Job 32:8: “But
there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.” The breath is not the same as mans spirit but that which teaches him, being the Holy Spirit from God.
Isaiah 26:9 says this: “ At night my soul longs for Thee, indeed my spirit
within me seeks Thee diligently.”
Zech.12:1: “Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and
forms the spirit of man within him:” Here we see that the physical man is different than the Spirit in him.
1 Cor. 6:20: “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God
in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's.” Paul distinguishes the body from the Spirit, both existing simultaneously, yet both are united to make man.
1 Cor. 2:11: “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” Mans spirit is not the same as Gods Spirit. Our spirit has certain capabilities to understand the things of man but fall short in understanding God unless he reveals them to us. The knowledge is not in our flesh but our spirit, certainly this cannot mean our breath for it knows nothing. There is a comparison here between mans spirit knowing the things of man and Gods spirit knowing the things of God.
Job.14:22: “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” Job makes the distinction saying the flesh is upon him and the soul is within him.
Now lets address the argument that some claim the soul or spirit is just another word for breath since this is what the Hebrew word
Ruach means. That when someone dies their breath leaves them. Lets substitute the word breath where Spirit is and see if it makes any sense scripturally?
Job 34:14-15: “If He should set His heart on it, if He should gather to Himself Spirit (
His breath?) and His breath, All flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” Here both breath and spirit are distinguished otherwise one would be gathering to himself spirit and his spirit or breath and his breath.
Ps. 19:7: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the
Breath, the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;” The conversion is to ones soul, their inner being so it can rule over their body.
2 Cor. 7:1: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
Breath (spirit),” Does this mean we take breath mints?
Gal 6:8: “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the
breath ( Spirit ) will of the
breath (Spirit)reap everlasting life.”
Acts 23:8: “For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection-- and no angel or
breath (spirit); but the Pharisees confess both.” Is there no breath or were they speaking about a spirit that is intelligent (a type of angel). What we will see is that Spirits do exist outside the vehicle of the body as does mans. V.9”Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees' party arose and protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a
spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” Certainly they are speaking about a corporeal entity that communicates not just breath.
What of Jesus, did he use this definition? Matt. 12:43 “When an unclean
Breath, (spirit) “goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.” Certainly he did not mean bad breath. Just as man can have the Holy Spirit live within him alongside his human Spirit so he can have a unclean spirit live in him.
Luke 4:36: “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean
Breaths, (spirit) and they come out.”
Acts 5:16: “Bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean
Breath,” (spirit), and they were all healed.” I guess some peoples souls need breath freshener! Jesus cast out spirit entities not peoples breath, and if he did they would certainly die on the spot.
Luke 12:19: “And I will say to my
Breath, “
Breath,”(spirit), you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” Can ones breath eat and drink.
James 5:20 “ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a
Breath, (soul) from death and cover a multitude of sins.” Can breath be saved or a person.
2 Pet. 2:8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous
Breath, (spirit) from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
Ezek. 18:4: “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Can breathe die? Obviously this means something than just air in the lungs.
1 Sam 30:6 “ because
the soul of all the people was grieved.” Num. 21:4 “ and
the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.” Prov. 21:10 “T
he soul of the wicked desires evil” Can breath do any of these things, or does it communicate emotion, intelligence and personality? Gen. 34:8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.” Is Shechem's breath desiring a wife?
Pnuema means wind in Greek it also means breath and spirit. Ruach in Hebrew means wind, it too also can mean breath and spirit. Since Hebrew and Greek have only one word for wind breath and spirit one needs to discern what is meant by certain passages, the context defines the meaning. Jesus breathed on his disciples in John 20 saying receive the Spirit, the rushing wind in Acts is certainly to be interpreted as the Spirit. When Jesus breathed on the apostles the Holy Spirit in Jn.20:22 he wasn't giving them
Breath for life but the Holy Spirit in some capacity.
If Spirit is breath and God is Spirit is He breath to? We can see how ludicrous this position of interpretation is. Certainly when Jesus spoke to the Father into your hands I commend my Spirit he was not speaking of his breath.
I think the point is clear, Spirit does not mean breath although at times it is used metaphorically.
There is a difference between man's breath and spirit
Isaiah 42:5: “Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it.” Two things are given the breath and the spirit if they were one thing it would not be written like this.
