Spirit, Soul

and Body

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce Armstrong and Bruce Harris

Central Highlands

Congregation of God

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2000, 2009, 2020, 2022

Fourth Edition

Revised 15 September

 

Published by

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS CHRISTIAN PUBLICATIONS

PO Box 236, Creswick, Vic. 3363  Australia

Email info@chcpublications.net

Home Page https://chcpublications.net/

 

 

Permission is given to copy and distribute this document provided it is not altered and is copied completely.  Copies must be given away. We ask only that you notify us if you are making numerous copies.

 

 

 

Now He, the God of Peace, will make you completely holy; all of your spirit and your soul and your body whole.  He will keep you faultless for the coming of our Anointed Lord Jeshua.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

 

“for the soul of all flesh is its blood.  It is one with its soul.  Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You will not eat the blood of any flesh, for the soul of all flesh is its blood.  Whoever eats it will be cut off.’

Leviticus 17:14

 

 

Spirit, Soul and Body

 

 

Contents

Spirit, Soul and Body

What is the Soul?

The Spirit of Man

The Body of Man

The Eucharist

Scriptures Used Incorrectly to Teach “Immortal Souls”

The Death of Rachel

The Widow’s Son

‘Difficult’ Scriptures

Can Satan Save Job’s Soul?

Does the Bible Teach That Animals Have Souls?

Is a Man’s Soul in a Tree?

Can a Man Buy His Own Soul?

Conclusion

Appendix 1

The Words that God Chose

Appendix 2

Deuteronomy 12:20 to 25

 

 

Spirit, Soul and Body

Are we more than just a physical body which happens to have chemical reactions and electrical impulses animating it?  God says that we are much more than that.  King David says in Psalm 139:14 that we “are fearfully and wonderfully made.”  This study will help you understand how you have been made, what you are now and what you may become.

 

This article may present information on souls which you have not seen before.  Sadly, this is because much of the Bible’s teaching on souls has been obscured by poor translations which substitute other words for soul and spirit.  The verses quoted in this article are from the Central Highlands Congregation of God version.  It translates the various Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words used by God consistently into English.  Appendix 1 outlines the lexicon we have used.  Now, let us see what God tells us about how He made us:

 

God says He made us in His image and brought us to life:

 

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth.”    Genesis 1:26

 

And Jehovah God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul.    Genesis 2:7

 

First, let us think about what it means to be made in God’s Image.  To be made in God’s Image is to have many of His attributes: like Him, we have intelligence, imagination, a conscience, determination, free will, language, an appreciation of beauty and joy, a sense of fairness and the ability to love.  Indeed, everything that makes our lives worth living is a gift from our ultimate Father, who has created us to become His children.

Please notice that God says that He formed a man from the dust, not simply a body.  He also says that when He breathed into the man he became a living soul, not just a soul.  The importance of these details will become clear later.

 

Thus our composition should give us some idea of what God is like.  The Scriptures show that each of us is composed of a spirit, a soul and a body:

 

Now He, the God of Peace, will make you completely holy; all of your spirit and your soul and your body whole.  He will keep you faultless for the coming of our Anointed Lord Jeshua (Jesus)    1 Thessalonians 5:23

 

Likewise the Bible tells us that God also has a threefold nature: He has a spirit, a soul and a body as revealed in these (and many other) scriptures.

 

And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days will be one hundred and twenty years.”    Genesis 6:3

 

I will set My booth among you, and My soul will not abhor you.    Leviticus 26:11

 

I watched until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days was seated, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool.  His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire;    Daniel 7:9

 

For either human or God, the Bible is not teaching that there are three persons in one being.  It is simply showing that each person is a single being composed of three parts.  Restated, we are each a triune being.  This is the opposite of the confusing pagan trinity taught by Satan, in which three separate persons are claimed to also be one person.  It is easy to understand that we are triune beings made in God’s Image, and it is clearly taught in the Bible.

