Genesis 2:7 and John 20:22 -- Two Displays of YEHOVAH's Spirit!

The most important difference between the mankind of Genesis 1:26 and Adam in Genesis 2:7 is that Adam received the Breath of YEHOVAH God in his nostrils.

Philo of Alexandria, Judahite and friend of the apostle Peter, understood the spiritual component of "the Breath of life" when he wrote:

"But he [Moses] asserts that the FORMATION of the individual man [Adam], perceptible by the external senses is A COMPOSITION OF EARTHY SUBSTANCE, AND DIVINE SPIRIT. For that body [of Adam] was created by the Creator [YEHOVAH God] taking a lump of clay, and fashioning the human form out of it; but that the soul proceeds from NO created thing at all, but from the Father and Ruler of all things.
"For when he [Moses] uses the expression, 'He breathed into,' etc., he [Moses] MEANS NOTHING ELSE THAN THE DIVINE SPIRIT proceeding from that happy and blessed nature [YEHOVAH God], sent to take up its habitation here on earth [in Adam and his descendants], FOR THE ADVANTAGE OF OUR [ISRAELITE] RACE, in order that, even if man is mortal according to that portion of him which is visible, he may at all events be [eventually] IMMORTAL according to that portion which is invisible; and for this reason, one may properly say that man is on the boundaries of a better and an immortal nature [after the resurrection], partaking of each as far as it is necessary for him; and that he [man -- descendants of Adam -- Israelites] was born at the same time, both mortal and immortal.
"Mortal as to his body, but immortal [eventually] as to his intellect" (The Works of Philo, translated by C. D. Yonge. "On the Creation, XLVI (134-135)).

Continuing in his discussion of the Breath of Life, Philo makes the following comments:

"...for there must be three things, that which breathes in, that which receives what is breathed in, and that which is breathed in. Now that which breathes in IS GOD, that which receives what is breathed in is THE MIND [of Adam], and that which is breathed in is THE SPIRIT. What then is collected from these three things? A UNION OF THREE takes place, through God extending THE POWER, which proceeds from Himself THROUGH THE SPIRIT, which is the middle term, as far as the subject.
"Why does He [YEHOVAH God] do this, except that we may thus derive A PROPER NOTION [idea, belief] of Him? Since HOW could the soul have perceived God if He [YEHOVAH God] had not inspired it, and touched it according to His power? For human intellect would not have dared to mount up to such a height as to lay claim to THE NATURE OF GOD, if God Himself had not drawn it up to Himself, as far as was possible for the mind of man to be drawn up, and if He had not FORMED it according to those powers which can be comprehended" (ibid., "Allegorical Interpretation, I, XIII (37-38)).

This we find corroborated in Job 32:8 -- "But there is a spirit in [Adamic] man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding."

The Bible tells us that the "breath of life" is also termed an anointing -- notice!

"The breath of our nostrils, the LORD'S anointed, was captured in their pits [wombs], of whom we had said, 'Under His shadow we shall live among the nations'" (Lamentations 4:20).

Going to Job 27:3 we read,

“All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;” (Job 27:3).

This anointing of the spirit (the "breath of life") is given to those of us of Israel at conception -- it is in our genes passed down from Adam and Abraham. It is a deposit or earnest of the fullness of the spirit that we will receive in the future if converted and serving YEHOVAH God. As Paul says --

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come [full measure of the spirit]" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

The purpose of the anointing or deposit of the spirit at conception is to enable us of Israel to understand YEHOVAH's truth:

"You, however, have an anointing [Gr. chrisma -- of the holy spirit] from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth...And as for you, the anointing [Gr. chrisma -- of the holy spirit] you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing [Gr. chrisma -- of the holy spirit] teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught" (1 John 2:20, 27).

