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Page 11
(52) Thus we may conclude that no one except Christ received the revelations
of God without the aid of imagination, whether in words or vision. (53)
Therefore the power of prophecy implies not a peculiarly perfect mind, but a
peculiarly vivid imagination, as I will show more clearly in the next
chapter. (54) We will now inquire what is meant in the Bible by the
Spirit of God breathed into the prophets, or by the prophets speaking with
the Spirit of God; to that end we must determine the exact signification of
the Hebrew word roo'-akh, Strong:7307, commonly translated spirit.
(55) The word roo'-akh, Strong:7307, literally means a wind, e..q. the south
wind, but it is frequently employed in other derivative significations.
It is used as equivalent to,
(56) (1.) Breath: "Neither is there any spirit in his mouth," Ps. cxxxv:17.
(57) (2.) Life, or breathing: "And his spirit returned to him"
1 Sam. xxx:12; i.e. he breathed again.
(58) (3.) Courage and strength: "Neither did there remain any more spirit
in any man," Josh. ii:11; "And the spirit entered into me, and
made me stand on my feet," Ezek. ii:2.
(59) (4.) Virtue and fitness: "Days should speak, and multitudes of years
should teach wisdom; but there is a spirit in man,"Job xxxii:7;
i.e. wisdom is not always found among old men for I now discover
that it depends on individual virtue and capacity. So, "A man in
whom is the Spirit," Numbers xxvii:18.
(60) (5.) Habit of mind: "Because he had another spirit with him,"
Numbers xiv:24; i.e. another habit of mind. "Behold I will pour
out My Spirit unto you," Prov. i:23.
(61) (6.) Will, purpose, desire, impulse: "Whither the spirit was to go,
they went," Ezek. 1:12; "That cover with a covering, but not of My
Spirit," Is. xxx:1; "For the Lord hath poured out on you the
spirit of deep sleep," Is. xxix:10; "Then was their spirit
softened," Judges viii:3; "He that ruleth his spirit, is better
than he that taketh a city," Prov. xvi:32; "He that hath no ru
over his own spirit," Prov. xxv:28; "Your spirit as fire shall
devour you," Isaiah xxxiii:l.
From the meaning of disposition we get -
(62) (7.) Passions and faculties. A lofty spirit means pride, a lowly spirit
humility, an evil spirit hatred and melancholy. So, too, the
expressions spirits of jealousy, fornication, wisdom, counsel,
bravery, stand for a jealous, lascivious, wise, prudent, or brave
mind (for we Hebrews use substantives in preference to
adjectives), or these various qualities.
(63) (8.) The mind itself, or the life: "Yea, they have all one spirit,"
Eccles. iii:19 "The spirit shall return to God Who gave it."
(64) (9.) The quarters of the world (from the winds which blow thence), or
even the side of anything turned towards a particular quarter -
Ezek. xxxvii:9; xlii:16, 17, 18, 19, &c.
(65) I have already alluded to the way in which things are referred to God, and said to be of God.
(66) (1.) As belonging to His nature, and being, as it were, part of Him; e.g the power
of God, the eyes of God.
(67) (2.) As under His dominion, and depending on His pleasure; thus the heavens are
called the heavens of the Lord, as being His chariot and habitation. So Nebuchadnezzar is
called the servant of God, Assyria the scourge of God, &c.
(68) (3.) As dedicated to Him, e.g. the Temple of God, a Nazarene of God, the Bread of
God.
(69) (4.) As revealed through the prophets and not through our natural faculties. In this sense the
Mosaic law is called the law of God.
(70) (5.) As being in the superlative degree. Very high mountains are styled the mountains
of God, a very deep sleep, the sleep of God, &c. In this sense we must explain Amos iv:11:
"I have overthrown you as the overthrow of the Lord came upon Sodom and Gomorrah," i.e.
that memorable overthrow, for since God Himself is the Speaker, the passage
cannot well be taken otherwise. The wisdom of Solomon is called the wisdom of God, or
extraordinary. The size of the cedars of Lebanon is alluded to in the Psalmist's
expression, "the cedars of the Lord."
(71) Similarly, if the Jews were at a loss to understand any phenomenon, or
were ignorant of its cause, they referred it to God. (72) Thus a storm was
termed the chiding of God, thunder and lightning the arrows of God, for it
was thought that God kept the winds confined in caves, His treasuries; thus
differing merely in name from the Greek wind-god Eolus. (73) In like manner
miracles were called works of God, as being especially marvellous; though in
reality, of course, all natural events are the works of God, and take place
solely by His power. (74) The Psalmist calls the miracles in Egypt the works
of God, because the Hebrews found in them a way of safety which they had not
looked for, and therefore especially marvelled at.
(75) As, then, unusual natural phenomena are called works of God, and trees
of unusual size are called trees of God, we cannot wonder that very strong
and tall men, though impious robbers and whoremongers, are in Genesis called
sons of God.
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