The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament - 3

We have seen two sets of dispensational beliefs separated by about 100 years and by the application of the systematization of a theology (in Walvoord and Pentecost) previously only manifested in its developmental stage (in Darby).  The task now is to attempt to homogenize or harmonize these two sets of beliefs in an amalgamation of the dispensational theology of the Holy Spirit in the life of New Testament believers, and to do so in a succinct and clear way that represents the greatest number of people.  So, you can see that I have decided to allow popularity of a particular set of beliefs to determine the characterization of the theology—in a loose sense this is the idea of orthodoxy in dispensational terms.  But why should we bother to do so?  If there are essential and logically irreconcilable differences between the two systems, then why not have the later (the one presently being lauded as the representation of dispensational theology) represent the entire system, since it “is” dispensational theology today?  I believe the answer to these questions is found in the historical fact of the variety with which dispensational theology has been expressed in its very recent and short history.  To do this, I will use Walvoord’s and Pentecost’s views of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and Darby’s views of His jurisdiction in this present age.

The Dispensational Doctrine of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit

·   In the Old Testament

o        The indwelling of the Spirit is not universal.

o        The indwelling of the Spirit is temporary.

o        The purpose of much of the indwelling of the Spirit was to empower a person to special service.

·   In the New Testament

o        All believers are sealed by the indwelling of the Spirit.

o        The bodies of believers are considered the temple of the Holy Spirit.

o        Righteousness is ministered to believers by the Holy Spirit.

o        The indwelling of the Spirit is permanent.

§         Believers are empowered to the use of spiritual gifts by the Spirit.

§         Believers are empowered to suffer with Christ.

Concluding Remarks

In the good representations of dispensational theology grace was just as necessary in the conversion of unbelievers in the Old Testament as in the New, but the Holy Spirit’s role as an agent in that event seems to be debatable.  Some theologians in that camp are clear that it is the Holy Spirit birthing persons to new life, but others appear to say that the event was so different from its counterpart in the New Testament that it isn’t right even to describe the event of one’s justification before God as “regeneration”, or a “new birth”.  One such writer is Lewis Sperry Chafer, who had this to say, “With respect to regeneration, the Old Testament saints were evidently renewed; but as there is no definite doctrinal teaching relative to the extent character of that renewal, no positive declaration can be made.”  Corollary announcements such as this one, which result from some forms of Dispensationalism, are those that have attracted such concern from covenant theologians.  From this and other statements like it, we can gather that the full, New Testament revelation of the doctrine of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in creation is not sufficient information for us to use to develop a systematic apprehension of His work in the Old Testament as well—such is, in my opinion, the problem with many of the interpretations consequent from dispensational theology.

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament - 2

Dispensationalism—The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

In contrast to the theology of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament presented in later dispensational writers such as Walvoord and Pentecost, Darby’s understanding of it was not laid in the systematic style; therefore, it is much more difficult to assign, with concrete evidence, as particular an understanding.  When developing a an understanding of this theology in dispensational terms, it would be negligent to ignore what the “Grandfather” of Dispensationalism had to say about the topic.  At first, one might read the descriptions from Walvoord and Pentecost above and ask the question, why wouldn’t Darby believe the exact same thing, they are as dispensationalists, right?  But, just like any other system of theology, it has its variations and differences result when different men apply the system to the whole of Scripture.  Dispensational Premillennialism, more so than many theological systems, has in its short history, suffered from a constant and evolving multifaceted-ness, thus making the presentation of several variations on the topic necessary.  Below are some conclusions I’ve come to about Darby’s thoughts on the difference of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the two testaments, based on a few of his musings.

·         The indwelling Spirit is the seal of redemption in love and the earnest of glory, and our bodies are the temples thereof.

·         Christ as the head of the body (the Church) is a relationship brought in anew by the raising of Christ from the dead, ushering in the age of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

·         The Spirit is ministered to each saint since the occurrence of redemption in time.  Before, the Law required righteousness from man, but after, righteous is ministered to him by the Spirit.

·         The Spirit brings antecrucis Christians into a peculiar blessedness whereby the affections of the believing heart are “of the Spirit”.

·         The “ministration of the Spirit” began when Christ was glorified.  Until then the “things of Christ” were not revealed and no power to have it applied was present prior to the Spirit’s coming.

