BibleProject

Spirit of God E11 — In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit fills Jesus’ followers at Pentecost; they are to be like a new temple of God’s presence and power. In addition to a temple, the Apostle Paul throws another metaphor into the mix: the community of believers as a body filled with the Spirit. But where did Paul get this image and what does it mean? In this episode, Tim and Jon explore the...

Spirit of God E10 — After Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit becomes the primary way Jesus’ presence and power remains with his followers. The book of Acts demonstrates how the Spirit’s coming fulfills the Hebrew Bible’s hope for God to dwell with his people in a new kind of temple. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore how Pentecost marks the beginning of a new Spirit-filled...

Spirit of God E9 — Our conversation on the Spirit of God is turning the corner from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. The word for “spirit” in the Greek New Testament is pneuma, and like ruakh, it also means “wind,” “breath,” and personal energy related to a person or deity. While all the gospels mention the Spirit of God, or Holy Spirit, Luke is the leader by far with 78 references in his...

Spirit of God E8 — We're halfway through our series on the Spirit of God, where we've talked about God's ruakh in the Hebrew Bible. We’ve covered a lot of ideas, many of which can be challenging for modern people to understand. So in this episode, Jon and Tim slow down, take a breath, and review what we've learned so far about God's Spirit in the Hebrew BibleCHAPTERSSpirit 1.0: God’s Essential...

Spirit of God E7 — 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...

Spirit of God E6 — 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...

Spirit of God E5 — 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...

Spirit of God E4 — 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...

Spirit of God E3 — 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...

Spirit of God E2 — 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...