A Sound Like the Blowing of a Violent Wind

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                    Acts 2:1 – 4

A Sound Like the Blowing of a Violent Wind

by Robert T. Cooper

I am not particularly a fan of what I call “nasty 20^th and 21^st century music.” One of the strains of that genre has been music enhanced by recorded electronic effects. The first time I heard a church anthem with such effects was when I was in seminary. It was an anthem based on Acts 2:1 – 4. The recorded electronic effects were for the portion of anthem in which there was “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind.” At least I understood what was happening in that music.

It is not uncommon for preachers to emphasize that the word is one and the same for spirit, for breath, and for wind. Therefore, if we want to understand some things about the Holy Spirit, it would be good for us to think some about the characteristics of wind.

For one thing, wind is simply the moving of bodies of air. It can be gentle. It can be blustery. It can be steady. It can be destructive. It can be forceful. These can all be metaphors for the way God’s Holy Spirit moves within our own lives.

For another thing, wind doesn’t really make any sound of its own. What makes the sound is the vibrations the moving air sets up as it passes by various objects, including our own ears. Similarly, the Holy Spirit doesn’t really call attention to Himself. Rather, He causes resonance within people and events as He moves upon them.

For us, the most violent winds usually take the force of tornados, hurricanes, and hurricane-force winds. Some people say tornados sound like a train. The coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost made “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind.” Therefore, we have to believe that the significance of Pentecost was the forcefulness of what God was doing.

"Wind of the Spirit" by Jennifer Jones

www.gloryglimpses.com/2011/08/pentecost-wind-of-spirit.html

We usually think of violent winds as being destructive. What could the Holy Spirit have been doing when He came upon the 120 (that just counted the grown men, so we can be certain there were more) praying believers in the upper room? What could the Spirit have been doing that was so destructive? Perhaps we will have to wait until all things are revealed to understand it fully. However, I believe it may have had to do with the passing of the era when the Holy Spirit merely came upon certain individuals for a time; that era was replaced with a new era in which the Holy Spirit would come to indwell everyone who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

We still have to stop and listen to the Holy Spirit. How have you heard the Spirit in recent days? I look forward to your comments.