Were Old Testament believers filled with the Holy Spirit?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Matthew1344

Puritan Board Sophomore
Were Old Testament believers filled with the Holy Spirit?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"Were"."We're" is a reduced form of "we are", the apostrophe taking the place of the "a" in "are".

I'm sure they were. Do we not read of Simeon and Anna being so filled, and they were prior to the Cross, the Resurrection and Pentecost?

The big difference is that the Spirit did not have the "raw materials" of the New Testament revelation to work with. As He had not given them. Also people were dependent on the mediarorship of prophets, priests and kings under the OT admin.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2
 
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit as described in Luke - part of the NT narrative but himself a product of the old dispensation.
 
The short answer is:

1) all true OT believers experienced the Spirit's work of regeneration. Jesus in Jn.3 is talking to an OT Doctor (Nicodemus), and asks him v10 why he doesn't already acknowledge this.

2) the generality of the OT saints did not experience the Spirit's powerful presence, which was a distinct promise related to the future age of Messiah, Joel 2:28-29. Instead, the OT persons who experienced the Spirit's greatest gifts were those unique mediatorial representatives, types of the Christ (to whom the Spirit was given without limit). These OT recipients had some realization of the specialness of their endowment, such that David could plead with God not to take such blessing from him after he had sinned, Ps.51:11.

Most OT saints experienced the barest of the Spirit's presence, an "eyedropper" dose. But in these last days the bucket has been poured out in a roar on all flesh. The least in the kingdom of heaven has experienced greater blessings than John the Baptist.
 
Yes they were - there is no regeneration without the Spirit, and so no faith. However at pentecost we have the coming of the Spirit of the risen Christ which represents a dramatic change.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top