Impersonal Power
Read Time: 2 min
Wind, water, and sun are not the only forces that can produce clean energy. A British company has begun to install special tiles in areas of high foot traffic. When people step on these tiles they produce energy. According to one calculation, enough people tread the boardwalk in Venice Beach, California, per year to power the appliances of a small restaurant for 320 days.
While people are the source of this power, the energy itself is only a small part of every person. In a similar way, the Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible that are often translated “soul” are used for either the whole person or parts of people. Psalm 105:22 states, “To bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom.” The word translated “pleasure” is the same Hebrew word that is usually translated as “soul.” In other places, the same word is translated as “desire” or “life.”
The variety of definitions for this word suggests that the Bible is attempting to give a comprehensive view of what people are. In other words, people are not just living things or just appetites. Instead, they have an assortment of characteristics that are always a part of a complete human package. The Bible never speaks of a floating appetite or a disembodied set of emotions.
When a single passage refers to people using a comprehensive meaning, it never speaks of their immortality. Both Old and New Testaments describe how the soul can be killed: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). When taken as a whole, the Bible does not isolate parts of humans and reveals that even the most essential aspects are mortal, for the “soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).
Apply It:
Care for a part of your nature that you usually ignore.
Dig Deeper:
Deuteronomy 23:24; Genesis 9:4; Numbers 31:19
Key Bible Texts
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 2:7 KJV)