Holy Spirit - Intro
October 31, 2021Today's message was the first in a series about the Holy Spirit. The message is here.
The ancient Biblical Hebrew words for "Holy Spirit" are Ru-ach ha-Kodesh (long u, long o), רוח הקודשׂ.
Ru-ach is wind, often used for this spirit we're talking about. It's the ru-ach of God that hovers over the face of the waters in Creation (Genesis 1:2).
I like this analogy: the wind/spirit is what makes you sense the air around you, ala sense God's presence. The most noticeable thing between what's dead and what's alive is its breathing, its wind.
Kodesh means separate or set apart, often translated as sacred or holy.
The Torah holds that God is one essence, not part-able or divisable. But, God does interact in many ways, including through a holy spirit. This spirit is the vehicle through which God can operate, but it's not God. Through this spirit, God imparts wisdom, spiritual insight, courage, strength, prophecy, and even the ability to perform miracles. Also:
- Heroic speech and action (Gen. 41:38; Ex. 31:3; Num. 24:2)
- Can be taken away (Num. 11:17)
God instructs Moses to tell all workers whom God has filled with the spirit of wisdom to make garments (Ex. 28:3).
God instructs Moses to bring Him 70 elders and God will give them this spirit of leadership to take some of the weight off Moses (Numbers 11:16-17).
The Jewish Messiah will be given this spirit by God (Isaiah 11:1-3). Messianic Jews (Christ believers) hold that Jesus wants His followers to strive for perfection under the law. That could be read into Christianity as well. It's not likely that Jesus would have nullified the Ten Commandments, for example. Paul expressed similar thoughts as well (Romans 3:31). Paul goes on in chapter 4 saying that Abraham had faith in God. As one writer put it, "The Law was written in stone by the finger of God, but in the new covenant it is written on the hearts of His people. It lives in you and changes you inside out. The conduit to God goes via the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Truth, Divine Wisdom and the Torah" (here).
Interestingly, in Luke, Jesus is described as being baptised with a dove coming down from heaven. This may have not been metaphorical. The idea of a spirit in dove form exists in Jewish literature (not the Torah). Jewish literature also holds that the Prophets (Spokesmen) operated by way of this spirit. Actually, Judaism holds that all the books of the OT came into physical being via this spirit working in man.
Some think that the word Torah came from tor which means "turtle dove." This could indicate quite a connection between God's Law/Teaching and the Holy Spirit.