The Guf and Pre-existence
By
James Trimm
We read in Jeremiah:
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.”
(Jer. 1:5)
This passage alludes to the Jewish doctrine of pre-existence which Christendom rejected as heresy at the Second Council of Constantinople in AD 553.
This contradicts the Torah which teaches that all creation was completed on the sixth day (Gen. 2:1-2) So every soul that would ever be born, had already been created by that time.
According to the Talmud, in the seventh heaven known as “Aravot” “the souls which are yet to be born” await the time of their birth:
‘Aravot is that in which there are Right and Judgment and Righteousness, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing, the souls of the righteous and the spirits and the souls which are yet to be born… The spirits and the souls which are yet to be born, for it is written: For the spirit that enwrappeth itself is from Me, and the souls which I have made. (Is. 57:16)
(b.Chag. 12b)
This passage of Talmud is citing Isaiah 57:16 as it appears in the JPS 1918 text:
For I will not contend for ever, Neither will I be always wroth; For the spirit that enwrappeth itself is from Me, And the souls which I have made.
(Is. 57:16 JPS 1917)
In Jewish tradition, this storehouse of souls is called the “Guf” (or “Guph”). One tradition says that the Son of David (The Davidic Messiah, or from a Nazarene stand point, the second coming of Messiah) will not come until the Guf has been exhausted of souls:
R. Assi stated: The Son of David will not come before all the souls in Guf will have been disposed of, since it is said, For the spirit that unwrappeth itself is from Me etc. (Is. 57:16)
(b.Yev. 62a; 63b)
R. Jose stated: The Son of David will not come before all the souls in Guf will have been disposed of, since it is said, For the spirit that enwrappeth itself is from Me, and the souls which I have made. (Is. 57:16)
(b.Nidah 13b)
The Talmud also records a tradition which states that at the time a soul is sent into the world, an oath is administered to the soul by Elohim, as follows:
Be righteous and be not wicked;
and even if the whole world tells you that you are righteous,
regard yourself as if you were wicked.
(b.Niddah 30b)
And according to another tradition, these souls in the Guf have male and female “halves.” The Zohar describes their entry into the world as follows:
All the souls in the world are all mystically one,
But when they descend to this world they are
separated into male and female, though these are
still conjoined. When they first issue forth, they
issue male and female together. Subsequently,
when they descend (to this world) they separate,
one to one side and the other to the other. And
Elohim afterwards mates them- Elohim and no other,
He alone knowing the proper mate to each. Happy
is the man who is upright in his works and walks
in the way of truth, so that his soul may find its
original mate, for then he becomes indeed perfect,
and through his perfection the whole world is
blessed.
(Zohar 1:85b)
The doctrine of pre-existence has been rejected by Christendom, but it is very much a part of the Jewish roots of the original followers of Yeshua.
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