1 Cor. 2:11-12: “ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? “ Could we ever substitute breath for Spirit? Mans center of knowledge is not in their physical human nature, neither in the brain which is just a vehicle. It is our spirit that has a will and recalls. When one dies it is because the spirit leaves this is why one cannot hear nor see our spiritual nature has left.” Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” Could we substitute breath and have the scripture read “No one knows the things of God but the breath of God?” “Now we have received, not the
breath of the world, but the
breath who is from God! Does God need breath to live? The Bible tells us God is Spirit (breath?) and that he has all knowledge, perfect knowledge of the past present and future.
James. 2:26: “the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Meaning only the body dies, as James uses the example that faith animates our works so the Spirit animates the body. The relationship between the material and immaterial when broken means we die physically. Our spirit is not dead like the body. The Spirit is just as alive outside the body as it is inside the body. The resurrection only applies to the body. When our spirit returns, our bodies come alive again. The correlation made is that real faith (which is invisible) is displayed to others by having works to show it is alive .
Abraham died and was gathered to his people. Gen.25:8 Jacob said the same thing Gen.49:29 Rachel dying said her
soul was departing and she died in Gen.35:18.
The description of what occurs at death is described in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as giving up the ghost, Abraham Gen.25:8. Isaac gave up the ghost Gen.35:29.
Jacob breathed his last Gen.49:33. Even Jesus Lk.23:46, and Sapphira in Acts 5:10. This is a common phrase to signify one is dying not that their soul goes to sleep.
In I Kings 17:20-22: “When the widows son died Elijah cried out three times to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, I pray,
let this child's soul come back to him.” Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. Notice that it came in him. This is not just breath as one can make air go back into someone who just died and they would not revive, this says the soul
of the child, it is something he possessed that had left him.
Luke 8:54-55: “he, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, 'Child arise!' And her spirit returned , and she rose immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.” This shows without the spirit to animate the body we are dead. This does not mean the spirit is dead or sleeping. In all these instances we find the spirit entering the body again but never reviving or resurrecting because it already is alive. It is the body that is asleep and needs animation.
The Bible speaks of two different kinds of death…
1 Tim 5:6: “But she who lives in pleasure
is dead while she lives.” This does not mean one is a walking corpse in the physical body but they are dead in their spirit from sin and trespasses. This is remedied by a new birth, Jn.3 being born again by the Spirit.
The term
“death” which is “
thanatas” in Greek, does not mean to be non-existence or unconscious, it rather means to be separated. Some examples:
Colossians 2:13: “And when you
were dead (separated form God--NOT “unconscious”) in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh...”
Ephesians 2:1: “And he made you alive, who
were dead in trespasses and sins.” this is addressing the spiritual state of someone who was in sin and then made alive spiritually in Christ. (also Revelation 3:1)The unregenerate are dead but they are not unconscious or non existent.
The prodigal son in Lk.15:24 is said by the Father “This my son was dead and is alive again.” Jesus was not talking about a bodily or soul resurrection but of one who left fellowship with the father.
Jesus in Matt. 26:38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. He was not saying his soul was going to die and go to sleep.
What of Jesus in Lk.23:46 said to the Father into your hands “I commit my spirit,” isn’t this clear he is having his spirit received into the Fathers hands while his body is to be laid in the tomb. This is the very same thing Stephen states in Acts 7:59 Stephen cried unto the Lord saying “receive my spirit.”
Revelation 6:9-11: “And when He broke 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 maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.” Notice the timing is at the fifth seal, God gave them white robes and they are told to wait for their brethren who will be killed. This consummates in Rev.7:9-15 where they are gathered before the throne of God serving him day and night in his temple (v.15). This would be hard to do if one is asleep or out of existence.
The Bible teaches
death is not a cessation of existence, but a separation of existence. The soul is our intellect, our personality, our identity. The real person will live on.
All the Old Testament passages need to be interpreted through the New Testament revelation. Without the New Testament teaching what was unrevealed in the Old Testament would stay a mystery as Paul states in 1 Cor.15:51: “behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Speaking of the resurrection of the body. Matthew 13:11, 35; Rom.16:25; I Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 3:4-5 and 3:9 – these Scriptures give us a definition of a mystery as something that was unrevealed in the Old Testament and now revealed for the first time in the New Testament. Heaven was not explained in the Old Testament , the immortality of man, the resurrection to eternal life, the forgiveness of sins as permanent. There is the New Testament mystery of the revelation of God in Christ, 1 Tim. 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh,” None of these were explained until we had New Testament revelation. Likewise so is the revealing of what actually transpires after death through the teaching of Christ and the apostles.
