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Spirit was temporary, “…the Old Testament saint knew the presence of the Spirit was a special privilege which could be withdrawn at will even as it was given.”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.