THE SOUL
The beginning of the journey of understanding for this writer was marked by a single book, that led to a string of study from three writers. That first book was The Spirit of Love, by William Law. Law’s writings then led to those of Andrew Murray, and from Murray came those of Norman Grubb, including the “example in the flesh” the Spirit gave me – Rees Howells, Intercessor.
I distinctly remember that when I read The Spirit of Love, my mind was not absorbing what was written, but I knew my spirit was being fed. Though my mind was unfruitful, I continued reading anyway, because I knew my spirit was receiving it.
This may well be your response to what is written here – it may well feed your spirit, but your mind may be somewhat unfruitful. Frankly, our minds are extremely limited. The intellect can never, never of itself discern the ways of Yahweh. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). Yahshua told Peter when he stated that He was the Son of God – “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).
The ways of man are opposite the ways of Yahweh. Men believe and practice that the path of truth is the following:
This is why we have universities and seminaries. From the standpoint of religious quest, men think that if they can gain enough knowledge, this will give them the understanding they need. But there is one problem with this – false knowledge leads to false understanding. The only way to get true knowledge is to first have true understanding. And the only way to have true understanding is to have wisdom from above, revealed not by flesh and blood.
Did not wisdom labor side by side with Yahweh when the foundation of the earth was laid (Proverbs 8:22-31)? This is the only work that leads to true understanding and knowledge, even the true establishment of the kingdom of heaven that will cover the earth. And thus we find repeated over and over in the Scriptures the trinity of truth:
(Proverbs 3:19-20, 4:7, 5:1-2, 14:6, 24:3-4)
Once wisdom affords us true understanding, then knowledge becomes easy – “but knowledge is easy to him who has understanding” (Proverbs 14:6). And per the kingdom of God, true understanding means laboring with wisdom, with the Bride, or as Samson expressed in a riddle equal to his former, understanding is gained by plowing with His heifer, again, His Bride (Judges 14:18).
It has been expressed by many that once they understood the Remnant Bride truth per the pattern of the two-part Remnant separated by breach Christianity, including the like testimony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then the Scriptures came alive to them! When this critical understanding came, suddenly knowledge became easy, not only from the Scriptures, but regarding their own lives and even things in history. This is a critical point. You will never have the truth that will truly set you free, until you first receive Bride truth. All other kingdom knowledge is from flesh and blood, and that from a very broad way that has lead to death for 2,000 years of the church!
With this introduction, let us consider the government of Yahweh as it relates to man. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we read – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is only one way to get into this subject, and that is to dive right into it. It is always accepted that the order of the trinity of man is just what is expressed here – spirit, soul, and body. But this is not the only order possible, nor acceptable, nor profitable. What you are going to read here will be entirely new, so you will have to read it carefully and several times.
It is broadly accepted that the spirit of man is masculine, and the soul is feminine. In fact, the Greek word for “soul,” or “psyche,” is itself feminine. Thus, when you read the trinity of man as being spirit, soul, and body, this describes the masculine order where spirit reigns. But, this is not the order for the feminine being. The feminine being (we are speaking governmentally) is not revealed in this governmental order, but her order is soul, spirit, and body, with the soul and the spirit being reversed. This is why it is written that the woman is a weaker vessel and cannot be allowed to teach (1 Peter 3:7, 1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Corinthians 14:34). The woman more so operates out of her soul, out of her mind, will, and emotions. And this is why from the garden Yahweh placed the man to rule over the woman (the word “rule” is Yahweh’s choice of words, and is not this man’s own idea), and that according to His divine order, is for her protection (Genesis 3:16). Someone can reject this and dispute it and argue against it, but this does not nullify the established order and government of Yahweh, and we are wise to uphold it (as you will see here).
Before continuing, let us parenthetically note the fulfillment of this truth individually. These male and female characteristics vary from person to person, irregardless of gender. Though in family government Yahweh establishes the man to rule over the wife, some men are actually more feminine soul oriented than masculine spirit; and some females are more masculine spirit oriented. In this case, the woman is more inclined to not be deceived. This of course does not change the government of the home, but a wise man will recognize this, though still be led by his Head. What this comes down to is that within each one of us is this test as to whether we will be ruled by our masculine spirit, or by our feminine soul.
