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The genuine meaning of ruach, spirit, will blow you away. Its omnipresence links the material and immaterial worlds.
The meaning of ruach has everything to do with God. Likewise, the meaning of ruach impacts our physical world much more than you’d ever believe. Spirit God created the physical universe and oversees it. To exercise His creative and transformative power, there has to be a juncture or intersection where they both meet. Where?
(Mind-Body Problem Solved, Chapter 30 – Table of Contents)
This chapter is both a continuation of the creation of the first human, Adam, and a transition reported in Genesis 2:7. Even though it doesn’t mention God’s Spirit explicitly, it is inherent to the verse, being inseparable from the neshama and being the essential link between God and humans (Romans 8:14-16). Hence the need to discuss the Spirit of God; this, of course, has a capital S and is akin to the Holy Spirit.
31 Wherefore I [Jesus] say to you [Pharisees, religious leaders], All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost [Spirit] shall not be forgiven to men.
32 And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
This intervention by Christ places the importance of the Holy Spirit ABOVE Himself. Very unusual. He says this concerns ALL humans, every single one of us. Very unusual. And it’s not only in our world today but Christ says there’s a world to come. Very unusual. It’s clear the Holy Spirit has a preponderant role in God’s purpose.
Here are the first words in Genesis (1:2) and the last words in Revelation (22:17) referring to the role of the Spirit. They are significant in revealing the meaning of ruach within the purpose of God’s Creation.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit (H7307) of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
As the Bible opens with Spirit, so it closes with Spirit.
And the Spirit (G4151) and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
This last verse describes the only way to spiritual conversion, the goal of God for all humankind through the Holy Spirit, we’ll discuss in the seventh and final section of this book. However, the meaning of ruach, spirit, with a small s, which is obviously associated with and a derivative of the Holy Spirit, is the theme of this and the following section devoted to psychology. The Explanation will answer the questions posed by the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees. In the meantime, the quick answer is at the beginning the meaning of Ruach is the Creation of everything physical. Ultimately, the primary meaning of Ruach is spiritual Creation.
Ruach: visible and invisible
The Bible opens with a clear meaning of Ruach, the spiritual and physical environments, and the relationship between the two. The Spirit acts on the material; this is the process of creation and transformation of the physical by the Spirit of God. Genesis 1:2, with the Spirit moving on the face of the waters, is an incredible statement when we stop to meditate on it. With that in mind, we have the first appearance of the Biblical Hebrew word ruach, spirit. Let’s see another unsuspected meaning of ruach.
רוּחַ rûwach roo’-akh; from H7306 (רוּחַ); wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions):
KJV – air, anger, blast, breath, ⨯ cool, courage, mind, ⨯ quarter, ⨯ side, spirit(-ual), tempest, ⨯ vain, (whirl-) wind(-y).
Strong’s resume indicates this dichotomy of the meaning of ruach.
- Visibility: wind, breath
- Invisibility: unsubstantiality, spirit
The KJV translators do the same. Air, breath, and wind portray visibility, while the spirit represents invisibility.
The point is the concept of the invisible combined with and wholly connected to the visible is a given in the Bible: Strong and the translators recognize this foundation. I don’t want to get into it here, but there are Bible scholars or theologians who look for physical phenomena to explain the effects of the ruach. In other words, they’re searching for physical explanations for spiritual miracles. An eclipse to explain Joshua’s long day. A shooting star to describe the star that led the wise men to Christ or a hurricane to part the sea for Moses and the Israelites to cross.
Such surmisings deny the ruach, the spiritual intervention to transform the physical universe. Miracles are just that, the Spirit acting on the material. When Christ changed the water to wine, don’t look for some physical explanation. The Spirit turned the physical water into physical wine. Only God knows how this works and yes, it takes faith to believe, but that’s what Scripture proclaims.
The Spirit creates and transforms the physical in Genesis 1 and is the basis for understanding the rest of the Bible. Bible readers either incorporate or not, this concept into their comprehension. Further reading of Genesis and the rest of the Bible depends on this fundamental fact. Yes, it’s not an exaggeration to call it a fact, it’s Biblical reality. One is free to accept or reject this fact, just like any other fact.
Realize, however, that this fact is a piece of our puzzle. If the piece is rejected, altered, or placed in the wrong position in the puzzle image, all the rest of the picture will be askew. Right from Genesis 1:2 and the meaning of Spirit, most Bible readers begin to blur the accurate puzzle, and it gets blurrier and blurrier from there. No wonder there’s so much confusion when it comes to Bible understanding.
