God’s Plan (His WHY Create the Universe and humanity?) involves transforming every free-willed human into Kings, Queens, and Priests. God had to equip humans to accomplish this program. HOW does He achieve this feat? By giving each human the immaterial neshama and ruach. In the last chapter, we saw God breathed the breath (H5397) of life into the first human. In Biblical Hebrew, that’s neshama.
(Transform Your Mind, Upgrade Your Life – Chapter 11)
I want to Unlock Bible Meaning
God and Only Humans on Earth Possess Neshama
Neshama isn’t just any breath; it’s unique. The Bible affirms that God alone gives neshama, inhabiting every human being—but humans alone, as we shall see.
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath (H5397) of the Almighty has given me life.
The Almighty has given only humans some of His own Neshama, His possession. Remember, we discussed humans being Godkind. God created humans in His image. He did so by placing a portion of Himself in each one of us through the neshama of life, the breath of life. I use a small “n” because we possess a minute human portion. Our destiny is to inherit Neshama with a capital “N,” and that’s when we are transformed into Kings, Queens, and Priests.
All the while my breath (says Job, H5397) is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job was a wise man with the spiritual understanding of neshama. He knew he possessed it, unlike most people today. He also knew the spirit of God animated him; this is fundamental psychological knowledge of what a human being is confirmed by the prophet Isaiah.
Thus says God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he that gives breath (H5397) to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Another context revealing God gives neshama AND spirit to ALL people on Earth. He is an inclusive God. All people are His Creation, and He has a purpose for each one of us. We are living a given instant in that Creation Plan, but there’s much more to come.
But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration (H5397) of the Almighty gives them understanding.
Both the Almighty and humans possess neshama, and this verse states that neshama, an immaterial essence, confers certain attributes associated with understanding on humans. That’s precisely what we’ll learn in the following chapters.
Can you see how the English word breath is far short of expressing what neshama really is? The Job 32:8 translation inspiration is closer. As it says in that same verse of the Almighty, I think a better translation of neshama would be divine essence (the Almighty’s breath).
Let every thing that has breath (H5397) praise the LORD. Praise you the Lord.
This verse is the last verse in the final Psalm; it finalizes the entire book. To highlight Its importance, this is the only occurrence of neshama related to humans in the entire 150 Psalms. It ends God’s Plan for humanity and opens up a new era, revealing a state of peace, prosperity, and unity between all beings with their Creator, Savior, and God. All in that position will possess well-oriented neshama and, as a result, will know God and be able to praise Him. Instead of breath, translate it into divine essence. Isn’t it clearer?
Only Humans Possess Neshama, NOT Animals
Now, it’s time to debunk evolution. Above, we see clearly that God shared His Neshama with humans. On no occasion does the Bible say animals possess this Divine Essence. In fact, God’s Word reveals that animals do NOT possess neshama.
10:40 So Joshua (on entering the Promised Land) smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed (H5397 – neshama), as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
11:11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them: there was not any left to breathe (H5397 neshama): and he burnt Hazor with fire.
14 And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey to themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither left they any to breathe (H5397).
In this episode, as the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they utterly destroyed all the souls (11:11) with neshama (breathe, as it’s translated here). But they took the cattle for prey. If they destroyed ALL those with neshama and kept the cattle alive, then, by deduction, cattle do NOT have neshama.
Furthermore, cattle BREATHE. Therefore, the meaning of neshama cannot be limited to breathe. There is something humans possess, given by Yahveh, breathed into them that animals do not have. It is neshama, and it behooves us to know what this is. Neshama differentiates humans from animals.
This understanding is also the solution to the hard problem of consciousness, which is how the mind evolved from the lesser, almost non-existent animal state to the far superior human state. Well, it didn’t evolve at all; God gives only humans neshama.
ANIMALS DO NOT POSSESS NESHAMA. This vital knowledge totally differentiates humans from animals and explains the impassible chasm separating them. Do you realize the impact of this Bible comprehension on philosophy, religion, and sciences like social behavior, which studies animals to understand why humans act the way we do? Do you see that saying chimps and humans share 98.8% of their physical DNA completely omits the fact that chimps do not possess neshama, but only humans do? Do you see why we first have to establish what consciousness and mind are before we can Transform Your Mind and Upgrade Your Life?
Read the story of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel Chapter 4 in Mind-Body Problem Solved, or video), who lost his understanding for seven years and was transformed into an animal. He then regained his wisdom, recuperated his Kingship, and recognized the one true God. God performed these miraculous transformations of Nebuchadnezzar’s mind; He removed Nebuchadnezzar’s neshama and then reinstalled it seven years later. Without neshama, one is NOT human.
Watch or read Chapter 22 of the book Mind-Body Problem Solved because a controversial verse in Genesis 7:22 seems to indicate animals DO possess neshama. It’s important you understand the correct meaning of this verse. Animals do not possess this unique spirit.
More Evidence: Only Humans Possess Neshama
We’ll end this chapter by comparing how Strong erroneously defined H995 understanding and H5397 neshama.
בִּין bîyn bene; a primitive root; to separate mentally (or distinguish), i.e. (generally) understand:
Now, look at Strong’s definition of neshama. See if you can catch it.
נְשָׁמָה nᵉshâmâh nesh-aw-maw’; from H5395 (נָשַׁם); a puff, i.e. wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concretely) an animal:
The error is “or (concretely) an animal” is wrong. James Strong confused humans with animals. Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex in 1871. Strong finished his Concordance in 1890, so it is possible this supposed scientific knowledge influenced him. Together with the unheard-of understanding of neshama, I’m amazed at how little, not to say nothing, exists about this vital entity even today. Theology is silent.
To drive home Strong’s H955 reference to to separate mentally (or distinguish) only humans from all other life forms, notice that H996, the very next Biblical Hebrew word after H995 (understanding in Job 32:8), is identical in Hebrew; just compare the Hebrew letters. H996 means between, or a space between, as you can see in Genesis 1:4, concerning the opposition between darkness and light. Neshama distinguishes only humans and puts light years between them and all other living creatures.
We have now established HOW God equipped only humans to function with neshama: consciousness, awareness, and understanding. That’s where mental health begins. We must let God’s Word reveal HOW consciousness and mind, neshama and ruach, two immaterial spirits, work together. That is the basis for knowing WHAT practical steps must be taken to nurture and heal the human mental capacity.
We cannot apply evolutionary behavioral therapy with dreams of full success when humans are not the result of evolution. Humans are a unique species, the ONLY one with God’s Neshama. We will move on to the practical how to nurture and heal only when we understand this base.
We have now established HOW God equipped only humans to function with neshama: consciousness, awareness, and understanding. That’s where mental health begins.
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