ARE ANGELS JEALOUS OF HUMANS?
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Is it true that some angels are jealous of humans because we have a soul?
a) The Bible gives us very little indication of how angels (angelic beings) "feel" about anything, including a soul. There is nothing in the Bible that would indicate they were jealous of humans for anything.
b) A movie called "The Prophecy" is based on a fable from thousands of years ago, which claimed that angels became jealous because human beings "took their place" as God's favorites. This fable has no foundation whatsoever in the Bible.
c) Furthermore, the question you ask contains a basic premise flaw: God has NEVER given human beings "souls." When God created man and breathed the breath of life into him, man BECAME a "living soul" (Genesis 2:7).
d) This is a common misunderstanding among contemporary Christians, who confuse "soul" and "spirit." And even after understanding this difference, many people erroneously believe that the spirit or the soul is "eternal" or "immortal." This is a complete fallacy. Without God's intervention and the placement of His spirit within us, we are no more "immortal" than is any other mammal or other living creature on this earth (1Timothy 6:13 - 16).
e) To better understand how this misunderstanding can alter your perception of what scripture means, use below to differentiate the meanings.
b) Greek - pneuma – literally "wind" but used to mean "spirit"
c) To demonstrate that the Hebrew words nephesh and ruwach in the Old Testament are the exact counterparts of the Greek words psuche and pneuma in the New Testament, let's look at a quote from Isaiah 42 that is repeated in the book of Matthew.
i) Here is my servant, whom I strengthen, the one I have chosen, with whom I (Strong's Concordance #H5315, Hebrew nephesh, the KJV correctly translates this as "my soul") am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit (Strong's Concordance #H7307, Hebrew ruwach) . . . " (Isaiah 42:1)
ii) Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I (Strong's Concordance #G5590, Greek psuche, translated in KJV as "my soul") am pleased. I will send my Spirit (Strong's Concordance #G4151, Greek pneuma) upon him . . . (Matthew 12:18)
d) In the Bible "soul" and "spirit" are not the same thing but have quite different meanings. Because man does not have a soul, man IS a soul, the angels are not jealous of humans for this reason.
The End ...
1. Is it true that some angels are jealous of humans because we have a soul?a) The Bible gives us very little indication of how angels (angelic beings) "feel" about anything, including a soul. There is nothing in the Bible that would indicate they were jealous of humans for anything.
b) A movie called "The Prophecy" is based on a fable from thousands of years ago, which claimed that angels became jealous because human beings "took their place" as God's favorites. This fable has no foundation whatsoever in the Bible.
c) Furthermore, the question you ask contains a basic premise flaw: God has NEVER given human beings "souls." When God created man and breathed the breath of life into him, man BECAME a "living soul" (Genesis 2:7).
d) This is a common misunderstanding among contemporary Christians, who confuse "soul" and "spirit." And even after understanding this difference, many people erroneously believe that the spirit or the soul is "eternal" or "immortal." This is a complete fallacy. Without God's intervention and the placement of His spirit within us, we are no more "immortal" than is any other mammal or other living creature on this earth (1Timothy 6:13 - 16).
e) To better understand how this misunderstanding can alter your perception of what scripture means, use below to differentiate the meanings.
2. Soul
a) Hebrew - nephesh – "a breathing creature," used to describe man, fish, beast (animal) as used in Genesis 2:7 "man became a living nephesh" (translated "soul" in the King James Bible and "being" in the NIV). Nephesh also appears in Genesis 1:20 - 21 (water creatures); Genesis 1:24 (land animals); Genesis 1:30 (including birds) and Genesis 2:19 (all creatures that live and breathe).
b) Greek - psuche - Matthew 2:20, 6:25 – "life"; Matthew 10:28,29; 11:29; 12:18; 16:25,26; Romans 2:9; 11:3; 13:1,4 15:45 (quoting Genesis 2:7), etc. – ("soul")
a) Hebrew - nephesh – "a breathing creature," used to describe man, fish, beast (animal) as used in Genesis 2:7 "man became a living nephesh" (translated "soul" in the King James Bible and "being" in the NIV). Nephesh also appears in Genesis 1:20 - 21 (water creatures); Genesis 1:24 (land animals); Genesis 1:30 (including birds) and Genesis 2:19 (all creatures that live and breathe).
b) Greek - psuche - Matthew 2:20, 6:25 – "life"; Matthew 10:28,29; 11:29; 12:18; 16:25,26; Romans 2:9; 11:3; 13:1,4 15:45 (quoting Genesis 2:7), etc. – ("soul")
3. Spirit
a) Hebrew - ruwach – literally "wind" but often used to mean "spirit," Genesis 1:2 (spirit); 3:8 (wind); 6:3, 17; 7:15, 22 (spirit); 8:1 (wind); 26:35; 41:8, 38; 45:27
a) Hebrew - ruwach – literally "wind" but often used to mean "spirit," Genesis 1:2 (spirit); 3:8 (wind); 6:3, 17; 7:15, 22 (spirit); 8:1 (wind); 26:35; 41:8, 38; 45:27
b) Greek - pneuma – literally "wind" but used to mean "spirit"
c) To demonstrate that the Hebrew words nephesh and ruwach in the Old Testament are the exact counterparts of the Greek words psuche and pneuma in the New Testament, let's look at a quote from Isaiah 42 that is repeated in the book of Matthew.
i) Here is my servant, whom I strengthen, the one I have chosen, with whom I (Strong's Concordance #H5315, Hebrew nephesh, the KJV correctly translates this as "my soul") am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit (Strong's Concordance #H7307, Hebrew ruwach) . . . " (Isaiah 42:1)
ii) Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I (Strong's Concordance #G5590, Greek psuche, translated in KJV as "my soul") am pleased. I will send my Spirit (Strong's Concordance #G4151, Greek pneuma) upon him . . . (Matthew 12:18)
d) In the Bible "soul" and "spirit" are not the same thing but have quite different meanings. Because man does not have a soul, man IS a soul, the angels are not jealous of humans for this reason.
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