The Holy Ghost, prior to Pentecost

[OneAccord]

Filled with the Holy Ghost, Prior to Pentecost

Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

Luke 1:67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
According to the Bible, there is a total of 4 people who were filled with the Holy Ghost prior to the Day of Pentecost. There is no record that they “spoke in tongues”, though one, Zacharias, did utter prophetic utterances, which, according to Joel 2:28, is a sign of the reception of the Holy Ghost.

The 4 that were filled with the Holy Ghost included: John, the Baptist, his father and mother, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and, of course Jesus.

The OT speaks of one individual that were filled with the Spirit of God: Bezaleel the son of Uri Exd 31:2, A close look at this passage, and that of Chapter 35 reveals the fact that he was filled with God’s Spirit for a particular purpose. In fact, as we study this subject we find that the Spirit of God came upon people in the OT for the purpose of fulfilling some great feat. Some examples include: Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Saul, David and Azariah. In each case, it is important to note that the Spirit of God came upon these individuals enabling them to fulfill a particular purpose, or to perform a task. There is no record that implies they had a continual, permanent “in-dwelling” of the Holy Spirit.

And that seems to be the case with the 3 of the four individuals in the NT. John, the Bible tells us, was “filled with the Holy Ghost” from birth. John was born, according to the Luke narrative, for the particular purpose of introducing the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. His life mission was a particular purpose and it was necessary for him to be filled with the Spirit of God to fulfill his destiny.

Both Zacharias and Elizabeth had a particular purpose to fulfill which was to bring John into the world and prepare him for his future mission of introducing Jesus.

Mary, the mother of Jesus was “overshadowed” by the Holy Ghost, whereby she conceived the Christ Child, yet, again, there is no evidence of a continual baptism of the Holy Ghost as we see post-Pentecost. In fact, Mary was numbered with the 120 that assembled in the Upper Room during Pentecost to receive the “promise of the Father”, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 1:14)

Those who were “filled with the Holy Ghost“, including those in the OT, received this temporal “baptism” for a particular purpose. This is best illustrated in the case of King Saul. At times, the Holy Spirit “came” upon him for a particular purpose. At other times, however, an “evil spirit” came upon him. Samson is another example. The Spirit of God “came” upon him for a particular feat or purpose.

There is no biblical record, apart from the life of Jesus, where anyone received a permanent or continual infilling of the Holy Ghost prior to Pentecost. The closest record we can find is that of John the Baptist, but we must make note of the fact that John was born for a particular purpose. Even the last book of the OT , the Book of Malachi, speaks of his coming and of his purpose. In the case of Jesus, the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove when he was baptized by John. Mat 3:16 Luke 3:22

Later, in Luke 4:1 , we find Jesus, “being full of the Holy Ghost”, being led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. So, from this we might conclude that, prior to Pentecost, Jesus was the only Person to receive a continual and permanent indwelling of the Spirit. But two facts cannot be overlooked: 1) Jesus was the Son of God. He was, in fact, the very manifestation of God to humanity. And 2) His very life had Divine purpose.

Receive ye the Holy Ghost
In John 20, we find Jesus appearing to some of his disciples and breathing upon them and saying these words: ”Receive ye the Holy Ghost”. This was not an actual “baptism of the Holy Ghost” but rather a promise of the Gift which was to come. If, in fact, they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost at that time, there would have been no need to assemble in Jerusalem to await the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost. The fact is, Jesus made it clear that the Holy Ghost (the continual, permanent indwelling) could not be given until He had ascended. The baptism of the Holy Ghost, a component in the Plan of Salvation, could not be given until the full plan of salvation was paid for with the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. While it is true that, prior to John 20, Jesus had already been crucified, buried and raised from the dead, the resurrection was not yet complete until He had ascended to the right hand of the Father. To completely purchase salvation, which includes the promise of the Holy Ghost, Jesus had to go away. This can be illustrated by the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. John had to “decrease”, so Jesus could “increase”. Jhn 3:30 He must increase, but I [must] decrease. It was necessary for John to fade from the scene in order for Jesus to take His place as the Lord of all. Jesus, the manifestation of God to humanity had to leave, so the Holy Ghost could inhabit those who believe on Him.


Tarry...until ye be endued"
When Jesus said “Receive ye the Holy Ghost”, He was conveying the Fathers promise to endue believers with “power from on high”. This promise would be actuated after His ascension. He urged them to return to Jerusalem to await this promised Gift.


Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.

Act 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Had they received the Holy Ghost in John 2, there would have been no need for them to “tarry…in Jerusalem” to await the promise of the Holy Ghost. That baptism which resulted on the Day of Pentecost was a permanent, continual indwelling. And the Book of acts records the results of that infilling. A continual, abiding presence of the Holy Ghost did, in fact, endue the Lord’s disciples with spiritual power that continues to spearhead the work of the Holy Ghost around the world.

