The Holy Spirit’s Work Prior to Pentecost
Many refer to the church age in which you and I live as the “Age of the Holy Spirit.” After Christ’s resurrection and ascension, the Spirit came to indwell, empower, and transform believers into the image of Christ (see Acts 1-2).1 Christians everywhere can now enjoy the fullness of the Spirit’s ministry in them, to them, through them, and for them. The blessing of the Spirit’s present ministry, however, has not always been available to God’s people.
The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
The Holy Spirit’s work in the Old Testament was different from His present work in the church age. In many ways, His ministry prior to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was a foretaste of what was to come.
Creation
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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.. And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image’” (Genesis 1:1-2, 26).
The movement of God’s Spirit over the earth signifies a sense of expectation. Something marvelous was about to happen. God would take the dark, uninhabited world He created ex nihilo (out of nothing) and make it a place where life would flourish. But how would He do that? Through the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit. On the final day of His creation, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirt made mankind in Their image to exercise dominion over God’s newly created world.
Empowering Leaders
“And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you [Moses] and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone… 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” (Numbers 11:17-25).
“And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir [Samson]… And [Delilah] said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him” (Judges 13:25; 16:20)
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him (I Samuel 16:14)
These passages are critical to understanding how the Holy Spirit worked prior to the church age. Unlike today, not every believer in the Old Testament received the Spirit. In fact, very few did. God occasionally granted His Spirit to the leaders of His people (prophets, judges, or kings) to enable them to carry out their responsibilities or accomplish a specific task. If those leaders refused to walk in God’s ways, He would take His Spirit from them.
Thus, when David prayed in Psalm 51:11, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me,” he was not suggesting that Christians can lose the Holy Spirit when they sin. Instead, he feared that God would no longer divinely enable him to carry out his responsibilities as king over Israel.
Instructing and Warning Israel
“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).
“Many years you bore with them [Israel], and warned them by your Spirit through the prophets. Yet, they would not give ear” (Nehemiah 9:30).
“Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit…” (Isaiah 63:11).
The Holy Spirit was actively present with Israel during their wilderness wanderings, instructing and guiding them as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Throughout Israel’s history, the Holy Spirit revealed God’s Word to the people through the message of the prophets. Sadly, Israel repeatedly rebelled against God, refusing to listen to the Spirit’s warning and instruction through the many prophets God raised up.
Summary
In summary, the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament included giving life through creation, caring for Israel during their journey to the Promised Land, empowering leaders to lead the nation of Israel, and revealing God’s Word through the preaching ministry of the prophets.
As already noted, the ministry of the Spirit prior to Pentecost foreshadowed what He would do following Christ’s ascension. For example, just as the Spirit gave life in creation, so He gives life to those in darkness through His regenerating work in salvation (more in a future post). You will see parallels in further study.
The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus
Probably one of the most underappreciated aspects of the Spirit’s ministry was His role in the earthly life of Jesus. Consider how the Spirit was at work in Jesus’ life from the following passages:
“And the angel answered [Mary], ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35).
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him” (Matthew 3:16 cf. Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:21-22).
“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness… And Jesus returned [from the wilderness] in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country” (Luke 4:1,14).
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14)
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11)
From the incarnation to the resurrection, the Holy Spirit was intimately involved in the life of Christ. The Spirit guided and empowered Christ throughout His earthly ministry. Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations, performed miracles, preached the good news of the Kingdom (see Luke 4:18) and offered Himself as the substitute sacrifice for sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If the eternal Son of God relied on the Spirit to empower His ministry, how much more do you and I need God’s Spirit to grow in holiness, love, and Biblical maturity?
Discussion Questions
- What are some of the advantages a New Testament believer has that believers in the Old Testament didn’t have?
- In what ways was Christ’s relationship with the Holy Spirit during His earthly ministry an example for believers today
- How has your understanding of the Holy Spirit changed or been strengthened because of this lesson?
Micah Colbert pastors Gospel Life Church in Buffalo, NY. You can find his booklet, Good News for All Nations, designed for evangelism in ESL encounters, here.
- The coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell God’s people fulfilled the promise of the New Covenant found in Ezekiel 36:26-28: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes” (see also Jeremiah 31:31-33). Jesus confirmed this prophecy and further elaborated on the coming of the Spirit in John 14-16. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant (see Luke 22:20; Hebrews 7-9). [↩]