leaning the verses of the book of Jeremiah to produce a spiritual portrait of the prophet is a fa... more leaning the verses of the book of Jeremiah to produce a spiritual portrait of the prophet is a fairly straightforward and simple task if one ignores the complicated process behind the text and the tense debate concerning the book's authorship. How much of the person of Jeremiah is really in this text? In what sense is it autobiographical, the actual words of the prophet himself? How much of it is the literary imagination of Baruch or a later redactionist remembering, retelling, and rhetorically reshaping Jeremiah's call, complaints, and unique career?' If biblical spirituality can be defined as an experience of God articulated in the Bible and engaged in personally through participation and transformation within the world of the text, then one cannot avoid some historical-critical exegesis and literary analysis in the action of reading and entering this textual-spiritual reality.? That being the case, the emphasis in this article will be on constructing a spiritual profile of Jeremiah that recognizes some of the difficulties associated with this prophetic book. The critical issue for determining Jeremiah's spirituality is not so much where and now the words of the book came together, but more the assessment of his person as "God's man," the impact of his life during Israel's deepest crisis, and his lasting influence as a spiritual mentor for members of the twenty-first century church.l Jeremiah lives in the chiastic tension of his calling.f compelled by the word and presence of Yahweh to pluck up and break down, to build and to plant among Israelite kings who would rather not hear any of his words. Although we as Christians are not calied as prophets we are called to testify to God's word and presence in the world and to speak prophetically the gospel of grace and warning.> We, like Jeremiah, are promised God's abiding presence as we go into the world, but we are also assured that we will suffer as he did for being faithful witnesses to what God is doing. Jeremiah's spirituality, and ours, is thus very much in this world, though there is a transcendent dependence on God's spirit. A lasting sense of calling is vital to every aspect of Jeremiah's identity, integrity, and incessant complaining to Yahweh about His summons and commitment to be with and to deliver Jeremiah.
he role of the Spirit of God, more specifically the Holy Spirit, is essentially a NT doctrine. Un... more he role of the Spirit of God, more specifically the Holy Spirit, is essentially a NT doctrine. Until recently very few articles and monographs had been written in English on God's Spirit in the OT.I When included in biblical theologies on the Holy Spirit, the OT material is generally treated in these ways: • the OT references are mentioned in passing in order to reach the outpouring of the Spirit upon the church in the NT, the real experience of the Holy Spirit; • the OT verses specific to the phrase Holy Spirit are viewed as minimal (only three while the NT boasts over 500 occurrences); • assumptions regarding the work of the Spirit-while plentiful in each testament-are typically narrowly shaped as reverse analogy where the NT is the beginning point for a Christian understanding of the OT.2 Consequently, most expositions on the Holy Spirit rarely explore in depth OT passages where inexplicit references might suggest a more diverse description and broader activity of the Spirit of God. In this article, I examine several aspects of spiritual activity in the ministry of the OT prophets to expand and strengthen our perspectives. WAS THE HOLY SPIRIT ACTIVE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? A common assumption for Christians is "that the Holy Spirit was present and active in OT times only in a transient, non-universal, indirect, and ultimately unsatisfying way."? In other words, only after Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection is the Holy Spirit fully present and active. The OT itself, however, associates the activity of God's Spirit with God's work in the world and with the people of God from the very beginning of creation. Both Genesis and Isaiah of the exile testify that Yahweh's creative power is His Spirit hovering over the waters of chaos and measuring, marking, and weighing the earth and its ocean and mountains as they are made (Gen 1:2; Isa 40: 13). Every creature, including humans, breathe in only because Yahweh's Spirit (rua/:z) has been breathed out into them as the Spirit of life (Gen 6:3; Isa 42:5; Job 27:3; 33:4; 34:14-15; EcclI2:7). In this sense, the most common OT designation for "spirit" is ruah. Although it's semantic range covers breath, wind, direction, spirit, and mind, with almost 400 occurrences in the OT that are broadly distributed, rtiah. carries important theological weight." Moreover, the OT specifies particular historical contexts and consequences regarding the activity of God's Spirit with Israel. Israel's deliverance from Egyptian slavery at the Red Sea involved Yahweh's Holy Spirit> in the midst of the nation, dividing the waters, leading them through the depths, and giving them rest (lsa 63:11-14). In the wilderness, God's "good spirit" instructs, provides, and sustains the Israelites even as they grumble against him (Neh 9:20). Only as the Spirit of Yahweh abides among them, Haggai exhorts,
