Part One

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Outline by Lane Rogers

I. THE CREATING SPIRIT
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was [a]formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

A. It is a surprise to some that the Holy Spirit was around before the day of Pentecost.

B. Now we observe the Spirit and the Universe

C. Next we observe the Spirit and the earth

D. Thirdly we observe the Spirit and human beings

E. Finally, looking forward to the Spirit and the new creation.

II. Hovering and Speaking: The Spirit and the Universe

A. Genesis 1:1. The Christian world view. One and only one living God created all.

B. Verse Two, we view creation in the very early stages.

a. The STUFF of creation is there but has not yet been shaped.

b. The Spirit of God is also there and for the first time we must examine the Hebrew word ruakh

1. It might mean the mighty wind of God blowing over the waters?

2. It can also mean, things that are unseen but very powerful in their effects?

3. But here (in Verse 2) it is personal. The Spirit of God is “hovering over the waters.” (Wind blows, it does not hover)

4. Thus, the Spirit of God was ready for action.

5. The Hebrew word for "Hovering" means ready for action.

C. The The Action of Genesis 1:3

A. God spoke into darkness

1) There is a link in the Bible between the Spirit and the Word of God.

2) ruakh is used along side of neshama, or to breathe.

3) It literally is breathing the Word of God.

B. Notice the wording of the following verse:

"By His power He churned up the sea; by His wisdom he cut Rahab¹ to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? (Job 26:12-14).

C. All of the above was as faint as a whisper (His breath or the Spirit.).

III. Israel knew God was the Creator and this was reflected in their worship.

A. In Psalms 33 we again find the same idea. The word ruakh is not used but - God's breath and Word once again are together.

B. The Psalm begins by celebrating the transforming power of the Word of God.

C. Psalms 33: 4-5 , is the language from the Exodus when god brought Israel out from oppression.

a. God's Word is always like that. It deals with right and just.

b. It is the Word of YHWH and not some other god that is true and just.

D. In Psalms 33: 6-9, we once again find the creation narrative and the combining of the Word of YHWH with the breath of His mouth.

E. Also see Psalms 104: 29-30, but notice this verse:

By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded and it stood firm. (Ps. 33: 6-9).

1. The Heavens (Ps 33:6)

a. The heavens and all the stars were made by God

b. Israel's neighbors believed that the heavenly bodies were powerful gods.

c. The sun was the most powerful god, but Genesis account does not even mention the sun.

d. The "stars" were also considered deity. But Genesis list them as if they were a divine after thought (Gen. 1:16) "he also made the stars." They are not gods, they where made by God. See Isaiah 40:26f.

e. So, this passage leaves no place for astrology then or now. The heavenly bodies are just more of the one God's creation.

2. The Sea (Ps 33:7).

a. To the Canaanite, the sea was a powerful god (Yamm).

b. The sea was power and evil.

c. As in Job, God has power over the seas (evil)

d. To the extent that He can put it in a jar.

3. The earth (Ps 33: 8-9)

a. The Canaanite god for earth was Baal, the son of El.

b. Baal was for fertility and the investment of the Baal religion was the earth. The earth was god. No different than the environmentalist of today.

c. To the contrary, the Psalmist says the "earth" is not another god but was created by the one God.

4. All of these great realties then: (the heavens, the sea, and the earth), are the product of the "breath of His mouth" the Creator Spirit of God.

5. The Spirit is the one through whom the living God spoke the universe into existence and brought light, order and fullness to world we live in.

I. SUSTAINING AND RENEWING: THE SPIRIT AND THE EARTH

A. OT Israelite did not spend much time on how the world began:

a. It seems as if Genesis 1-2 was enough for them.

B. The did often reflect on how the world was sustained, restored and rejuvenated. Every morning when we wake up, it is all still there!

C. There is a vast regularity about the whole system of the earth and the Israelites recognized the hand of God in this process.

a. The Canaanites had a vast number of gods that kept this process in motion.

1) Baal, god of fertility fought moth, the god of death. Baal is slain just as the season for growth and fertility comes to and end. But- hold on, Asherah, his consort brings him back to life again and so the cycle of seasons goes on and on.

2) But for the Israelite, there was but one God and all life on earth was and is sustained by the Spirit of God.

b. It is the Spirit of God that sustains all life.

"If it were [God's] intention and He withdrew his Spirit and

breath, all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust. (Job 34:14-15).

c. Psalms 104 is another Psalms about creation. Listen to this.

How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. (Ps. 104:24).

d. Now listen to how God maintains this creation of his and his creatures.

These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time . When you give it to them, the gather it up; when open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away your breath, they die and return to dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. (Psalms 104-27-30)

e. Now we learn that the Spirit is also the provider Spirit. Or stated another way, now we have moved from creation to sustenance.

f. Jesus affirmed these same truths in the Sermon on the Mt. (Matt. 6:25-34).

g. Since God is everywhere present through His Spirit, in all creation, it is impossible for God to lose sight of us (Psalms 139:7).

D. The World we live in was not only created but also sustained by the Spirit of God. Furthermore, God loves all He has made.

The Eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made (Psalms 145: 15-17).

II. THERE ARE SEVERAL CONCEPTS THAT FOLLOW THE ODERLY CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE BY THE SPIRIT!

A. Science - God's gift to humanity. Has its origin in the Christian world view of a regular, orderly universe that works by laws and processes that flow from the mind of the creator.

a. Opposed to modern naturalism. The idea that created matter is all that there is (Plato).

b. The universe is not just a random happening.

B. Ecology - If all life on earth is sustained by God and loved by God then that demands a certain attitude about this creation.

a. We are God's servants and care takers of His creation

b. Be very careful not to damage God's handiwork.

I. BREATHING AND LEAVING: THE SPIRIT OF HUMANITY!

A. Now a glimpse of the Spirit of God as it relates to creating humanity.

The Lord God formed the human from the dust of the ground² and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living creature (Gen. 2:7)

B. “Breath of Life” does not mean immortal soul since already used in Gen. 1:30.

C. “Breath of life” is Spirit bringing of God's creation to life. (Ezekiel 37: 9-10,14).

a. Man is special not because of the “breath of life” but because we are made in the image of God.

b. Thus, it is the work of the Spirit that makes us what we are. Notice the connection between God's Spirit and human life.

“As long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness” (Job 27: 3-4)

c. And again, Job reflects on the breath of God:

“ the breath of the Almighty that gives him understanding (Job 32:8)

Again:

“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4).

II. FROM TENDER CREATION TO THE HORROR OF SIN.

A. Rebellion because of believing a lie rather than the truth.

B. The effects of that sin and lie are found in Gen. 6:3 and once again it involves the Spirit.

“My Spirit will not remain in the human being forever, for he is flesh. His days shall be limited to a hundred and twenty years. (Gen. 6:3)

C. Flesh here is contrasted to Spirit. Humans do not possess natural immortality. We only live as long as we have the Spirit.

a. We live as long as we have God's Spirit

b. When God removes the Spirit we revert to flesh and

finally back to dust (Psalms 104:29-30).

c. Ecclesiastes is more pointed yet:

“the dust returns to the ground it came from and the spirit returns to God who gave it. (Eccles. 12:7)

D. IN SUMMARY THE PARADOX IS THIS:

a. We have the breath of life (physical life) that God gave us as a gift. We share this breath of life with other creatures on the planet.

b. We are here only awaiting the life giving Spirit to leave our bodies and this is because of rebellion and sin.

c. Thus, we call this “breathing and leaving.”

III. GROANING AND BIRTHING: THE SPIRIT AND NEW CREATION

A. Since we found that when the Spirit of God leaves we return to dust, now we must ask is there any hope for us?

B. The answer is rest since “ the creation waits in eager expectation for the “sons of God to be revealed.”

“ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to this present time. Not only so, be we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8: 19-23, 26-27).

C. In this passage, the resurrection of Christ is linked with our own bodily resurrection and the redemption of the entire creation.

D. I think that the idea of JOY is expressed here with the word “groaning” since the groaning represents birth pains or the joy of birth yet to come.

E. Paul himself said, “If anyone is in Christ – new creation is already there” (2^nd Cor. 5:17). We who are born again (see Acts 2:38 and Romans 6: 3-4 for born again), are part of the new creation being brought forth.

IV. THE THREE GROANINGS

A. Creation is Groaning (Rom. 8:22)

a. This is because of our sin. It is sin that made the creation subject to frustration.

b. The words of Hosea. Even the land morns and grieves because of the accumulated weight of human wickedness. (Hosea 4:1-3).

c. But in this case, the new creation is already gestating in the womb of the old. Once labor has begun, birth cannot be stopped.

B. We are Groaning (Rom. 8:23)

. We groan because of our own sin, but Paul means a different kind of groaning. We eagerly await the redemption of our bodies. Paul does not mention here the salvation of our souls but our bodies.

b. Paul is rejecting the dualism of the Greeks where the soul and body are viewed as two entities. The body will be saved along with the soul. God embraces His entire creation.

c. Jesus was the firstfruits and now our bodies will be as His. We shall be transformed into the likeness of the risen Christ (Phil. 3:21).

C. The Spirit is Groaning (Rom. 8:26)

A. He is groaning with us as we live and pray.

B. He is the advance guard of the new creation of (2^nd Cor. 5:17) see also Eph. 1:13-14).

C. So, the metaphor here is one of pain now but joy later.

D. So, the New Testament concept of present suffering is not just a matter of lets stick it out for awhile until we get to heaven.

E. The NT concept is one of new creation. God is bringing forth a New Creation and we are part of that creation even now.

Home

Rahab as a ancient mythological serpent who was thought to live in the oceans. Job is using pictorial language to say that God has power over the seas.

The first Hebrew word here is ha'adam, the second translated ground is ha' adamah. It is clear that the two words are related. In fact, we just reviewed this words when looking a Numbers 19 and the Red Heifer. In this case, the meaning is "the human creature is an earth creature."

by Lane Rogers