One Torah For All
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One Torah For All 
Newsletter
Man: Elohim or beast
October 3, 2012
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In this issue
Man: Elohim or beast
Question and Answer
Greetings!

We pray that each and every one of you are having a wonderful feast during this time of Sukkot.  It has been chilly here, but we are greatly enjoying our time with our Master!

This week's teaching examines the two alternate paths which man can take.  He can become a beast, or he can become elohim. Take a look at this study to get a clearer look at these two distinct paths.

We have a question this week concerning boredom on Shabbat.
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Man: Elohim or beast?
 
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Evolution   

Yochanan (John) 10:34-35 

34 Yeshua answered them, "Is it not written in your Torah, 'I said, you are elohim?'

35 If He called them elohim, unto whom the word of YHWH came (and the scripture cannot be broken),

 

Yeshua was being castigated by the religious leaders of His day for saying He was the son of Elohim.  Apparently, these men failed to understand what man is.  According to Scripture, man is elohim.  At least that is what he was created to be.  However, many fail to walk in this and become nothing more than a beast.  This comes to pass as a result of wrong choices in a person's life.

 

2nd Thessalonians 2:11 

And for this reason Elohim sends upon them a deluding influence, that they should believe the lie.

 

According to evolutionists, man is simply one among many beasts.  As proof of this idea, the evolutionists point to DNA, in which a portion of all DNA is the same from one species of animal to another, including human DNA.  The evolutionists are so sure of their theory that they have conjectured that man has evolved from lower life forms, and that in fact, he is continuing to evolve according to the common theory of evolution.  Simply put, man is becoming something other than what he now is-something non-human.

 

It is this idea of "becoming" at which we want to take a much closer look in this study.  As a spring board, let us carefully consider the following passage.

 

B'reshit (Genesis) 2:7 

And YHWH Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man is becoming a living being.

 

Many English translations render the end of the verse to read something like "...man became a living soul."  However, ויהי     (vayhi) is in the imperfect tense, which means that this is an incomplete action-an ongoing action.  Once a person understands this critical verb, he can begin to understand the ramifications of his own personal choices as to what those choices are helping him to become.

 

Before we continue our examination of "becoming" a living nephesh (soul or being), we need to have a better understanding of the nephesh itself.  For example, not only does man have a nephesh, but animals also have a nephesh.  And perhaps surprisingly, YHWH also has a nephesh, which really should not be surprising since man was created in the image of Elohim.  Let us examine the Scriptural record to see that in addition to man, both YHWH and animals have a nephesh.  First, we will examine the nephesh of YHWH.

 

Yirmeyah (Jeremiah) 9:9 

"Shall I not visit them for these things?" says YHWH; "shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

 

Here YHWH is speaking through the prophet Yirmeyah.  In this passage, YHWH makes a reference to His nephesh.  We often think of YHWH being a Spirit, and He certainly is that.  However, He is more than just a spirit.  He also has a nephesh.  Because this idea has largely been ignored, there are wrong ideas about man and YHWH floating around.  It is time we allow Scripture to simply teach us what it says, and allow Scripture to form our ideas and thinking about who and what YHWH is, and who and what we are.

 

Not only does YHWH have a nephesh, but animals have a nephesh, as well.  Please carefully consider the following passage.

 

B'reshit (Genesis) 2:19 

And out of the ground YHWH Elohim formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man called every living creature (nephesh), that was the name thereof.

 

In this passage, it is clear, at least once one looks at the Hebrew text, that every living "creature" has and is a nephesh.  This is not what is often taught.  What is often taught, is that animals are without either a soul or spirit (these two are not the same thing), or at the very least, that an animal does not have a spirit.  We shall digress for just a moment and show that animals also have a spirit.

 

B'reshit (Genesis) 7:15 

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath (spirit) of life.

 

This passage teaches us that animals have a body, soul, and spirit, very similar to mankind.  In addition to this information, we can also learn that both man and beast also have a neshamah.

 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 20:16 

"But of the cities of these peoples, that YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes."

 

In the Torah instructions about taking a city by siege, YHWH commands that nothing be left alive, and the context indicates that "nothing that breathes" includes both animal and man.  The word "breathes" here is the Hebrew word נשמה     (neshamah).  All living things, both man and beast, have a body (besar), soul (nephesh), spirit (ruach), and breath (neshamah).  Well then, just exactly what is the difference between man and beast?

 

 

 

Continue reading here. PDF
 
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Question and Answer
 
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Zerubbabel

crazy question -- what do you think about a person that says they keep the sabbath, but they find themselves "bored" on the sabbath?

I guess I just think it's sad for people to feel bored on the day we are to delight in. The King of the Universe wants to come and sup with us! We are rehearsing for the day when we sit at the table with Him...The Day when Yeshua will lift the glass with the fruit of the vine -- with us! A set-apart day, a blessed day, a prophetic day and yes a rest day! I think it's almost insulting to our Heavenly Abba to even tell people you are bored on His Shabbat. It's these kinds of things about some FB "friends" that make me crazy! I can't relate to someone like that at all...whew! Time is too short! Thanks for your input

 

W_____

 

Read response here.

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