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Author Topic:   What is the soul?
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 151 of 165 (488706)
11-15-2008 6:25 AM


. At this time the soul and the spirit are synonyms, and the words are used interchangeably in the scriptures.
This is not totally true. The progression of the new testament salvation necessitates that the a distinction also be revealed between soul and spirit. And that is what the Bible does.
The soul and spirit are not used as synonyms in all of scripture. In much of the New Testament there is a distinction between the human soul and the human spirit.
And for experience sake it is important that the Christian be able to discern the distinction between the soul and the spirit or else he will fail to live a spiritual life.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

Replies to this message:
 Message 152 by AlphaOmegakid, posted 11-17-2008 1:45 PM jaywill has replied

  
AlphaOmegakid
Member (Idle past 2876 days)
Posts: 564
From: The city of God
Joined: 06-25-2008


Message 152 of 165 (488786)
11-17-2008 1:45 PM
Reply to: Message 151 by jaywill
11-15-2008 6:25 AM


This is not totally true. The progression of the new testament salvation necessitates that the a distinction also be revealed between soul and spirit. And that is what the Bible does.
The soul and spirit are not used as synonyms in all of scripture. In much of the New Testament there is a distinction between the human soul and the human spirit.
The distinction of body , spirit and soul is clear in both old and new testaments. I made those distinctions clear. The spirit is our life giving breath of God. That breath of life gives life to every cell of our bodies. It gives life to our brain cells which operate our body and our mind and our emotions.
When we are alive the soul is our entire person. It is flesh and spirit combined. When we die the spirit returns to God from whence it came in the first place. The body returns to dust (the grave). Our person does not cease to exist. Our person is just bodiless. Our spirit is our soul when we are bodiless. When we resurrect, then we will be a complete soul again.
Jesus is a soul living in the heavenly realm. He is not a spirit. He is a body and a spirit. If we die before he comes, the we eagerly await our resurection, because we will be just a spirit until the ressurection.
And for experience sake it is important that the Christian be able to discern the distinction between the soul and the spirit or else he will fail to live a spiritual life.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. All animal life is spiritual. It's just not necessarily Godly. Godly life is led by the Spirit of God. As we crucify ourselves (our person) then we begin to live through His Spirit. (that is once we have received that Spirit)

This message is a reply to:
 Message 151 by jaywill, posted 11-15-2008 6:25 AM jaywill has replied

Replies to this message:
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jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 153 of 165 (488827)
11-18-2008 9:21 AM
Reply to: Message 152 by AlphaOmegakid
11-17-2008 1:45 PM