What we have briefly noted thus far is this same governmental order on two levels – per the literal male-female relationship that Yahweh has set in order, and per our personal government regarding our soul and our spirit. However, government is replicable, so when it comes to the relationship of God to man, we find the same truth, the same pattern.
God is masculine in nature; He is law and justice, which is masculine behavior. On the other hand, when Yahweh breathed into Adam the breath of lives, he “became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). In contrast to Yahweh, man was the weaker vessel, the one who has been easily deceived and in his fallen state does not really have a right to teach things concerning Yahweh, and should wait until he goes home to his Husband and ask Him there (1 Corinthians 14:34-35). Thus we see that this governmental pattern that affects the relationship between a man and a woman, is the identical pattern that affects the relationship between God and man. Let us consider this further.
When we read Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, we see what can be our experience on a personal level. But what we might experience to some degree on a personal level, does not mean it is being experienced on a corporate level. On a personal level, a veil may be removed; but this does not mean the veil Paul is speaking of here is removed corporately.
In this passage in the New American Standard (NAS), you will note that Paul states that “the Lord is the Spirit”:
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
This is a most unusual statement. How many of us would identify the Spirit as “the Lord”? In fact, there is no other place in the entire Bible where it is translated that “the Lord is the Spirit.” There are many places in the Old Testament and in the New where “the Spirit of the Lord” or “the Spirit of Yahweh” are found. We would easily call the Father “the Lord,” or the Son likewise; but this is the only place in the Bible where it is translated that the Spirit is “the Lord,” and it is not a phrase we would even identify as being the case. Even when we say – “the Spirit of the Lord,” what is it we think of? The Spirit of the Father, not the Spirit of the Spirit. Even to say the latter makes no sense. If what was being said here is that “the Lord is the Spirit,” one would thus say – “the Spirit of the Spirit.” So what else could this be saying?
The Greek word here for “Spirit” is “pneuma.” In the NAS, “pneuma” is translated “Spirit,” as in the Holy Spirit, 239 times, and “spirit,” as in the spirit of a man or in the Son of God, over sixty times. There are no capital letters in the Greek, so the translators capitalize a word when they think it refers to God. Thus, the passage could equally read:
Now the Lord is the spirit; and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
We find that this translation is actually more consistent with the Bible in whole. As has been noted, nowhere else does it say that “the Lord is the Spirit.” But, it does say that “God is spirit.” In John 4:24 we read the words of Yahshua:
“God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Isn’t this saying the same thing? “The Lord is the spirit” and ”God is spirit.” Therefore, based on what we read here, it is actually accurate for the subject passage to indeed read – “Now the Lord is the spirit; and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
This makes even more sense when we read the next verse, and opens up to us some incredible and highly revealing truth which you will soon see:
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Once again, in context with the preceding verse, we have made the word “pneuma” a lower case “spirit.” So what does all of this mean? What are we seeing?
You will notice in the above verse a most unusual statement – that we are “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,” and are being “transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” Into what image are we then being transformed? We are a mirror image of “the Lord.” And what does this mean? Let us see.
First, we are not a mirror image of the Spirit, which this next verse would refer back to if indeed “pneuma” was “the Spirit.” But no, “the Lord,” of whom we are a mirror image, is Yahweh; and as it is written, He is spirit. Now let us see what mirror image of Him that we might be.
Have you ever tried to read writing using a mirror? If you have, very significantly, you have discovered that the mirror reverses all the letters. A mirror image is indeed an accurate reflection of something, but it also transposes the image. For example, in like regard the mirror image of the right hand is the left hand. While they look alike, they are in fact transposed in their order. With palms down, the right hand from right to left starts with the little finger and goes to the thumb, while the left hand starts with the thumb and goes to the little finger – just the opposite.
Do you think Yahweh did this by revealing design? Is there something about Him that is governmentally revealed by this transposing of an image, a governmental order He followed and implemented throughout all of creation? In science this is called bilateral symmetry. In other words, if you longitudinally place a mirror perpendicularly down the middle of your body, either in the front or the rear, the mirror image would accurately complete the whole of you. In truth, you are a mirror image in symmetry, the one side reflecting the other, but in the reverse. So what does this tell us about Yahweh and His government? Something extremely important! Again, we will get straight to the point.