 

But do not think that we are saying that we are just like God, for we need to be transformed at the resurrection to become more like Him, and even then we will never be equal to our Father God.  Let us not grow weary of doing good, but instead remember God’s promise to change us into His own immortal, spiritual children, the younger siblings of His Only Begotten Son Jeshua The Messiah (Jesus Christ).  This is part of His promise:

 

And there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of a star; and one star is greater than another star in glory.  So also is life for those who die.  They are sown in corruption, they are raised without corruption.  They are sown in dishonour, they are raised with glory.  They are sown in weakness, they are raised in power.  They are sown as an animal body, it is raised as a spiritual body.  For there is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, “The first man Adam was a living soul.”  And the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit.  But the spiritual was not first, but the animal, and then the spiritual.  The first man was from the dust of the earth; the second Man is Lord Jah from heaven.

So just as he was a being from dust, so also are those of dust; and just as He is a being from heaven, so also are the heavenly.  And as we have worn the image of him from the dust, thus we will also wear the image of Him from heaven.

Now this I say, my brethren, flesh and blood are not able to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; nor can corruption inherit indestructibility.

Behold, I tell you a mystery: Not all of us will sleep, but we will all be transformed; suddenly, like the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For it will sound, and the dead will rise without corruption, and we will all be transformed.

For this destructible is going to wear indestructibility, and this mortal will wear immortality.  And when this destructible puts on indestructibility, and this mortal, immortality, then these written words will come to pass: “Death is swallowed by victory.”    1 Corinthians 15:41 to 54

 

But let us keep our joy over the future in perspective.  Verse 41 reminds us that there are different glories.  Just like stars that shine brightly on a moonless night but pale in the presence of the moon or the sun, the glory of the brethren will be small compared to the glory of Jeshua and His Father (Matthew 13:43).

 

Now let us look more closely at what the Bible teaches us about souls.

 

What is the Soul?

Soul in the Bible is translated from three words, nephesh in the Hebrew, nephesh pronounced nophsha in Aramaic and psuche in the Greek.  All of these words are based on the idea of breathing, of being the living link between the body and the spirit in both animals and man.  It can easily be demonstrated that the Biblical writers regarded these words as equivalent by showing Peter’s quotation of Psalm 16:

 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh (basar בְּשָׂרִי) will also rest in hope for You will not leave my soul (nephesh נַפְשִׁ) in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.    Psalm 16:9 to 10 (Hebrew)

 

‘therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh (sarx σάρξ) will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul (psuche ψυχή) in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’    Acts 2:26 to 27 (Greek)

 

‘therefore my heart rejoices, and my glory celebrates; and my body (pagry פַּגֿרי) will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul (nophsha נַפֿשׁי ) in Sheol, and You will not allow Your Holy One to look on destruction.’    Acts 2:26 to 27 (Aramaic)

 

These verses reveal that when we die our souls go to Sheol (or Hades in the Greek) ie the grave.  They also reveal that our souls will not remain therethey will be raised up at the resurrection as we will see later on.

 

God also specifies the origin of souls in Gen 1:24 where He says:

 

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth live souls, each after its kind: livestock and creeping things and its beasts of the earth, each after its kind”; and it was so.

 

So we see that souls actually come from the earth.  This shows us that when God formed His human (adam  אָדָם) from the earth, He formed both his body and soul from the earth.  God does not say that He formed only his body (gheviyah גְּוׅיַּת) from the earth.

So our souls come from the earth.  But what is the role of our souls while we are alive?  Are there other scriptures which support the concept of our triune nature as we showed earlier?  Or are we composed only of a body and a spirit, and the soul simply refers to the combination of the two as some people claim?  Logic suggests that if the soul is only the living combination of the body and spirit, it could not exist as a separate part.  And if we are composed of a spirit, soul and body, we would expect to find separate references to each of these parts. Let’s delve into God’s Word and see what He says:

In Isaiah 10:18 God says “And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body” speaking of the destruction of the Israelites who refuse to walk with Him.

Num 19:11 says “‘He who touches the dead soul (nephesh) of anyone will be unclean seven days.’”

If a soul is simply the living combination of a body and spirit, it would not be possible to touch a dead soul as the soul would cease to exist at the moment of death.

God tells us specifically that the soul is distinct from the body in these passages, and where the soul resides:

 

“When Jehovah your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat flesh,’ because your soul longs to eat flesh, you may eat flesh, as much as your soul desires.

“If the place where Jehovah your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which Jehovah has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your soul desires.

“Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them.

“Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the soul (nephesh); you may not eat the soul (nephesh) with the flesh (basar).

