Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? (pt. 2)
The second essay from the book is by Richard E. Averbeck, professor of Old Testament Studies and Biblical Counseling at Trinity. The essay is titled, The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Bible and Its Connections to the New Testament, and you may read it online by clicking the previous link.
Averbeck starts by looking at the Hebrew words used to portray the Spirit and its working in the Old Testament. He writes that while there are many Old Testament references to "the Spirit of God", the Jews did not view the Holy Spirit as a distinct person of the Godhead. Rather, they saw the working of the Spirit as the energy of God and manifestation of his power. He goes on to examine the meaning behind the Hebrew word ruakh, which we translate as "spirit". Out of the 378 occurrences of this, 140 of them refer to "wind" or "breath" instead of "spirit". With regards to this metaphor, Averbeck writes:
This terminology was helpful to me. The Holy Spirit is not under our control, and we shouldn't try to dictate to God the ways that He will work in our lives. Instead, we need to look to see where He is working and seek to be yielded to His control. As Paul said in Romans: "Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5b, emphasis mine).
The second primary analogy that Averbeck finds is that of water, and the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. He points to Ezekiel 36:25-28 as a primary example:
However, after comparing Ezekiel 36 to John 3, he makes this statement: "God has always wanted the same thing from everyone and, according to passages like those cited above, his resources have always been available and at work to bring this about in the lives of believers whether in Old or New Testament days." He argues that what was new about Pentecost was not the indwelling presence of the Spirit in God's people, but instead was the prophetic ministry of the Spirit on a widespread basis. He points to Joel 2:28-32a and its fulfillment at Pentecost as pointing us to the new prophetic ministry of the Spirit, poured out on "all people".
I don't know that I am ready to accept this, and in my mind his exegetical argument is a stretch. It is true--God did work through the Holy Spirit in many instances prior to Pentacost. This type indwelling also may have been more common than we sometimes think. However, when you look at what Jesus says in John 17:5-15, it seems that Jesus is looking forward to more than a new era of prophetic revelation and ministry, but to a fundamental shift in the way that the Spirit would work in and among us. If anyone else has insights on this, I'd be happy to hear them.
Averbeck starts by looking at the Hebrew words used to portray the Spirit and its working in the Old Testament. He writes that while there are many Old Testament references to "the Spirit of God", the Jews did not view the Holy Spirit as a distinct person of the Godhead. Rather, they saw the working of the Spirit as the energy of God and manifestation of his power. He goes on to examine the meaning behind the Hebrew word ruakh, which we translate as "spirit". Out of the 378 occurrences of this, 140 of them refer to "wind" or "breath" instead of "spirit". With regards to this metaphor, Averbeck writes:
We need to take this biblical analogy seriously in both understanding the nature of God’s Spirit and in welcoming and engaging with his work. Wind is a mysterious and powerful force. We cannot always predict what it is going to do, and it is not under our control. The same is true of God. We cannot always predict what he is going to do, and he is not under our control even if he has told us what he is going to do. He is God. We are not. All this is true also of the Spirit of God. However, although we cannot completely understand and control the Holy Spirit, we can draw upon his power. Using the analogy of a ship driven by the wind (see above), we can “put up the sails” in our lives and thereby take advantage of the blowing of the Spirit in and through our lives. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit as long as we have our sails up.
This terminology was helpful to me. The Holy Spirit is not under our control, and we shouldn't try to dictate to God the ways that He will work in our lives. Instead, we need to look to see where He is working and seek to be yielded to His control. As Paul said in Romans: "Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5b, emphasis mine).
The second primary analogy that Averbeck finds is that of water, and the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. He points to Ezekiel 36:25-28 as a primary example:
I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities; I will purify you from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God (Ezek 36:25–28).He points out the parallels between this passage and John 3:5-6:
I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
However, after comparing Ezekiel 36 to John 3, he makes this statement: "God has always wanted the same thing from everyone and, according to passages like those cited above, his resources have always been available and at work to bring this about in the lives of believers whether in Old or New Testament days." He argues that what was new about Pentecost was not the indwelling presence of the Spirit in God's people, but instead was the prophetic ministry of the Spirit on a widespread basis. He points to Joel 2:28-32a and its fulfillment at Pentecost as pointing us to the new prophetic ministry of the Spirit, poured out on "all people".
I don't know that I am ready to accept this, and in my mind his exegetical argument is a stretch. It is true--God did work through the Holy Spirit in many instances prior to Pentacost. This type indwelling also may have been more common than we sometimes think. However, when you look at what Jesus says in John 17:5-15, it seems that Jesus is looking forward to more than a new era of prophetic revelation and ministry, but to a fundamental shift in the way that the Spirit would work in and among us. If anyone else has insights on this, I'd be happy to hear them.
posted by Alan at 7:09 PM
1 Comments:
Huh? "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." A Non-Inspired Version will do that every time....
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