When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).
We don’t usually associate the word violent with Holy Spirit’s activity. We prefer peace and serenity. But Luke presents the Pentecost event as a wind-storm, or to be more precise – a Spirit-storm. The Hebrew word ruach, and the Greek word pneuma, are translated throughout the Scriptures as wind, breath, or spirit. This reflects movement, life, power, and mystery. It may also be that ruach and pneuma suggest a relationship between the Holy Spirit, the breath of life, and the power of nature.
The Ruach of God is Life. The first words of the Bible present the “Spirit of God” as necessary to creation and life. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). Physical science teaches us that the creation of the universe, and the formation of the Earth, was a violent process. We refer to it as the “big bang.” The geology of our planet makes us aware that its “pre-history” is told in the violence of earthquakes, continental collisions, volcanos, even occasional impacts from extra-terrestrial asteroids. The ancients understood the Earth’s formative ages in terms of “chaos.” Genesis presents this creative period as a dark, formless void. In the midst of the violent chaos of the early Earth the Holy Spirit is moving. The Spirit is moving over the surface of the waters. These words provoke an image of a storm moving over the ancient oceans. The movement of the Ruach of God over the barren planet generates life – plants and trees cover the ground; the oceans and seas are filled with swarms of fish and other moving, living creatures; the skies are filled with “winged birds;” and the earth is filled with “living creatures… creeping things and beasts.” The Spirit of God is “the breath of life” which sustains all living creatures (Genesis 6:17; John 6:63; Acts 17:25).
God’s final creative act was to form “man of dust from the ground” and breathe “into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). All life on the Earth is sustained by the breath of God. The en-breathing of God which makes humans living beings is significantly different. Humans are created in the image of God. God is intimate with humanity. Genesis presents an anthropomorphic image of God bending over the lifeless body of Adam and imparting the breath of life with a kiss. This image of intimacy is found in John’s gospel when, after the resurrection, Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
The divine-human intimacy was betrayed by human sinfulness and God declared, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever…” (Genesis 6:2). The word strive suggest that there is a struggle between God and humanity. God’s gracious act is in God’s continued gift of the breath of life. But humanity resisted God’s presence. Because of human rebellion and violence God threatened to withdraw the divine breath of life – God’s Spirit. The flood of Noah provokes the image of the primeval waters of chaos once again prevailing over the Earth and “all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died” (Genesis 7:22). In Genesis 1:2 it is the moving Spirit – the breath of God – that generates life. In Genesis 7:22 it is the absence of the Spirit – the breath of the spirit of life – that gives way to death. The Apostle Paul urged his hearers to “but present yourselves to God” and not to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:13; Ephesians 4:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). The Holy Spirit is the life-breath of the church and when the church quenches or grieves the Spirit, then the church is suffocated.
The Ruach of God and Israel’s Redemption. After generations of lamentation, God has heard the cry of the Israelite slaves in Egypt. God has called Moses to lead the children of Abraham out of Egypt and after a series of miraculous plagues, ending with the death of all Egyptian firstborn children, the Egyptian Pharaoh has relented and the Israelites are marching victorious out of bondage. When they reached the shores of the Red Sea the waters of chaos are a boundary that prevents them from moving forward. Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s grief has turned to anger and his army is in pursuit. It seems as if Israel has nowhere to turn. But suddenly, “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (Exodus 14:21-22). God delivered Israel through the Red Sea by a strong ruach and their passing through the sea was their covenantal baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). The strong ruach saved the nation from certain death and as they passed through waters of the sea they were born a new people.
The Ruach of God and Israel’s Resurrection. After generations of continued idolatry and other forms of covenantal disobedience, God exiled Israel from the Promised Land. Almost one thousand years after the Exodus, the exiled Prophet Ezekiel was walking along the banks of the river Chebar near Babylon. As he walked “the heavens were opened” and he saw “visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1). He saw a “storm wind” – a violent ruach. The people of Israel were scattered by the violent ruach which was an expression of the wrath of God (Ezekiel 13:13). Even as the ruach scattered the people, Ezekiel encountered Divine Ruach/Spirit in powerful ways: the ruach entered him (2:2); lifted and transported him (3:12-14; 8:3; 11:24); fell upon him (11:5); and envisioned him (11:24).
The violent ruach that scattered the people left the covenant people as dead – scattered dry bones (Ezekiel 37). The “Ruach of Yahweh” transported Ezekiel to the valley of Israel’s death. The Ruach of Yahweh inspired the Prophet to speak: “‘Behold, I will cause breath (ruach) to enter you that you may come to life” (Ezekiel 37:5). The breath of God – the ruach – gives resurrection life to the once dead nation. The image of the resurrection of Israel is literally “breathtaking.”
Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, … I will put My Spirit (Ruach) within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land…” (Ezekiel 37:12-14).
The ruach that scattered the people in judgment is the ruach that raised the nation to new life. It is the Ruach – the Spirit/breath of God – poured out from heaven that overcomes death with life (Ezekiel 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; Zechariah 12:10).
The “violent wind” of Pentecost represents the continuous creative and redemptive activity of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Pneuma blew the disciples of Jesus out of the Upper Room and into the streets of Jerusalem. As a result of the “violent wind” the church is scattered throughout the cities and villages of the Earth (Acts 8:4; 11:19; 1 Peter 1:1). The Divine Pneuma empowers the church to proclaim the Gospel of Christ in the face of persecution (Acts 1:8; 4:3; 5:18, 40; 6:10; 7:54-60; 12:1-5). The pneuma of Pentecost guides the mission of the apostles and evangelists (Acts 8:29, 39; 13:2; 16:7; 19:21; 20:22; 27:14). The Spirit gifted the disciples with extraordinary spiritual gifts (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12). By the power of the Divine Pneuma the apostles saw visions (Acts 7:55; 10:3, 9-19; 16:9); spoke prophetic words (Acts 2:4, 14ff; 4:8ff; 11:28; 17:16ff; 21:10ff) and performed many signs and wonders (Acts 4:30; 5:12-16; 19:11ff). God judges disobedience by withholding the breath/pneuma (Acts 5:5-10) and will slay the eschatological “lawless one” with the “breath of His mouth” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). At the end of the age, the Spirit will gather the scattered church into one (John 11:52).