“You will not eat it; you will pour it on the earth like water.

“You will not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of Jehovah.    Deuteronomy 12:20 to 25

 

‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

‘For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood which atones for the soul.’

“Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No soul among you will eat blood, nor will any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.’

“And whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he will pour out its blood and cover it with dust;

“for the soul of all flesh is its blood; It is one with its soul.  Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You will not eat the blood of any flesh, for the soul of all flesh is its blood.  Whoever eats it will be cut off.’    Leviticus 17:10 to 14

 

God clearly says that our soul is in our blood, and can effectively even be identified with it.  Deuteronomy 12:23 also clearly distinguishes souls from bodies when He says that we can eat the flesh but we are not allowed to eat the soul.  (Appendix 2 shows this passage in interlinear Hebrew, and how many translators deliberately mangle it.)  This can only mean that our soul is a separate, distinct part of us.  This has a deep significance.  It explains why God does not want us taking another creature’s (or person’s) blood into us as we are partaking of their soul if we do so.  Because of this and God’s statement that the blood atones for the soul, one must also assume that there is something more to the soul than just the blood.  These scriptures also reveal that something is seriously wrong with our modern blood-drenched medical practices.

And let us clearly understand that these restrictions were also given to Christians as this passage shows:

 

“Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood.

“For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”    Acts 15:19 to 21

 

Note that two of the above four restrictions relate to blood. The first one is the direct command to avoid blood.  It is revealing that in this passage the restriction on blood is not limited to only not eating it.  The second blood-related restriction is the command to avoid things strangled.  This is because eating a strangled animal is eating an animal which still has its blood in it, a practice which is forbidden in Leviticus 17.

These scriptures explain why the blood was taken from the animal sacrifices and offered separately to God, thus offering both the body and soul of the sacrifice to God.  When Jeshua was speared in the side during the impalement (crucifixion) and his blood poured out, it was the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12, which said that He would “pour out His soul”.

Now we can understand that when Jeshua presented His shed blood before God in Heaven He was actually presenting His soul to God.

 

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.    Matthew 26:27 to 28

 

But when they came to Jeshua and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

But one of the soldiers had pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.    John 19:33 to 35

 

Then Jeshua said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

“For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.    John 6:53 to 57

 

But The Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance.    Hebrews 9:11 to 15

 

This understanding of the soul reveals greater truth about the sacrifice of Jeshua.  To receive everlasting life, we need to partake of all aspects of Jeshua: spirit, soul and body.  The wine we partake of in the Passover Eucharist can now be seen as not just representing His blood, but also Jeshua’s soul.

 

Some other scriptures which help us develop a fuller picture of the role of our souls in our lives and in God’s plan of Salvation are:

 

“And you should not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”    Matthew 10:28

 

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

 

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your soul, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not the soul more than food and the body more than clothing?”    Matthew 6:25

 

In the following verse, Paul clearly refers to Eutychus as having a soul which was in him.  If he was a soul, rather than having a soul, Paul would not have referred to his soul in this way.

 

And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was falling into a deep sleep.  As Paul continued speaking, he fell deeply asleep and fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.

But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his soul is in him.”... And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.    Acts 20:9-10, 12

 

Other scriptures bringing out various aspects of our souls:

 

Souls can be sorrowful:

 

‘Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch with Me.”’    Matthew 26:38

 

Souls can be damaged by lust:

 

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.    1 Peter 2:11

 

Souls can pronounce blessings:

 

“And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”    Genesis 27:4

 

Souls can be filled with desire:

 

But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter.  Please give her to him as a wife.”    Genesis 34:8

 

Souls can suffer anguish:

 

Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.”    Genesis 42:21

 

Souls need food:

 

‘On the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there will be a holy convocation for you.  No manner of work will be done on them; but that which every soul must eat; that only may be prepared by you.’    Exodus 12:16

 

Souls can sin:

 

“If a soul sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of Jehovah, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and will bear his iniquity.

