Did the Old Testament Saints possess the Holy Spirit?
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Regardless of era, the ministry of the Holy Spirit has always been to convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), gathering for Himself a people. Who, apart from Him, could never enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5). Only through the divine work of the Holy Spirit can God's plan for the salvation of humanity be accomplished.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
When man began to multiply and fill the face of the earth, the Lord saw that "the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5). God declared, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever” (Genesis 6:3). Yet, we still see throughout the scriptures that God's Spirit continued to strive in man to bring the sinner to conviction.
Throughout redemptive history, the scriptures leave us with no doubt Old Testament believers possessed the Holy Spirit. Countless deeds recorded in the scriptures could not have come to pass if God were not working through and in people of faith who were devoted and obedient to God. The Holy Spirit is particularly evident in man with the writing and preservation of God's divinely inspired word throughout the ages. God was always near to his Old Testament saints. His supernatural interventions demonstrated this. However, the fullness of the Holy Spirit was not as permanent as it has become after the cross and the day of Pentecost.
To see the impermanent nature of this relationship, we need only look to the Kings of Israel, Saul and David. In 1 Samuel 16:14, the Spirit of God "departed from Saul" as God rejected him as King over his people Israel. Yet, with King David, we see the Spirit of "Yahweh, come mightily upon David from that day forward" (1 Samuel 16:13) at his anointing as Israel's new King. Yet, after his sin with Bathsheba, we see David's plea to the Lord to "not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 51:11). As impermanent as these encounters with the Spirit of God appear in the Old Testament, the relational dynamic did not always produce a regenerated heart in men. However, it continuously operated to empower humanity to perform their roles in accomplishing God's plan for Israel.
However, this relationship takes on a more profound and permanent dimension in the New Testament.
The Holy Spirit and the Advent of Jesus Christ
Many of God's scriptural promises and unanswered mysteries become more evident with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He affirmed God's revealed word and its fulfillment (Matthew 5:17). In Christ, darkness is transformed into light, and humanity's relationship with God is changed at the cross and with Christ's subsequent resurrection. He opens a whole new way for man to possess the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the nature of God's relationship with believers is now characterized as "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). Upon Christ's resurrection, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is transformed into a new fullness. Which saw Christ's triumphant return to our Heavenly Father and the continuation of His earthly ministry through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Old Testament saints looked to the scriptures and trusted in God's promised redeemer, and the Holy Spirit was with them and ministered to them. As Christians, we look to the past and place our trust in God's plan for salvation through Christ's atoning work on the cross, and in a new and complete sense, the Holy Spirit is in us.
"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. You know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." - John 14:16-17
The Holy Spirit's ministry in Heaven
The Scriptures make no mention of believers having the indwelling Spirit in Heaven. Perhaps it's because there will be no need for the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit to convict, instruct, or illuminate in the sense that we now know it to be. There will be no need for the Holy Spirit to point us toward Christ because he will be in Heaven with believers. Yet, at a more profound level, the Spirit of God will function to direct us into the form of service God has intended for those who are redeemed in Christ. They will be like Christ, perfect.
"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" - 1 John 3:2-3
Want to delve a little deeper into what Old Testament saints really believed?
Explore this two-part podcast and discover how God's promise of a Messiah is intricately connected to Old Testament scripture that can be challenging for many to comprehend.
