by Christopher J. H. Wright

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review by Patrick Oden

THOSE IN THE EARLY CHURCH had been told by Jesus to wait and pray. “Is this when you are going to restore the kingdom?” they asked the resurrected Lord. “Not for me to say,” he answered. “Stay here. The Spirit is coming.” So they gathered together. They waited. They prayed. On Pentecost the Spirit came down with tongues of flame and put new languages on the lips of those gathered.

The rest of Acts tells of the Spirit's work in developing the church. The rest of the New Testament reflects on what this work means. So for many people the story of the Holy Spirit begins at Pentecost, and many believe what we can learn about the Spirit's work is found in the letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, and the Ephesians. This understanding of the Spirit has defined our theology and our ministry.

And yet, Christopher J. H. Wright notes, “The Spirit of God, relegated by some people to his grand entrance on the day of Pentecost, actually appears in the second verse of the Bible.” The Spirit not only appears early on in the Old Testament, the Spirit appears frequently, working and filling, giving gifts, and provoking men, women, and whole countries toward God. When we begin to look, we find the Spirit showing up in all sorts of places in the Old Testament narrative doing that which the church has long assumed was unique to its dispensation.

In his book Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament, Wright helps us begin this examination. The somewhat staid title and status as an InterVarsity Press Academic book might suggest a heady, scholarly approach to the topic, similar to a commentary. It is not that at all. Indeed, Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament reads much more like a devotional, in which Wright highlights key passages for the purpose of showing their application for us and for our mission in this world.

The book is structured according to various themes Wright identified in his study of the Spirit texts. He begins with the beginning, noting the Creating Spirit as seen in Genesis and in the Psalms. The Spirit sustains and renews all creation. This is a vital aspect to understand, for it takes away the assumption the Spirit resides only in the church. The Spirit is involved with everything, and we participate with this expansive work. “The Holy Spirit, who lives in you if you are a child of God through faith in his Son Jesus Christ, is the Spirit of God who hovered over the very beginning of God's creation as it was spoken into existence. The universe itself owes its being to the Spirit of God.”

Next, Wright discusses the Spirit as the Empowering Spirit. By looking at Exodus 35, Judges, and the stories of Saul and Moses, we learn of the mighty works of the Spirit in leadership, courage, strength, and creativity. The Spirit empowers particular individuals and great things are accomplished. Yet this empowerment is not without complications. “The Spirit of God, it seems, can be very good, positive, and enriching giving people ability, competence, and power, or filling people for skillful and creative tasks…the Spirit can also be unpredictable, sudden and surprising.” We read in the New Testament the discussions about how gifts are given and how the Spirit uses those in the church. It is in the Old Testament, however, that we find this empowerment more fully studied, with positive and negative examples, so that we can have discernment and properly “test the spirits.”

There is a certain stature and authority given when one talks about the deeper aspects of what is happening or will happen. And so prophets abound, even in our era. Yet the fact is that not all those who call themselves prophets are speaking the words of God. False prophets are among us, and they always have been. But they sound so convincing, tickling our ears with lofty words and grand statements. What, then, are the signs that a prophet is a prophet of God? In both the narrative books and the books of the prophets of the Old Testament we discover what a real prophet sounds like and how to spot the false ones. In his third section Wright examines the Spirit of Prophecy. “Because they were speaking by the Spirit of the LORD God,” he writes, “true prophets had (1) a compulsion to speak and (2) the courage to stand for justice.” False prophets confirm the status quo, looking to curry favor for themselves among people and the powerful. In our era where nonsense spoken in the name of God is everywhere, this is a vital lesson to learn and to apply.

The work of the Spirit of Anointing is examined by Wright in his fourth section. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave the Great Commission, saying to his disciples, “Go.” The mission of God was thus given to those who follow Jesus. History is filled with examples of how this has been worked out. History sadly is filled with a lot of bad examples. People assume the authority of God without the emphases or anointing of God and cause chaos, destruction, and shame along the way. It is the Spirit of God who provides the anointing, and with the Spirit come the actions and emphases that reflect the nature of God and accomplish the mission of God in extraordinary ways. Wright looks at the various kings of Israel and at the servant as discussed in Isaiah 42 to determine the marks of a real anointing—marks which remain in our era as the primary evidence of our walk with the Holy Spirit of God.

Wright ends with a discussion on the Coming Spirit, taking us from the beginning of creation to the hope we have for the future. The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel spoke of what happens when God works. We see re-creation and righteousness, renewal and resurrection, repentance and restoration. These are aspects of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is already among us but has not yet reached its fullness. And so now, the Spirit works by giving a taste of the kingdom to draw “people to repentance, forgiveness, and restoration, just as Joel (and indeed Jesus) said he would.” Where the Spirit is, there is the kingdom, and we have all been given the Spirit and have been called to participate in the kingdom, now and through eternity.

That which was foretold by the prophets we now experience, and that which was foretold by the prophets we still wait for. We wait and work with the Spirit who spoke then and speaks now. Because of this we need not only the testimony of the New Testament but the testimony of all of Scripture. We need the whole Scriptures to help us best understand the mission we have been called to join and the character of the one who is calling and empowering us. The earliest Christians understood the Spirit not by later theological examinations but by studying the constant and consistent work of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the Law, and the Writing, and the Prophets. Even as there are an increasing number of very good books on the present work of the Holy Spirit in our era, we absolutely must follow the example of those earliest Christians. Knowing the Holy Spirit Through the Old Testament by Christopher J. H. Wright is not only quite readable and inspirational, it is also an essential book for anyone who takes seriously the work of the Holy Spirit in his or her life and ministry and in the whole mission of God throughout history.

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