“And he will bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering…”    Leviticus 5:17-18

 

Souls can hate:

 

I dismissed the three shepherds in one month.  My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.    Zechariah 11:8

 

Souls can rejoice:

 

“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen, my Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.”    Matthew 12:18

 

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit is exalted in God my Saviour.”    Luke 1:46

 

Souls can refuse (and accept) instruction:

 

‘And it will come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’    Acts 3:23

 

(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds)    2 Peter 2:8

 

And what is the state of the soul after death?  This is explained in the Everlasting Life is the Gift of God article.  Briefly, the Bible explains that the dead know nothing and can do nothing, so even though the soul is not destroyed when our bodies die, it becomes and remains unconscious until the resurrection (Psalm 146:3-4, Psalm 115:17, Ecclesiastes 9:5, etc).

As as our soul is in, and indeed is part of our blood, our soul remains where our blood is when we die.  In most cases, our blood and soul remain in our body, and are buried with our body.  There they remain until our resurrection, when God transforms our body and soul, and reunites our spirit with them to bring us back to life. In Christ’s case, most of his bloodand thus his soulwas poured out when he was speared on the post, and soaked into the ground (John 19:33 to 35 and Isaiah 53:12). However, the Bible also tells us that some of Jeshua’s blood was taken to heaven as part of his sacrifice, as we saw above in Hebrews 9:11 to 15.

As Jeshua explicitly stated in Matthew 10:28, God will destroy our souls when necessary, so we know that souls are not immortal.

 

The Spirit of Man

As this is a study of the composition of a human, we also need to look at the spirit portion of people:

 

Soul and spirit are two different aspects of each of us:

 

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.    Hebrews 4:12

 

And where do we get our spirit from?  We are told in Zechariah 12:1: “Thus says Jehovah, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.”  Restated, Jehovah God creates our human spirit and places it within us.  This happens when the egg that will become us is fertilised.

 

All humans have the spirit of man, but only spirit-filled Christians have the Spirit of God in them:

 

For who is the son of man who knows the things of a man except through the spirit of man which is in him?  Even so, no man knows the things of God except through the Spirit of God.

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, that we might know the gifts that have been given to us by God.

Those things that we speak are not teaching in the words of man’s wisdom but in the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and we compare spiritual ones and spiritual things.

But the soulish man does not receive spiritual things, for they are madness to him; and he is not able to know them, because they are known by the Spirit.  But a spiritual man judges everything, and he is not judged by man.

For “Who has known the mind of Jehovah that he may teach Him?”  But the mind of the Anointed is given to us. 1 Corinthians 2:11 to 16

 

There is much in the above verses for us to think about.  The spirit of man is what controls the higher thought processes in us.  It is in our spirits where we process and use language, music, mathematics and logic.  It is where we think about the future and how we should prepare for it, where we contemplate the past and decide how we should act in the present.  It is in our spirit is where we decide how to treat those around us. This spirit is in all humans.

 

But this spirit is also subject to sin, and can become self-centered, and even destructive.  The spirit from God, which enters into us when we repent and turn to Jeshua for salvation, is indeed God’s Spirit, and is not subject to sin, and will join with our spirit to help us become kind, righteous and God-centered people:

 

“If you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will ask My Father, and He will give you another Redeemer and Protector,1 who will be with you forever.

“He is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it has not seen Him nor does it know Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and He will be in you.    John 14:15-17

 

For the mind of the flesh is death, and the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.  Because the mind of the flesh is enmity towards God; for it is not subject to the Instructions of God, for that is impossible.  And those who live in the flesh are not able to please God.

But though you were in the flesh, now you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God truly dwells in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Anointed in him, this one does not belong to Him.    Romans 8:6-9

 

God tells us that we die when our spirit is separated from our body:

 

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.    James (Jacob) 2:26

 

When we die, our spirit returns to God:

 

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.    Ecclesiastes 12:6 to 7

 

The Bible reveals that the soul is the part of us which is usually involved in our emotions and physical needs.  It appears to be the link between the physical and the spiritual.  In that context, it is likely that the organ in our body that is the three-way interface between our spirit, soul and body is the brain.  The soul can be the worldly side of our thoughts, emotions and passions, and at times can also rejoice in God.  Our spirit should be in control, but it must consider the legitimate needs of our body and soul.   And in the passage above, are our soul and spirit perhaps the silver cord and golden bowl?