The trinity of God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We read in Genesis 1:26 regarding the creation of man – “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” Thus, man must have been made in an image corresponding to the trinity, since it says “in our image, according to our likeness.”
We have already seen in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that the image in which we are created is actually a mirror image of God. And what have we seen already regarding a mirror image? Very importantly – it reverses the order!
Even as the Godhead is Father, Son, and Spirit, so this corresponds with spirit, soul, and body. We have already seen that the spirit is masculine and the soul is feminine. And as in the case with every trinity, the first two elements are similar, while the third is different. The Father and the Son possess natural relational identities unique from the ethereal Spirit. Likewise, the spirit and the soul are clearly different from the physical body. Faith is hearing and believing, and the third is distinctly different from the former – acting. Even the trinity of Christianity is split this way – two parts are cut off and die, while the third part passes through the fire (Zechariah 13:7-9); or, for two days He wounds us, and the third day He bandages us and lifts us up (Hosea 6:1-3). The trinity of the temple equally follows this pattern – the physical enclosed structure of the holy place and the holy of holies, is distinctly different from the outer court.
It is most noteworthy that when Yahshua prayed that we become one, of the trinity it was only the Father and the Son becoming one, and did not include the Spirit (John 17:9-11,20-23). Why? Once again we find these two identities to be unique from the third.
This should afford you ample testimonies per this matter of the first two parts of a trinity being of one identity, and the third being separate and different. Such it was with the creation of man, as you will now see. What you are getting ready to read is soundly supported in the ways of Yahweh, and we will proceed to afford that support upon first revealing a VERY important symmetrical difference between God and man.
You will recall that it was stated that God is masculine, and man is feminine. How is this the case governmentally? Very simple – man is a mirror image of God. When God made man, His image was spirit and soul, with His masculine spirit occupying the first place. This is why it says “God is spirit” or “the Lord is the spirit.” But man was made a mirror image of God; and insomuch that a mirror transposes an image, he became soul and spirit, with his soul occupying the first place. This explains why man fell – he operated out of his soul (feminine, listening to his wife), and not his spirit (masculine, listening to the Father).
Even as the number 69 is the mirror image of 96, so soul and spirit man is the mirror image of spirit and soul God. Thus we read in Genesis 2:7 – “and man became a living soul.” Man was not a spirit being like God (“God is spirit,” “the Lord is the spirit”), but a soul being, weak and easily deceived. This replicable government is the very basis for the covering of protection God placed on the woman when He caused the man to rule over her. It is governmentally the same thing as we see in God’s relationship with us – our deliverance equally comes when we allow Him to rule over us. “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). What was set forth for the woman, reveals that which is set forth for man; and when we fail to submit to Him, we too are a rebellious, easily deceived wife.
This transposed nature between God and man is clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 15:45, where we read:
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam a life-giving spirit.
This is a clear statement regarding the mirror image that man is, relative to God. Man is a soul being, while God is a spirit being! Why does He do this? Look at the human body once again to find your answer. The two parts, the two images, make one, and this is the purpose of Yahweh creating man a mirror image of Him – that God with man make one complete being.
Of course the weakness of this creation design necessitates that the soul work must be redeemed. Even as Adam ate of the fruit so as to save his “other half,” Eve, so Yahshua came to this earth and likewise ate of this fruit per His Nazirite vow so as to save His other half – all mankind (but each in their own order). Thus, the spirit side of this God/man being must save the soul side, so that as Yahshua prayed, the two can become one flesh.
Man is divinely designed to be a soul being, a transposed image of God. While there are weaknesses to this in the soul realm, as strange as it sounds, this nature is critical in order for God to be complete. There is nothing new under the sun, and even as Yahweh stated that it was not good for the man to be alone, so it was not good for God to be alone. He too had to create a soul mate for Himself – man. And in order to form that bride, He too had to be put to sleep (the cross) and His side opened (the spear) and a rib taken out (the twelfth apostle that comes out from the body of Christ). This initial Bride work is the first resurrection among men who will be brought near to Him.
