Now let’s turn our attention to the Red Sea. An observer, in Moses’ day, would have seen it divide into two pillars of water between which Israel marched through. Now what does this suggest? According to our Impetus Assumption, it suggests that a material agent pushed the waters apart. And that’s exactly what Moses tells us. A steady wind gradually blew the waters apart “all night long.” But here’ s where it gets really interesting. The Hebrew word used here for Wind is Ruach, the same Hebrew word used for “Holy Spirit” throughout the OT. And the Greek OT uses Pneuma here, which is the NT word used for “Holy Spirit.” Secondly, Moses tells us that this Wind was actually Breath from God’s nostrils. We find a very interesting verse in Psalms. “By the word of the Lord were heavens shaped, the starry hosts by the breath of his mouth.” Again, it’s the same Hebrew word, and the same Greek word (Pneuma). This last verse is important because, when you speak, you exhale breath. Read the verse again, and you’ll see how God formed the earth in Genesis. Remember that the “the Pneuma of God hovered over the waters” (Gen 1:2). Why? Because the Lord was speaking things like, “Let the earth produce plants,” and, in so doing, He exhales Breath. He “sends forth His Pneuma, and they are created.” And of course it is very common to find wind hovering over the surface of waters. Thus God speaks and so it is – magically? No. He exhales His Breath, and His breath goes forth to do the work. Let’s have that verse again: . “By the word of the Lord were heavens shaped, the starry hosts by the breath of his mouth.” Notice it says that the heavens were “shaped” (molded). According to the Impetus Assumption, we are led to suspect a material impetus. The verse doesn’t disappoint us it, because it tells us the heavens were shaped by “the breath of his mouth.” Conceivably, if the Breath could push apart the waters of the Red Sea, as Moses stated, it could mold and shape the earth.
Do you know why they heard the sound of a mighty rushing wind on Pentecost? The normal translation is this. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” That’s not quite accurate. “They were all filled with the Holy Wind/Breath.” Earlier Jesus had told them, “The Pneuma blows where it pleases, you hear its sound, but you know not from whence it comes or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Pneuma" (Jn 3:8) Friend, you heard wind blowing when He first touched your heart, albeit too faintly to notice it. Did you know that Job had bad breath? Did you know that, for Job’s bad breath, the Hebrew text uses the same word used for the Holy Spirit? And likewise the Greek OT text?
At John 20:22, Jesus imparted the Holy Breath to the Twelve by physically exhaling. Exhalation is a physical impetus. Again the same principle at John 20:22, “And He breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Breath.” The Greek word is Pneuma. Thomas Oden said the proper translation is Holy Breath. Do you know who Thomas Oden is? He wrote a very special kind of Systematic Theology, apparently unprecedented in type. He’s quite famous for it. What he did was to create a report of the main conclusions drawn in complete consensus among all classical biblical scholars of mainstream Christianity. It’s that famous report that so translates John 20:22. Thomas Oden is not denying that this passage is referring to the Holy Spirit (Third Person). He is simply pointing out that Holy Breath is an accepted translation. He argued that the idea of God’s spoken Word as exhaled Breath is unmistakably present in Scripture. At John 20:22, Jesus imparted the Holy Breath to the Twelve by physically exhaling. Exhalation is a physical impetus. Did you know that Job had bad breath? Did you know that, for Job’s bad breath, the Hebrew text uses the same word used for the Holy Spirit? And likewise the Greek OT text?
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