BibleProject Podcast Series
Spirit of God
God's Spirit is his personal life-giving presence who partners with humans to renew creation. In this expansion of an earlier series, join Tim and Jon as they explore how the Spirit of God shows up throughout the Bible, creates and sustains life, and empowers humans to embrace their calling.
The Spirit, Breath, and Wind Behind Everything
In 2017, we released a 3-episode series on the theme of the Holy Spirit. And now eight years later, we’ve decided there’s still a lot more to reflect on and explore! The word we translate in English as “spirit” is ruakh in the Hebrew Bible and pneuma in the Greek New Testament. The word refers to God’s personal presence, but it also often refers to wind, breath, and a human’s mind. So how can this word refer to God’s manifest presence and energy, but also created things? In this episode, Jon and Tim kick off a new expanded series on the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of Life and Death
The word we translate in English as “spirit” is ruakh in the Hebrew Bible, and it can mean spirit, wind, breath, and mind. In multiple passages where ruakh functions as “breath,” the biblical authors invite us to reflect on God’s life-giving power and also on our own frailty. Why are these two ideas so closely tied together? In this episode, Jon and Tim reflect on God’s divine breath that creates and sustains all living things, including mortal human beings from the dust.
The Spirit of Wisdom
We’ve discovered in this series so far that God’s Spirit, or ruakh in Hebrew, creates and sustains all life, moment by moment. Another key way the Spirit works in the world is by filling humans with wisdom. But in each story of the Spirit and wisdom, we’re left wondering: Was God’s Spirit working through that person, or was that just the person? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore the Hebrew Bible’s portrayal of the Spirit of God and human wisdom, revealing a profound partnership at work.
The Spirit and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible
So far in this series, we've looked at how the Spirit is connected to life and wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. The third most consistent idea associated with the Spirit is God's word, or speech, happening through a human; the Bible calls this prophecy. While most ancient prophecy involved deities taking over a person’s mind, we see a different experience among many of Israel’s prophets. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore this spectrum and focus on prophets like Ezekiel and Micah who experienced a true partnership with the Spirit as they spoke for God.
The Spirit of the Messiah in Moses
From the first pages of Scripture, we begin hoping for an ideal human image of God who will be filled with God's Spirit to truly represent God's wisdom, word, and rule in the world. Characters like that don’t show up often, but when they do, they’re leaders who combine the roles of a prophet, priest, and king. And in these stories, the Spirit of God is often heavily intertwined. In this episode, Jon and Tim focus on Moses, the first character who fits the prophet-priest-king role and later informs Isaiah’s vision of the future messianic king.
The Spirit of the Messiah in Saul and David
In the biblical story, God's Spirit fills specific characters. They are to lead and organize Israel, to be priestly mediators of God's covenant, and to prophetically speak God's words to the people. We’re calling the Spirit’s special anointing on these prophet-priest-kings, “the Spirit of the messiah.” In this episode, Jon and Tim explore the Spirit of the messiah in King Saul and King David, two very different portraits of a Spirit-filled ruler.
The Spirit Poured Out on a New Humanity
So far in this series, we’ve seen a pattern develop where God gives an extra measure of his ruakh to some leaders in Israel. God’s Spirit then empowers these leaders to guide the people, mediate God's covenant, and speak God's words. This is what Israel's prophets are looking forward to: a future prophet-priest-king who will not only restore Israel, but all of creation. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore Isaiah and Ezekiel to discover the Spirit of God’s role in anointing the future anointed messiah, as well as a whole renewed humanity.