Back to the Spirit of God, the Ruach. The invisible and its relation to the visible creation. In the last chapter, The Explanation developed the meaning of the Biblical Hebrew word move. It is to flutter and shake; this is akin to wave, jitter, ripples, and other such descriptions of quantum fields. Yes, God’s Spirit is spirit. Yes, quantum fields, although invisible, are physical. They are two totally different environments. But like Genesis 1:2 where the Spirit moves over the waters, there’s a connection between the two environments
I suggest to you that the SAME SHAKING MOTION of God’s Spirit is connected, via creation and transformation, to SHAKING QUANTUM FIELDS.
This may be new ground for you; the coherent completeness of the SPIRITUAL and the PHYSICAL. God connects with the physical, and you and I, as physical beings, can connect with God. Theology means God’s logos, which is His logical word. The Greek term logos is at the origin of both logic and word; this is the junction between the spiritual (God) and the physical (His Word, Scripture).
When we believe in the Bible, we believe in SPIRIT. We’re here on Earth, and we believe in the PHYSICAL. Well, then, rationally, there must be a conjunction between the two. Science and theology must meet and be in accordance. That is what we’re dealing with in Genesis 1-2 with God’s Spirit and physical creation, precisely.
A SPIRIT God creating a PHYSICAL Universe. The Spirit interacts with the physical.
Here’s where this reasoning is leading. God’s Spirit FLUTTERS and SHAKES. At the minutest level of the physical universe are quanta, the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction. the tiniest form of electromagnetic waves in a field having the specific quality of SHAKING and, in so doing, emitting energy. These minute shakers are known as energy fields.
The key to keep in mind as The Explanation continues to develop this fascinating subject is the shaking or the VIBRATIONS of Spirit in God’s realm and the shaking or VIBRATIONS of quanta fields in our universal realm.
Spirit = smell
Here’s just one interesting and exciting example that is scientific and, as you will see, has Biblical backup. It’s about our sense of SMELL. Smelling involves the nose taking in a breath of air, which includes the fragrance emitted by the substance smelled.
What science has come to realize is that SMELLING is akin to HEARING. Yes, when I heard that, I was skeptical too. They are both the result of VIBRATING substances. Watch this video. It’ll start just before the section about smell and explain the relationship between smell and vibrating substances.
Here are a couple of verses that include God smelling the sweet savor of sacrifices. That is the Old Testament counterpart of hearing our prayers (Revelation 5:8). The Bible assimilates smelling and hearing.
All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour (H7381) to the LORD.
Ezekiel 20:41
I will accept you with your sweet savour, (H7381) when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
Now for the kicker, the Biblical Hebrew for savor. Look at the following three references in Strong’s Concordance. Figure out the Biblical Hebrew relationship, showing the interconnection between what is SPIRIT and what is PHYSICAL. Realize that it is impossible to see this in English or any other translation.
רֵיחַ rêyach ray’-akh; from H7306 (רוּחַ); odor (as if blown):
KJV – savour, scent, smell.
H7306
רוּחַ rûwach roo’-akh; a primitive root; properly, to blow, i.e. breathe; only (literally) to smell or (by implication, perceive (figuratively, to anticipate, enjoy):
KJV – accept, smell, ⨯ touch, make of quick understanding.
H7307
רוּחַ rûwach roo’-akh; from H7306 (רוּחַ); wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions):
KJV – air, anger, blast, breath, ⨯ cool, courage, mind, ⨯ quarter, ⨯ side, spirit(-ual), tempest, ⨯ vain, (whirl-) wind(-y).
This chapter started out with H7307, the meaning of ruach revealing the interconnection of the material breath to the immaterial spirit.
Notice that H7307, ruach comes from H7306. Now note that H7381 also comes from H7306. The point is SMELL and SPIRIT have the same Biblical Hebrew root. Even if you can’t read Hebrew, you can see that all three words have identical 1st and 3rd letters, raish ( ר ), and chet ( ח ). The middle vav ( ו ) and yod ( ‘ ) are vowels and can be interchanged.
We know that two of our human senses, sound and sight have to do with vibrating energy waves. We now see that a third sense, smell, results from shaking quantum fields pictured by the featured image. Read these articles about taste and touch to realize that ALL our human senses are directly related to vibrating energy packets, electromagnetic waves.
Only the Biblical Hebrew words ruach (spirit, breath) and riach (smell) show this tightly knit relationship between the spirit and the physical; smelling is intimately tied to breathing, and they are related to the spirit. The meaning of ruach is the connection between the spirit realm and the physical realm. We are just getting started, The Explanation will show you HOW they’re interconnected.
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How are sir
Could you please help me with notes on Ruach
Thankfully
George sagwe
Hello George
Nice to see your interest in “Ruach,” indeed a subject that is very deep. I suggest you get the book Mind-Body Problem Solved, or go to this link https://theexplanation.com/read-content-of-mind-body-problem-solved-online/ and read sections 4 and 5. That will give you a lot of in-depth insight. We will also be doing online Q&A, please join the free Bible course at https://theExplanation.com/challenge to be informed. Keep studying.