Just Breathe

The “Ru’akh” is the breath of G-d. It is what we call “Spirit”. It is “Kadosh,” or consecrated/holy. That means that it is not ‘used’ or ‘present’ in anything that is impure, defiled, unclean, or ‘ordinary.’ It is not a ‘personality’ or a separate ‘person’ from The Creator, but is in fact an outward ‘manifestation’ of The Creator, throughout the universe. Today, and since 2,000 years ago when Yeshua first gave this ‘gift’ to the Eleven remaining “Shlikhim”/Apostles, [Yokh 20:19-22], this ‘breath’, His Ru’akh, is given to all those who trust in G-d our Father, the Almighty Creator, because of and through belief in the Resurrection of the Son of G-d, the MAN, Yeshua the Messiah.

This ‘Breath’ is the life force, light, the Presence of the Son of G-d AND His Father, in the believer. There is also available “Ko’akh”, or “MIGHT”, from the Ru’akh, and the ability to be “Filled” by/with it. There are several occasions where Kefa [Peter] was ‘filled’ again with the Ru’akh, after He was first filled with it. There are also ‘measures’ of the Ru’akh, different measures of it that are given to believers, based on the amount of ’emunah’/believing trust that is in them. Sha’ul [Paul] instructs all believers with the imperative statement “BE filled with The Ru’akh”, in contrast to being worldly: “but be filled with HaRu’akh, ¹⁹speaking to your souls in Mizmorot, and Tehillot, and Zimrot [biblical melodies/words of the psalms] of HaRu’akh; sing with your heart to יהוה , giving ²⁰ thanks always for all men to Elohim HaAv, in the name of Adoneinu [our Master] Yeshua HaMashi’akh.” [Efisim 5]

Today, there are so many ‘claims’ as to how to ‘know’ whether one is filled, in regard to self or in regard to another. Many claim that one is ONLY ‘filled’ with the ‘holy ghost’ if one speaks in a ‘tongue’. And there are many definitions of what ‘speaking in tongues’ actually is. Instead of studying the whole of scripture to find out, they stick to two verses, most of them, in order to define it. When the scriptures, BOTH the Aramaic AND Greek-sourced texts, say plainly that these are simply ‘languages’. In Biblical context, they are exclusively EARTHLY languages. But, the way translations read, it ‘sounds’ like there are ‘otherworldly/angelic/heavenly ‘tongues’ that are separate and distinct from human language. This simply is NOT the case. The Aramaic more plainly reads: “¹Though I speak with every language among men and among Malakhim [Messengers], and have not love in my heart….” Further, there is not ONE episode where a Messenger, whether in Heaven or on Earth, speaks in any other language other than Hebrew. And all the recorded places where men ‘seem’ to speak ‘in tongues’, they are actually speaking in known languages. So, being filled with His Breath does NOT mean speaking syllabic nonsense that can only be understood by G-d or angels.

So, what DOES it mean? Let’s look at the times the scriptures actually say someone was filled with His Breath. The FIRST place anyone in scripture is seen to have been FILLED with HIS BREATH/Spirit is actually IN THE TORAH:

“….whom I have filled with the Ru’akh …. that they make Aharon’s garments to hallow him, that he may minister unto Me in the Kohen’s office.” This was a group of Isra’elites who were empowered by G-d to make garments. [Shemot 28:3] Similarly, He filled Betzalel, “I have filled him with the Ru’akh of Elohim, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship…” [Shemot 31:3, 35:31], again, to make things for the Mishkhan.

Next, we have Yehoshua filled with His Breath: “Yehoshua Bin Nun was full of the Ru’akh … ; for Moshe had laid his hands upon him;” [D’varim 34:9]

And the next person we see ‘filled’ with the Ru’akh is Yeshua Himself: “¹Now Yeshua, full of The Ru’akh HaKodesh [after His immersion], returned from the Yarden, and HaRu’akh carried Him away into the wilderness ²forty days, in order that He might be tempted by the accuser.” [Luka 4]

Some might argue that in these instances, these men were filled NOT with THE Holy Spirit, but with “a” spirit of ‘wisdom’ OR of ‘understanding’, asserting these are NOT THE “holy spirit”. These people do not understand that there is only ONE RU’AKH from Elohim! But, it is ‘divided’ into ‘powers’. Yesha-Yahu 11 is a prophecy about the “Messiah”, the one who would be ANOINTED/”mashakh” with the Breath/Ru’akh, and therefore BE “The Anointed One, Mashi’akh, Messiah. “¹“And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Yishai, and a branch [netzer, the root word of the name of the town “Nazareth”] shall grow forth out of his roots. ²And the Ru’akh  יהוה  shall rest upon him, the Ru‘akh Khokhma and Binah [wisdom and understanding], the Ru’akh Etzah and G’vorah [counsel and might] , the Ru‘akh Da’at and Yirat  יהוה  [knowledge and the Fear of  יהוה ] [Yesha-Yahu 11]. There are SEVEN ‘breaths’ or ‘spirits’ enumerated here. There are seven ‘breaths‘/spirits seen, as a Menorah, in front of the Throne in the Hitgalut [Rev 4]. This is ONE ‘spirit’, DIVIDED into several ‘powers’.

