Ruach רוח
- onedisciplesjourney
- Mar 5, 2022
- 3 min read
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3
As referenced in Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God,” in the original Hebrew, is Ruach (Spirit), combined with Ehohim (God). While the nature of God has historically been understood in the masculine personification as Father—which is good and beautiful—an interesting fact is that Ruach is a feminine noun, and combined with Elohim, forms the name…
Ruach Elohim—The Spirit of God.
As both male and female were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), both are inevitably a part of God’s nature and being. I believe the name, Ruach Elohim, speaks to this unique reality. I find tremendous power and comfort in the consideration of Ruach as the maternal manifestation of the holding, sustaining, healing, life-giving, breath, and presence of God as Spirit—the One Who, while the earth was formless and empty, hovered over the face of the waters, waiting to birth Creation upon God’s life-giving ordination:
“Let there be light.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about Ruach and all that the Spirit of God means for us...
Ruach—the Spirit of God—is the breath of Creation, the breath of Redemption, the breath of Hope, the breath that fills us with what we do not and cannot have apart from God.
Ruach—the Spirit of God—is the mysterious reality that transcends all words, all intellect, all reason, and all understanding.
Ruach—the Spirit of God—is simply and powerfully… Presence—the fundamental verity of God as I AM.
~~~
The Ruach that hovered over the waters at the beginning of time, awaiting order in chaos…
is the Ruach that breathed life into humanity (Genesis 2:7)…
is the Ruach that blew across the Flood to yield land and life again (Genesis 8:1)…
is the Ruach that anointed Abraham as the father of many nations (Genesis 17)...
is the Ruach that waited with Joseph imprisoned for his righteousness (Genesis 39:21)...
is the Ruach that accompanied Moses leading the slaves out of Egypt (Exodus 3:12)...
is the Ruach that came upon David when anointed king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:13)...
is the Ruach that breathed life into dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 37)...
is the Ruach that embraced Mary as the angel proclaimed she would mother the Messiah (Luke 1:26-38)...
is the Ruach that hovered over Mary’s womb, awaiting God’s ordination to conceive the Light of the world (Luke 1:35-37, John 1:1-5, John 8:12)...
is the Ruach that filled Elizabeth as her infant lept within her womb in the presence of the unborn Christ (Luke 1:41)...
is the Ruach that hovered over the waters of Jesus’ baptism, and as He ascended from those waters, brought order to chaos once again (Matthew 3:16-17, Luke 3:21-22)...
is the Ruach that withdrew from Jesus’ Body in His final breath on the Cross (Matthew 27:46)...
is the Ruach that on the Third Day renewed His Being with Resurrection (John 20)...
is the Ruach that came to rest upon the believers during Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4)...
is the Ruach that covered every apostle in their hours of martyrdom (Acts 7:54-60)...
is the Ruach that draws us to be reborn into the New Creation, which has come through Jesus Christ.
(John 3:5-8, 20:22; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
~~~
As Ruach awaited and stirred
in the darkness
above the chaos and restless waters
at the beginning of time,
Ruach awaited and stirred
in the darkness
among the chaos and restlessness
of humankind.
And even still…
Ruach awaits and stirs
in the darkness
within the chaotic and restless heart,
guiding each of us to the voice of God,
and patiently awaits our reception
of God’s life-ordaining words:
“Let there be Light.”
~em