The relation of Old Testament
saints to the Lord required the presence of the Holy Spirit before Pentecost.
There were, to be sure, episodes of the Spirit’s presence as God empowered or
overcame individuals: the Spirit came upon the elders under Moses, upon Samson,
even upon King Saul. The prophets, too, were possessed of the Spirit to utter
oracles of God. But the work of the Spirit is not limited to such visitations.
God’s Spirit instructed Israel in the desert (Ne. 9:20) and was grieved by
Israel’s behaviour, for it was he who had led them and cared for them in the
wilderness (Is. 63:1-11; Acts 7:51). God’s covenant at Sinai promised his
abiding presence with his people, a promise he kept through the abiding of the
Spirit (Hg. 2:5). (Edmund P. Clowney, The Church [Contours of Christian
Theology; Leicester, U.K.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995], 54)