·         Because Christ is now seated at His Father’s throne, the Spirit testifies to His righteousness and applies it to believers (a fact, according to Darby, that no one would know except that the Holy Spirit has come down, thus endowing them with a “present heavenly character”): not only being attracted to Christ but being also made to suffer along with Him.

·         In this age (in contrast to the “ministry of condemnation” or the ministry of God to the children of Israel through the Law) the Holy Spirit ministers righteousness; the power of the Spirit of God reveals the glory of Christ to the saint.—paraphrased from the article written by Darby titled, “Indwelling of the Holy Spirit”.

So we can summarize Darby’s understanding of the Holy Spirit’s dealings with believers after the cross in contrast to His dealings with those believers before the cross by categorizing them in two groups: A) the believer’s position and B) the believer’s sanctity.  Included in the former group of teachings, Darby believed these things to be true: 1) God’s Seal is upon believers who live after the cross, 2) believers have righteousness ministered to them, 3) they enjoy a special blessedness and 3) the power of the “things of Christ”.  As for the items in the later group: 1) praetercrucis believers are endowed with a “present heavenly character” 2) whose bodies are made the temples of God, are 3) made aware of the application of Christ’s righteousness, and 4) they have the glory of Christ revealed to them.

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

One doctrine that results in an assortment of conclusions based upon one’s hermeneutical leanings is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, specifically concerning His activity in the lives of persons who lived before the cross.  Below I’ve contrasted two views on the topic: Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology.  We must remember to allow for variety within the two systems I have represented below, so the doctrine’s descriptions may not include everyone who assumes the two labels.

Dispensationalism—The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

According to John Walvoord, three primary “features” of the indwelling can be attributed to the Holy Spirit and His dealings with men during Old Covenant times:

·         The regeneration of the Holy Spirit was not prerequisite to the Spirit’s featured indwelling, “…the coming of the Spirit to indwell individuals has no apparent relation to spiritual qualities.  No record of regeneration is found in these cases as necessary antecedent to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.” – Walvoord, John. The Holy Spirit. Page 72.

·         The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was not universal “…indwelling was a sovereign gift usually associated with a special call to service, and it had in view enablement for a specific task.  Indwelling was not a universal privilege.” – Ibid. Page 72.

·         The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was temporary, “…the Old Testament saint knew the presence of the Spirit was a special privilege which could be withdrawn at will even as it was given.” - Ibid. Page 72.

In his work, “The Divine Comforter”, Pentecost points out that many a Christian in our “dispensation” has had their assurance wrenched by a teaching that a Christian, one who has legitimately been born of the Spirit, can have the indwelling Spirit removed from them due to some heinous and unforgivable sin.

“There are few, if any, verses in all of the Old Testament revelation concerning the Person and work of the Holy Spirit that have so upset God’s children as the portion of the prayer of the Psalmist, recorded in Psalm 51:11: “take not thy holy spirit from me…And much that is erroneous concerning the Person and work of the Holy Spirit has arisen from this passage of Scripture, for many teach that somehow we are in danger of committing some sin that will drive the Spirit from us, or that we can commit some unpardonable sin that will so grieve the Holy Spirit that He will be grieved away.”—Pentecost, Dwight J. The Divine Comforter: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Page 50.

 Pentecost’s remedy to this alleged problem presented in David’s prayer recorded for us in the Psalms is that of the discontinuity of the activity of the Holy Spirit between our present age and David’s own.  Pentecost’s view of the featured activity of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is not very much unlike Walvoord’s presented above: He was not universally given to indwell all His people, He came upon people to empower them for service, and that the indwelling was temporary.

“There are three essential features of the Spirit’s indwelling in the Old Testament.  In the first plane, the indwelling was not universal; it was not for everyone who was rightly related to God.  A few of the Old Testament saints had this experience, but only a few.  There were multitudes upon multitudes who knew God in a personal relationship, whose sins had been forgiven, who never had one day of consciously being under the control of the Spirit of God, assured of the indwelling presence and the empowerment of the Spirit of God because the Spirit had come upon them and dwelt within them…The second thing that we would observe, and we have already touched on is this, is that the Holy Spirit came upon men to empower them to some special service…A third thing we notice in the Old Testament is that the indwelling was temporary.”—Ibid. Pages 59-61.

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - Concluding Remarks

Concluding Remarks

The New Testament speaks of the Old Covenant, and by that, Covenant Theology anyway, suggests that those writers are referring to the accumulation of all the major covenants God made with His people through representatives as presented in the Old Testament: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David.  Below is the comparison of the Old Covenant to the New.

