What Does God’s (our Creator’s) Word say about Breath & the Breath of Life?

by Bob De La Torre

 

Most religions today, especially those that espouse Christianity, believe in life after death. They understand that the [physical body dies and decays; BUT their breath lives on. Most prefer to believe that the breath of a deceased individual returns to heaven's bliss to continue to live with God as a spirit. In other words, the mind or thoughts continue to live after the cessation of breath. I wonder what happens to the brain's neurons during this time?

Below, you will find some answers from men who had not yet experienced this culmination of their life and yet who knew what it's outcome would be. Only the Creator of Life could possibly have the correct answer to what happens with the absence of life.

The odd thing is that there is no living historical evidence for this. Even secular history fails in identifying such an individual. In other words, there is no basis for this belief.

I am certain that all these scoffers are fully aware that men or women have been raised from the grips of death, but then they would have to quote from the Scriptures to be able to say this. Death is that great mystery that has continued to elude man in this perpetual mystery.

Below are some of the Bible Scriptures that defines what happens to breath as defined as life, when death or the cessation of breath ceases. What is doubly odd is that in medical terms, that IS how death is defined.

i am also assured that there never were a population that saw the reversal of this as much as the Jewish nation during the time of Jesus Christ. So much so, that John ends his book with this statement:

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (John 21:25)

I am reminded of what the Bible says happened following the raising of Lazarus from his tomb of death. People were still in wonderment following this even, even though the news of others being raised from their deathbed must have rocked Jerusalem. The question remains, were they more interested in seeing the evidence or were inclined to wonder WHO this man was, could He possibly be who He claimed His Father to be?

Whoever He was, He had certainly aroused the ire of the Jewish leaders!

The point of this short article is to show that aside from the Bible and divine intervention or involvement there is no escape from death. Death is a final act. The curtain has closed and remains closed. There is no life after death outside of Jesus Christ. This is a mystery that will never have a conclusion until death is conquered once and for all after the Third Coming of Christ, when He descends with the New Jerusalem and death is dealt with death, the kind in which there is no returning from.

At the bottom, some points will be brought up that need to be considered by all that believe in 'soul sleep' or for that matter, life after death in any form other than that initiated and procured by God's power.

 

 
TEXT
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Genesis 7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
Genesis 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
Genesis 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
1 Kings 17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
Job 4:9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
Job 9:18

He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
Job 12:10

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Job 15:30

He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

Job 17:1

My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
Job 19:17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body.
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 33:4

The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

Job 34:14,15

If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; (15) All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

Job 37:10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Psalm 18:15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.~
Psalm 33:6

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Psalm 104:29

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Psalm 135:17

They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths
Psalm 146:4
 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Psalm 150:6

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
*Ecclesiastes 9:5,6 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 12:7

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
*Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
*Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
*Matthew 12:48 / Mark 2:33 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!.
John 12:9

Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.

John 12:17

The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.

 

* These texts have a deeper reference and meaning defining what 'breath' is. These verses specifically teach a NEW doctrine that is as foreign to man as who God is and is NOT, These texts tell us that at the Second Resurrection, Life, will be as NEW as if we had never been alive before. We will have NO memory of our previous life whatsoever. Otherwise , how could  the Saved be happy if they were able to think of their loved ones and friends who were not saved? That also would be the only way that we could be able to adequately judge the lost...be reviewing their deeds and thoughts and not by who they were related to! The saved will be indeed a new creation from the hand of God Himself.

The reason why the Just or Righteous will not have any memory of their past earthly roles, is because they will also judge the wicked. Or, rather they will confirm God's just judgment of their deeds and that it did indeed merit the ultimate punishment, the Death penalty. What better appeals system can God have than newly re-created human beings with no recollection of their past lives nor amy biases or memories of their friends and families, or those that did evil to them? The very fact the Just are saved and that those being judged are Lost will convey the commonly held expression: "There but for the GRACE of God, go I," from the lips of the Jury. It is as far distant from God's character to control a Jury as the east is from the west. Is it possible to even consider that God, in the very end, would change His character violate the very core of His eternal plan and take away an individual's freedom of choice? The heavenly Jury, spoken of in 1 Corinthians 6: 2,3 will be the Appeals system that the wicked will have and it will be a Jury of their peers, as they too were tempted and sinned, yet they sought forgiveness and mercy under God's plan of approaching Him through and only through His One and only Son, who plainly said to all who would listen that He, too, had a Father, the everlasting God and that in no way was He to be considered as God (John 20:17; Rev. 3:12). What good would it achieve to have a memory of their past lives once everything that ever existed in their past is eliminated by brimstone?

I invite you to read a short blog that a friend of mine posted on an atheist site, which I literally had to beg him to allow me to post on this site as well: Let the Dead Bury Their Dead.