God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

c. Prophetic utterances (such as those given by Jeremiah or Ezekiel).

In the OT the spirit ( rûah ) of Yahweh is God’s power in action. . . . A term for both breath blown out and wind blowing . . . rûah has vivid and awesome association when used of God’s energy let loose. It is so used in nearly 100 of its nearly 400 OT appearances. ~“Holy Spirit.” New Dictionary of Theology . Downers Grove, IL/Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988. p. 316.

III. The Power that Gives Life

A. The Spirit is intimately involved in the creation of the world.

Gen. 1.1-2 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

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1. The Spirit’s “hovering”

a. The Hebrew word translated “hovering” ( rachaph ) suggests careful tending (cf. Deut. 32.11). The Spirit of God tended the new creation preparing it to move from formlessness to order, from darkness to light.

See Ray Pritchard, Names of the Holy Spirit . Chicago: Moody Press, 1995. pp. 11, 13, 34.

Gen. 1.2 - “with a divine wind ”

b. The Spirit’s role in physical creation is similar to the Spirit’s role in “new creation” (salvation) (see John 3). John 3.8 - The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

2. The Spirit is the Breath of God which brings humanity to life.

a. The first human being, Gen. 2.7