Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Genesis 2:7: “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.”
I remember attending a rather boisterous prayer meeting where everyone was praying at once and out loud. There was one old boy who was really wailing and repeating over and over: “Oh, Lord, I am but dust…” I suppose he was impling that “but dust” meant he was nothing. Well, I will admit “but(t) dust” sounds pretty low but if he was referring to “’aphar” which is rendered as “dust” in Genesis 2:7, that could border on bragging. What we think of when we hear the word “dust” is very fine particles of skin, dead dust mites, fine dirt, etc. It is everything on earth that has been broken down to it’s lowest component.
What is thought provoking is that God fashioned man out of these dead broken down particles. If you check it out, you find that man is the only creature to be made from the “Aphar adamah” (dust of the soil). Genesis 1:24 tells us he made the creatures of the earth from the “Ha’eres” not from the “Aphar”(dust) or the “adamah (soil)..”
In the creation story we have a reference to the “Ha’eres,” which is often rendered as land or soil, and the “Ha’adamah“ which also refers to the land or soil but is mainly a reference to fertile land and soil. With man specifically we have the word “Aphar” which we render as dust. All three mean something different.
Looking at these words carefully we discover a major difference between man and animals. Animals were merely formed from the “Ha’eres” which is a reference to everything in the land, rocks, sand, soil, etc. Man, however, was formed from the “Aphar” of the “Ha’adamah.” Ha’adamah comes from the root word “adam” and is a reference to the life producing soil and God breathed a spirit (nephesh) into man and not into animals. However, we have other references in the Old Testament where animals had a “nephesh.” So this is not what sets man apart from animals. What does set us apart from Riley the cat is that he was not made with “Aphar” like man.
The question comes up as to what is this “’aphar?” Is it just fine particles ground down into microscopic size and blown in the wind? Is it the molecues or atoms or the Ha’adam (soil)? I have heard of Christians experiencing gold dust falling during worship services. Analysis of these particles show it is not gold. Maybe this is not gold dust but “aphar?” This is the dust God used to form man? It is a sign that God has returned man to his original state before the fall.
Somewhere in the history of the church some scholars with the right credentials examined the Hebrew word “’aphar” and declared “aphar” to mean “dust” in English. These scholars saw that such a rendering was good and therefore anyone to suggest anything more from the word “’aphar” would be a heretic.
Yet, there appears to be something special about “aphar” and perhaps dust is not our best rendering, although I have no idea what we could render it as. Looking at this word esoterically we find it is spelled “Ayin, Pe, Resh.” Right away I see “Mind (Ayin), Body (Pe) and Spirit (Resh). The dust gave man a connection with both the natural world and the Spiritual word. This is something the animals do not have. The Ayin speaks of the mind, or deep insight. It implies the ability to reason and communicate. Now we know animals can communicate with each other and as a believer I believe they can communicate with God. However, no matter how developed an animal is in communicating, it can not form a language with grammar and syntax to carry on a conversation. For man to have a free will, he must have a language. This is the difference between an animal and man, an animal does not have a free will, it only acts on instincts. We are made from “aphar” and animals are not.
Perhaps this dust, Ayin, Pe, Resh in Hebrew, really has a “Resh” a spiritual element, a light, something that forms a connection with the spiritual world and allows the Spirit of God to dwell in us. At the fall this capacity was closed, but because of the death and resurrection of Jesus our bodies can now be the temple of God as it was intended to be. Until the redemptive work of Jesus, God could only dwell in an early temple, but now, as both Jesus and Paul taught, our bodies are the temple of God. An animal’s body can not be a temple of God as it was not formed from this mysterious “aphar (dust).”
I have noticed, like you may have noticed, that sometimes an animal will pause from his activity and look up at me. I have studied the word “dominion” (radah) among rabbis. It is felt by many that the root word is really “yarad” to come down and flow” rather than “radah” which means to subdue. In others when God gave us dominion over the animals, He did not mean for us to subdue the animals but to come down to their level and flow with the animals. It is believed that this understanding of the word “dominion” is how the angels shut the mouths of the lions in Daniel’s lion den. Daniel came to the lion’s level of worship of their creator. The animal kingdom longs to be close it it’s creator. Perhaps that is why a squirrel pauses for a moment to stare at you. It is not you but his creator that he senses.
I once made a business call on some clients. I had never been in the home of these clients. When I came to the door a rather vicious German Shepherd threw himself against the screen door barking like he was ready to turn me into dinner. Because I had been in a meditative state while traveling to the clients, I was not thinking clearly and I did a foolish thing. I opened the screen door and put out my hand to the dog. The dog instantly became calm (I do not recommend this move, nor do I plan on repeating it). The owner looked surprise and said: “Oh, I guess it is ok.” He then went to his wife, whisper something about the dog being ok and then led me to the living room. As I sat on the sofa the wife suddenly addressed her husband and said; “Honey look!” She pointed to their cat who had entered the room and was just sitting and staring at me.” The man said: “That is really weird, every time a stranger comes into the house our cat runs to the bedroom and hides under the bed. I can’t believe he is just sitting there.” As I said, on my way to the appointment I have been in a meditative state, actually I call it a “Devekut” which I explained in an earlier study. I was still coming out of my Devekut and I did not realize that I responded by saying:: “Well he just knows who his creator is.” Boy did I have some explaining to do on that one However, I really believe that being formed from the “dust” or “Aphar” we are a notch above the animal kingdom giving us the privilege of carrying the living, loving life of Jesus Christ inside of us and also being given the duty of having dominion over the animals, or to lower ourselves to the animal’s level so we can flow with the animals and nature in praising and worshipping our creator. The animals know who their creator is.
(End of part I)
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