Jesus is a soul living in the heavenly realm. He is not a spirit.
Jesus Christ is an entire man in the heavenly realm. He has what we would well call a glorified body in resurrection (John 20:19,20; Luke 24:36-41). This miraculous body in resurrection He demonstrated after He rose from the dead. He ate a piece of fish and the disciples handled him with their hands. That is after the Father was the first to enjoy His Son's resurrection.
At His second coming His physical feet will touch down on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4)
I believe that today, right now Christ is a man in resurrection and not just an unembodied soul: "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. 2:5)
He is a body and a spirit. If we die before he comes, the we eagerly await our resurection, because we will be just a spirit until the ressurection.
The believer before the resurrection is spoken of as being unclothed or found najed. So though I am not sure whether to use "just spirit" here or "soul and spirit" it is clear that it is the immeterial component of man. And the resurrrection and glorification of the physical body are needed to complete this full salvation.
First Thessalonians speaks of being preserved complete in all three parts of the human being - "spirit and soul and body":
"And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 5:23)
L wrote:
And for experience sake it is important that the Christian be able to discern the distinction between the soul and the spirit or else he will fail to live a spiritual life.
You replied:
I'm not sure what you mean by this. All animal life is spiritual. It's just not necessarily Godly. Godly life is led by the Spirit of God. As we crucify ourselves (our person) then we begin to live through His Spirit. (that is once we have received that Spirit)
The need to discern the human spirit from the soul is needed to be spiritual rather than to be soulish, natural, and worse yet just plain fleshy or fleshly. The living and operative word of God helps to divide within us the soul and the spirit:
"For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edge sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the hearth." (Heb. 4:12)
The Christian may not always be able to discern his real motives, whether they are of God or simply of his fallen self. The living word of God can help him discern the thoughts and intentions of his heart. That is to divide two things which are closely stuck together - his human soul and his human spirit. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus is one with his spirit - "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). So the need to get to the Lord's Spirit in his human spirit is needed to walk by the Spirit.
This is alife long excercise. We never as Christians graduate from the need to discern our spirit, because in doing so we discern the Lord's Spirit.
Paul had the assurance that he served God in his regenerated spirit and not simply from himself, ie. from his soulish and natural man:
"For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son ..." (Rom. 1:9)
Paul encouraged the believers to set their mind on the regenerated spirit. So it is important to be able to learn to discern our regenerated Christ indwelt spirit in order to be spiritual:
"For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." (Rom. 8:6)
Actually to deny the self is to set the mind on the spirit where the Spirit of Jesus is. To deny the self is to deny the independent soul life. And instead of enjoying the independent soul life, the denyer sets his mind on the born again human spirit. There there is life and peace - "the mind set on the spirit [human spirit] is life and peace."
Because the Lord is WITH the human spirit - "The Lord be with your spirit"( 2 Tim. 4:22). This is logical because it was the human spirit that inderwent the new birth by the Holy Spirit to initiate the Christian life:
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)
Since the human spirit, in regeneration was born of the Holy Spirit, it is logical that the human spirit and the Holy Spirit have become one mingled and united spirit:
"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17)
Since the regenerated spirit is born of the Lord's Spirit and is mingled and united with the Lord's Holy Spirit, therefore the Lord is with the Christian's spirit:
"The Lord be with your spirit" (2 Tim 4:22)
So we must more and more discern our spirit in order to discern the Lord. And moreover we must discern our spirit in order to know the grace of the Lord. That is the empowerment and enabling ability which is in the Lord's divine life. So the Lord being with our spirit exactly means that the grace of the Lord which we so desperately need, is ALSO with our spirit:
"The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you." (1 Tim. 4:22)
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." (Phil. 4:23)
"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers, Amen." (Galatians 6:18)
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." (Philemon 25)
We have to discern our spirit to touch the Lord subjectively within. We have to discern our spirit to sense the life and peace which indicates that we are in harmony with God and His will. And we have to discern our spirit in order to know the empowerment, the empowering, the enabling and support of the grace of Christ. His grace is with our spirit.
Does any of this clarify what I wrote?
See Forbidden
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 152 by AlphaOmegakid, posted 11-17-2008 1:45 PM AlphaOmegakid has not replied

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kristine08m 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5608 days)
Posts: 3
Joined: 11-19-2008


Message 154 of 165 (488935)
11-19-2008 9:17 PM


spam
spam
Edited by AdminNosy, : No reason given.

spammer

  
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 155 of 165 (488947)
11-20-2008 2:36 AM
Reply to: Message 153 by jaywill
11-18-2008 9:21 AM


Link Problem
Ignore the Link in my post.
It is not the proper one. I checked it one day and it was correct. Then I checked it a few days afterwards and it was a different site.
I may have made an error of some type.
Ignore link.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

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Peg
Member (Idle past 4929 days)
Posts: 2703
From: melbourne, australia
Joined: 11-22-2008


Message 156 of 165 (489064)
11-22-2008 10:03 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by DeclinetoState
03-16-2006 1:23 PM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
DeclinetoState wrote: "Before they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then, did Adam and Eve not have souls?
Is the soul the same thing as conscience? "
most notable is the genesis account (Gen2.7) that says "God blew into his nostrils the 'breath of life' (ru”ach/spirit), and the man 'came to be a living 'soul' (ne”phesh/life)
other biblical evidence of what the writers had in mind when they spoke of the soul are found in (2Kings 7:7) “The righteous one is caring for the soul of his domestic animal.” (Proverbs 12:10) “The Son of man came ... to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many.” (Matthew 20:28) “He came quite near to death, exposing his soul to danger.” (Philippians 2:30) In each case, the word “soul” means “life.”
simply put...we are souls, we dont have them ... i find this a comforting thought, no hellish afterlife to worry about :-)

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 Message 8 by DeclinetoState, posted 03-16-2006 1:23 PM DeclinetoState has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 157 by jaywill, posted 11-25-2008 9:01 AM Peg has replied

