Being Filled With The Holy Spirit, Ot Style (Exodus 31:1-8) Series

Now, when we turn to the NT, we still find this kind of language at times (Luke 24:49; this is sort of awkward for Pentecostals; they want to say that there are different "dispensations"). The Spirit still comes "upon" people. But we also read that the Spirit "fills" people. The Spirit doesn't stay on the outside of people, like an Iron Man suit. The Spirit fills people up, and Spirit power flows out of people's insides (which is true; John 7:38). So a number of Pentecostals argue that we live under a new dispensation. The Spirit now primarily fills people, instead of coming upon them. And, they say, in the OT, we never see the Holy Spirit "inside" of people (contrast Genesis 41:38; Exodus 31:3; Numbers 24:18; Deuteronomy 34:9).

Now, perhaps you think all of this is a bit silly. It's just semantics, and word games. But for Christians seeking a lifestyle of partnership with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14), and Spiritual power, questions like this are a really big deal. These are the kinds of things you wake up thinking about, and wrestling with. How should we picture the Spirit's work? What exactly should we seek? What exactly is the "promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4)? Has God has given us NT Christians something fundamentally different from the OT? Is it worthwhile spending much time studying the Spirit in the OT, or should we mostly stick to the NT?

In my own journey, there have been aspects of all this that I've just accepted, I don't currently understand. There are lots of things I'm unsure about. And in the meantime, I've compensated by asking God for lots of things, in lots of ways. I've asked God to give me his Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). I've asked that God would send his Spirit upon me, and anoint me for ministry, like He did for Jesus (Luke 4:17-19). I've asked that God would make my hands, his hands (Luke 11:20), and that He would do wonders and signs through me like He did through Jesus (Acts 2:22). I've asked for a lot of things, in lots of different ways. Maybe you could say I'm trying to cover my bases, and make sure I'm not missing out on any of God's blessings. Because all of this is a big deal to me-- I want more of God inside of me. I want a deeper partnership, and fellowship. And I want to be fully used by God. So if God talks about this in lots of different ways, I'm going to pray for it in lots of different ways. I will echo biblical language, and seek to be useful, and used, even if I don't have all the answers.

What I found, just this week, helped me tremendously, in all sorts of ways. Today's passage, Exodus 31, doesn't answer every single question. I'm still fuzzy on lots of stuff. But it cleaned up my thinking quite a bit-- it sharpened it. I can feel things kind of coming together, from a theoretical/biblical perspective. And at this point, I feel a bit sheepish, because I should've known-- if you really want to know how the Christian life works, the OT is a great place to look.