Can we get an idea of what the Holy Spirit looks like?
The archangel Gabriel’s name appears four times in the Bible (Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26) and the “Great Prince” Michael, another archangel, is named five times (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7). But with all their fame in Christian art and lore, who are they compared to the Holy Spirit? What are four or five mentions compared to 365?
The bare name Holy Spirit is used 91 times in the LEB version of the Bible, but don’t think that’s all the publicity the Spirit gets in Scriptures. In total, the Holy Spirit is mentioned an astounding 365 times! You likely didn’t notice because 274 of those 365 times he appears under alternate names.
Yes, there are 36 different names for the Holy Spirit. The alternate names for the Holy Spirit (with the number of occurrences in the Bible) are:
The Spirit (112) | Yahweh’s Spirit (24) | His/Your (God’s) Spirit (22) | God’s Spirit (20) |
The Spirit of Truth and Knowledge (12) | The Breath of God (9) | God’s Promised Gift (8) | Jesus’ Spirit (8) |
One Spirit (7) | Spirit of the Gods (6) | God’s Presence (6) | Power (5) |
The Spirit of the Fear of Yahweh (4) | Our Advocate (4) | A Guarantee (4) | God’s Hand / Finger (3) |
The Spirit Who Is Upon Us (3) | The Spirit Given by God (3) | A New Spirit (2) | Life-Giver (2) |
The Spirit Who Lives in Us (2) | God’s Good Spirit (2) | The Seed of God (1) | The Spirit of the Living God (1) |
The Spirit of the One Who Resurrected Jesus (1) | The Spirit of Your Father (1) | The Spirit of the Lord [God] (1) | The Anointing / An Oil Upon Us (1) |
The Spirit of Prophecy (1) | The Eternal Spirit (1) | The Spirit of Glory (1) | The Spirit of Grace (1) |
The Spirit of Adoption (1) | The Spirit of Supplication (1) | The Spirit of Holiness (1) | |
Anybody who has 36 distinct names, the sum total of which appear 365 times in the Bible must be someone very important! So why do Christians have so little to say about the Holy Spirit? Since when are Christians speechless about someone so ubiquitous in the Bible?
Most Christians could easily speak for 10 minutes about Jesus, and many will be able to speak five minutes about the Apostle Paul. But who can carry on a conversation for more than a minute about the Holy Spirit? Most people can only give a canned theological answer when you ask them about who the Holy Spirit is. They dutifully reply "He's the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity." Most conversations end with dry theology, but we do the Spirit no justice by shrouding him in human doctrine.
Can we get an idea of what the Holy Spirit looks like? If we found a Biblical description of what he looks like, would we then have a clearer idea of who he is? Would we then treat him more like the spirit he is--that is, would we treat him with the dignity we would treat any other spirit being like angels, Jesus, or God (whose appearances are presented to us in the Bible)?
You can picture a famous human being easily enough, and humans are all spirit-beings. Why can't we picture the Holy Spirit? With a trustworthy physical description from the Scriptures, would we then esteem the Spirit at least as much as we do the archangels? He deserves so much more esteem than they do. Certainly, Gabriel and Michael bow low before him, the Spirit of the Living God.
Comments