  
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 157 of 165 (489219)
11-25-2008 9:01 AM
Reply to: Message 156 by Peg
11-22-2008 10:03 PM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
Hello Peg,
Welcome to the discissions.
simply put...we are souls, we dont have them ... i find this a comforting thought, no hellish afterlife to worry about :-)
Wouldn't you say that not only are we a soul but we have a soul too?
Mary said her soul magnified the Lord (Luke 1:46) She not only was a soul. She had one she could call hers.
Jesus spoke of "... my soul ..."(John 12:27)
In addition to being a soul He had one too.
I am for people not having to worry about eternal perdition. However, for other reasons would be more substantial - ie. that Christ is your security having believed into Him as the Savior.
Is your only assurance of salvation from perdition that you are a soul and do not possesses one that can be effected by any "after life?"
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 156 by Peg, posted 11-22-2008 10:03 PM Peg has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 159 by Peg, posted 11-26-2008 5:56 AM jaywill has replied

  
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 158 of 165 (489220)
11-25-2008 9:16 AM
Reply to: Message 142 by Recon3rd
03-19-2008 7:43 AM


Seems like we ARE spirits and we do live in a body, it's the spirit that gives the body life and when that life begins it produces the soul which is WHO we are. Our soul makes us who we are and is influenced by our body and our spirit. If you allow your body to control your soul and block the spirit you're only getting half of the information to make a decision.
You supplied very good verses.
And I agree with your paragraph above. In other words we are meant to function in three dimensions. And lacking information from one dimension, ie. blocked by the body or soul, we have partial information.
Learning to function in all three realms takes a life time and most progress deeper and deeper.
This website helps inform my views on the parts of man:
Tripartite Man: refs. include Watchman Nee and Witness Lee
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

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 Message 142 by Recon3rd, posted 03-19-2008 7:43 AM Recon3rd has not replied

  
Peg
Member (Idle past 4929 days)
Posts: 2703
From: melbourne, australia
Joined: 11-22-2008


Message 159 of 165 (489302)
11-26-2008 5:56 AM
Reply to: Message 157 by jaywill
11-25-2008 9:01 AM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
i dont know mate
it all comes back to the original meaning of that word doesnt it?
if you were living in the hebrew's days, and you spoke of the 'soul', the likely hood is that you were talking about your own life

This message is a reply to:
 Message 157 by jaywill, posted 11-25-2008 9:01 AM jaywill has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 160 by Bailey, posted 11-26-2008 2:20 PM Peg has not replied
 Message 161 by jaywill, posted 11-26-2008 7:14 PM Peg has replied

  
Bailey
Member (Idle past 4370 days)
Posts: 574
From: Earth
Joined: 08-24-2003


Message 160 of 165 (489359)
11-26-2008 2:20 PM
Reply to: Message 159 by Peg
11-26-2008 5:56 AM


ol' soul
if you were living in the hebrew's days, and you spoke of the 'soul', the likely hood is that you were talking about your own life
The idea of a “soul” came into being only after the reality of resurrection began to enter Jewish thought.
lol - if it were much before 200 B.C.E the likely hood is that you were talking gibberish.
Even then it is not nefesh, but neshama, that becomes the term for soul.
I suppose it depends how far back in the days you were ...
One Love

Mercy Trumps Judgement,
Love Weary
The Apostle of the Skeptics writes:
"...picture me alone in that room ... night after night, feeling ... the steady, unrelenting approach of Him
whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me."

This message is a reply to:
 Message 159 by Peg, posted 11-26-2008 5:56 AM Peg has not replied

