Well, that got me thinking, and I disagree. First off because you do see cases when the Holy Spirit is living in someone and doesn't just 'come down' for a time. Like when David is anointed king it says, "And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward." So the Spirit was continually with him. And you can find several other passages that are similar to that. So obviously the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit was very present in the Old Testament. But I can also understand where Mike was coming from when he said that, because in Acts you do read a lot "and they were filled with the Holy Spirit." And you do see much more of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament then in the Old. But here's something else I thought. In the Old Testament it was God. They thought God was just God. I don't think, and I can't find anywhere, where they mention the Trinity in the Old Testament. The people didn't even know of Jesus because he hadn't come yet. But did that mean that Jesus didn't exist? No! he very much did! So maybe they didn't really understand that the 'spirit of God' was the Holy Spirit.
Blah... I don't know how well I'm getting my point across, and I know I'm saying this a lot out of ignorance and more based on my own thoughts and feeling then on Scripture. But I guess what I'm trying to ask you guys is what do you think? Do you think that the Holy Spirit became more active after Jesus' death and resurrection? or do you think he's always been just as present? I guess what my point is, is that God never changes. We know that. I think that as time goes on God reveals himself more and more to his people. So to the people in the OT, they didn't fully understand the Trinity, or didn't even know that God IS three in one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that now we do fully understand the Trinity. Far from it! But because we already have a foundational truths from all the generations of Christ followers before us, we're beginning to know God more and more.
So, I need your help! I'm totally going to be searching God's word for more answers, but any thoughts, or questions, or whatever from you all would be awesome! Hope my thoughts came across as some what clear...
I think His Spirit has always been there but now it is more active as you said. Not that God did not fill some people in the Old Testament with the Spirit but the key word there is some. it was not readily available to everyone and i think that is what changed. It was not longer only the priests who could come before God but everyone! We can now directly come before God and tell Him our troubles instead of sacrificing and atoning for our sins and having to leave our homes to shout, "Unclean!" for a while! Now we are able to come right before our great God and He will work in our lives because Christ already paid the price! I hope that helps. :)
ReplyDeleteI shall await to see what you come up with. Good thoughts, thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteyes indeed nice thoughts and thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say, that God has always been present and just shows more often in the New Testament. I will wait for what other things yo come up with, but good question. God might answer this for you, but keep looking!!
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah! I just stumbled upon your blog through a fb link. I love reading your thoughts! I've been thinking about the Holy Spirit a bit myself lately and I shall attempt to express my thoughts. I think the Holy Spirit has always been as active as He is now, He just didn't have as direct of a relationship with all those who believed in God. Obviously, He filled David; but, this doesn't seem like a common occurrence with all the Israelites. Today, everyone who is saved experiences the Holy Spirit. Even today though, He still comes upon Christians in a special way (Acts 13:9 for example). Feel free to disagree with me if you do. I'll be visiting your blog more often!
ReplyDelete~Anna Warren
Anna! I'm so glad you found my blog and I hope you enjoy it! :)
ReplyDeletethanks for your thoughts, they help a lot. I'm still looking, although getting by other thoughts too haha! But I think I've kinda come to the same conclusion as you. thanks for sharing!