The Old Covenant:

·         Promises

o        Life

o        A Land and a People

o        A King and a Dynasty

·         Recipients

o        Adam’s offspring

o        Abraham’s Seed

o        The House of Jacob/Israel; the People of God

·         Sign—circumcision of the flesh

·         Commands/Conditions—perfect obedience to God’s Law

·         Curses—exile, isolation and death

The New Covenant:

·         Promises

o        Life in Christ/resurrected bodies

o        A New Heaven and Earth

o        Christ as Prophet, Priest and King

o        Heart circumcision

·         Recipients—The Israel of God/Spiritual Israel/The Bride of Christ

·         Sign—baptism or heart circumcision

·         Commands—repentance and belief

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - The Davidic Covenant - Redemptive/Historical Interpretation

The Davidic Covenant:

Redemptive/Historical Fulfillment and Interpretation

·         Promises

o        Dynastic

§         Jesus’ name is the great name that prospered David’s line, and in Him alone can a people find a permanent place of peace, for Christ is our Sabbath rest (Matthew 11:28-30).

§         God promised to be a Father to Solomon and by extension, and in a covenantal way, He is the Father of all who believe (1 Chronicles 11:1-3; 17:22; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).

o        A Kingdom

§         The ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom promised to David was a Kingdom that will last forever—God’s Kingdom in Christ, of which all believers from every age are a part (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Mark 1:14-15).  Reference also to the “New Jerusalem” seems to indicate that the Church, the Bride of Christ is the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 9-14).

§         Another aspect of the Kingdom promises to David was the preservation of his throne and one to occupy its rule (Ps. 110; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-36).

·         Recipients—Because Jesus reigns as King now, on the “Throne of David”, as David’s Greater Son (Is. 11:1-5; Rom. 15:8-13; Rev. 5:5; 22:16), and those who believe are counted as His, therefore believers from every age are part of God’s Kingdom and subjects to God’s King; we receive the promises of a dynasty and Kingdom because we have been made a part of that economy through Christ.

·         Commands—just as the sons of David were commanded to obey the Law; we Sons of God (Matt. 5:9; John 1:12; Rom. 8:14; Gal. 3:26; 4:6; 1 John 3:1-2) also receive that command.

·         Curse—God, as our Father, disciplines us perfectly (1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 12:4-12; Rev. 3:19), lovingly, graciously and mercifully.  So in essence, the sons of God never receive a curse, but chaste discipline instead; Christ received all the curses of the Old Covenant on Himself, for everyone who believes.

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - The Davidic Covenant - Grammatical/Historical Presentation

The Davidic Covenant:

Grammatical/Historical Presentation

·         Promises

o        Dynastic

§         A great name (2 Sam. 7:9; 1 Chr. 17:8).

§         A permanent place of peace (2 Sam. 7:8; 1 Chr. 17:9).

§         A house or dynasty for David (2 Sam. 7:11; 1 Chr. 17:10).

§         God promised to be as a Father to Solomon, and Solomon to be His son (2 Sam. 7:13-14; 1 Chr. 17:13). God promised to establish David’s offspring (2 Sam. 7:13; Ps. 89:4-29).

o        A Kingdom

§         A kingdom in David’s line (2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Chr. 17:11). We can certainly observe the documentation of the grammatical/historical fulfillment of this promise in the line of Kings.

§         God promised David and his offspring that there would always be a king to sit on the throne (2 Sam. 7:13; 1 Chr. 17:12, 14; Ps. 89:31-32).

·         Recipients

o        David and the people of Israel (2 Sam. 7:10-11; 1 Chr. 17:9-10).

o        David’s offspring, especially Solomon (1 Sam 7:12-13; 1 Chr. 17:11-12).

·         Commands—the sons of David were commanded to obey the Law (2 Chr. 6:16; 7:17-18; 1 Kings 2:3-4).

·         Curse—the discipline a Father exacts on a son (2 Sam. 7:15-17; Ps. 89:31-32).  This is really the absence of a curse; it is instead, a fatherly discipline that doesn’t negate covenant promises.

