Inspiration of God
Article #9 on Christian Academia & Seminary
The Breath of God in the Writing of Holy Scripture
These are perilous times. The inspiration of the Word of God has been attacked in recent times more than ever before. Questioning the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture is an attack on its inspiration. Most conservative biblical Christians know what inspiration is through a literal translation of the Greek word, theópneustos (θεόπνευστος, G2315), found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. This word literally means, “divinely-breathed-in” or “God-breathed”, according to Strongs.
inspiration
The Greek word for inspiration only appears one time in the New Testament. Normally, this is where the study stops. Students of the Bible tend to have a shallow or superficial understanding of inspiration. However, I am happy to tell you that Paul was quoting from the Old Testament when he referred to “inspiration” in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. A correct understanding of the Old Testament will lead us to this conclusion: Paul’s dogmatic declaration, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16), should be understood to mean, “All Scripture is given by the Breath of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). Similarly, through deductive reasoning we could say, “All of the Word of God is produced by the Breath of God”.
The Breath of God in the Creation of the World
Most people don’t think about the Breath of God while reading Genesis 1:2-3. Hebrew readers would be thinking about it because the Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2-3, or the Rûacḥ of God in Hebrew, is frequently translated the Breath of God in the Old Testament.
the Spirit of God moved uponAnd God said
Rûacḥ (רוּחַ, H7307) is primarily translated as Spirit (232x), Wind (92x), and Breath (27x). The miracles of creation week started with the utterance of a divine word! This is true. “In the beginning was the Word…” (Jn. 1:1). God has magnified the Word above all His Name (Ps. 138:2). Notwithstanding, a close reading of Genesis 1:2-3 indicates that something divine happened directly before, or simultaneous with, the utterance of the divine word, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3). The Spirit of God was moving upon the face of the waters. Or, in other words, the Breath of God was blowing upon the face of the waters when the divine Word was spoken, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:2-3).
the Word of the Lordthe Breath of His mouth
Credit is being given to the Word of God and the Breath of God in the creation of the stary host of the heavens. How did the psalmist come to this conclusion? Genesis does not explicitly convey this on Day #4, but it is implied through presenting Genesis 1:2 at the start of creation week. And we know the divine word that was spoken on Day #4. “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven…” (Gen. 1:14). As we imagine the creation of the stars of outer space, allow Job to expand upon this scene: “By His Spirit [Breath] He hath garnished the heavens;” (Job 26:13).
Naturally, we can understand the connection between the Breath of God and the Word of God. Humanly speaking, it requires breath to speak words. These two things are happening simultaneously. One does not happen without the other. Our breath produces words. Apparently, the same thing is happening with God. Genesis 1:2-3 is a marvelous demonstration of 2 Timothy 3:16 because it is here that we see the Word of God being divinely breathed in an utterance that started creation week. A pronounced inhalation and exhalation of Breath comes with the speaking of divine Words.
The Breath of God in the Creation of the New World
The same thing happened in the days of Noah, when God recreated and renewed the face of the world through the flood. I can see Genesis 1:2-3 while reading Genesis 8:1.
and God made a wind [rûacḥ] to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged
Some people may think that the similarity here is coincidental. I submit that your perspective may change if you read Genesis 6-9 in the light of Psalm 104. The majesty of the LORD during the flood is staggering to behold! Noah and family were eyewitnesses of Psalm 104:1-4. This passage brings us back to Genesis 8:1. When the waters of the flood had completely covered the world, they stood above the tallest mountains, and then a rûacḥ passed over the earth to bring about the recession – this exact moment is being amplified in Psalm 104:5-7.
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away
Both divine rebukes and divine words are directly associated with the Breath of God in the Bible. This is made abundantly clear in the Red Sea crossing of the Exodus Generation, as described in Psalm 18:15. Rereading Psalm 104:7 in the light of Psalm 18:15 is compelling. Combining this with the fact that considerable divine acts of creation were being accomplished during the recession, like thousands of mountains that exceed the elevation of Ararat, we can see why the same divine forces were at work in the creation of the Old World (Gen. 1:2-3) and the creation of the New World (Gen. 8:1, Ps. 104:5-7). Speaking of this, the psalmist said, “Thou sendest forth thy Spirit [rûacḥ], they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” (Ps. 104:30).
