Before we consider the role of the Holy Spirit in this present dispensation, it will be necessary to make a few remarks as to the Old Testament. From the beginning of man’s history, we find the Holy Spirit striving with souls: “The Lord 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 activity of the Holy Spirit is certainly not limited to the New Testament. As one of the Persons of the Godhead, the Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit act together—we see this from the very beginning starting with creation (Gen. 1:1; 1:26, etc.). As to the activity of the Spirit in relationship to man, the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament acted as an external power, pleading with the conscience, or animating those whom He chose.
We find further examples of the Spirit acting in the book of Exodus—and by no means do we intend to look at all references. “Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship” (Exod. 31:2). It was through the power of the Spirit of God that Bezaleel had the ability to produce the necessary articles for the tabernacle. It was no mere human cunning and artistry that produced those works; it was all of God. In this instance, we see one filled with the Spirit of God accomplishing a specific practical task at hand.
Our next portion is a most distinctive one. The contrast with what we find in the New Testament is very instructive. “I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. ... When the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. ... Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them” (Num. 11:17, 25, 29). It is evident from these verses that the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times rested upon individuals and that He could be removed. Few, it seems, enjoyed this blessed privilege.
We even find the Spirit of God coming upon individuals who had no faith: “Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him” (Num. 24:2). The Spirit can and will move man at God’s choosing. With Saul, the first king of Israel, we see the same activity of the Spirit: “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man” (1 Sam. 10:6; see also v. 10). Scripture gives us no reason to believe that Saul was ever a converted soul; the change was temporary. We later read: “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him” (1 Sam. 16:14). And stronger yet: “The Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy” (1 Sam. 28:16). When God, through the departed spirit of Samuel, tells Saul: “tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me” (v. 19), there is no reason to believe that He speaks of anything other than his death.
Returning to the time of the Judges we read of Othniel: “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him” (Judg. 3:10); and of Gideon: “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon” (Judg. 6:34); likewise, with Jephthah (Judg. 11:2929Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. (Judges 11:29)). Concerning Samson, we find: “The Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times” (Judg. 13:25), and “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him” (Judg. 14:6; 15:14). In each instance, the key word is upon. The Spirit came upon men in power. Never once, in the Old Testament, do we find the Holy Ghost abiding with and in man and certainly not as an enduring thing. In contrast, the Lord Jesus in the New Testament promised the disciples: “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).
It might be suggested that Ezekiel experienced the indwelling of the Spirit of God: “The Spirit entered into me when He spoke unto me” (Eze. 2:2; see also 3:24). If it was necessary for the Spirit of God to enter the prophet a second time, we must conclude that these were passing experiences. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke by the Spirit of God, and this is simply another example of that. “The prophets have enquired and searched diligently ... Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify” (1 Pet. 1:10-11). “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21).
Stephen, in his defense before the Sanhedrin, said: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51). The Holy Spirit has striven with man throughout his history—from the time of Genesis and on. Man, for his part, has stubbornly resisted the strivings of the Holy Spirit.