Holy Spirit in the Old

¶ … Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

an overview of theological perspectives.

In some of the pneumatological literature a distinction is made between the Holy Spirit in the New Testament and the Sprit of God in the Old Testament. The New Testament associates the Holy Spirit with the religious structure and the meaning of the Holy Trinity. The also refers to the new covenant with God in the New Testament and the fulfillment of this covenant through Jesus Christ, "The old covenant made clear proclamation of the Father, a less definite one of the Son. The new [covenant] made the Son manifest and gave us a glimpse of the Spirit's Godhead.

The question of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is a matter than has raised a considerable amount of controversy. On the one hand there is the view that there are very few references to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, at least in the sense that it is referred to in the New Testament. However, on the other hand many scholars and theologians refer to a much broader and more inclusive and continuous understanding of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. This point is clearly summarized by Mcdonnell (1998) in a discussion of the terms 'ruach' and 'pneuma'.

Though the Old Testament ruach is not completely identical with the New Testament pneuma, from a Christian perspective there are not two Spirits. And spirit/Spirit plays an identical function in both testaments. Spirit (charism) is constitutive of the identity of Israel. And the Holy Spirit is constitutive of the identity of Jesus Christ ("The Holy Spirit will come upon you" [Luke 1:35]) as well as of the Church and Christian life.

The above is a crucial aspect in the understanding not only of the theological continuity between the connection between the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, but also points to the critical view that, in essence, they are not different. This point is discussed as well by Ralph Del Colle (2001).

Indeed "God as Spirit" or the "Holy Spirit" may be posed as alternative pneumatological models. The former adverts to the modality and nature of God's being both within God's very self and toward the world in immanent action. The latter highlights the trinitarian identity of the Spirit, immanent and economic, as third Person related to Father and Son, and as gift sent into the world to sanctify and empower the community of believers in mission.

Del Colle states that, "The two models may be conceived as opposed to each other" which is the more traditional approach. However, like many other scholars, Del Colle prefers to examine these two views of the Holy Spirit ".... As complementary aspects of a Christian pneumatology in which we proceed from "Spirit" to "Holy Spirit."

This point is reiterated by many commentators and theologians. "Though the Old Testament spirit is not completely identical with the Trinitarian Spirit, from a Christian perspective there is not one spirit in the Old Testament prophets and another Spirit in Christ and Christians.

Taking these views into account, the Holy Spirit can be defined to some degree as follows: It is, "... The one who indwells the church and is given through the church's means of grace. Since Schleiermacher it has been common to think of the Holy Spirit simply as the communal spirit of the Christian church."

On the other hand the Spirit "....has always been a mysterious and free presence that blows where it wills, transcending church structures and even the boundaries of human society to renew the whole creation."

Discussing the views of Sarah Coakley, Walther Eichrodt (1967) refers to the importance of an "incorporative" view of the Holy Spirit. In this view, "...the Holy Spirit is a personal manifestation of divine presence, whose distinctive role is to incorporate the creation into the life of God. Reflection about the Spirit's presence should not center on either private religious experience or expectacular outward gifts" and "The incorporative view manages to affirm both the communal and cosmic dimensions of the Spirit's work."

This suggests that the reality of the Holy Sprit can be equated with and related to the Spirit of God that is manifest it the Old Testament and is not separate in essence from the Trinitarian view. However, it should be borne in mind in the following discussion that there are many theological objections to the Holy Spirit with the Spirit of God.

The Hebrew word translated "spirit" is the same word that can be translated "breath" or "wind." It is, therefore, somewhat tenuous to establish clear doctrinal positions on these verses. While people in the Old Testament era could not understand the person and the work of the Holy Spirit as we do, that does not mean that the Spirit was not present and at work (cf. Acts 7:51; 2 Peter 1:21). But the emphasis in the Old Testament was on the role of God the Father, rather than on the Son Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, in the following analysis and discussion of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament the term Holy Spirit will follow these theological views that the Holy Spirit and Spirit of God are, to a certain extent, variations and developments of the same phenomenon.

Examples of the Holy Spirit in the Old testament

As discussed above, establishing the relationship and meaning of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament is an essential aspect in understanding its significance in the Bible as a whole. As one study notes; "The Spirit is the most enduring epithet of God. We can find it from the first verses of Genesis to the last pages of the Book of Revelation..."

