The Person of the Holy Spirit - Table of Contents

was not in the program of God for this feature of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to become universal among believers prior
to the age of grace, nevertheless God in His sovereign will and according to His own purposes selected individuals in the
Old Testament to whom was given the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.
The first reference to this doctrine is found in Genesis 41:38, where Pharoah asks the question concerning Joseph, “Can we
find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?” While, of course, it may be held that Pharoah was mistaken,
and Joseph was not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, in view of what Joseph had already accomplished and the later revelation of
the doctrine of indwelling in the Old Testament, it may be concluded that Pharoah unwittingly gave voice to the first specific
instance of a great doctrine, and the Scriptures include his testimony.
Further references to this same operation of the Spirit are not difficult to find. The tailors who made the garments for the
priests are said to have been “filled with the spirit of wisdom” (Exod 28:3). Of Bezaleel and Aholiab, fine craftsmen who
helped build the tabernacle, it is said, “I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in all understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship” (Exod 31:3; cf. 35:30-35). The seventy elders who assisted Moses were
indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Num 11:17, 25). Joshua is described as “a man in whom is the spirit” (Num 27:18). In the times
of the Judges, some of the leaders raised up to deliver Israel were filled with the Spirit: Othniel (Judg 3:10), Gideon (Judg
6:34), Jephthah (Judg 11:29), and Samson (Judg 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14). A. B. Simpson would add Deborah to the list, an
illustration of a woman leader no doubt indwelt by the Holy Spirit (cf. Judg 4:4ff).12 The Holy Spirit indwelt both Saul and
David (1 Sam 10:9-10; 16:13). The prophet Daniel was indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Dan 4:8; 5:11-14; 6:3). No doubt all the
prophets were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, though this was not necessarily essential to their ministry. From these specific
instances and inferences which may be fairly drawn in other cases, the fact that the Holy Spirit indwelt some saints in the
Old Testament can be conclusively established.
Several features of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament are quite distinctive from the same ministry in the
age of grace. It will be noted, first, that the coming of the Spirit to indwell individuals has no apparent relation to spiritual
qualities. No record is found of regeneration in these cases as necessarily antecedent to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Saul, it is true, received another heart (1 Sam 10:9), but this is not the normal experience judging by other instances. A
second important factor quite distinct from indwelling as known in the New Testament Church is that indwelling usually is
associated with a special call to service, and it had in view enablement for a specific task. This will be discussed later.
Indwelling rather than a universal privilege was a sovereign gift. Only a few were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and these were
known for their distinctive gift, were sought out as leaders and prophets, and were usually marked men.
A third important distinction found in the Old Testament doctrine of indwelling was that it was in many cases temporary.
While the New Testament saint need never fear loss of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, however He may be
hindered in His ministry by sin, 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. Thus, of Saul, it is revealed that the Holy Spirit left him (1 Sam 16:14), and David
prayed earnestly after his sin, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy Spirit from me” (Ps 51:11). No
Christian need ever pray the prayer of David, but under the Old Testament order, there was great danger of losing the
presence of the Spirit. For this reason, the presence of the indwelling Spirit in the Old Testament must be regarded as
sovereign, a rare rather than a usual gift, and usually associated with some specific task for which enablement was necessary.
2. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Restraining Sin.
From the very nature of the Holy Spirit, one could anticipate that He would be engaged in a ministry designed to restrain sin,
not only in the life of the saint, but also in the life of the unsaved. A study of the various ministries of the Holy Spirit will
reveal that many of them tended to restrain from sin. However comparatively few direct references to this ministry are found.
In connection with the antediluvian civilization, God said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Gen 6:3). The pronouncement that the work of striving with man
would cease is sufficient evidence that this ministry had been given to the world prior to the flood. The Holy Spirit
undertook to restrain the power of Satan and the display of sin of the human heart.