 

Though spirit is everlasting, is our own spirit necessarily eternally us?  Indeed, before we were conceived our spirit had not yet been formed into us by God.  The Bible teaches that those people who are cast into the Lake of Fire will be totally destroyed as detailed in our Everlasting Life is the Gift of God article.  It seems likely that this total destruction also involves the complete cleansing and resetting of the spirit of the condemned so no vestige of them remains, as suggested by Jeremiah 18:3 to 6.

 

The Body of Man

As has already been shown in this article, our bodies are made from earth.   But they are wonderfully and cleverly made, as an examination of a human anatomy book will reveal. Our bodies enable us to interact with the world around us and perform an astounding array of things.  They are even able to reproduce themselves, allowing us to have the joy of raising children with our spouse.  And even today, though our bodies have acquired many random genetic mutations since Adam and Chavvah (Eve) were created, most of us can still live active lives for many decades.

But the Bible reveals that these physical bodies are only the beginning.  They will one day be transformed into everlasting bodies made from spirit if we become servants of The Messiah.  These new bodies will not age nor tire nor become diseased, and will give us many of the abilities of Jehovah God and His Son Jeshua:

 

But one of you will say, “How are the dead raised?  And in what body do they come?”

Fools!  If the seed you sow does not die, it will not live.  And that thing you sow is not that body that it will become, but you sow a naked grain of wheat or of barley or some other grain.  But God gives it a body just as He pleases, and to each one of the grains a body for its nature.

But every body is not equal to another, for there is the body of a son of man, and another of beasts, and another of birds, and another of fish.2  There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but there is one glory of the heavenly, and another of the earthly.  And there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of a star; and one star is greater than another star in glory.

So also is life for those who die.  They are sown in corruption, they are raised without corruption.  They are sown in dishonour, they are raised with glory.  They are sown in weakness, they are raised in power.  They are sown as the physical body, it is raised as the spiritual body.  For there is a physical body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, “The first man Adam was a living soul.”3  And the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit.  But the spiritual was not first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.  The first man was from the dust of the earth;4 the second Man is Lord Jah from heaven.

So just as he was a being from dust, so also are those of dust; and just as He is a being from heaven, so also are the heavenly.  And as we have worn the image of him from the dust, thus we will also wear the image of Him from heaven.    1 Corinthians 15:35 to 49

 

Behold how greatly the love of the Father abounds to us, that He has called us and made us His children!  Because of this, the world does not know us, because it does not know Him either.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we are going to be, but we know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him, and we will see Him as He is.

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.    1 John 3:1 to 3

 

Truly, our Father’s love is great, and His gifts of enormous value.  But if we refuse to repent of our sinful ways, when we are resurrected we will be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire and our body, soul and spirit will be totally destroyed forever.  There is a saying which goes like this: Born once, die twice.  Born twice, die once.  The idea is based on John 3:1 to 8.  Please!  Choose life.

 

The Eucharist

Now, let us see how all of this applies to the Eucharist, or Thanksgiving, that Jeshua instituted at the Last Supper.  Jeshua said:

 

And as they were eating, Jeshua took bread, and blessed and broke it, and He gave it to His disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

And He took a cup, and He gave thanks, and He gave it to them, and He said, “Take, drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed in exchange for the many for their release from sins.” Matthew 26:26-28

 

As we have seen, our soul is in our blood.  So in symbolically partaking of the body and blood of Jeshua, we are taking His body and soul into ourselves.  And when we are immersed in the Spirit of God, we are being filled with the Spirit of Jeshua, our Anointed:

 

But though you were in the flesh, now you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God truly dwells in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Anointed in him, this one does not belong to Him.  And if the Anointed is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.    Romans 8:9-10

 

So it is that through the bread, the wine and the immersion in the Holy Spirit, we have the body, soul and spirit of Jeshua all dwelling within us.  This is what makes us the Living God’s Palace on earth, and enables us to walk in the Way of Life (2 Corinthians 6:16).

 

Scriptures Used Incorrectly to Teach “Immortal Souls”

The Death of Rachel

Rachel’s death provides a scripture which is used by those who believe in an immortal soul to support their claim.  However, as we will see, they are incorrect.

 

Then they journeyed from Bethel.  And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel laboured in childbirth, and she had hard labour.

Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”

And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).    Genesis 35:16 to 19

 

It is reasonable to conclude that Rachel’s soul departed from her because it was in her blood and she haemorrhaged to death as a result of complications during Benjamin’s birth.5  Even with our modern medical knowledge such deaths can still occur.  Note that this passage does not tell us that Rachel’s soul was immortal nor that it was aware of anything after her death.

 

The Widow’s Son

It also seems probable that a similar occurrence also explains the death and resurrection of the widow’s son portrayed in I Kings 17:

 

Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick.  And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.

So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God?  Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

And he said to her, “Give me your son.”  So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.

Then he cried out to Jehovah and said, “O Jehovah my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?”

And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to Jehovah and said, “O Jehovah my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.”

Then Jehovah heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.    1 Kings 17:17 to 22

 

The most likely event here is that the boy bled to death from a haemorrhagic disease.  God would then have resurrected him by healing the damage caused by the disease and restoring his blood and soul.

 

 

‘Difficult’ Scriptures

Can Satan Save Job’s Soul?

Job 2:6—The King James translation appears to say that Satan is to save Job’s soul.

How could Satan “save” Job’s soul?  Only Jeshua can do this!  The Hebrew for this verse indeed contains nephesh, but “save” should have been translated as “keep” or “protect” as shown by the attached word study from the Online Bible. - That is, Satan was required to keep Job’s soul alive (ie- he was not permitted to kill him).  God did not tell Satan to save Job’s soul in the sense of redeeming him.

 

08104 שְׁמֹר shamar shaw-mar’

a primitive root; TWOT - 2414; v

AV - keep 283, observe 46, heed 35, keeper 28, preserve 21, beware 9, mark 8, watchman 8, wait 7, watch 7, regard 5, save 2, misc 9; 468

(1) to keep, guard, observe, give heed

 

Does the Bible Teach That Animals Have Souls?

Following is the King James translation, including Strong’s numbers to show how this translation has been made:

 

A righteous <06662> man regardeth <03045> (8802) the life <05315> of his beast <0929>: but the tender mercies <07356> of the wicked <07563> are cruel <0394>.    Proverbs 12:10

 

Yes, soul (nephesh - 05315) is in this verse, not life.  Let’s see if God really means that animals have souls (nephesh):

 

Let’s go right back to the first use of nephesh in the Hebrew Bible:

 

Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living souls, and let flying creatures fly above the earth across the face of the expanse of the heavens.”

God created great sea dragons6 and every living soul that moves, which the waters swarmed with, according to their kind, and every winged flying creature according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.    Genesis 1:20 & 21

 

The above quote is our CHCoG translation, which is similar to Darby’s and Green’s.

Following is the King James, again including the Strong’s numbers:

 

And God <0430> said <0559> (8799), Let the waters <04325> bring forth abundantly <08317> (8799) the moving creature <08318> that hath <05315> life <02416>, and fowl <05775> that may fly <05774> (8787) above <05921> the earth <0776> in the open <06440> firmament <07549> of heaven <08064>.

And God <0430> created <01254> (8799) great <01419> whales <08577>, and every living <02416> creature <05315> that moveth <07430> (8802), which the waters <04325> brought forth abundantly <08317>  (8804), after their kind <04327>, and every winged <03671> fowl <05775> after his kind <04327>: and God <0430> saw <07200> (8799) that it was good <02896>.    Genesis 1:20 & 21

 

You can see that in verse 20 in the KJV soul (nephesh) is actually totally ignored in the first place it appears in the Bible!  Only the word for living <2416> is translated.  This has been done despite the fact that nephesh was spoken directly by God!  In verse 20 God clearly tells us that all aquatic animals have live souls.  God repeats this point in verse 21 to make sure that we have got it.  Verse 24 expands this to show that all animals have live souls.

 

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living souls, each after its kind: livestock and creeping things and its beasts of the earth, each after its kind”; and it was so.    Genesis 1:24

 

Remember that God loves all the creatures He has made.  God selected the animals to be saved on the Ark during the Great Flood and sent them to Noah.  Because God loved the animals He instructed Noah to build an Ark large enough to carry them and their food. (Genesis 6:17 to 22)  After the Flood God made His covenant with humanity and also with all the animals to never flood the whole earth again (Genesis 9:9 to 17).