We see this same reversal of order per the feasts. In fact, it was because of this previously recognized reversal, that this man could understand the transposing of the soul and the spirit. The feast order that was commanded by Yahweh (Exodus 23:14f) was:
But quite revealingly and confirmingly, as with the spirit and the soul, the first two feasts are reversed in the kingdom of heaven! Yes, Yahshua died on the cross at Passover, but the church as we have known it for 2,000 years began on Pentecost. Thus, the church began as a Pentecost work and not a Passover work. Of necessity it began as a two-loaf, 2,000 year, leavened bread work, and not an unleavened bread work. The unleavened bread Passover work is the Remnant Bride that escapes death (something Christians, as the two parts that are cut off from the kingdom and die [Zechariah 13:7], have not escaped) and ascends alive as the Elijah.
Thus we see the same pattern:
Passover –> Pentecost –> Tabernacles
becomes
What Yahweh did in the creation of man, He equally did in the church that establishes man in His heavenly kingdom. Again, Yahweh designed us to be a soul being; and not only us, but His kingdom to be a Pentecost work as well. In both cases Yahweh flipped the first two works.
And might we add that this is quite significantly the same pattern for America, meaning “heavenly kingdom,” but at the nations level. America is following the same pattern of the church, yet as an obedient work. In contrast to the church, America received its first three formative parts – the 1600’s, the 1700’s, and the 1800’s. These will be followed by the next three fulfillment parts – the 1900’s, the 2000’s, and the 2100’s.
But the thing to note here is that even as the church, the true kingdom of heaven, will be led through three feasts in an altered order, so America was led through those same feasts in the same order. They occurred in the formative period and were Pentecost, the Revolutionary War; Passover, the Civil War; and Tabernacles, the Spanish-American War. (The historical facts and dates of these wars attest to their identification with each feast.) Thus once again we see the same affirming pattern that man follows, per the reversal of the first two:
soul – spirit – body
This same truth or pattern is evidenced in Hebrews 9:1-10. The altar of incense was supposed to have been located in the holy place. But according to verse 8, the holy place has to be torn down so the way into the holy of holies can be revealed, and the altar moved therein (vs. 4). Thus we see the same testimony. Instead of:
holy of holies – holy place – outer court
we now find:
holy place – holy of holies – outer court
But isn’t this once again the precise way the church is being built? He began the church with the leavened, easily deceived, soul work, holy place of Christianity. But now that work must be ended, torn down, and the unleavened, not deceived, spirit, holy of holies Remnant work established (inclusive of the altar of incense first Remnant).
And while we are here, regarding soul Christianity and the spirit Remnant and the division of the two, also in Hebrews, a very prophetic Remnant related book, we read:
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (4:12).
Even as a spear in type enters into the side of the body of Christ and separates out a rib to build a Bride, so we see here a similar message – the two-edged sword of the word of God pierces the body of Christ and divides the soul (Christianity) and the spirit (the Remnant), and judges between the two. (Blessed be Yahweh for Bob Pollard pointing this out.) This is precisely what these writings are effecting. They reveal the living truths of the word of God, and that word divides the Bride from Christianity, which it is accomplishing right now, as it was intended.
There is yet another transposing, or we could even say flip-flop, pointed out in the Scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 11:12 we read – “For as the woman is from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things are from God.” Interestingly, we see testified here that the body of Christ and the Bride bring forth each other, only in unique and separate ways, as testified in the “birth” process per Adam and Eve. Here we see a flip-flop in these two works. From the body of Christ comes the Bride; but the fact is, the body actually came from the first Remnant Bride that was established in the beginning by Yahshua and at Pentecost. As it is written here, these two works, in truth, bring forth each other, “and all things are from God.”
Why does He then do these flip-flops that we are seeing repeated here? We have already seen the testimony that this is done so as to make the two into one. And as we have seen, Yahweh does nothing new under the sun. Thus, what is it that we see frequently regarding the two Remnant? They flip-flop in their testimonies to the extent that they are hard to keep straight. The two are actually one, so they both testify to each other. But this is only the beginning. What next? The Bride and the body have to become one. Thus, what do we see above? The holy of holies and the holy place flip-flop. The two flip-flop because they too become one!
This flip-flop is even attested in a most unusual way just before Paul, the founder of Christianity, comes on the scene in Acts 9:1. As a testimony to this change, we find a specific flip-flop. In Acts 8:32, Isaiah 53:7 is quoted to read:
He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
And a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
But that is not what Isaiah 53:7 actually says. Instead it says:
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He does not open His mouth.