  
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 161 of 165 (489402)
11-26-2008 7:14 PM
Reply to: Message 159 by Peg
11-26-2008 5:56 AM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
i dont know mate
it all comes back to the original meaning of that word doesnt it?
if you were living in the hebrew's days, and you spoke of the 'soul', the likely hood is that you were talking about your own life
Seems that Mary was a good Jew and knew how to use the word. And Jesus I trust.
The soul must be an entity that can be separated from the body or else Christ would not have said this:
"And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matthew 10:28)
Christ must have been using Gehenna as a symbol of a realm in which the soul of man can be destroyed after the body has been destroyed. Otherwise it would be logical to assume that if soul and living body were the same to destroy the body would be to kill the soul. Apparently Christ, also a Jew, taught we should fear that God can do more than man can do, ie. not only kill the body but to destroy or kill the soul also.
Going back to the Old Testament David suggests that he could not flee God's presence even if he hide himself in Sheol:
"Where shall I go, away from Your Spirit, Where shall I go, away from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, there You are. IF I take the wings of the dawn and settle at the limits of the sea, There also You hand will lead me ..." (Psalm 139:7-10)
David, a good Hebrew speaking Jew, asks to what local he should escape to get away from God's Spirit and God's presence:
1.) Heaven ? No.
2.) Sheol ? No.
3.) The uttermost limits beyond the sea. No.
Nowhere can he get away from God. This leads me to understand Sheol is a local where the soul of David could go after the body of David died.
Then again David prophesied that God would not abandon his soul in Sheol. I will speak to this passage probably more latter.
Then again Amos said that Shoel could not be filled. If it is nothing then I would ask, filled with what? Or I would ask filled with who ?
Departed souls would of course be the answer.
Body and soul and spirit of man - Tripartite Man: refs. include Watchman Nee and Witness Lee
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 159 by Peg, posted 11-26-2008 5:56 AM Peg has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 162 by Peg, posted 11-27-2008 6:11 PM jaywill has replied

  
Peg
Member (Idle past 4929 days)
Posts: 2703
From: melbourne, australia
Joined: 11-22-2008


Message 162 of 165 (489484)
11-27-2008 6:11 PM
Reply to: Message 161 by jaywill
11-26-2008 7:14 PM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
again we are assuming that our english translation of their language is correct
You may recall the Apostle tell a crowd that King David had not ascended to any heavenly realm but, just as Jesus received a resurrection, so King David was in his grave awaiting a resurrection...
Acts 2:29 writes:
“Men, brothers, it is allowable to speak with freeness of speech to YOU concerning the family head David, that he both deceased and was buried and his tomb is among us to this day....He saw beforehand and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he forsaken in Ha”des nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses. ... Actually David did not ascend to the heavens.” (Acts 2:1-34)
According to Peter’s words, David’s resurrection is yet future.
I agree that the spirit never dies, for the scriptures say that the spirit returns to God and stays there
Luke 20 :34 writes:
Jesus said to them: “...those who have been counted worthy of gaining... the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
36In fact, neither can they die anymore, for they are like the angels, and they are God’s children by being children of the resurrection.
37But that the dead are raised up even Moses disclosed, in the account about the thornbush, when he calls Jehovah ”the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.’
38He is a God, not of the dead, but of the living, for they are all living to him.”
Jesus he was granted a resurrection after 3 days.
but King David was still awaiting a resurrection...as was Abraham, Issac and Jacob... and as were the 'great crowd of witnesses' spoken of in Hebrews Chptr 11:39 states "...39And yet all these, although they had witness borne to them through their faith, did not get the [fulfillment of the] promise"
So, sure, they are all living in the sense that they are alive in Gods memory, in that way, we never die... but their mortal bodies and minds have died and they are awaiting a resurrection from the dead.
Edited by Peg, : scripture reference inserted
Edited by Peg, : scripture ref inserted
Edited by Peg, : scriptures put in box

This message is a reply to:
 Message 161 by jaywill, posted 11-26-2008 7:14 PM jaywill has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 163 by jaywill, posted 11-28-2008 3:27 PM Peg has replied

