly replacing my spark plugs, I can no longer do any of that same maintenance because today’s automobiles have replaced points and distributors and carburetors with computers and fuel injection systems that require equipment I don’t have in order to work on the engine.
But while it is true that the design of today’s car engines has changed a lot over the last generation, the basic operation of the internal combustion engine remains largely unchanged. Our cars still use a spark to ignite compressed gasoline vapors in order to move pistons which are connected to a crankshaft which is connected to an axle that turns the wheels to make our cars move.
To me, that is a good illustration of the difference between how we see God working in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The Bible is clear that God never changes:
For I the LORD do not change…
(Malachi 3:6 ESV)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
(James 1:17 ESV)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
(Hebrews 13:8 ESV)
But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that God operated exactly the same in Old Testament times as He does on this side of the cross. And that is particularly true of the Holy Spirit. We saw that last week when we looked at the words of Jesus in John 14. In particular I want to call your attention to these two verses that we spent quite a bit of time on:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
(John 14:16-17 ESV)
Let’s focus for a moment on the last phrase. When speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says that He dwells – present tense – with the disciples. But after Jesus leaves the earth to return to His Father and He sends the Helper – the Holy Spirit – then the Holy Spirit will be – future tense – in them. So there is clearly going to be a change in some of the details of the way the Holy Spirit operates. He will go from dwelling with them to being in them.
This morning, in our second message in this series on the Holy Spirit, we’re going to look at how the Holy Spirit operated in the Old Testament in order to help us better understand this change in His operational methods. But as we do that, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit and His character haven’t changed one bit.
Before we proceed, I need to share a word of caution. If you attempt to research the topic of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament on your own, which I certainly encourage you to do, you will undoubtedly be exposed to an ongoing debate between two theological camps – Covenant Theologists and Dispensational Theologists – regarding whether the Holy Spirit actually indwelled the Old Testament saints.
We’re not going to get in the middle of that argument this morning because it would only distract us from our ultimate goal, which is to understand how we can harness the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives today in order to live obedient, fruitful lives while we’re here on this earth. What I want us to do this morning is to see what we can learn from the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament that will help us accomplish that goal.
Obviously we can’t look at every single passage that refers to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament in our limited time this morning. So I’ve selected just a few representative passages that will allow us to determine how the Holy Spirit operated in the Old Testament and why that is relevant for us. So I want to encourage you to spend some more time this week, looking for some additional passages to test the accuracy of what I’ll share with you this morning.
As you do that, you’ll find that the term “Holy Spirit” is actually only used three times in the Old Testament – once in Psalm 51 and twice in Isaiah 63. But the terms “Sprit of God” and “Spirit of the Lord”, and other similar terms which are used to identify the Holy Spirit, are used rather frequently.
In order to make the best use of our limited time with such a broad topic, we’ll limit our discussion to just the two aspects of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament that have the most relevance for our daily lives today:
• What was the purpose of God giving the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?
• What was the process by which God gave His Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?
THE PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Although we can’t possibly look at every single reason that God gave His Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, we can focus on the four which are the most significant and relevant for us.
1. To give life
We see this clearly in the creation account in Genesis where the Holy Spirit makes His first appearance in the Scriptures in the second verse of the Bible:
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
(Genesis 1:2 ESV)
The Holy Spirit, as part of the triune God, was present and played an integral part in the creation. This is confirmed later in the account of the creation of man later in Genesis 1:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…
(Genesis 1:26 ESV)
Notice the plural pronouns there – us and our. All three persons of the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – are present at and involved in creation and in giving life to man. This idea is confirmed elsewhere in the Old Testament:
The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
(Job 33:4 ESV)
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
(Psalm 104:30 ESV)
As I’m sure many of you know, the word for “spirit” in both Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, and Greek, the language of the New Testament, can also be translated wind or breath. And knowing that breath is required for life just further confirms the idea that the Holy Spirit is the giver of physical life. I hope you’ll keep that in mind when we get to the New Testament where we find that He is the giver of spiritual life as well.
2. To reveal
The second purpose of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was to reveal the things of God. Let’s look at just a few examples of this aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work in the Old Testament.
In Nehemiah 9, the people of Israel gathered to worship and Ezra got up and began to recount how God had blessed His people throughout their history. As he reminded them of how God had blessed them in the wilderness even after they had forsaken Him, He pointed out how God had revealed His ways through the Holy Spirit:
You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.
(Nehemiah 9:20 ESV)
When God sent His prophet Isaiah to His people to reveal His ways and to lead them to live according to those ways, it was the Holy Spirit who enabled that revelation to take place.
Draw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.”
And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.
Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
(Isaiah 48:16-17 ESV)
The Psalmist also spoke of the work of the Holy Spirit in the process of revealing God’s will to His people:
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!
(Psalm 143:10 ESV)
As we’ll see later on in this series, one of the most important tasks of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to reveal the truth of God. Although that aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit has certainly changed somewhat in how it operates in our lives today, it is the same basic work that the Holy Spirit has been engaged in from creation onward.
3. To rebuke
The Holy Spirit has always been involved in the process of revealing sin and rebuking us when we rebel against God and His ways. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit often did that through the prophets, as Ezra reminded the people in that same chapter in Nehemiah that we looked at earlier:
Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
(Nehemiah 9:30 ESV)
God used the prophets to point out Israel’s sins and to warn them of the consequences of that sin as those prophets spoke as they were led by the Holy Spirit. The prophet Micah also expressed his reliance on the Holy Spirit as God used him to rebuke His people:
But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the LORD,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
(Micah 3:8 ESV)
This is another aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit that occurred in the Old Testament, but which greatly expanded in scope and changed somewhat in its operation in the New Testament.
