What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe?

What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe? Air is the atmosphere, as opposed to the higher regions of the sky (1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 9:2; 16:17 ). The atmosphere of earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth’s gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. This word occurs once as the rendering of the Hebrew ruah ( Job 41:16 ); elsewhere it is the rendering of shamaiyim, usually translated as “heavens.” The expression “to speak into the air” (1 Corinthians 14:9) is a proverb denoting to speak in vain, as to “beat the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26) denotes to labor in vain. In the Old Testament “air” is used (with one exception) in the phrase “fowl” or “fowls (birds) of the air.” The Hebrew word is usually rendered “heaven” or “heavens.”

In accordance with ancient Hebrew cosmogony, the sky was a solid dome (firmament) stretching over the earth as a covering. In the phrase above, the air means the space between the earth and the firmament. In Job 41:16 “air” renders ruach, “breath,” “wind,” “spirit.” The scales of the leviathan are so closely joined together that no air can penetrate. In the New Testament the phrase “birds (or fowls) of the air,” occurs ten (10) times. Behold, this simply reproduces the Hebraism noticed above. Apart from this expression “air” in the King James Version represents aer, which explicitly denotes the atmosphere which surrounds us.
The expression “beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26) means to “deal blows that do not get home”—that miss the mark. In his conflict with the lower life represented by the body, Paul compares himself to a boxer who aims with unerring accuracy at his opponent. That is, no stroke is lost.

What the Bible Says About Air I Breathe

What Scripture Says About Air

In the New Testament, we notice that Paul makes use of the phrase “speaking into the air” (1 Corinthians 14:9) in reference to the unintelligible utterances of those who “spake with tongues.” In the expression, “prince of the powers of the air” (Ephesians 2:2 KJV) we find an echo of the current belief that the air was the dwelling place of spirits, especially of evil spirits.

Breathe: The Lord God Almighty Breathes Life into Humanity

Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Breathing is a very powerful Biblical image. In Genesis, the Lord God Almighty creates humanity from the clay of the earth. Yet the human being is merely a lifeless work of clay pottery until the Lord God Almighty breathes into the nostrils of the human. Behold, it is that first breath that gives us life. Aside from the physical birth of life through breath is the even greater significance that the breath comes straight from the Lord God Almighty. Brethren, notice that the Lord God Almighty could use the winds of the earth or some other entity to feel our lungs but He did it directly and personally.
Scripture further tells us that at the point of death that same breath returns to the Lord God Almighty (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Breath in the Bible is far more than the physical exchange of air in and out of the lungs. It’s one of the most profound symbols in Scripture. In both the New Testament Greek and Old Testament Hebrew, breath is likened to or equated with God’s spirit.

What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe?

Genesis 2:7 – “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.“

Job 33:4 – “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.“

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.“

Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Psalm 104:1-35 – “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. …“

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Group 1 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

Acts 10:12 – “In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.“

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Acts 2:1 – “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.”

Ephesians 2:1-2 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—“

Acts 2:1 – “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.“

1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.“

Psalm 150:1-6 – “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! …“

Group 2 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

1 Corinthians 9:26 – “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.“

Job 27:1-23 – And Job again took up his discourse, and said: “As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. …”

1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.“

Isaiah 24:4-6 – “The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.“

Group 3 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

James 1:27 – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Isaiah 55:10 – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,”

Job 12:7-10 – “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”

Psalm 6:5 – “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?“

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. …“

Group 4 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

Leviticus 17:11 – “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.“

Genesis 2:1-25 – “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up— …“

Job 31:15 – “Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?“

John 3:16-27 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. …“

Group 5 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

1 John 5:19 – “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

Genesis 1:31 – “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.“

Genesis 1:26-27 – Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Jeremiah 2:7 – “And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.“

Colossians 2:1-23 – “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. …“

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Group 6 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

Deuteronomy 25:4 – “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.”

Genesis 1:1-31 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. …“

Ecclesiastes 12:7 – “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.“

Genesis 3:19 – “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Group 7 – What Does the Bible Say About Air I Breathe

Ephesians 5:8 – “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light“

2 Peter 3:10 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

Revelation 11:18 – “The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 Corinthians 2:14 – “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

John 5:29 – “And come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.“

John 6:40 – “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”