In Genesis 9:5 God says that any animals which kill a human will be held accountable to Him for their decision to kill, showing that they have some understanding of righteous and unrighteous actions.  Job 38:41 tells us that the animals call out to God for help.  Matthew 10:29 tells us that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it.  Surely we should treat all of God’s creatures with respect.  However, remember that this does not make the animals equal to us as they are not made in the Image of God (Matthew 10:30-31, Genesis 1:26 & 27).7

 

Is a Man’s Soul in a Tree?

It has been claimed that Deuteronomy 20:19 teaches that a man’s soul (nephesh) is in a tree.  This confusion arises from a fault in the King James translation.  Nephesh (5315) does not appear in this verse at all, as the Online Bible (KJV) shows:

 

When thou shalt besiege <06696> (8799) a city <05892> a long <07227> time <03117>, in making war <03898> (8736) against it to take <08610> (8800) it, thou shalt not destroy <07843> (8686) the trees <06086> thereof by forcing <05080> (8800) an axe <01631> against them: for thou mayest eat <0398> (8799) of them, and thou shalt not cut them down <03772> (8799) (for the tree <06086> of the field <07704> is man’s <0120> life) to employ <0935> (8800) them in the siege <06440> <04692>: {for the...: or, for, O man, the tree of the field is to be employed in the siege} {to employ...: Heb. to go from before thee}   Deuteronomy 20:19

 

Green translates this section as “for is the tree of the field a man that it should be used by you to lay siege?”His is a much more accurate translation.

 

Can a Man Buy His Own Soul?

Proverbs 13:8 says: “The ransom of a man’s soul is his riches, but the poor does not hear rebuke.”

 

As a Christian, we should understand this verse: Jeshua is the ransom for our soul, He is our riches. - (Hosea 13:14)  The spiritually poor are those who will not listen to Jeshua’ rebuke and will not accept His ransom.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The Bible clearly teaches that God has created us in His Image.  We are like Him in many ways, sharing His creativity and love of life.  Like Him, we are composed of a body, soul and spirit.  But unlike Jehovah God, we have a beginning, and if we do not accept the gift of everlasting life we are offered through His Son Jeshua, we will also have an end.

 

Our hope and prayer is that you choose to accept Jeshua as your saviour and be reconciled to Jehovah God.  Then you will know His Peace and the fullness of His Love.

 

 

Appendix 1

The Words that God Chose

(Strong’s lexicon numbers included)

Hebrew

Aramaic

Greek

English

1472 gheviyah גְּוִיַּת

1655 geshem גִּשְׁמֵ

4983 soma σῶμα

Body

1320 basar בָּשָׂר

1321 besar בְּשַׂר

4561 sarx σάρξ

Flesh

5315 nephesh נֶפֶשׁ

nophsha נַפֿשׁי

5590 psuche ψυχή

Soul

2416 chay חַיָּ

2417 chay חַיֵּ

2222 zoe ζωή

Life

7307 ruwach רוּחַ

7308 ruwach רוּחַ

4151 pneuma πνεῦμα

Spirit

5397 neshamah נִשְׁמַת

5396 nishmaw נִשְׁמְא

4151 pneuma πνεῦμα

Breath

3820 leb לִבּ

3821 leb לִבִּ

3563 nous νοῦς

Mind

3824 lebab לְבַב

3825 lebab לְבַב

2588 kardia καρδία

Heart

1818 dam דְּמֵ

dmah דּמׇ

129 haima αἷμα

Blood

5079 niddah נִדַּת

tanphotha טַנפֻֿוחׇֿא

4511 rhusis ῥύσις

Impurity

6440 paniy פְּנֵי

600 anaph אַנְפּ

4383 prosopon πρόσωπον

Face

376 ‘iysh אִישׁ

606 enash אֱנָשׁ

435 aner ἀνήρ

Man

802 ‘ishshah אִשָּׁה

anttha אַנ֗תּחׇֿא

1135 gune γυνή

Woman

589 anokiy אָנֹכִי

576 anah אֲנָה

1683 emautou ἐμαυτοῦ

Self/I

5971 am עַם

anasha א֗נׇשׇׁא

444 anthropos  ἄνθρωπος

Human

 

Appendix 2

Deuteronomy 12:20 to 25

Interlinear Hebrew/English with Strong’s Numbers and Green’s A Literal Translation of the Bible in the side Panel.  Taken from The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green.