The Sprit of God is presented in the Old Testament in the first instance as a "...vitalizing force behind God's activity."

The Hebrew term for the Spirit used in the Old Testament is ruah. This term which is translated as breath, wind, or spirit occurs 394 times in the Bible and about twenty-five percent of these refer to the Spirit of God, which is fundamental to the teachings of the Old Testament.

The Latin meaning of this word is 'breath'. This interpretation can be understood in the Old Testament as follows.

A breath is the most immaterial reality we perceive. It cannot be seen; it is intangible; it cannot be grasped by the hand; it seems to be nothing, and yet it is vitally important. The person who does not breathe cannot live. The difference between a living person and a dead one is that the former has breath and the latter no longer does. Life comes from God. Hence breath, too, comes from him, and he can take it away."

The metaphorical link between the meaning of the term described in the above quotation and the essence of all life is obvious. This is further extended to the idea of the Sprit as moving air or wind. This view can be related to Psalms; "....he rides on the wings of the wind..." (Ps 104:3-4).

In the Book of Exodus we read that "Yahweh drove back the sea with a strong easterly wind all night, and he made dry land of the sea. The waters parted and the sons of Israel went on dry ground right into the sea..." (Ex 14:21-22).

The spirit is also described as "a blast from the nostrils" of God. (2 Samuel 22:16)

These descriptions in the Old Testament tend to link the concepts of wind, breath and the Spirit of God. This expresses in a very suggestive way the conviction that the wind was God's instrument in these circumstances. As one commentator notes; "...Seeing breath in this way, they came to understand that life depends on a spiritual principle, which was called by the same Hebrew word, ruah. Man's breath bears a relationship to a much more powerful external breath, the wind."

The central concept of God's creative and vital life force that resides in the Spirit is first encountered in the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis, with the creation of Adam. This refers to the fact that God "breathes" his spirit into matter in order to create life. This suggests, the physical act of inhaling and exhaling the wind. It also depicts the inner and outer omnipresent reality of the "Spirit of God" in nature. As such, the life giving Spirit alludes to the unfathomable mystery of the origin of life.

Therefore, from the above source, the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit is also connected with the mystery and ineffable quality of life and the spiritual world. This mystery is infused into our world of matter through the breath or wind of the spirit.

Genesis also provides an understanding of the non-human nature of God's Spirit. This refers especialty to references of the part that the Spirit of God plays in relation to its movement on the waters. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." (Gen. 1:2.)

The Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit is seen as the original creative force that creates all life. However, the reference to the Spirit in Gnesis also refers to its distance and potential separation from mankind. In times of sin and wickedness God warns that "...my Spirit will not always strive with man." (Gen. 6:3) the passage also implies that the"... Spirit's very presence and ministry could be withdrawn from the human race in some sense."

At this point the apparent distinction between and Spirit and Holy Sprit should be reiterated. As one commentator notes; " Although the Old Testament uses the epithet "Spirit of God," it does not speak of the Holy Spirit per se.

The appellative Spirit of God became popular in late Old Testament narratives to replace the name of God by its attributes. The epithet did not infer the idea that the Spirit was a "person" either. Nevertheless, the meaning of Spirit of God and Holy Spirit are synonymous, since one meaning of the word "holy" is "of God."

Therefore, in the few examples that have so far been noted, the Spirit in the Old Testament refers to dynamic impulse of God that is related by analysis to the wind or to life-giving breath. This can also be related to other interpretations, such as the view that God's Sprit or the Holy Spirit enters into the heart of people; for example in Ezekiel; " I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ez 36:26)

The theological rationale or explanation given is as follows:

Since air is so tenuous, it penetrates not only into our body, but all of its spaces and clefts. This helps to understand that "the spirit of the Lord fills the whole world" (Wis 1:7) and that it penetrates especially "all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits" (7:23), as the Book of Wisdom says.

The Holy Spirit is also seen as a means of knowledge and understanding that is provided by God. The concept of the Spirit as a guide in the Old Testament can be clearly seen in the example of Exodus. "God in days of old had led Israel from Egypt and through the hardships of the desert by his holy spirit, although they had "grieved his holy spirit" by their rebellion." (Isa. 63:10-14).