leaning the verses of the book of Jeremiah to produce a spiritual portrait of the prophet is a fa... more leaning the verses of the book of Jeremiah to produce a spiritual portrait of the prophet is a fairly straightforward and simple task if one ignores the complicated process behind the text and the tense debate concerning the book's authorship. How much of the person of Jeremiah is really in this text? In what sense is it autobiographical, the actual words of the prophet himself? How much of it is the literary imagination of Baruch or a later redactionist remembering, retelling, and rhetorically reshaping Jeremiah's call, complaints, and unique career?' If biblical spirituality can be defined as an experience of God articulated in the Bible and engaged in personally through participation and transformation within the world of the text, then one cannot avoid some historical-critical exegesis and literary analysis in the action of reading and entering this textual-spiritual reality.? That being the case, the emphasis in this article will be on constructing a spiritual profile of Jeremiah that recognizes some of the difficulties associated with this prophetic book. The critical issue for determining Jeremiah's spirituality is not so much where and now the words of the book came together, but more the assessment of his person as "God's man," the impact of his life during Israel's deepest crisis, and his lasting influence as a spiritual mentor for members of the twenty-first century church.l Jeremiah lives in the chiastic tension of his calling.f compelled by the word and presence of Yahweh to pluck up and break down, to build and to plant among Israelite kings who would rather not hear any of his words. Although we as Christians are not calied as prophets we are called to testify to God's word and presence in the world and to speak prophetically the gospel of grace and warning.> We, like Jeremiah, are promised God's abiding presence as we go into the world, but we are also assured that we will suffer as he did for being faithful witnesses to what God is doing. Jeremiah's spirituality, and ours, is thus very much in this world, though there is a transcendent dependence on God's spirit. A lasting sense of calling is vital to every aspect of Jeremiah's identity, integrity, and incessant complaining to Yahweh about His summons and commitment to be with and to deliver Jeremiah.
he role of the Spirit of God, more specifically the Holy Spirit, is essentially a NT doctrine. Un... more he role of the Spirit of God, more specifically the Holy Spirit, is essentially a NT doctrine. Until recently very few articles and monographs had been written in English on God's Spirit in the OT.I When included in biblical theologies on the Holy Spirit, the OT material is generally treated in these ways: • the OT references are mentioned in passing in order to reach the outpouring of the Spirit upon the church in the NT, the real experience of the Holy Spirit; • the OT verses specific to the phrase Holy Spirit are viewed as minimal (only three while the NT boasts over 500 occurrences); • assumptions regarding the work of the Spirit-while plentiful in each testament-are typically narrowly shaped as reverse analogy where the NT is the beginning point for a Christian understanding of the OT.2 Consequently, most expositions on the Holy Spirit rarely explore in depth OT passages where inexplicit references might suggest a more diverse description and broader activity of the Spirit of God. In this article, I examine several aspects of spiritual activity in the ministry of the OT prophets to expand and strengthen our perspectives. WAS THE HOLY SPIRIT ACTIVE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? A common assumption for Christians is "that the Holy Spirit was present and active in OT times only in a transient, non-universal, indirect, and ultimately unsatisfying way."? In other words, only after Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection is the Holy Spirit fully present and active. The OT itself, however, associates the activity of God's Spirit with God's work in the world and with the people of God from the very beginning of creation. Both Genesis and Isaiah of the exile testify that Yahweh's creative power is His Spirit hovering over the waters of chaos and measuring, marking, and weighing the earth and its ocean and mountains as they are made (Gen 1:2; Isa 40: 13). Every creature, including humans, breathe in only because Yahweh's Spirit (rua/:z) has been breathed out into them as the Spirit of life (Gen 6:3; Isa 42:5; Job 27:3; 33:4; 34:14-15; EcclI2:7). In this sense, the most common OT designation for "spirit" is ruah. Although it's semantic range covers breath, wind, direction, spirit, and mind, with almost 400 occurrences in the OT that are broadly distributed, rtiah. carries important theological weight." Moreover, the OT specifies particular historical contexts and consequences regarding the activity of God's Spirit with Israel. Israel's deliverance from Egyptian slavery at the Red Sea involved Yahweh's Holy Spirit> in the midst of the nation, dividing the waters, leading them through the depths, and giving them rest (lsa 63:11-14). In the wilderness, God's "good spirit" instructs, provides, and sustains the Israelites even as they grumble against him (Neh 9:20). Only as the Spirit of Yahweh abides among them, Haggai exhorts,
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