Flip-flop! Do you see it? Clearly, the sheep and the lamb flip-flop. Later we will talk about the movie, The Matrix; but this is the black cat that is the déjà vu. It is a sign that there has been a change in the operating program – from first Remnant to Christianity.
And this is not all, for let us go to the God-head itself. Yahshua said that He and the Father are equally one. Thus, their two identities equally flip-flop. If you study the word “Yahweh,” which generally speaks of the Father, you will find cases where it speaks of the Son. Yahshua equally said – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
And might we add here concerning us as men, this repeated governmental practice makes it easier to understand Yahshua’s words when He said – “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming’; because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:34-35). As incredible as it may seem, our oneness with God likewise creates a shared identity.
Looking once again at the godhead, the very process or pattern where man was created the soul mate of God, that pattern/process took place in God Himself. At the highest level, when God became man in Yahshua, Yahshua became a soul to Him, an alter ego. In relation to man, Yahshua was “a life-giving spirit,” but in His relation to the Father, He was equally “a living soul.” Again, there is nothing new under the sun. As was instructed regarding the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8-9, Hebrews 8:5), the earthly is a fulfillment of the heavenly. That which has been is that which will be. Thus equally we see that the Father was the spirit, and the Son became the soul, making it possible for the two to become one, and opening the way of salvation for all men.
Someone may object to this prospect of flipping the spirit and the soul, but such objection is equally nothing new under the sun. Joseph had the same objection when his father, Israel, flipped the blessings on Manasseh and Ephraim, crossing his arms and placing his right hand on Ephraim and his left on Manasseh (Genesis 48:8-22). When Joseph saw this, “it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head,” and said, “Not so, my father, for this one is the first-born.”
Man knows very little to nothing regarding Yahweh’s government or His ways, and when something happens and we do not understand, we dispute whether what is being done is from Him. Yahweh places His blessings on the lesser, the soul, the lesser light that rules the darkness (as we will see next). He crosses His arms, He reverses, flips, transposes the order of man, and prays – “May my name live on in them, … and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” And Israel added the blessing to this reversed order – “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,” not Manasseh and Ephraim.
And to add one more affirming testimony to this consistent way of Yahweh concerning the first two parts of the trinity, did He not do likewise with Jacob and Esau by flipping them as well? That which happened to Jacob/Israel by Yahweh’s design and will, Israel simply reproduced in Ephraim and Manasseh.
Let us consider a very important point. For two to become one, they must be mirror images of each other. Take a simple example. Hold your hands out in front of you once again with palms down and what do you see? You see mirror images of each other, opposites. Now place your hands together palm to palm and what do you have? Thumb aligns with thumb and each finger aligns with the like. It is therefore the opposite nature of each hand that allows the two to become one! So it is written – “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). It is as a mirror image of God, as a soul being, that we are able to be one spirit with Yahweh. As strange as this may sound, we cannot be spirit, soul, and body, and be one with God. For it is in fact our nature as a man, insomuch that we are soul, spirit, and body, that allows us to become one spirit with Him – spirit with spirit, soul with soul.
What does this mean? Learn to accept your soul. Once I was preparing to teach a class on spiritual maturity, and had a list of steps to achieving maturity. I do not remember what those steps were (which is just fine), but what I do remember is that when I wrote down the last step to maturity, the Holy Spirit clearly spoke to me and said that it was first! What was that seemingly last step that was in fact the first step to achieving spiritual maturity? It was this:
I realized that God cannot use us until we accept ourselves. It is by accepting ourselves for who and what we are, that we can then yield ourselves to God for His use. If we never accept ourselves, we will withhold ourselves from Him as unworthy. But it is the very nature of us as a soul being that makes us agreeable to Him. Are we perfect in our soul? Absolutely not! But what we have and what we can be, we can give to Him in total, and only then can He begin to work with us and change us into His likeness. It is by joining ourselves to Him, spirit to spirit and, yes, soul to soul, that we can become one with Him. We should never be afraid to give ourselves to Him as we are, in total. He fully meets us where we are. It is by doing this that we are changed. Thus, step one – accept yourself! You are a soul created by God as His mirror image.
Let us continue the examination of this soul work by considering two important related testimonies – the sun-clothed woman in Revelation 12 who gave birth to the male child, and the throne in heaven in Revelation 4.
Continue to page 2 of The Soul for TWO LIKE TESTIMONIES