4. To equip
The fourth and final purpose of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament that we’ll examine this morning is the work of the Holy Spirit in equipping His people. We see this purpose operating in the lives of the people of God in two broad areas:
• to serve God
Throughout the Old Testament we see God giving His people a task and then equipping them to accomplish that task through the work of the Holy Spirit.
When God gave the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle, His Holy Spirit equipped the craftsmen to be able to carry out those instructions:
Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.
(Exodus 35:30-33 ESV)
Sampson’s life is certainly a great example of this aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit. Every time God wanted to use Sampson to serve Him, He equipped him by placing the Holy Spirit upon him. One of those events occurred when the Philistines came to attack God’s people:
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.
(Judges 15:14-15 ESV)
In the Old Testament, the equipping of the Holy Spirit in order to serve God seems to have consisted primarily of providing physical skills, ability and strength as well as knowledge. As we’ll see later in this series, the Holy Spirit still equips God’s people to serve Him, but that aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is certainly much broader and is not just limited to the physical realm.
• to represent God
By far the majority of the accounts of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament involve equipping men to be God’s representatives in the world. We’ve already seen that in the life of the prophets, who spoke on behalf of God. But the Holy Spirit also equipped many others to be God’s representative in some way. We have time this morning to look at just a few examples.
When God commanded Moses to appoint 70 elders who would be God’s representatives to help settle disputes among His people, He placed His Holy Spirit on them so that they would be equipped for that task.
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
(Numbers 11:24-25 ESV)
During the period of the judges, the Holy Spirit consistently came upon those who God had chosen to lead His people:
But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel…
(Judges 3:9-10 ESV)
We see this same process repeated in the lives of Gideon and Jephthah.
We also see the Holy Spirit coming upon Saul and David in their role as the King of Israel:
Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you [Saul], and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
(1 Samuel 10:6 ESV)
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
(1 Samuel 16:13 ESV)
Once again we see the Holy Spirit is still in the business of equipping His people to serve Him and to be His representatives here on earth., even though the specifics of how He does that may have changed somewhat.
So let’s summarize what we’ve learned about the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit:
• Gave life
• Revealed the things of God
• Rebuked the people when they rebelled against God, and
• Equipped His people to serve God and to be His representatives here on earth
Although the scope of that work and the methods He uses to carry out those tasks may have changed somewhat today, the Holy Spirit is still engaged in those very same works because they are consistent with who He is.
As we’ve looked at the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, we’ve also been exposed to the process by which He worked. We’re not going to spend a whole lot of time focusing on that process, but there are a couple aspects of that process that are instructive for us.
THE PROCESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. The work of the Holy Spirit was limited and temporary
You may have noticed that in most of the passages we looked at, the Holy Spirit came, rushed, or rested “upon” the individual. We saw only a couple of places where the Holy Spirit “filled” or was otherwise was described as being “in” someone. And regardless of whether the Spirit was upon someone or in them, that was, as a rule, a temporary work of the Holy Spirit that was limited to certain tasks.
For instance, we read that once Saul no longer served God as God desired, God removed His Holy Spirit from Saul’s life:
Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.
(1 Samuel 16:14 ESV)
We also see that in Samson’s life, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him on a number of different occasions, indicating that His presence in Samson’s life was not permanent.
As we’ll discover, this is one of the main differences between the way the Holy Spirit operated in the Old Testament and the way He operates in the life of a Christ-follower today. Although we could spend a lot of time speculating on why that is the case, about all we can conclude for sure is that somehow the atoning work of Jesus on the cross has made it possible for the Holy Spirit to dwell permanently in our lives and to constantly and consistently be at work in those lives.
2. The work of the Holy Spirit was the sovereign choice of God
The men who experienced the Holy Spirit in their lives neither expected the Holy Spirit to come upon them or did anything to prompt His work in their lives. None of them prayed for the Holy Spirit to come or tried to engage in some kind of religious activity that would bring His presence.
It was God who took the initiative to give the Holy Spirit and there is certainly no clear reason given regarding why the Holy Spirit came upon some and not on others. There clearly was not some formula or method that someone could employ to ensure that they would receive the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
It is also instructive to note that the presence of the Holy Spirit never made one individual more “spiritual” than others. There is no Biblical evidence that many of the great heroes of the faith – people like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob – ever experienced the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Again, it’s really useless to speculate why that is the case.
We certainly see this principle played out in Saul’s life. Even though the Holy Spirit had come upon him in order to enable him to carry out his duties as Israel’s king, Saul failed to utilize that power in a way that developed godliness in his life. That is because even in Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit never forced Himself upon anyone. So when Saul rebelled against the leading of the Spirit, the Spirit departed from his life.
This aspect of the process by which the Holy Spirit operated in the Old Testament is actually very relevant for us. Even though the Holy Spirit is present in our lives, that is no guarantee that we are automatically going be a “spiritual” or godly person. We have to choose to plug into the power He provides and make sure that we don’t hinder His work in our lives. We’ll be spending a lot more time on that topic as we progress through this series.
When we put together everything we’ve learned this morning about the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, we find that He is the very same Holy Spirit who works on our lives today. Even though a bit of the design and some of the individual elements of how He operates have changed since Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to His Father, the basics are the same:
The Holy Spirit is God’s divine power
for God’s divine work
That’s what I pray you’ll take away from our time together this morning. And as you meditate on that idea, my prayer is that you’ll be encouraged to find out more about how that divine power operates in our lives so that you can accomplish the divine work that God has entrusted to you.
