Topical Bible: The Wind: Accomplishes the Purposes of God

◄ The Wind: Accomplishes the Purposes of God ►

Jump to: Torrey's • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Topical Encyclopedia

The wind, as described in the Bible, is a powerful and mysterious force that serves as an instrument of God's will. Throughout Scripture, the wind is depicted as both a literal and symbolic element, demonstrating God's sovereignty over creation and His ability to use natural forces to fulfill His divine purposes.

Creation and Control

The Bible begins with the Spirit of God moving over the waters, suggesting a divine presence akin to the wind. In Genesis 1:2, the "Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters," indicating the wind's role in the creative process. This imagery is echoed in Psalm 104:4, which states, "He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants," highlighting God's control over the elements.

Judgment and Deliverance

The wind is often used as a tool of judgment and deliverance. In the account of the Exodus, God employs the wind to part the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to escape from Egypt. Exodus 14:21 records, "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land." This miraculous event underscores the wind's role in God's deliverance of His people.

Conversely, the wind is also a means of judgment. In the book of Jonah, God sends a "great wind on the sea" (Jonah 1:4) to redirect the prophet's path, demonstrating His authority and the wind's role in executing divine justice.

Provision and Sustenance

The wind is also depicted as a means of provision. In Numbers 11:31, God uses the wind to provide quail for the Israelites in the desert: "Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea." This event illustrates how God uses natural forces to meet the needs of His people.

Symbol of the Holy Spirit

In the New Testament, the wind becomes a symbol of the Holy Spirit. During Pentecost, "a sound like a mighty rushing wind" fills the house where the disciples are gathered (Acts 2:2). This event marks the arrival of the Holy Spirit, empowering the early church and signifying the wind's role as a metaphor for spiritual presence and power.

Divine Sovereignty and Mystery

The wind's unpredictable nature serves as a metaphor for the mystery of God's ways. In John 3:8, Jesus explains, "The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." This passage highlights the wind's role in illustrating the mysterious and sovereign work of God in the lives of believers.

Conclusion

Throughout the Bible, the wind is a multifaceted symbol and instrument of God's will. Whether as a force of creation, judgment, deliverance, provision, or spiritual empowerment, the wind consistently demonstrates God's sovereignty and His ability to accomplish His purposes through the natural world.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Psalm 148:8
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Nicodemus.
... to God's love, to enter into His purposes, to measure ... Of the Agent who accomplishes
this great transformation there is ... He is like the wind, our Lord tells us ...
/.../dods/the expositors bible the gospel of st john vol i/vii nicodemus.htm

The Book of the Cross
... In another God accomplishes the drying of the path through the blowing of a strong
east wind. ... it as a fitting of the whole life into the purposes of a ...
/.../mcconnell/understanding the scriptures/chapter vi the book of.htm

Yet Speaking.
... his baptism, with new resolves and purposes, to sin ... the earthquake, or the mighty
wind which rends ... and extraordinary"the statesman who accomplishes the coup d ...
//christianbookshelf.org/meyer/john the baptist/xvi yet speaking.htm

The New Heart
... which God works in the soul, when he accomplishes this promise ... it round to the east
when the wind is blowing ... never was thwarted yet in any one of his purposes. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 4 1858/the new heart.htm

Matt. xii. 9, 10
... His part, then shall He execute the other purposes also ... as it is, and in a short
time accomplishes his proper ... lips; fanning the soul as with a wind, and sinking ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on the gospel of saint matthew/homily xl matt xii 9.htm

Chapter i
... the level of the earth and accomplishes a double ... the statement merely mean that a
wind fanned the ... fixed day and night separately for their respective purposes. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter i.htm

Appendix iv. An Abstract of Jewish History from the Reign of ...
... of Hyrcanus they all proved themselves accomplishes, when, on ... at night, while the
morning wind and heat ... likely to serve his ulterior purposes than Aristobulus. ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/appendix iv an abstract of.htm

The Reaction against Egypt
... The sanctuary and its surrounding buildings were used for purposes of worship, but
the ... show the peculiar estimation in which he held its local god, and intended ...
/.../chapter iithe reaction against egypt.htm

part i
... the breath of God's Spirit. As air is necessary for the body, so is the Holy Ghost
for the soul. Air has some likeness to the Holy Ghost. As "the wind bloweth ...
//christianbookshelf.org/calvin/my life in christ/part i.htm

part ii
... and the most-pure body of the Mother of God, in Whose womb God the Word ... Imagine what
we are: " A reed shaken with [the Devil's] wind." [731] The Devil breathes ...
//christianbookshelf.org/calvin/my life in christ/part ii.htm