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The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Faculty Publications Old Testament 2013 The olH y Spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures Jiri Moskala ThD, PhD Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/old-testament-pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Moskala, Jiri ThD, PhD, "The oH ly Spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures" (2013). Faculty Publications. Paper 97. http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/old-testament-pubs/97 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Old Testament at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 24/2 (2013):18-58. Article copyright © 2013 by Jiøí Moskala. The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures Jiøí Moskala Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Andrews University Introduction For many Christians, speaking about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament1 seems like an oxymoron (contradiction) and anachronism (mistiming) for two reasons: (1) Their presupposition that this Gift of God is only with believers after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (according to Acts 2) and His activities afterward (Acts 3-28). Against this claim stands plentiful material about the work of the Spirit of the Lord/God in the Hebrew Bible. (2) Their misunderstanding of Jesus’s statement: “Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39).2 Christ’s proclamation does not mean that the Holy Spirit was not present, active, and engaging during the Old Testament period (ample evidence testifies against this popular standpoint),3 but it signifies that the Spirit of the Lord could 1 The basic concept of this paper was presented at the IX. South-American Biblico- Theological Symposium on Pneumatology in Iguassu Falls, Brazil, on May 20, 2011. 2 See Luke 24:49; John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 1:8. See also seven New Testament statements about the “Baptism of/with/in/by the Holy Spirit” (Matt 3:11-12; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16-17; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 11:16; 1 Cor 12:13). Compare with Luke 1:15 (John the Baptist); 1:41 (Elizabeth); 1:67 (Zechariah) where all these Old Testament saints were filled with the Holy Spirit before Pentecost or Jesus’s glorification. Biblical quotations are from NIV unless indicated otherwise. 3 John Goldingay, “Was the Holy Spirit Active in Old Testament Times? What Was New About the Christian Experience of God?” Ex Auditu 12 (1996): 14-28; Wilf Hildebrandt, An Old Testament Theology of the Spirit of God (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995). 18 MOSKALA: HOLY SPIRIT IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES work during the Old Testament times only proleptically and was in action in anticipation of Christ’s glorification, i.e., Jesus’s victory on the cross, resurrection, and ascension. Hamilton states: “The sense in which the Spirit is yet to be given is that believers are about to receive Him at the glorification of Jesus.”4 In other words, the cross of Jesus, i.e., His glorification (see John 13:31-32; 17:1-5),5 was authentication for the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament period of time and thereafter. The triumphant death of Jesus historically validated His activities, and Jesus’s glorification was a seal for the involvement of the Holy Spirit in ancient times. Thus, the cross was the prerequisite for the giving of the Spirit of God to the world, and at the same time the justification and affirmation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament dispensation. His activity was real and in full measure but depended as always upon the openness, cooperation, and readiness of God’s people.6 In the same way, the forgiveness of sins and guarantee of salvation for the Old Testament saints, believers in a living Lord, was secured at the cross. They were saved by God’s grace through faith in view of His 4 James M. Hamilton, Jr., God’s Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2006), 62. See also, Geoffrey W. Grogan, “The Experience of Salvation in the Old and New Testaments,” Vox Evangelica 5 (1967): 12-17; Sidney H. Hooke, “The Spirit Was Not Yet (John 7:39),” New Testament Studies 9 (1963): 372-380. 5 By His sacrificial life and victorious death for sinners, Jesus Christ glorified His Father and saved humanity. Each believer in Him has eternal life, the glorious result of His ultimate sacrifice for humanity. The Father glorified Jesus, i.e., resurrected Him to life and restored to Christ His previous position of glory (John 17:5; Acts 2:32, 36; 5:30-31; Phil 2:8- 9). 6 Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., “The Indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament,” Evangelical Quarterly 82, no. 4 (2010): 315: “The coming of the Holy Spirit at the Pentateuch was a most significant work wherein the Spirit arrived in state, visibly and dramatically, thereby showing in time and space what had been experienced all along in the Old Testament was not unreal, but was fully part of the whole plan of God. The factor that was new was the fact that all believers would now be incorporated into one body of Christ, regardless of their denominational identities, as they were baptized into one body and were given one Spirit to drink (1 Cor 12:13).” He also asks a very pertinent question: “How could all of these old covenant persons have believed and been enabled to live sanctified lives if the Spirit of God did not dwell in them?” and to prove the point, he provides examples of Old Testament believers like Enoch, Noah, Joseph, Job, Bezalel, and David (Kaiser, 309). 19 JOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY death (Gen 15:6; 22:17-18; Exod 12:13-14, 21-28; Num 21:6-9; Pss 32:1-2; 51:3, 12-13; Hab 2:4; Eph 1:4-10; Rev 13:8). In anticipation of Jesus’s victory over Satan on the cross, grace was already applied to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they sinned (Gen 3:9, 15, 21). They were proleptically justified and saved. There was never any other way of salvation except through Jesus (Acts 4:12).7 John affirms the theological meaning of Christ’s death by underlining that the Lamb “was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev 13:8), even though historically speaking, Jesus died on the cross two thousand years ago. Thus, God forgave Adam and Eve their sin, because of grace which streamed from Calvary. The Old Testament believers could experience the assurance and joy of salvation. It is highly significant to recognize that in comparison to the written material from the Ancient Near Eastern texts the biblical teaching about the Spirit of God or the Spirit of the Lord has no parallel. Lloyd Neve correctly observes: “No other nation in the Ancient Near East spoke of gods as having a spirit. In a peculiar people with a singular Lord it was a unique concept.”8 Nowhere in those texts can one find an expression “the spirit of [such and such god or gods].” Names of pagan gods are not associated with their own spirit or any spirit. 7 Similarly, after His ascension, Jesus was coronated as a High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (Ps 110; Heb 6:19-20; 7:25; 8:1-2; 9:11-12, 24; 10:19-22), even though He acted as a High Priest during Old Testament times when He forgave the sins of sinners (see, for examples, Exod 34:6-7; Lev 16:16; Ps 32:1-2; 86:5; 103:3, 8-12). Christ’s death started not only a new dimension of His life but also approved and authenticated all that was done before in Old Testament times! 8 Lloyd Neve, The Spirit of God in the Old Testament (Tokyo, Japan: Seibunsha, 1972), 1. But see a study by John Walton who argues that as in the Old Testament “the gods also endow life, authority and strength” even though he admits that “in the Ancient Near East . the literature lacks a more specific agent for this endowment, such as a spirit of the gods” (John H. Walton, “The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Spirit of the Lord in the Old Testament,” in David G. Firth and Paul D. Wegner, eds., Presence, Power, and Promise: The Role of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academics, 2011), 65. Walton claims that “an Egyptian or a Babylonian from the ancient world reading or hearing the book of Judges, Samuel or Ezekiel would not be baffled about the SOL [Spirit of the Lord]. They would immediately associate it with their own understanding of the way that their gods worked” (Walton, 38). However, the fact stands that “there is neither Akkadian nor Egyptian use of the collocation ‘spirit of [divine name]’ to indicate empowerment by deity” (Walton, 38). 20 MOSKALA: HOLY SPIRIT IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to elaborate on the Spirit of the Lord, because the Holy Spirit is a very humble Person. He does not like to speak about Himself but about the Lord Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father (John 15:26; 16:12-15) and influences the lives of people (Matt 12:31-32; John 16:8-11).
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