The Breath of God at the Red Sea
Israel stood along the coastline of the Red Sea. They were commanded to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD in an unforgettable miracle (Ex. 14:13). What did they see?
by a strong east wind [rûacḥ] all that night
Similar to the reading of Genesis 8:1, the event being described in Exodus 14:21 may appear lackluster in comparison to Genesis 1:2-3. But everything changes when Exodus 14:21 is expanded and amplified for us to better understand this miracle.
the blastrûacḥof Thy nostrils
Thou didst blow with Thy wind rûacḥ
The strong east wind that divided the Red Sea was produced by a rûacḥ from the nostrils of God! And the same divine action, the blowing of the rûacḥ, was then done to release the waters of the Red Sea for the drowning of the Egyptians. Finally, the picture being painted by Scripture is completed with the addition of Psalm 18:15.
and the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebukethe blast of the breath rûacḥof thy nostrils
The divine utterance of a “rebuke” is put in parallel with the blasting of the Breath of God from the nostrils of God, as is customary in Hebrew poetry. The breath produced the rebuke. The two were being done simultaneously because the Breath of God produces divine words / rebukes. You might be wondering why the Scripture is focusing on the nostrils of God? Humanly speaking, we do this when we are angrily and loudly speaking because it requires violent inhalation and exhalation by the nostrils. This means that the LORD was angry when He uttered the rebuke that parted the Red Sea (Hab. 3:8). The same divine things were at work in the divine words of creation (Gen. 1:2-3), the divine rebuke of the flood (Ps. 104:7), and the divine rebuke of the Red Sea (Ps. 18:15), but the mood of divine-breathing was calm during creation week.
The Breath of God in Making a Sinner Born Again into a New Creature
Jesus Christ, “the Word”, has a perfect understanding of all these things (Jn. 1:1). He personally understands how the Breath of God, or the Wind of God, is related to the Word of God in any given circumstance, especially as it pertains to the new creation of salvation.
new creature:
The wind bloweth where it listethso is every one that is born of the Spirit
The word rûacḥ doesn’t appear in the New Testament because it was written in Greek. Nevertheless, it stands to reason that Jesus Christ was drawing upon the testimony of Scripture in the Old Testament. One thing is for sure! Miracles are happening at the blowing of the wind – miracles of creation (Gen. 1:2-3, Ps. 104:30) and miracles of new creation (Jn. 3:8, 2 Cor. 5:17).
breathedthe Holy Ghost
wind
First, we see Jesus Christ breathing on the apostles in the giving of the Holy Ghost (John 20:22). Secondarily, we see a heavenly “wind” blowing upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). What was it all for? Immediately after the wind blew, the apostles stood up and preached the Word of God in the open air, and thousands of sinners were born again (Acts 2:41). Arguably, the same wind shook the house where the apostles were assembled praying, and because they were all “filled with the Holy Ghost”, it was written, “they spake the Word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). This is conclusive evidence.
The Wind of God, or the Breath of God, was blowing upon the apostles to produce inspired sermons of the Word of God in the open air resulting in thousands of people being born again. In other words, there is resurrection power in the wind of the word (Ezek. 37:9-10). This much and more can be seen in the salvation of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity. Peter went to Cornelius’ household and started preaching.
wordsthe Holy Ghostfell on all themthe wordalsopoured outthe Holy Ghost
the Holy Ghost fell on themas on us at the beginningbut ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghostthe like gift as he did unto us
Peter started preaching the Word of God and suddenly the wind started blowing, and then everyone in the household was miraculously and instantaneously born again in a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Statedly, the baptism of the Holy Ghost at Cornelius’ house was exactly like the baptism originally experienced by the apostles on the Day of Pentecost, where a heavenly “wind” blew upon the apostles (Acts 2:2). All this happened to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house without anyone there receiving water baptism, because as they heard the Word of God, they were repenting and believing in the Gospel (Acts 10:44-48, 11:14-18).
born againby the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever
Peter, as an eyewitness of what happened to Cornelius, perfectly described what happened in 1 Peter 1:23. A miraculous operation of infinite power is at work when the Breath of God is producing the Word of God in the biblical history of the New Testament, whether in the salvation of sinners or in the inspiration of the apostles. This is why believers read the bible with strong consolation. The crowning achievement of these infallible miracles is the writing of the Old Testament and the New Testament, as stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