  
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 163 of 165 (489611)
11-28-2008 3:27 PM
Reply to: Message 162 by Peg
11-27-2008 6:11 PM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
again we are assuming that our english translation of their language is correct
I am not working from the initial assumption that an English translation has to be a bad one ? I am not working from the assumption that God's revelation is locked to anyone except those who can fluently read and write ancient Hebrew.
The Scriptures can be translated into other languages. People have the skill to do that. And some of them have the added advantage of having a vital and living relationship with God and care about accuracy. They include footnotes where there are other opinions to site those other opinions.
You may recall the Apostle tell a crowd that King David had not ascended to any heavenly realm but, just as Jesus received a resurrection, so King David was in his grave awaiting a resurrection...
You are refering to Acts 2:22-36 I believe.
Acts 2:29 writes:
“Men, brothers, it is allowable to speak with freeness of speech to YOU concerning the family head David, that he both deceased and was buried and his tomb is among us to this day....He saw beforehand and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he forsaken in Ha”des nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God resurrected, of which fact we are all witnesses. . . . Actually David did not ascend to the heavens.” (Acts 2:1-34)
According to Peter’s words, David’s resurrection is yet future.
That is correct. What's wrong with that? David's resurrection and ascending to heaven await a future moment. I have always believed that.
I agree that the spirit never dies, for the scriptures say that the spirit returns to God and stays there
I'm am going to try to hone in on the responses to things which I specifically said. With multiple participants in a discussion there is the possibility that it seems like someone is arguing someone else's point. Just a heads up.
Luke 20 :34 writes:
Jesus said to them: “...those who have been counted worthy of gaining... the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
36 In fact, neither can they die anymore, for they are like the angels, and they are God’s children by being children of the resurrection.
37 But that the dead are raised up even Moses disclosed, in the account about the thornbush, when he calls Jehovah ”the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.’
38 He is a God, not of the dead, but of the living, for they are all living to him.”
Jesus he was granted a resurrection after 3 days.
That is what I believe the Bible is teaching. Jesus rose from the dead in three days.
but King David was still awaiting a resurrection...as was Abraham, Issac and Jacob... and as were the 'great crowd of witnesses' spoken of in Hebrews Chptr 11:39 states "...39 And yet all these, although they had witness borne to them through their faith, did not get the [fulfillment of the] promise"
So, sure, they are all living in the sense that they are alive in Gods memory, in that way, we never die... but their mortal bodies and minds have died and they are awaiting a resurrection from the dead.
Well, I think it is more than that they are alive in God's memory. They are physically DEAD. there is no question about that.
But what I am saying is that this physical death is a separation of the immaterial part of man from the material part.
You are aware that Jesus was seen conversing with Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-4). Though it is true that Elijah was caught up alive and carried somewhere Moses had clearly died.
I don't think this could have been Jesus speaking with an illusion or simply God's memory of Moses. It was Moses, probably in the same state that Samuel the prophet was when Saul conversed with him after his death.
"Then Samuel DIED, and all Israel gathered and mourned for him; and they buried him in Ramah" ( 1 Sam. 25:1).
Samuel was clearly DEAD. Do you agree? And KIng Saul, whose, Hebrew reading and writing skills were probably up to par spoke these words:
"Consult a DEPARTED spirit for me, and bring up to me the one whom I tell you." (1 Samuel 28:8 my emphasis)
Then a witch of Indor was deceived by Saul to bring up the departed soul of the prophet Samuel. I do not believe that these witches were able to actually do this thing. But it seems that in this instance God permitted it. The spirit of Samuel came up from Sheol.
"So the woman said, Whom shall I bring up to you? And he [King Saul] said, Bring up Samuel to me. Now when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; snd the soman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul." (1 Sam 28:12)
The spirit of Samuel comes up from the realm of the dead and speaks to Saul - "Why have you disturebed me by bringing me up?" (v. 15)
There is no question in my mind that God permitted the immaterial part of Samuel the prophet to come up out of Sheol. This was actually the prophet's personality minus his physical body.
I do not believe that this was a bodily resurrection of a non-existant person. He was not in the realm of the living under the sun. But his immaterial part was brought before Saul to speak.
I believe that on the mount of transfiguration a similiar thing happened with Moses who had died. Elijah may have been taken alive to some realm of God or heaven of which we know little about. But Moses, like Samuel, appeared to converse with someone alive on the earth. In this case Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul in Second Corinthians says that to die physically is to be found naked. That is unclothed. He and the other apostles did not want to be found naked before God but clothed with their new glorified and resurrected physical bodies.
Essentially, the "naked" and unclothed soul, ie. the soul apart from the body, on some exists in Sheol.
Revelation 6:9-11 also contains a vision of the departed souls through the history who have believed, underneath the altar crying out to God.
"And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Master, holy and true, will YOu not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? ... and it was said to them that they should rest yet a little while, until also the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed, even as they were, is completed."
I believe that the symbol of underneath the altar signifieds underneath the earth.
Furthermore the grating of the altar was netted. So when something was offered to God in burning, the remainder fell down through the netting to lie underneath the altar. I think this symbolism speaks of the departed immaterial portion of God's saints descending into Sheol.
Apparently they can still rest and pray there. And in Revelation God finally answers their prayers as well as the prayers of the living and DOES avenge their deaths upon the Christ and God persecuting world.
There are yet further reasons to see Sheol or Hades as a local to which the immaterial part of man goes at physical death.
The Bible says that Jesus at death descended into "the lower parts of the earth":
"(Now this, He ascended, what is it except He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?" (Eph. 4:9)
Yet on the cross He told the believing thief who was also on a cross that on that day that thief would be with Him in Paradise:
"And he said, Jesus, remember me when You come into YOur kingdom. And He [Jesus] said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:42,43)
The lower parts of the earth is where there is a Padadise, a copmfortable section of Sheol where the believers soul and spirit go. This Paradise is also called "Abraham's bosom" where the beggar Lazarus went to be comforted while the rich man went to be tormented.
In the lower parts of the earth there must be at least two compartments of Sheol - a comfortable Paradise for the unclothed spirit and soul of the saints of God and a place of punishment and torment for the opposers and unbelievers of God.
This lower parts of the earth was also refered to as the heart of the earth in Matthew 12:40 where Jesus in His soul and spirit went for three days immediately after His death:
"For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." (Matt.12:40)
So the day Jesus does He and the believing thief went down to Paradise in the lower parts of the earth, ie. in the heart of the earth.
His soul did not remain there for He asked the Father to save Him OUT OF DEATH. That not to save Him from death. That is to save Him OUT OF death - " This One, in the days of His flesh, having offered up both petitions and suplications with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save Him out of death and having been heard because of His piety." (Hebrews 5:7)
In other words the Father did not spare Him from dying but did not leave Him in the realm of death in Sheol. He saved Him OUT OF death. Just as the prophet David had said concerning Christ that God would not leave His soul in Hades (Sheol).
This realm may be hidden to our eyes here on earth. But it is opened to eyes of God (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11).
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 162 by Peg, posted 11-27-2008 6:11 PM Peg has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 164 by Peg, posted 11-28-2008 4:33 PM jaywill has replied