The Spirit is associated with cleansing the heart and regeneration of the human. We see this clearly in the references to the Spirit of God and Holy Spirit in Psalms.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Ps. 51:10-11.)

The spirit is also mentioned in the close relationship between Moses and God. As one commentator has noted;"... probably on account of the close relationship between Moses and God throughout the wilderness experience, some modern translations translate the expression as "His Spirit" making reference to the Holy Spirit."

Therefore, to summarize, the Spirit in the Old Testament is a, symbol of the power, purpose, and presence of the living God active in the world of men...The spirit signifies all that God is and all that he may mean to men in righteousness, redemption, and personal peace. It also means much that man is, since man has been made in the image of God and accordingly has received his spirit.

Ezekial provides some of the most telling visions of the meaning and power of the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. In Ezekiel 1 we read,

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezek. 1:28)

Spirit is also referred to a number of times on many other books of the Old Testament. In the Book of Judges the Holy Spirit is referred to as influencing certain individuals to carry out the purpose that God envisages for them. However, it should be noted that, "God's Spirit throughout is the Spirit of Yahweh rather than the emphasis on the Spirit of Elohim found in the Pentateuch."

The Book of Judges adds to this aspect of the Holy Spirit entering into and influencing individuals to carry out God's divine purpose. An example is the influence of the Spirit of Yahweh upon Gideon. "Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him." (Judges. 6:34)

Similarly, the Spirit of Yahweh also comes upon Jephthah (Judges. 11:29) as he leads the Israelites in victory against the Ammonites.

A comparable example is to be found in 1 and 2 Kings, where the emphasis on the way that the Holy Spirit relates to the prophet Elijah. There are also further explicit references to the Holy Spirit of God. However, there are no references to the Spirit in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.

Other examples are two references in Job. Elihu tells Job that his creator is the Spirit of God; "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life." (Job 33:4)

In Job the Sprit of God is referred to in terms of creation and providence.

Psalms also has a number of references to the Spirit of God or Holy Spirit.

For example, in Psalm 104:30 we read; " When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth."

This refers directly to the creation and the care and generation of all creation by the Spirit. Another example from Psalm deals with sin in the rebellion of the children of Israel against the Spirit of God. " for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips." (Psalm 106:33)

One particularly enlightening example is from Psalm 51, which deals with David's confession.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

This refers to the cleansing of one's inner being and establishment of a correct relationship with God. Note that David refers directly to the Holy Spirit of God in his earnest request for the Spirit not to be taken away form him. The psalm emphasizes the "joy of your salvation" which is necessary to "sustain" him. The words sustain refers in turn to the very core of being and existence that requires the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

The above discussion has explored some of the ways that the Spirit of God is referred to and cited in the Old Testament. An important concept is the relationship between the Spirit and Holy Spirit, which is such an essential aspect of the New Testament and Trinitarian concerns. This leads to the following insight:

it was the association of Spirit and Word, as this in its various forms determined the Old Testament conception of the Spirit, which was incomparably fulfilled in the New Testament belief in the Holy Spirit, through whose power Jesus accomplished his prophetic mission, and in the Paraclete sent by him, who continually renews his work in the community, and gives to the members of the Body of Christ a share in a life of divine power.

This is a view that reasserts the stance that the Spirit of the Old testament continues and is developed in the Holy Spirit of the New Testament and, barring some aspects, that the Spirit if the Old testament and the Holy Spirit of the New Testament are essentially the same phenomenon. This is not meant to suggest that the two can be simply conflated but rather that there is a continuity between them and the Old and new Testaments.

The above discussion of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament has focused on come central aspects of its revelation and meaning; one of the most important of these being the association between the creative act and the Spirit of God and its role in the creation of earth and man. A second aspect is that way that the Holy Sprit is seen to interact with humanity and the relationship between a pure heart and the infusion of the Spirit of God. This also includes the view that the Spirit is in fact "alien" or distinct to the human and that it can be withdrawn from the sphere of human existence, with deleterious and awesome consequences.

This is clear in the above example from Psalms, where David pleads of the infusion of God's Spirit into the world and inn human being. In the final analysis the study of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament reveals the "...unimaginable richness of the divine nature, and thereby understood in its ultimate unity."

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