This ‘anointed’ person is also prophesied in Yesha-Yahu 61:1-2. In Luka 4, Yeshua claimed to BE this ‘anointed one’ when He started His own ministry in Natzrat by reading that scripture from the Hebrew scrolls, in His hometown Synagogue: “¹⁶And He came to Natzrat, where he had been brought up; and He entered the Beit K’nesset on Yom HaShabbat, as was His custom, and stood up to read.  ¹⁷And the book of Yesha-Yahu HaNavi was given to Him. And Yeshua opened the book and found the place where it is written, ¹⁸“The Ru’akh of Adonai  יהוה  is upon me; because of this He has anointed me to declare good news to the poor; and He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives and sight to the blind; to strengthen with forgiveness those who are oppressed, ¹⁹and to declare the year of the favor of  יהוה .” 

So, we can infer from this passage that being FILLED with the Ru’akh would mean that we would “declare the good news,” “heal the brokenhearted”, and PROCLAIM LIBERTY to captives”, “declare/give sight to the blind”, and ‘forgiveness to the oppressed,” and to declare the” ‘favor’ of יהוה.” This is certainly what happened RIGHT AFTER the 500 were ‘filled’, and Kefa himself ‘filled with the Ru’akh’, began to do these exact things. After they ALL spoke what the Ru’akh gave them to say, GOOD NEWS, in the known languages of the men who were present there with them from all over the world, Kefa stood up and declared the GOOD NEWS, that the MAN from Natzrat had come, and had been ANOINTED, and had been executed, but G-d had RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, and that forgiveness of sins was available to all who trusted, thus declaring the time of the FAVOR of יהוה was upon mankind. He did all the things Yeshua said it meant to be ‘anointed’, FILLED.

And of course, the ‘signs’ of the Ru’akh are seen as ‘fruits’, and may be the very things that give someone who is genuinely ‘filled’ with His Breath the credibility they need in order to be ‘heard’ when they DO what the Ru’akh anoints us to do. These fruits are listed in one place as: “love, joy, shalom, patience of spirit, gentleness, goodness of heart, absolute trust, ²³meekness, enduring tolerance.” Perhaps, these are just the ‘abiding presence’ of our G-d in us, and being ‘filled’ is done on the occasions we are USED by Him to ‘demonstrate’ His Khesed and Khen [compassion and grace] by declaring what we are to declare. That is how it appears in scripture.

So, if it is possible that so many misunderstand what it means to be ‘filled,’ is it also possible that we do know really know ‘how’ actually to ‘be filled,’ since we are given the Biblical imperative to do so: “[you] BE filled with the Ru’akh!”. There are so many rites and rituals people have today to try to accomplish this, and so many resultant ‘sign’s’ that contradict what the scriptures say, that we may be missing the simple truth of ‘how’ just to BE filled with HIS BREATH.

In the imperative we looked at, “but be filled with HaRu’akh, ¹⁹speaking to your souls in Mizmorot, and Tehillot, and Zimrot [biblical melodies/words of the psalms] of HaRu’akh; sing with your heart to יהוה , giving ²⁰ thanks always for all men to Elohim HaAv, in the name of Adoneinu [our Master] Yeshua HaMashi’akh” we saw the followup, which may just be part of the ‘how’ to BE filled: speaking to one’s own soul, as did David, “Bless יהוה , O MY SOUL!” “Mizmorot, Tehillot, and Zimrot” are different categories of PSALMS, which are PRAYERS! Prayers BREATHED to David the King and others BY THE RU’AKH! Singing in one’s HEART… this is not just ‘singing’, but ‘SINGING’ from the motor of our humanity! Might this be part of what Sha’ul meant when he told Timothy: “⁶For this reason I remind you to stir up the gift of Elohim which is in you by smikha from my hands.” [2 Tim 1] “GIVING THANKS always”, which many of the Psalms do for us so eloquently….

The Ru’akh is a manifestation of Yeshua, and of His Father, and is thus our ‘bread of LIFE’. To be FILLED with His Bread, how do we ‘consume’ it? BY THE WORD OF G-D, by READING and ‘chewing’ for UNDERSTANDING, to TAKE IT INTO OUR SOULS. So that by IT we will be TRANSFORMED in our minds. Sha’ul equates the TORAH, which is the FOUNDATION of the WORD OF G-D, and the primary words Yeshua taught from, fought the devil with, and DECLARED, with THE RU’AKH! “For we know that the Torah is of the Ru’akh!” [Rom 7:14] HIS TORAH AGREES WITH HIS RU’AKH. HIS RU’AKH AGREES WITH HIS TORAH!

I will close by saying that Melekh David, also filled with the Ru’akh, by which he wrote our prayer book, gave us a deep look at how His Torah is so relevant as HIS WORD, HIS BREATH, HIS BREAD, HIS LIFE. Tehillah 119 raves about the foundation of His Word, equating The Torah with HIS WORD MANY TIMES OVER. And, His Word became A Body, the Man, Yeshua the Messiah, risen from the dead.

⁴¹Vav. Let Your mercies also come unto me, O  יהוה , even Your Salvation [Yeshua], according to Your word; ⁴²That I may have an answer for him that taunts me; for I trust in Your word. ⁴³And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I hope in Your ordinances; ⁴⁴So shall I observe Your Torah continually forever and ever; ⁴⁵And I will walk at ease, for I have sought Your precepts; ⁴⁶I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings, and will not be ashamed. ⁴⁷And I will delight myself in Your Mitzvot, which I have loved. ⁴⁸I will lift up my hands also unto Your Mitzvot, which I have loved; and I will meditate in Your statutes.