When it comes to Biblical Israel (NOT the State of Israel or "the Jews"), we find that YEHOVAH God is described in the Bible as being "the Father of Israel," so there are characteristics of YEHOVAH God inbuilt in this race from conception. The Messiah taught his disciples (ALL Israelites only) to pray saying, "Our Father which art in heaven..." This is better translated "Our Father, the One in heaven". Neither YEHOVAH God nor man can be called a father until they have begotten offspring. There is NO suggestion of a spiritual birth later in life. YEHOVAH God states that He is a Father in Exodus 4:22-23 and Jeremiah 31:9 -- notice!

"Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: Israel is My first-born son. I have said to you, "Let My son go, that he may worship Me," yet you refuse to let him go. Now I will slay your first-born son'" (Exodus 4:22-23, Tanakh).

"They [Israel] will come with weeping, and I will lead them back with supplications; I will make them walk by streams of water, on a level path and in which they will not stumble, for I have become Israel's Father and Ephraim is My firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9, The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible).

Therefore YEHOVAH God begat offspring and is the father of all descendants from Israel. This is said directly of NO other race in the Bible! From this it can be said that Israelites are the children of YEHOVAH God. (Greek teknon) FROM CONCEPTION. Children are the offspring of a "father" who begat them. James 1:18, addressing the twelve tribes, speaks of YEHOVAH God: "Of His own will begat He us". This context CANNOT be extended beyond the "Twelve Tribes". Only those referred to as "us" have the "spirit" potential to become the sons of YEHOVAH God (Greek huios).

The only way that YEHOVAH God could be termed the Father of Israel is for those Israelites to have a portion of the Father's spirit from conception!

Israelites alone -- as YEHOVAH's children -- have the inbuilt genetic ability of spirit (breathed into Adam to become part of his genetics and passed on to his offspring) to "hear" what YEHOVAH God has to say or demand of them. The Messiah confirmed that there were those non-Israelite leaders in the Judean nation who could not "hear" his words because they lacked this spirit (see John 8). According to the humanistic outlook, true Israel (certain of the white races) are the only people against whom charges of being racist are being leveled today. In this, all the other races are ultimately against this one people which strongly suggests that all other races are of a different "spirit."

From Adam to Abraham, Adam’s pure line contained the breath of spiritual life (see Job 33:4), so where did the people come from who did not have the breath of life? These men and women originated from Genesis 1. Through misgenerative activity -- (i.e. race mixing) -- racial pollution was introduced to the bloodstream of the sons of Adam, and we find that YEHOVAH God sought to eliminate the products of such activity. Noah was “pure in his generations” (Genesis 6:9), and so he and his unmixed family were preserved. We read in Genesis 6:12 that "God looked upon the land, and indeed it was corrupt; for all [Adamic] flesh had corrupted their way on the land. And God said to Noah, 'The end of all [Adamic] flesh has come before Me, for the land is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the land'" (verses 12-13).

Then, in verse 17, we read -- "'And behold, I Myself am bringing the flood of waters on the land, to destroy from under heaven all [Adamic] flesh in which is the breath of life; and everything that is on the land shall die.'" Clearly, Adam's descendants had failed to utilize the spirit they received at conception and had disobeyed YEHOVAH God and His laws, bringing corruption and violence to the land in which they lived.

Later, the Children of Israel were to destroy the mixed breed of the Canaanites. These could not receive the things of the spirit of YEHOVAH God. They could not witness in their spirit and say, "the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16), as an Israelite is able to do. This principle is a continuing theme in the Bible.

When the procreative power of Abram and Sara was regenerated, the spirit of YEHOVAH God was embedded in their genes -- memorialized by the addition of the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet to their names. Salvation requires that the individual believes YEHOVAH God and that belief is a function of the indwelling spirit, NOT of the natural flesh -- as the Messiah said to Nicodemus "what is spirit is spirit." Hence there was no point in the Messiah dying for people who do not have the indwelling spirit and hence no ability to comprehend and believe the things of the spirit.

Through Abraham and Sarah, YEHOVAH God established the basis for Abraham’s seed to become the Sons of YEHOVAH God (John 1:12). YEHOVAH was making a new beginning with Abraham. None other than the seed of Abraham, through the son of promise, Isaac, has this opportunity or potential. Abraham’s seven other sons did not have this potential -- because they were born prior to Isaac. The descendants of Isaac were begotten of the spirit from their conception. This is why those among Isaac’s descendants who believe are regarded as being anointed by the spirit (Galatians 3:16).

