Joined: 7/5/2007(UTC) Posts: 544 Thanks: 4 times
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Noach, I too am fascinated by the implications of Yada's presentation of the nesamah (conscience) pre-Adam humanoids and the great yet regional flood as the global flood cresting Everest gave me pause conidering the max limit of water existing on Earth. I'm patiently awaiting the remaining Genesis chapters of YY: especially the Nasamah - Flood chapter as it is described as the "The What, Where, Why and When of the Flood... It will cover what happened to cause the Flood, where it occurred, why God chose to dilluge that region, and when the Flood happened," which I anticipate will address our questions in detail including the who. As for what is written, I noticed in YY-1:3 Chay Life concering the Flood the following: Quote:As an interesting note, we know for certain that a flood of biblical proportions occurred five thousand years ago (around 3000 BCE) in the region where the men created in God’s image (with a nesamah/conscience in addition to a nepesh/soul or consciousness) were said to have lived. Yahuweh told us that Eden was at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, near the Black Sea, and that Adam’s and Chavah’s children ultimately formed the civilizations east and south of the Garden including: Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer. Archeologists have found cities 200 feet below the current shores of the Black Sea and a twelve foot thick layer of silt and mud was laid down all at once in Mesopotamia, precisely when the oldest Scriptural texts said the flood occurred.
As evidence for the obvious, consider Genesis 7:22. It speaks of the aftermath and purpose of the flood. But be forewarned, to appreciate Yahuweh’s insights, one has to correctly communicate what God actually revealed. English translations uniformly add three words which are not in the text, they ignore three words which are actually there, and then they inaccurately communicate the meaning of the words which remain. "All (kol) who by way of relationship (‘asher) had within their breath and nature (‘aph - their attitude and angry disposition) the nesamah of life (chayah), all (kol) with (‘asher) the spirit (ruach) of (min) desolation (charabah - from charab, that which dries up, lays waste, and destroys), died (muwth)." Only men who possessed the nesamah, that God given part of human nature that enables us to connect spirit to soul, to know right from wrong, good from bad, truth from deception, God from the Adversary, were killed. And that’s because they had chosen to associate with the spirit of desolation.
Also, so that you are not misled, the word translated "earth" in most Bibles most often means "land, ground, or region." When the account of Noah and the ark is translated to infer that every animal on the planet was aboard, that all Homo sapiens drown, and that the whole earth was submerged to the tops of mountains, the translators are errantly conveying Yahuweh’s message and making a mockery of Scripture. There wasn’t remotely enough water in, on, and above the planet to reach the summit of Everest. But there was plenty to accomplish what Yahuweh claimed. And in the smae chapter on Nesamah: Quote: There are three additional concepts presented in Genesis that cry out to be known. First, there was death and dying on earth during Adam’s stay in Eden. We know this because Noah’s ark was covered in pitch and Jerusalem is dressed in limestone - both of which are conceived in death. Further, the word for food, ‘akalah, used in the 29th verse, is often translated "meat, the flesh of animals." And when Adam and Chavah sinned, Yahuweh wrapped them in "coats of skins," indicative of blood atonement and its victory over death. The Garden of Eden was walled for a reason, and that was to keep the predators at bay. These things also tell us what Scripture later confirms: our nepesh/soul is mortal.
Second, according to Yahuweh in Genesis 2:6, the earth was enveloped in mist at this time, creating a greenhouse effect in which every portion of the planet was lush and productive. Shielded as animals were from the sun’s most harmful radiation, things lived longer and were healthier. This explains why we are finding mammoths in the Artic with tropical fauna frozen in their mouths. It also explains how the flood might have occurred.
Third, ‘Adam and Chavah were not the first Homo sapiens. They were the first humans created in God’s image, that is to say that they were the first animals to receive a nesamah/conscience. On two occasions Scripture tells us that "the daughters of men roamed the earth" outside the Garden - hunting and gathering. It was only with the gift of conscience and language that man settled down and became "civilized."
Yahuweh gave ‘Adam something He did not give other animals. He called it a nesamah. In Genesis 2:7 we read: "And Yahuweh Elohiym formed (yasar - fashioned, created, and conceived) ‘Adam of the dust (‘aphar - ground, earth, small particles of loose matter) and breathed (naphach - blew) into his nostrils (‘aph) the nesamah of living/existence (chayah/hayah); and ‘Adam existed as (hayah) a living (chay) soul (nepesh)."
Based upon this context and understanding, I therefore believe that nesamah represents the inherent ability to make that choice - to know right from wrong, to differentiate good from bad, to distinguish that which is true from that which is not. The nesamah endows us with the potential to know God and thus to receive His gifts of salvation and eternal life. The nesamah provides us with an awareness of them and Him.
For confirmation of this we can turn to the book of Job. Written hundreds of years before the Torah, the discussions in Job are foundational to our understanding. "Indeed (‘aken - truly and surely) the Spirit (ruach), She (huw’) in mortal man (‘enowsh - in the weak and frail, in humankind) and even the nasamah of the Almighty (shaday) provide understanding (biyn - the ability to perceive and discern so as to apprehend information)." (Job 32:8)
So Scripture defines nesamah as "the part of mortal man that can know and respond to Yahuweh." The nesamah makes the connection between facts and understanding, between the soul and the Spirit. While it does not make us immortal, it provides us with the ability to know, commune with, love, and trust the source of immortality. It is the thing that connects us to the source of life with is why nesamah is based upon nasham, meaning "the process of childbirth."
The nepesh makes animals conscious while the nesamah makes us human, providing us with our conscience. It is that unique human element that seeks to yada Yahweh.
I conclude from YY that Adam and Chavah were not the first humanoids, that the Flood while massive was local and need not or did not destroy all other humnaiods not living in the region where Adam's descendant's lived. Also while I did not quote it and could be mistaken, I do recall reading in YY that some people in the world today do exist without a nesamah. I'm not clear if persons existing not geneticaly descended from Adam were at some point provided a latent nesamah and may now be able to recognize morality and come to relationally know Yahuweh? I'm also unclear if indeed DNA evidence indicates that all humankind are gentically related, that is share a common genetic ancestor, were Adam and Chavah unique special later creations with DNA giving the appearance of a genetic relationship with these pre-existing humanoids or something else?
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