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - The Mosaic Covenant - Redemptive/Historical Interpretation

The Mosaic Covenant:

Redemptive/Historical Fulfillment and Interpretation

• Promises—the grammatical/historical fulfillment of this promise was made at the entrance into the physical land Josh. 21:43-45, but its ultimate fulfillment, and the interpretation we are lead to by the New Testament is the New Heavens and the New Earth (see the redemptive/historical fulfillment of promise under the Abrahamic Covenant).
• Recipients—Ex. 19:3; 20:2, 22; and 33:1 indicate the house of Jacob and the people of Israel (the ones brought out of Egypt) and their offspring as the beneficiaries of the promise of land in the Mosaic covenant…this is true, but the underlying motivation of this covenant (as with all administrations of the Old Covenant) is to shadow the substance of the New Covenant.  This is done by, in later revelation (namely Galatians 6:16 and Eph. 2:11-22), God disclosing His plan to make a people of which every member is one of His sons or daughters.  Unlike the Old Covenant, the New Covenant people, the true Israel of God and house of Jacob and Judah, will obey the covenant stipulations, not themselves as was demanded of a physical people for continuing residence in the physical land, but by the imputation of covenant obedience of Another—Jesus Christ.  All those counted as the Israel of God truly, are those who have been (from every age I might add) counted “in Christ”, as Paul would so profoundly put it (Col. 1).
• Sign
• The redemptive/historical sign for the Mosaic Covenant is the same as for the Abrahamic Covenant.  Because those two covenants (as well as the rest in the Old Testament) are administrations of the same Old Covenant, the New Covenant to which they point is the same, having the same sign (Deut. 10:12-16; Jer. 4:4; Col. 2:11).
• Though the Sabbath is not the sign given for the New Covenant, it was the sign for the Mosaic Covenant, and its origin was not found in Moses, but in the creation, which gives it special significance to all God’s creatures, even those in the New Covenant.  Thus it has a redemptive/historical fulfillment in Christ.  Christ, Lord of the Sabbath, who was prefigured by it in its ministration throughout the Old Covenant, fulfills the Sabbath as the ultimate rest for those who believe (Matt. 11:28-30).
• Commands—No one can meet any requirements necessary for God’s saving favor to rest on them.  It is only by grace you are saved, through faith, and not of yourselves (Eph. 2:8-9).  Jesus’ holiness demands perfect obedience (Matt. 5:48); the culmination of the Beatitudes highlights the futility of pursuing righteousness through one’s own lawfulness.  But, just as Christ fulfills the simple signs and pictures of the Old Covenant, He also fulfills the righteous demands of all the Law as presented in the Old Covenant—from Gods’ command to Adam not to eat of the tree, to His command to Solomon, through his servant David, to keep His statutes (1 Kings 2:3-4).

Curses—anyone in the Old Covenant that had not been physically circumcised would be cut off from his people (Gen. 17:14).  In the New Covenant, Christ fulfilled the malediction of the Old Covenant, like the bronze serpent Moses lifted in the wilderness (Num. 21:8-9; John 3:14), He was lifted up, cut off and forsaken on the cross in the place of His people (Gal. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:21).

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - The Mosaic Covenant - Grammatical/Historical Presentation

The Mosaic Covenant:

Grammatical/Historical Presentation

·         Promise—Israel would conquer and occupy the land of Canaan (Ex. 23:23-33; 31:1).

·         Recipients—the house of Jacob and the people of Israel; those brought out of Egypt, and their offspring (Ex. 19:3; 20:2, 22; 33:1).

·         Sign— the Sabbath in general, but in its weekly form in particular, is commonly regarded as the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.  Circumcision had been the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, and though its practice continued, it was not the sign of the Sinaitic (Ex. 31:13; Ez. 20:12, 13).  It was ameliorated into the covenant as a sanctifying ritual, one that signified cleanliness and peculiarity among the peoples of earth; it remained a symbol of the self-maledictory oath that God took on Abraham and his offspring’s behalf—one which Christ would eventually end up suffering because God does not cover His eyes to iniquity (Ex. 34:7).  This testifies to the idea that the successive covenants were not agents of abrogation for one another, but they were rather a process of accumulation having their culmination in the New Covenant.

·         Conditions

o        Israel had to obey God’s commands to remain His treasured people; they would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:5-6).

o        Israel was to obey the Decalogue (Ex. 20:3-19).

o        Circumcision—though not the sign of the Mosaic Covenant specifically, it was still regarded as a cultic practice.

            Curses—Israel is warned not to disobey the stipulations of God’s covenant for fear of physical sickness and impoverishment; military defeat and physical oppression, and finally, exile from the land (Lev. 26:14-33; Deut. 28:15-68).