-OneAccord (RAC)
1/22/11

[KeptByTheWord]

There is also mention of one other person in the Bible who had the Holy Ghost and this definitely was WAY before Acts 2:38...

Mark 12:36
For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

[TGBTG]

I posted this in another thread...

Originally Posted by TGBTG

FWIW, here's what I've gleaned so far from my bible studies...

Before the cross, the Holy Spirit of God came upon men to like Moses, David, Saul and all the other prophets in the bible, but the Holy Spirit did not reside in them. It only came upon them.

For example, we see in the case of Saul (king of Israel) when the Holy Spirit came upon him that Saul began to prophesy. However, Saul was not indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Another example we see is the case of Balaam. He prophesied under the anointing. Numbers 24:2 And 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. . We see that the Spirit of God came upon Balaam. We know according to that story in the book of numbers that Balaam was being disobedient to God, yet the Spirit of God came upon him.

The final example would be John the Baptist.
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
This would seem that John was indwelt by the HolyGhost but let's hear John's testimony himself.

Matt 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Matt 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

John clearly says that Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. John further says to Jesus that He (John) needs to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire and why was Jesus coming to him?

So what I see here is that before the cross, the Spirit of God came upon people (e.g Samson, Saul, Balaam, John the Baptist) but after the cross, the Spirit of God resides inside of us (dwells within us) as a seal unto the day of our redemption (Eph 1:13-14)

Just my $0.02

[OneAccord]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

There is also mention of one other person in the Bible who had the Holy Ghost and this definitely was WAY before Acts 2:38...

Mark 12:36
For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Yes, I think I mentioned David (if I didn't, I meant to). But, he, like other OT figures had the Holy Ghost "come" upon him at certain times, and for a particular purpose. But, there is no record of a permanent indwelling like we see in the Book of Acts. In addition, the verse you posted alludes to the fact that David spoke by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. and makes no mention of his being filled w/ the Holy Ghost.

[OneAccord]

Originally Posted by TGBTG

I posted this in another thread...

Yes, TG, I read what you wrote and I came to one conclusion: Great minds think alike. Very good post and very good discussion.

To conclude that the Holy Ghost was given as a permanent indwelling Presence prior to Pentecost, we'd have to ignore the many times that Jesus spoke of the promise as a Holy Ghost as a future gift and event.

[TGBTG]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Yes, TG, I read what you wrote and I came to one conclusion: Great minds think alike. Very good post and very good discussion.

To conclude that the Holy Ghost was given as a permanent indwelling Presence prior to Pentecost, we'd have to ignore the many times that Jesus spoke of the promise as a Holy Ghost as a future gift and event.

[Praxeas]

In the OT times it was a special endowment by God to do great things like prophecy and it was only given on a limited basis.

Even Saul in his backslidden condition was said to have the Spirit and prophecy

1Sa 10:10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
1Sa 10:11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him formerly saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

What was once only available to a select few is not available for all

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

[A.W. Bowman]

Don't forget the bunch in John 20:16-22. Perhaps we are also confusing the 'receiving' of the Holy Ghost with the 'gift' of the Holy Ghost. This can be looked at two ways. (1) the Holy Ghost 'being given' by God as a gift, or (2) The Holy Ghost 'providing the gift', such as the promised power.

Also, there is a difference between the Holy Ghost being in a particular person by the will of God, and the Spirit being available after Pentecost (the feast of Shavu'ot) for all mankind.

Also note that sometimes the writers/translators talk about the Spirit be on or upon someone and also meaning that the Spirit is within. See Isaiah 42:1, 59:21; Nehemiah 9:30 and John 3:31-35. Also compare Nehemiah 9:30 and Luke 4:18 .

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by HaShaliach

Don't forget the bunch in John 20:16-22. Perhaps we are also confusing the 'receiving' of the Holy Ghost with the 'gift' of the Holy Ghost. This can be looked at two ways. (1) the Holy Ghost 'being given' by God as a gift, or (2) The Holy Ghost 'providing the gift', such as the promised power.

We are actually discussing that on the GREAT ONE-STEP/THREE-STEP DEBATE thread. It cannot be proved conclusively that there is a disparity between two experiences as you describe here. The closest one can get to substantiating this view, and not substantiate it all, really, is to say the reason Acts 1, 2, 10 and 11 refer to infilling, empowerment, reception etc., is because both experiences occurred for SOME people at the same time in Acts 2, while that is not always the norm. And THAT is not conclusive.

[notofworks]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Yes, TG, I read what you wrote and I came to one conclusion: Great minds think alike. Very good post and very good discussion.

To conclude that the Holy Ghost was given as a permanent indwelling Presence prior to Pentecost, we'd have to ignore the many times that Jesus spoke of the promise as a Holy Ghost as a future gift and event.

But, could Jesus have been pointing to the Holy Spirit, in the future, that would be used for a different purpose than ever before? Since the gospel was to be spread throughout the world, would the Holy Spirit be imparted for a new purpose (Acts 1:8)?