Paul is able to declare, "now He which stablishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us is God who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:21, 22). In 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 Paul, confirming this, tells the brethren (kinsmen of the same womb of Sarah) that they have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit of YEHOVAH God (verse 12). He says that through this we might know (or comprehend) the things that are freely given to us, (the brethren), of YEHOVAH God. He goes on to further declare that the “natural” man (those not born of Isaac’s line) cannot receive the things of the spirit of YEHOVAH God. He affirms Yeshua’s statement that anyone who is not begotten of the original sowing (in the womb of Sarah) cannot see the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God.

Neither Peter, James, John, nor any of the disciples of Yeshua had ever so much as RECEIVED a full measure of the holy spirit at all until recorded in John 20:22! However they, as descendants of Adam and Abraham, did have a measure or earnest of the holy spirit from conception.

Under the Old Covenant, YEHOVAH God had a CHURCH. Israel was both a nation, called the "Kingdom of Israel," and a CHURCH, called "The Congregation of Israel." But that church was a FLESH-born church. It was wholly MATERIAL, fleshly, physical. It was not spiritual apart from having the "breath of life". One became a member by FLESH-birth.

Now here is the point so many have never realized. Under the Old Covenant THERE WAS NO SALVATION! The people of that church were NOT CONVERTED. They did not have a large measure of the holy spirit! That is, none except the prophets specially called of YEHOVAH God. David, Elijah, and Jeremiah had a large measure of the holy spirit. They were called for very special missions.

But the rank-and-file members of the Old Testament Congregation NEVER HAD THE HOLY SPIRIT except for the earnest of the spirit they had from conception. You can't find any place where the holy spirit in large measure was promised Israel under the OLD COVENANT. Or where salvation and eternal life was promised. Their animal sacrifices did NOT take away their sins. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away SINS" (Hebrews 10:4). But rather, as explained in Hebrews, the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant were merely a reminder of sins! There was no remission of sins, and therefore no salvation possible, UNTIL the one and only great sacrifice was made when Yeshua the Messiah was crucified.

During Yeshua's ministry he told his Israelite disciples: "It is expedient for YOU that I go away: for if I go not away, the comforter [holy spirit] will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). Notice, it was expedient for THEM. He was talking to Peter and the other disciples on the very eve of his crucifixion, at the "Last Supper." If Peter and the other apostles already had the holy spirit in large measure, Yeshua would not have told them, his very last night alive on earth with them before being crucified, it was needful for them that he depart, go to heaven, in order to send the holy spirit. And this was some 99 days before Pentecost!

Again, Yeshua said that same night: "But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father [FROM HEAVEN]...it shall testify of me" (John 15:26). Again the same night he said: If ye love me, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that it may abide with you for ever; EVEN THE SPIRIT of truth...for it dwelleth WITH you [in the person of the Messiah], and SHALL be in you" [the holy spirit which the Father would send from heaven] (John 14:15-17).

The Father sent them the holy spirit which was to be IN THEM after the Messiah had ascended to heaven and returned -- this we find mentioned in John 20:22. And the spirit CAME in large measure to the rest of YEHOVAH's people on the day of Pentecost. Earlier, on the Last Great Day -- the day after the Feast of Tabernacles, "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the SPIRIT, which they that believe on him should [in the future] receive: for the holy spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" (John 7:37-39).

Study that! The holy spirit was not yet given in large measure. Why? Yeshua had not yet GONE AWAY -- ascended to heaven -- BEEN GLORIFIED! It was expedient for them that he go away. Otherwise the holy spirit would not have come in force! Notice the future tense -- out of his innermost being shall flow the holy spirit!