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - The Abrahamic Covenant - Redemptive/Historical Interpretation

The Abrahamic Covenant:

Redemptive/Historical Fulfillment and Interpretation

• Promises
• Fame—God fulfilled this promise by preserving the name of Abraham even to our generation.
• Fortune—God has given Himself as our shield and reward, to everyone who believes: from Abraham to Paul (Genesis 15:1; 2 Samuel 22:31, 36; Psalm 3:3; 7:10; 18:30; 28:7; 59:11; Jeremiah 31:15-17; Isaiah 62:11-12; Matthew 5:12; Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 11:6; 12:1-2; 2 John 1:8).  While the people of God did in fact enter Canaan as God had promised (Joshua 21:43-45), fulfilling the temporal aspect of this promise(It is imperative to note here that the return of ethnic Jews to the land they now occupy in the Middle East, is not an explicit fulfillment of the promise of land that God made to Abraham (note Is. 65:17-25)—the New Testament reveals to us that the ultimate fulfillment of the land promised to Abraham is the New Heavens and New Earth (Psalm 37:11; Matthew 5:5; 2 Peter 3:11-13)—the connections the New Testament authors make between redeemed persons from the interadvental age and those of other ages will be considered later in the section on exegetical theology.
• Recipients— all who are counted righteous by grace through faith; all those counted “in Christ” as Paul so often puts it, are Abraham’s offspring; by virtue of our relationship to Christ (Abraham’s Seed) through faith, we are so related to Abraham (Galatians 3:29; Ephesians 2:11-22).  To put it another way, we who have been redeemed by God consider ourselves as being related to God through Abraham’s line, and that our simple faithfulness directly corresponds to God’s faithfulness to have made us His children—the children of Abraham—(Hebrews 11:8).  God uses Abraham as an example of the wheretos and whyfors of the relationship between grace and faith in our salvation (Romans 4).
• Sign—Covenant Theology is divided on this issue.
• Water Baptism—Paedobaptists claim that the continuity of the covenants (from the Old—all those covenants picturing the New—to the New) show us that, just as the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was circumcision, and administered to the believer’s entire household—children included, the sign of the New Covenant is water baptism, and is administered to the believer’s entire household—children included (Acts 11:14; 16:15; Colossians 2:11-14).
• Circumcision of the heart—Creedobaptists claim that the continuity between the Old and New Covenants is circumcision, the difference being the sort of circumcision: the one of old was a type of the one which is new; the old was of flesh and the new is of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:12, 16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; 31:33; Colossians 2:11).
• Commands—the Decalogue remains a summary of God’s Law, encapsulating in human terms the character of God, which has not changed (Matthew 5:17).  The essence of which has been reiterated in the New Testament (Matthew 19:16-19; Romans 13:8-10).  It is this Law to an inestimable degree that is commanded, not as a condition of receiving faith (see Romans 4), but as a means of measuring obedience for the Christian (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28).

Fulfillments & Interpretations of Biblical Prophesies - The Abrahamic Covenant - Grammatical/Historical Presentation

The Abrahamic Covenant:

Grammatical/Historical Presentation

·         Promises

o        Fame—God promised to make Abraham’s name great among men (Genesis 12:2).

o        Fortune—God promised to bless Abraham: with the gift of Himself as a shield and a reward (Genesis 15:1), and a blessing of land (Genesis 12:7; 15:18-21), and to bring down curses on those who oppose him (Genesis 12:3).

o        Fertility—God promised to make Abraham a great nation (Genesis 12:2) and to make his offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore (Genesis 15:5; 17:2-6, 16; 22:17-18).

·         Recipients

o        Abraham and his seed or his offspring (Genesis 12:7; 17:7, 8, 19).

o        In general, all the families of the earth, and specifically, those who “bless” Abraham (Genesis 12:3).

·         Sign—Circumcision was given as the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed. (Genesis 17:9-13).

o        Consequently, those of Abraham’s offspring who do not receive the sign, fall under the curses of the covenant.

·         Conditions—God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:2).

·         Commands

o        God told Abraham to leave his country and kinsmen (Genesis 12:2).

o        God told Abraham to sacrifice animals to ratify His covenant (Genesis 15:9-10).

o        God told Abraham to circumcised himself and his household (Genesis 17:11-13).

o        God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac

·         Curses

o        Those who dishonor Abraham or his offspring will fall under God’s curse (Genesis 12:3).