Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Animals » Nature of
Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bridle and rein to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
But man, with all his [self] honor and pomp, will not endure;
He is like the beasts that perish.
I said in my heart regarding the subject of the sons of men, God is trying (separating and sifting) them, that they may see that by themselves [under the sun, without God] they are but like beasts. For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even [in the end] one thing befalls them both. As the one dies, so dies the other. Yes, they all have one breath and spirit, so that a man has no preeminence over a beast; for all is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)! All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. read more.
Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?
Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?
Corruption » Physical decomposition » After death
“By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread
Until you return to the ground,
For from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
then the dust [out of which God made man’s body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’
For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
‘For You will not forsake me and abandon my soul to Hades (the realm of the dead),
Nor let Your Holy One undergo decay [after death].
So that he should live on eternally,
That he should never see the pit (grave) and undergo decay.
You hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You take away their breath, they die
And return to their dust.
“I descended to the [very] roots of the mountains.
The earth with its bars closed behind me [bolting me in] forever,
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit (death), O Lord my God.
he foresaw and spoke [prophetically] of the resurrection of the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), that He was not abandoned [in death] to Hades (the realm of the dead), nor did His body undergo decay.
And as to His having raised Him from among the dead, now no more to return to [undergo] putrefaction and dissolution [of the grave], He spoke in this way, I will fulfill and give to you the holy and sure mercy and blessings [that were promised and assured] to David. For this reason He says also in another psalm, You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption [to undergo putrefaction and dissolution of the grave]. For David, after he had served God's will and purpose and counsel in his own generation, fell asleep [ in death] and was buried among his forefathers, and he did see corruption and undergo putrefaction and dissolution [of the grave]. read more.
But He Whom God raised up [to life] saw no corruption [did not experience putrefaction and dissolution of the grave].
But He Whom God raised up [to life] saw no corruption [did not experience putrefaction and dissolution of the grave].
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal.
Now I say this, believers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit nor be part of the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (mortal) inherit the imperishable (immortal).
Dust » Man made from
then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].
“By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread
Until you return to the ground,
For from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
then the dust [out of which God made man’s body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
For He knows our [mortal] frame;
He remembers that we are [merely] dust.
Abraham answered, “Now behold, I who am but dust [in origin] and ashes have decided to speak to the Lord.
‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
So will You turn me into dust again?
Man » Mortal
And just as it is appointed and destined for all men to die once and after this [comes certain] judgment,
For since [it was] through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come]. For just as [because of their union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive.
‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that [in the end] one event happens to them both. Then said I in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it will happen even to me. And of what use is it then for me to be more wise? Then I said in my heart, This also is vanity (emptiness, vainglory, and futility)!