Saturday, January 21, 2012

Psalm 16:10


Copyright Ó 2011 J. Neely
Psalm 16:10

10 For thou wilt not leave [`azab] my soul [nephesh] in hell; [sha'owl] neither wilt thou suffer [nathan] thine Holy One [chaciyd] to see [ra'ah] corruption. [shachath]KJV-Interlinear

10 For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. NASB

The prophecy of Jesus, when he was placed in the grave, that He, or rather His body would not return to the dust of the earth, but would be raised from that same grave, is stated here.

This verse has a dual application, and sets the foundation for resurrection that so many in Jesus day, rejected.

The soul is the vessel of human life.  In our existence, we are born body, created soul and re-created in human spirit.  These three vessels (body, soul, spirit) house the three components of life that we all have.  All believers that is.  Unbelievers only have body and soul.

The body is physical and comes from the dust of the earth, and to that dust it returns upon physical death.  The body houses biological life.

The soul is the life vessel and it houses the human life, which God breathes into each born individual at the point of physical birth.  The term in Genesis is ‘neshemah’ which means the spark or breath of life.  God exhales and man inhales life.  Upon death the soul with its included life, leaves the physical body and goes to Paradise (Old Testament believers) or to Torments (all unbelievers).  Today all New Testament believers go directly to heaven – face to face with the Lord.

Paradise is currently empty as its occupants were led by Christ into heaven upon Christs victory at the Cross.

The human spirit, is the third component of life which is created immediately upon the individuals initial faith in Christ, or the savior (as far as Old Testament believers go). This is generally called being born again, or regeneration.  God created the human spirit and imputes into it eternal life.  This third component attaches to the human soul permanently, and together they remain forever.

Sheol, or hell, is a designation not for a literal hell, but for the underworld.  Death was commonly considered the doorway to the underworld or the land of the dead.  In sheol, or in the underworld, there are four compartments.

Paradise for Old Testament believers, Torments for all unbelievers, Tartarus for all disobedient angels and hybrid human/angel half-breeds from Genesis six, and the Abyss for the worst of the worst of all demon angels.

Therefore, the prophetic fulfillment of this verse occurred with Jesus, when He was laid in the grave and then resurrected after three days.  His body did not return to the dust, as it does with the rest of humanity.  Certainly David died a very long time ago, and his body did decay as with all people throughout history.

The term here is in the singular, further specifying Jesus, the Holy ‘One,’ not plural ‘ones.’

But as for the rest of us, this promise also applies in that we will not be left in the realm of the dead, but will be resurrected back into life.  Breath used for the soul here, ‘nephesh,’ here means to breathe again.

When we all die, we will all lose physical life (biological) and we will all lose breath.  However, here is our promise, even though we will all see corruption (dust to dust), we will all see life again in resurrection.  That is the principle of this verse.

Christ fulfilled it, and so we will receive it as well.  This is Gods promise.  We will not be abandoned in the land of the dead, but will have a new life in resurrection.

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