Ps.6:5: “In death there is no remembrance
of you.” Ps.146 :4: “the thoughts perish at death, the preceding words put this in context. “His spirit departs he returns to earth in that day his thoughts (plans) perish at death.” Eccl.8:8 “there is no man that has power over the Spirit to retain the spirit; in the day of death.” This describes the spirit departing from the body, that no one can hold it back not man nor the ground.
Ps.115:17: “The dead praise not the Lord neither any that go down into silence.” But it then says “But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and FOR EVERMORE.” Wouldn't this by necessity mean to be alive and conscious.
Eccl.3:19: “For what happens to the sons of men also happen to the 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.” Solomon is not describing the afterlife but that we all die, man is not eternal in the body. When we stop breathing we die like any other creature.
Eccl.9:5,10: “in Sheol there is no work or device or wisdom.” These passages that seem to imply a dead soul are really describing the normal functions of the body while one lived on earth are not the same afterwards. When one dies these are no longer possible, it ceases. Memory of them is forgotten” is not referring to those who die but those still living will no longer think of them. Ecclesiastes should be kept in its context. Solomon was engulfed in human philosophy and he was backslidden, although there are times rays of truth break through. It was written from a human perspective and the theme of the book is said over and over when a person dies he has no more portion
under the sun as in vs. 10 of Eccl.9 (used 29 times). This is an idiom of
in this world, where ones functions on earth are no longer possible. These were put in the Bible for an example of how far one can go away from the truth they once knew so well. Just as Satan's lie was recorded to Eve in saying “you will not surely die” so are the words of Solomon in his backslidden state that are not a revelation concerning truth.
Gen.3:19 gives us the report of mans design. “Dust thou art and unto the dust shalt thou return.” It was mans physical nature that was made from the dust not his spiritual nature. God breathed into man the spirit, the spirit was not taken from the ground. It came from God.
Likewise Solomon writes a similar narration. Eccl.12: 6-7 describes in poetry the shattering of life, that the dust returns to earth, and
the spirit returns to God who gave it. Yet, earlier, in verse 5, he writes a
man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets. So Solomon is speaking about those who turn to God as he started off this chapter, stating remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before difficult days come. And then he speaks about our eternal home. If it
is sleep in the grave, as people are claiming, then that means we are going to stay in the grave, the ground, forever, if our soul actually sleeps.
One will never read of a soul being resurrected from a physical death. Rather, bodies are resurrected from physical death (Matthew 27:52).Why? Because a soul does not literally die.
Many of these are languages of appearances related to the body only. (usually from mans view point. Showing the inability to function as we once did with the body.
Soul-sleep' which pertains to the deceased, is defined as silence, inactivity and an entire unconsciousness. That once death occurs it affects the spirit of man just as it does the body. This would mean the spirit is only alive when it has a body. We know this is not true and is contrary to the Bible. In Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus he was was not giving disinformation or representing them falsely. The rich man was very much aware of his misfortune as he suffered in Hades he had his thoughts (that temporary abode of the departed spirits of the wicked). While Lazarus enjoyed the blessedness of Paradise (Luke 16:19-31) It is obvious that the rich man is conscious, as Lazarus is conscious, and Abraham is conscious, though they are all dead. All the stories Jesus told always illustrated truth not something false. These two have recently died and one has been long dead. Indeed, their physical bodies are asleep but not their souls. Obviously, the Hadean realm, where all departed spirits remain until the final judgment, is experienced by those dwelling there. (Now excluding Abraham's bosom: Paradise).
In Jn.11:11-14 Jesus says of Lazarus that he sleeps referring to his body. Jesus then says “I will wake him out of his sleep.” He then raised his body from the dead.
In Mt.27:52 the Scripture tells us that at the time of of the resurrection “many bodies of the saints which
slept arose.” The specific mention of bodies makes the meaning clear of what actually slept. It was not the saints themselves that slept but their bodies.
The term “sleep” when it is used of death is in reference to the body. Whenever the Bible speaks of death in the sense of sleep it is always used of the physical body and not the soul, because the appearance of a
sleeping body and a dead body look very much the same. The term “sleep” is never applied to the soul or the spirit , but only the body. The soul and the spirit continue to exist after death. whenever the Bible uses the term “sleep” in reference to death of the body.
As to the CJB I find it gives me a clearer view of the Word. Does that make us Messianic Christians? No. 