  
Peg
Member (Idle past 4929 days)
Posts: 2703
From: melbourne, australia
Joined: 11-22-2008


Message 164 of 165 (489613)
11-28-2008 4:33 PM
Reply to: Message 163 by jaywill
11-28-2008 3:27 PM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
jaywill writes:
"Consult a DEPARTED spirit for me, and bring up to me the one whom I tell you." (1 Samuel 28:8 my emphasis)
Then a witch of Indor was deceived by Saul to bring up the departed soul of the prophet Samuel. I do not believe that these witches were able to actually do this thing. But it seems that in this instance God permitted it. The spirit of Samuel came up from Sheol.
wasnt witchcraft and sorcery against Gods law in the bible...
Moses sternly and repeatedly warned Israel not to take up these divination practices of the other nations, saying: “There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead.
do you really believe that God would have approved of this?
and why do you think that it was a condemned practice in the law?
Why would God not want his people to contact the 'dead'?
If the dead were still alive in some other way, then the scripture here in Eccl is false...
Eccle 9:5 "5For the living are conscious that they will die; but
as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. 6Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun.
but if this scripture is true, then perhaps they were not really contacting the dead, but rather like Eve in the garden of eden, they were talking to Satan who was posing as somebody else
Edited by Peg, : fixed quote box

This message is a reply to:
 Message 163 by jaywill, posted 11-28-2008 3:27 PM jaywill has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 165 by jaywill, posted 11-28-2008 10:58 PM Peg has not replied

  
jaywill
Member (Idle past 1941 days)
Posts: 4519
From: VA USA
Joined: 12-05-2005


Message 165 of 165 (489658)
11-28-2008 10:58 PM
Reply to: Message 164 by Peg
11-28-2008 4:33 PM


