Throughout scripture, we see the spirit of God breathing life into creation, giving new life to believers, rejuvenating His followers, and raising people from the dead. There are also several prayers in the Psalms that ask God to give the person praying a spiritual revival or increase of life. This eighteenth installment of the A-Z Attributes of God to Praise series will cover how God brings new life.
Understanding Contextual Evidence to How the Spirit of God Quickens
The word for "quickens" has several meanings depending on contextual evidence found in scripture. In Leviticus 13:10, 24, the word "michyah" is used and in Isaiah 11:3, the word "Rauch" is used and this word is translated to mean "acute" in the King James Version and "delight" in the Revised King James Version. These are not mistranslations or errors. Meanings for words in the English language seem to change more than the words used in the original languages of the Bible. The original word that was used was "michyah," that centers around conception of life, rejuvenation, and an increase of life. Altogether, the King James Version used four different words--"chayah", "michyah", "rauch", and "zao"-- to characterize life, the abundance of delight, or understanding (Blue Letter Bible, "Quick, Quickening," 2021).
How the Spirit of God Brings New Life and Understanding
God has always been surrounded by the meaning of life, new understanding, and delightful precepts by His followers. In scripture, He is found reviving, rejuvenating, refreshing, or increasing life (and in some cases, takes it away). His followers also pray and cry out to Him for this reviving closeness to Him.
"Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth" (Psalm 71:20, KJV).
another translation renders the above as: "You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again" (Psalm 71:20, ESV).
The word for "quicken" is used to mean "revive" and is used in Psalm 85:6, 119:37, 40, 88, and Isaiah 57:10 seen below.
"Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?" (Psalm 85:6, KJV).
"Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way" (Psalm 119:37, KJV)
Vanity in this passage of scripture meant pursuing anything that held no eternal value (a vapor).
"Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness" (Psalm 119:40, KJV) "Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth" (Psalm 119:88, KJV) "Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved" (Isaiah 57:10, KJV). The Isaiah 57:10 verse can often be hard to distinguish in the KJV so another version has been included: "You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, "It is hopeless"; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint" (Isaiah 57:10, ESV). God brings new life and understanding through His perfection, holiness, and flawless attributes. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When we are converted, we have a rejuvenation of spirit that was once dead. Though everyone has a soul, not everyone has a spirit since they have not been made spiritually alive again. It is only through this rejuvenation and justification to Christ that we can start to understand spiritual things and have the mysteries of God revealed to us. It's important to remember that in the Old Testament, Christ had not come to Earth yet so external means were used to communicate to His believers (i.e., signs, traveling with the Israelites as a cloud by day and fire by night, having the tabernacle built to temporarily dwell in it, etc). Attributes of God to Praise: The Quickening Attribute of God Regarding Resurrection Power
With Christ's spiritual atonement on the cross as a one-time, eternal payment for sin, death was defeated and the power of sin thwarted. The New Testament gives allusion to the rejuvenation of life in the sense that new life was literally given as people were raised from the dead. Since God is perfect, this also has a spiritual connontation to mean that through Christ, we are resurrected from our spiritual deaths. This allusion also shows the consequences of our choices and how they can bring death.
"Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die" (1 Corinthians 15:36, KJV).
also translated to "You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies" (1 Corinthians 15:36, ESV).
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (Colossians 2:13, KJV) also translated as "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. . ." (Colossians 2:13, ESV).
"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneththem; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will," (John 5:21, KJV)
also translated as "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will" (John 5:21, ESV).
The usage of different translations shows that scripture does not contradict itself, but explains and elaborates. Using different translations together can show the broader picture where one translation may be harder to read. Afghanistan Crisis
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