The holy spirit had never yet come from heaven in great measure to enter and dwell WITHIN converted Christian Israelites. The holy spirit had never been offered in great measure to the people of Israel during Old Testament times. But the Prophet Joel had prophesied: "It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out MY SPIRIT upon all flesh [of Israel]" (Joel 2:28).

And Yeshua gave them the PROMISE he would send the holy spirit from heaven, if and after he went to heaven. And, after his resurrection, on the very day and hour of his final ascension to heaven, Yeshua "commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, BUT WAIT for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me" (Acts 1:4). Yes, the promises quoted above, that unless he went to heaven they could not have or be filled with the holy spirit. The promise that he would pray the Father and the Father would SEND the holy spirit.

And then, on the day of Pentecost, THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME IN GREAT POWER to all those gathered in Jerusalem!

This was its first coming from heaven in great measure to a large number of people! And on that day, the newly inspired (John 20:22) Peter said, "THIS is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," quoting that prophecy. Now, at last, YEHOVAH God had sent His spirit, as promised, for all flesh of Israel -- all who would repent, and accept Yeshua as Saviour, in faith believing!

Before receiving the holy spirit, Peter was weak. He lacked faith to cast out a demon, or walk on the water. He denied Yeshua three times. He went fishing instead of attending to YEHOVAH's Work. At the last supper Yeshua had told him, "WHEN thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32).

Now, the question is -- did the disciples receive a large measure of the holy spirit when the Messiah returned to earth after his ascension following his resurrection -- or at Pentecost? The Hard Sayings of the Bible, by Kaiser, Davids, Bruce and Brauch, comments as follows:

Using the imagery of Genesis 2:7, Peter and the rest of the disciples there gathered received a large measure of the holy spirit when the risen Messiah breathed on them in John 20:22: "Having said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the ruach haKodesh [holy spirit]'" (Jewish New Testament). The disciples received the promised spirit of YEHOVAH God ahead of the rest of YEHOVAH's people gathered on the day of Pentecost to empower them in preaching the gospel in Jerusalem while awaiting the day of Pentecost.

The Greek verb in "he breathed on them" (ἐνεφύσησεν) is only used here -- and nowhere else in the entire New Testament! The same verb is used by the Septuagint (LXX) in Genesis 2:7 where YEHOVAH God breathes the spirit into Adam. Adam and his descendants were given the earnest of the spirit while in John 20:22 and Acts 2 YEHOVAH's chosen people received a large measure of the spirit or power of YEHOVAH God to enable them to carry out His Work. Notes the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,

From Adam to Abraham, Adam’s pure line contained the breath of life. Through Abraham and Sarah, YEHOVAH God was restoring the spiritual power for Abraham’s seed to “become the Sons of God” (John 1:12). YEHOVAH was making a new beginning with Abraham. None other than the seed of Abraham, through the child of promise, Isaac, has this opportunity or potential, as we are told, “In Isaac shalt thy seed be called” (Hebrews11:18). Abraham’s seven other sons did not have this seed identity because they were not “In Isaac”.

The descendants of Isaac were begotten of the spirit from their conception. This is why those who believe among Isaac’s descendants are regarded as being anointed by the spirit (Galatians 3:16). Paul is able to declare, “Now He which stablishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us is God who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). In 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 Paul, confirms this, telling the “brethren” (kinsmen of the same womb of Sarah) that they have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit of YEHOVAH God (verse 12). He says that through this we might know (or comprehend) the things that are freely given to us, (the brethren), of YEHOVAH God.

He goes on to further declare that the “natural” man (those not born of Isaac’s line) cannot receive the things of the spirit of YEHOVAH God. He agrees with the Messiah who says that anyone who is not begotten of the original sowing (in the womb of Sarah) cannot “see” the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God. Those who can are those “born from above” (not “again” as translated) in John 3:3, from the original sowing.

It is YEHOVAH God who anoints His people Israel with the deposit or earnest of the spirit -- as pictured by the anointing of Adam in Genesis 2:7. The purpose of this anointing is that the believer of Israel might be taught the things of YEHOVAH God. Things of the spirit can only be known through the help of the spirit!