 
 

Note that in verses 20 and 21 Green translates nephesh (5315) as soul.  But in verse 23 Green does not translate nephesh as soul, but instead unjustifiably mistranslates it as life twice.  And he is not alone.  Of the 52 English bible translations available at www.biblegateway.com, only three correctly translate nephesh as soul in this verse.   They do the same substitution of life instead of soul in Leviticus 17:14.  It seems that these translators do not want us to know that God says our soul (nephesh) is in our blood.

 

 

 

Some Other Resources Available from https://chcpublications.net/

Publications

The Holy Bible - CHCoG Version - This translation from the original Hebrew and Aramaic is accurate and readable, giving you a clear understanding of how the New and Old Covenants are interlocked and God’s message to you.

Everlasting Life is God’s Gift - Does the Bible teach that you have everlasting life?  If not, how can you receive God’s gift of immortality as His child?

Books of Moses - Fact or Fiction Series - Are the miracles recorded in Genesis and Exodus our true history?  Do the facts support Special Creation or the Big Bang & Evolution scenarios?  What about the Flood, Babel and the Exodus?

Sex, God and Families - Pamphlet exposing the dangers of sexual immorality and outlining the benefits of following God’s sexual principles.

Eastern Meditation and Jeshua the Messiah - Recounts the experiences of a CHCoG member who became a Christian while practising Eastern Meditation.

Animals in the Bible- What does the Bible teach?  Does God love His animals, and how should we treat them? Are they intelligent, relational beings?

The Ten Commandments - What are God’s Ten Commandments? How do they guide us in our relationships with God, our family and our neighbours?  Shows how obedience to Jehovah’s Instructions would result in true civilization.

What is God’s Name? - How can we know what God’s Name is and how to Pronounce it?  Does the Bible teach us to use God’s Name?

God’s Calendar and the Sign of Jonah - Shows how God’s Calendar reveals that Jeshua truly kept the Sign of Jonah, His ultimate proof that He is the Messiah.

The Sabbath in Scripture - Has God’s Seventh-day Sabbath been ‘done away with’?  What does the Sabbath mean, and does God want us to keep it?

Unclean Animals and Food - What does the Bible teach about clean and unclean animals?  Does the New Covenant allow us to eat unclean meat?

Radiocarbon Dating - Shows how changes in radioactive carbon levels can drastically alter radiocarbon dates.  Not heavily technical.

Free to Obey GodGod’s Son Jeshua sets us free!  But what does he set us free from, and how does He expect us to live our new life?

Jeshua the Messiah: Is He the Son of God or Part of a Trinity? - Explores the relationships between God the Father, our Lord Jeshua, the Holy Spirit and us.

Rome’s Challenge: Why do Protestants Keep Sunday? - This Roman Catholic article proves there is no scriptural basis for changing the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, and shows that the Roman Catholic church made the change.

Software

Calculated Biblical Calendar - Calculates dates of Annual Holy Days, Crucifixion, Flood, Creation: allows you to test the new moon visibility locally.

Radiocarbon Dating - Calculates the effects that changes in the geomagnetic field and radiocarbon/carbon ratios, etc, on radioactive dating.

Free Library

We have a large range of Christian and Creationist literature, CDs and DVDs that are available for borrowing within Australia.  Please contact us for our list.

 

 

Endnotes

 

1 As in the Peshitta, which is literally ParqlayTa פַּרַקלׅטׇא meaning ‘redeemer-protector’.  The Greek misinterprets the Aramaic and renders this only as helper.  God’s Holy Spirit does help save and protect us from our sinful nature.  Note that the Holy Spirit is “another” redeemer, who can only do its work after Jeshua, our primary redeemer, has freed us from sin by dying our death for us.

2 Gen 1:11-12 & Gen 1:20-28

3 Gen 2:7

4 Gen 3:19 & 3:23

5 This does not mean that menstruating women are losing their souls, as the menstrual flow is mostly the uterus lining, shed after its blood supply has been withdrawn.

6 From the Hebrew תַּנִּינִם taninym, usually meaning large reptiles, but including whales and creatures once known as dragons, but called dinosaurs today.

7 This topic is explored in more detail in Animals in the Bible.