Exodus 1:5 ____________________________________
2. How many souls were on Paul's ship?
Acts 27:37 _____________________________________
3. What two elements did God use to form a living soul?
Genesis 2:7 ______________________________________
DUST + BREATH = SOUL
The Biblical definition of a soul is simply a breathing body. Notice that the text does not say that man was given a soul, but rather he became a soul. A soul is not something a person has, it is the person. Souls have blood (Jeremiah 2:34). Not only are people souls, but so are fish and animals (Revelation 16:3).
The Hebrew word for soul, nephesh, is variously translated "person" ( Genesis 14:21), "self" (Leviticus 11:43), "life" (Psalm 31:13), "me" (Judges 16:30), "creature" (Genesis 1:21),
"beast" (Leviticus 24:18), "man" (2 Kings12:4), "thing" (Ezekiel 47:9), and "fish" (Isaiah 19:10). When translated "body" the nephesh is usually dead (Leviticus 21:11).
The Greek word for soul, psuche, has the same meaning. In Matthew 16:25 Jesus commands anyone who will lose his soul (psuche) for Christ's sake. It is often translated simply as "life" (Matthew 2:20). It means "person" (Acts 7:14). "My soul" and "your soul" are idiomatic expressions meaning "I" and "you" (Matthew 12:18; 2 Corinthians 12:15, margin)
4. How is the process God used in creating a soul reversed when we die?
Psalm 104:29 _____________________________________
SOUL -BREATH - DUST
"If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." Job 34:14, 15
5. Can a soul die?
Ezekiel 18:20 _______________________________________
6. When life ends, what is left?
Genesis 3:19 ________________________________________
7. What returns to God?
Ecclesiastes 12:7 ______________________________________
8. Where is this spirit located in a person?
Job 27:3 ____________________________________________
9. What is it that is found in a person's nostrils?
Genesis 7:22 _________________________________________
The Hebrew word for spirit (and ghost, Job 3:11), ruach, and the Greek word, pneuma, mean breath, wind, or vital element. it is the spark of life when makes you able to live. It is "the breath of the Almighty" (Job 33:4). When the Bible uses those words in reference to man, not once does it say that ruach or pneuma is something in man that retains consciousness after the person dies.
Angels are called spirits (Psalm 104:4) because to human eyes they are invisible as breath. But man does not possess the nature of angels (Psalm 8:5, nor does the Bible indicate that he assumes it at death.
10. What goes forth when man dies?
Psalm 146:4 ______________________________________
11. Is the breath in man any different from the breath in beasts?
Ecclesiastes 3:19 _____________________________________
12. Is there any difference between a dead man and a dead beast?
Ecclesiastes 3:20 ______________________________________
A soul is like the light that results when a light bulb is connected to a power source. The spirit or breath of life, is the electric current.
Electricity will produce light only while it is flowing through the bulb. When the filament in the bulb breaks, the electrical circuit is broken, and the light goes out.
Just as the light cannot exist unless there is both electricity and a bulb, so there must be both the breath of life and a functional body in order for there to be a living soul.
13. After a person dies, can he return and appear to those who knew him?
Job 7:8 _______________________________________________
Job 7:9 _______________________________________________
Job 7:10 ______________________________________________
Job 16:22 ______________________________________________
14. In these last days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to what?
1 Timothy 4:1 _______________________________________
15. What type of spirits will appear, working miracles?
Revelation 16:14 _____________________________________
16. In the garden, Satan disguised himself in the form of what?
Genesis3:1 __________________________________________
17. Satan can transform himself into a what?
2 Corinthians 11:14 _______________________________________
18. What can his ministers appear as?
2 Corinthians 11:15 _______________________________________
19. If they speak not according to the law and to the testimony, it is because of what?
Isaiah 8:20 ______________________________________________
20. If they speak not according to the law and to the testimony, it is because of what?
Isaiah 8:19 _______________________________________________
21. What type of individuals will not be found among God's people?
Deuteronomy 18:10,11 __________________________________________
22. All that do those things are what?
Deuteronomy 18:12 ____________________________________________
23. What words did Paul have for a sorcerer?
Acts 13:10 __________________________________________________
24. Can a person have fellowship with the Lord and with devils?
1 Corinthians 10:21 ___________________________________________
25. With Satan's influences all around us, what does God call us to do?
2 Corinthians 6:17 ____________________________________________
Christians will have nothing to do with magic, fortune telling, horoscopes or sances; or games, books, movies or toys containing elements of witchcraft or spiritualism.
In the light of God's Word...
- A soul is a breathing body, a man or a beast.
- One's spirit is the lifegiving breath from God.
- The soul dies when the breath ceases.
- The dead cannot communicate.
Next Lesson: The Secret of Immortality
