Hi All,
In the thread on Conditional Immortality a related subject arose and I was asked to start a thread on it. The subject is the body, soul, and spirit of man and what happens to it at the judgment.
I hold the position of Conditional Immortality which says that man is not innately immortal. Rather the believer will attain a state of immortality, not in an of himself, but rather through continually receiving life from God forever. The wicked will after the judgment be destroyed. The main thrust of this thread will be, what is a man and what happens to him at the judgment.
Many people believe that man is a spirit/soul that lives in a body and moves on after death. In this thread I’m going to use the word “ghost” to describe this spirit/soul state because I think it portray the idea. Another reason is to define the terms. My premise is that man is not a ghost living in a body but rather a physical being. My springboard for this will be Gen.2:7 where God gives us the creation of man.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Gen 2:7 NKJ)
According to Gen 2:7 God formed the man from dust and hat dust formed a lifeless body. God then breathed the breath of life (Neshamah) into the body and that body became a living soul (Neopesh). From this I conclude that man consists of two parts, a body and the breath of life (Neshamah). These two when combined became a living soul. Thus man “IS” a soul, not that he has one, he is one. Body+Breath of Life= Living Soul.
Having come to this conclusion I have to conclude that man cannot live apart from the body. This obviously creates a tension with the view held by mainstream Christianity which believes that man lives on after his death.
I’d like to look at a few passages of Scripture that I believe support this view that I’m expounding.
14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust. (Job 34:14-15 NKJ)
The book of Job records that if God were to retrieve His spirit (ruwach) and His breath )Neshamah) all flesh would die and man would return to the dust.
Let me note that both “ruwach” and “Neshamah” mean breath or spirit. The two words are used interchangeably with only slight nuances. I think one thing is very clear from this passage and that is that God is keeping all flesh alive. One thing I’d like to point out here is that the passage says “His” breath (Neshamah), it’s God’s, it belongs to Him. It is the breath of life that He gives to all flesh. It’s not man’s, it’s God’s. We saw in Genesis that man consisted of two parts, a body and the breath of life. The breath of life according to this passage belongs to God. That leaves a body which returns to the dust.
Solomon gives us more information about this.
17 I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."
18 I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals."
19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.
20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.
21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth1? (Ecc 3:17-21 NKJ)
Solomon said that God test men so that they may see that they are animals. The word like is italicized and is not in the original text. What’s important to notice is that Solomon says of the animals and man that they have one breath (ruwach). We know from Genesis that the one breath belongs to God. He says when they die the same thing happens to them and that they all go to one place. He says they are dust and return to dust. The only difference is that the breath (ruwach) of man, goes upward, and the that of the animal goes downward. I suspect this is because man will be resurrected.
What is important about this passage is that it explains what happens to the component parts of man when he dies. The body returns to the dust and the breath returns to God.
Given what Solomon has stated here and the account of the creation of man I am left to ask, what is left of man to live on? Since both of his components have been accounted for, I am left to conclude that there is nothing to live on after death. Therefore I conclude that man is not conscious after death until the resurrection at which time his body will be put back together and God will once again breathe his breath into man and man will live. We have this very picture given to Ezekiel.
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. (Eze 37:1-14 KJV)
Red = Ruwach
Breath, wind, spirit.
What’s important to note here is that God said He would put “His” ruwach in them and they would live. Here we see people being resurrected and there is as we saw in Gen. 2:7 a body and God’s breath and they live.
In looking at the creation of man and the resurrection of man I see nothing that would indicate that man is anything other than a physical being that is animated by the breath of life from God.
