Worship Weblog
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Worship Planning Idea: Knowing The Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament
The title of Leon Wood’s 1976 book The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament (Zondervan) caught my eye recently. So did Christopher Wright’s excellent new book Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament (IVP Academic, 2006). “[There] is a widespread lack of awareness among many Christian people of the identity, presence, and impact of the Spirit of God in the Bible before Pentecost,” Wright says. “The Spirit of God, relegated by some people to [a] grand entrance on the day of Pentecost, actually appears in the second verse of the Bible” (Gen. 1:2).
I’ve been reading and reflecting on some of the themes of these two books in preparation for Pentecost, so as not to make the common mistake of thinking that the Spirit is a biblical newcomer in the second chapter of Acts. In fact, the five chapters of Wright’s book—exploring key Old Testament passages in which the Spirit acts—could make a meaningful series of five (or more) worship services and sermons for the season of Pentecost. Here’s an overview of Wright’s chapters, and some of the texts he discusses:
1) Creating Spirit
Gen. 1 (discussed in Wright p. 13-16)
Ps. 33 (p. 16-19)
Ps. 104 (p. 20-26)
Rom. 8 (p. 31-34)
2) Empowering Spirit
Ex. 35 (Wright p. 37-39)
Judges 6, 14 (p. 39-42)
1 Sam. 10 (p. 42-3)
Isa. 63 (p. 44-5)
3) Prophetic Spirit
Micah 3 (Wright p. 64-65)
2 Pet. 1 (p. 63)
Neh. 9 (p. 75-76)
Zech. 7 (p. 82-83)
4) Anointing Spirit
1 Sam. 10, 16 (Wright p. 90-93)
Isa. 11 (p. 93-96)
Isa. 42 (p. 107-109)
Isa. 61 (p. 111-115)
Luke 4 (p. 112-114)
5) Coming Spirit
Isa. 32 (Wright p. 122-126)
Eze. 36-37 (p. 126-136)
Joel 2 (p. 136-55)
Also see
God’s Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments: book by James Hamilton, Jr. (B&H, 2006)
The Spirit in the Old Testament: article at Franciscan Cyberspot
Related Resources
Worship Services for Pentecost
Worshiping the Trinity
Basil the Great’s ‘On the Holy Spirit’
For more worship planning ideas, see WorshipHelps, Reformed Worship, CEP ‘This Week’, and other sites
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