Re: Soul and the knowledge of good and evil
wasnt witchcraft and sorcery against Gods law in the bible...
Moses sternly and repeatedly warned Israel not to take up these divination practices of the other nations, saying: “There should not be found in you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead.
do you really believe that God would have approved of this?
I fully agree that God had forbidden this practice of necromancy.
Now, would God in an instance permit it? I would probably draw your attention to the incident of Balaam's sin. God strictly told the proophet Balaam NOT to accept money from king Balak to be a hired prophet speaking AGAINST the Hebrews. Balaam at first agreed ... until Balak offered him more money.
Then Balaam went back to God and said in essence "You SURE you don't want me to do it ?" Then God said "Do it".
Now it was against God's perfect will for Balaam to be a hired prophet for the Gentile king. In hypocrisy, Balaam's greedy nature drives him to make sure that God has not made a mistake. Then God permits him to follow his own stubburn way.
Now we know that it was not God's happiness to let Balaam do it. The angel stood in the way ready to KILL Balaam. Had it not been for the talking mule Balaam would have been sliced to pieces by the angel of God. This shows that Balaam's going was not according to Balaam's way but according to God's permissive way.
Balaam's way is a way of DEATH. God's way is a permissive allowance letting the prophet follow his own sinful and stubburn course of greed.
God will howeve turn the situation to His glory, as usual.
So, I concede that God allowed to happen what He detested and strictly warned the Jews NOT to practice. Probably that was the only genuine contact of a liveing person with a dead one under God's holy supervision.
What the nations and rebel Jews practice concerning necromancy was to contact deceiving demonic spirits. This demons could ramsake the memory of departed sinners and imitate their presence. I do not believe that the dead by any magic can actually be contacted. To attempt to do so can lead to DEMONIC deception.
This may explain why the witch was shocked. Perhaps she new that "familiar spirits" were involved in this practice. I am not sure.
But anyway God permitted the phenomenon to actually occur in this instance turning it to His glory and His desires lesson.
and why do you think that it was a condemned practice in the law?
Why would God not want his people to contact the 'dead'?
I think I have just explained so above. There may be more than one good reason. However, one is that it lead them to contact the Satanic and demonic realm of evil spirits who deceive mankind.
We have no argument about the hatefulness and forbiddeness of such a practice.
I would ask you. Are other things which God forbade that He allowed to take place against His perfect will ? Did God like the Golden Cafe that Aaron made ? Did God permit the thing to occur ? Did we not learn as Bible readers a lesson about God's holiness from the occurence of this hateful incident ?
This matter of Samuel's spirit coming up from Sheol was permitted under the sovereignty of God. I simply have to consider the context of the whole incident.
If the dead were still alive in some other way, then the scripture here in Eccl is false...
Eccle 9:5 "5 For the living are conscious that they will die; but
as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun.
By far the most popular passage people point to to defend a non-existence departed soul is the book of Ecclesiastes. They have a point. But I don't think the point is quite strong enough to negate other clear teaching in the Bible.
Solomon is speaking of this mainly "under the sun" ... a phrase which he repeats many times in Ecclesiastes. He is saying that to us who are living under the sun in this well known realm of life on earth - IT IS ALL OVER ONCE WE DIE. And he is absolutely right in that sense. We are GONE. We are NOT HERE ANYMORE. Our plans have stopped. Our dreams and intentions have perished.
Under the sun, once we die, says Solomon, it is ALL OVER. But notice concerning where the spirit goes, Solomon leaves it as a question. [b]"WHO KNOWS?" he asks. Do WE here on earth know by experience that the animals spirit goes down and the human's spirit goes up?
It is set to us as a question: "All go to one place: all are of dust, and all return to dust. Who knows the breath of the children of men, that it goes upward; or the breath of the beasts, that it goes downward to the earth?" (Ecc. 3:20,21)
I take this as Solomons pragmatic musings of things of human affairs "under the sun". But experience none of us really know what will happen to our spirit. No one by that time came back from the dead to inform anyone.
Solomon is saying "We don't know that we are any better than the animals. We all turn back to dust. Who knows if the spirit of a man is more noble and goes up at death and the aninals spirit is less noble and goes down. For all intents and purposes we are just the same as they. We all turn to dust."
I love this book of Ecclesiates very much. But I would ask you when you read it again to consider its tone of mentioning again and again things "under the sun". This is a pragmatic book with pessimistic kind of tone about the limitations of human knowledge and experience. I would not take Ecclesiates as the final word about the matter of death, resurrection or man's total spiritual destiny.
but if this scripture is true, then perhaps they were not really contacting the dead, but rather like Eve in the garden of eden, they were talking to Satan who was posing as somebody else
I agree with this in principle. Man puts his hope in magic arts behind which often lurk deceiving demons.
They know what we want and can fake furnish us with deceptions all designed to lead us further away from God.
Perhaps UFOs are a modern day Satanic deception tailored to our age - a decptive phenomenon of evil spirits to tickle the lust of modern day man seeking other things beside God's salvation. Of course bleeding and crying statues of the Virgin Mary would come under the same catagory.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 164 by Peg, posted 11-28-2008 4:33 PM Peg has not replied

  
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