How is the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament?
The Spirit is not a New Testament arrival: He is present from the very first page of the Bible. In the Old Testament He creates, empowers judges and kings, inspires prophets, and can be grieved; and the prophets pointed to a day when He would be poured out on all flesh and put within God's people.
This question arose from studying Is the Holy Spirit God?.
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What the Scripture says
The Spirit is present from the very beginning
The second verse of the Bible shows the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters at creation. Job confesses, 'The Spirit of God has made me,' and the psalm praises God who sends out His Spirit to renew the face of the ground. The Spirit is no afterthought; He is woven into the world from the start.
The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
You send out your Spirit and they are created. You renew the face of the ground.
He empowers God's servants for God's work
The Spirit came on judges like Othniel and Gideon to deliver Israel. He came mightily on Saul and on David at their anointing. He filled Bezalel with wisdom and skill for the tabernacle, and He filled prophets like Micah with power to declare the word of God. The work of God has always been the work of the Spirit.
The Spirit of Yahweh came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.
But the Spirit of Yahweh came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.
and the Spirit of Yahweh will come mightily on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship,
But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Yahweh, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
He could be grieved, and even depart
The Spirit was not an impersonal blessing to be stored: He was a Person who could be sinned against. David, after his great fall, pleaded with God not to take His holy Spirit from him. Isaiah tells how God's people rebelled and grieved His holy Spirit, and Samson discovered that the Lord could depart from him. The Spirit's presence was real, and losing it was a real tragedy.
Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him.
The prophets looked forward to a far greater gift
Moses could only wish for a day when all God's people would have the Spirit. Joel saw it coming: a pouring out on all flesh, on sons and daughters and servants alike. Ezekiel promised a new heart and God's own Spirit put within His people, causing them to walk in His statutes, and breath filling dry bones with life. The Old Testament ends leaning forward, waiting.
Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!”
“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.
With them then, in them now
Jesus Himself marked the change: He told the disciples the Spirit 'lives with you, and will be in you,' and John explains that the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. The Old Testament knew the Spirit with God's people, upon leaders and prophets; Pentecost began the age when the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh and dwell within every believer.
the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.
But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
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Verses to meditate on
The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
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