Davy Jones asked this question in the second Pirates of the Caribbean. “Do you fear(rrr) that dark ahbees?” It’s basically rhetorical, most people would say, “Duh.” Staying alive drives most of our behavior. We avoid certain activities if there’s even a modest possibility of death! Not everyone is negatively preoccupied with this unknown state, but many (perhaps most) are. Why do we fear death? And can we be certain that there’s life after death? We’ll look at those in order.
Why do we fear death? There are too many reasons to list here, so we’ll look at just the big ones. We fear death because it’s unknown. It’s been thousands of years since someone came back to life, and they didn’t share any details about it. We fear what we don’t understand. It’s not physically possible to study consciousness after death, so it’s the ultimate unknown! This is a religious blog, so we’ll approach this from that angle. John tells us that if we fear death two things are to blame: one, we’re instinctively afraid of God’s punishment because our lives aren’t where they need to be. Two, we haven’t matured in love. God’s perfect love overrides our fear of death (I Jn 4.17-18). If someone orders their life around their fear of death, they need to make changes. Adopt selfless love — “everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them” (4.16). John also says, “If God’s love is made perfect in us, we can be without fear on the day when God judges the world. We will have no fear because in this world we are like Jesus.” This tracks with what Jesus said in Lk 21.25-28, “They [all people on Earth] will be afraid and worried about what will happen to the world. … When these things happen, stand up tall1 and don’t be afraid.2 Know that it is almost time for God to free you.” Jesus’s sacrifice removed our fear of death (Hb 2.15). Death is just a “sting”, it’s the consequence of our sin. But it’s no longer an issue. It’s only for a microsecond (from our perspective), and the best thing that could happen to a believer (I Cor 15.51-52, 56-57). Jesus took away any legitimate fear of death because it no longer means we’re destined for punishment!
Can we know for sure that there is life after death? From a material perspective, no. Not yet, anyways. Even Solomon struggled with this question (Ecc 3.21), “Who knows what happens to a person’s spirit? Who knows if a human’s spirit goes up to God while an animal’s just goes into the ground?” When every person who ever lived comes back to life at Jesus’s return, we’ll know for sure. What we were only confident in — even though we hadn’t yet observed it firsthand — will become incontrovertibly real. For now, our confidence comes from promises made in scripture, and from a universal, intuitive sense that something exists beyond this life (Is 25.8; Hos 13.14; I Cor 15.57; II Pt 3.13; Rv 21.4).
This is imperative mood (command) in Gk. The idea is to stand up with confidence. ↩︎
Also imperative mood, lit. “raise up your head”. ↩︎
Recently, Kathy and I were walking through the beautiful Fairview Cemetery, with its over 1,000 graves. There are well-known people buried there, like Duncan Hines, confederate general William Perry, members of the powerful Underwood family, and congressman William Natcher (for whom the Kentucky parkway is named). According to our friend and renowned church historian, Scott Harp, such restoration movement figures as James Harding, M.L. Moore, and Benjamin Franklin Rogers are also buried there, as well as those later well-known to our brotherhood like Raymond Hazelip and J. Pettey Ezell.
But, I was struck by some things I saw on the headstones of seemingly ordinary “residents” we encountered along our walk. They suggest a view that there is more to the person than what lies beneath that patch of ground. They also echo true ideas from Scripture.
“We will meet again.” Those who have gone are not gone forever. We may not see them physically on this earth again, but Scripture speaks of the occasion where we all will be gathered before the throne of judgment (Mat. 25:31-34). Fellowship with one another is implied in various activities in which we will engage and glimpses we get of those who have gone beyond the grave (Rev. 21:3; 22:3). Certainly, our songs express an anticipation that we will see each other again.
“His work lives on.” Think of how that is certainly true, even in the secular realm. Scholarships and endowments are set up in the name of and to honor those who have died. Many wealthy donors have their names on buildings in cities, universities, and businesses long after they have died (Rockefeller Plaza, J.P. Morgan; George Washington has 127 places named after him and Abraham Lincoln has 70). The Bible tells us that though Abel is dead, he still speaks through his obedient faith (Heb. 11:4). John hears the blessed assurance from heaven that those who die in the Lord may rest from their labors, “but their works follow them” (Rev. 14:13). All of us are leaving a posthumous legacy.
“Beloved father, son, and friend.” Variations of this can be found in this and other cemeteries. It is a reminder that we are making and building relationships. How will they be remembered? In what way are we impacting and influencing those who will follow after us? God makes us stewards over various areas of life, and we touch others’ lives. Paul writes, “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself” (Rom. 14:7).
We are audibly speaking now, But even from the grave, we will continue to speak. What are we writing with our lives? They will be read when we have died!
Everyone on earth was intentionally designed by God. This fact should help us to remember that every person we meet is an opportunity to serve someone made in the image of God.
God created us by making a deliberate choice to design us based on what He desired. Basically, who we are is no mistake. Who we are is intentional. Who we are is by design.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Both men and women are equally created in the image of God. Not just male, or just female; both are created in His image.
Nothing else on earth can be what we are. God intentionally designed us this way, and that means we matter to God! Men and women were created to be a reflection of the community God has had from the beginning. Complementary in function and design, equal in value, and created to create.
God could have made a fresh batch of humans each time one died. God could have made us like self reproducing amoebas. Instead, God designed humans to multiply and fill the earth. He designed us for community. There would be a lot less division if we would remember this.
Though he designed us perfectly, our decision to reject God’s path brought brokenness into this world–affecting bodies, gender relationships, and even the ability to have healthy families. But God loved the world. He desires for all people to know him because all are equally valuable in his sight.
So God sent his son into the world. Jesus was the perfect image of the invisible God. As we saw Jesus’ perfect love, we learned of God’s perfect love and nature. He died to create a family, a spiritual family made up of every age, race, and culture and a family formed into a church who is like his bride (A bride he died to save so that we could be united with Him for all eternity).
May we never forget that we are the product of intentional design. A design created by Almighty God!
Jesus chose the Passover as the memorial that his sacrifice would fulfill. He is the perfect lamb whose blood saves us from death. Israel was protected from the angel of death through the lamb’s blood on their doorpost, and we’re saved from death through the blood of the lamb. Death is the consequence of sin. By saving us from sin, he saves us from death’s permanence. When we say that he saved us from our sins and he saved us from death, we’re saying exactly the same thing. The two are interchangeable. Without sin there is no death. Without forgiveness of those sins, there is no life.
Because of Jesus’s sacrifice and because he came back to life, taking a position at the Father’s right hand as our perfect high priest, he will save us from our own Egypt — this earth. Being saved from death isn’t where the Exodus story ended, right? Israel was also saved from a dysfunctional country. The Jewish people saw this parallel eight centuries before YHWH came to earth as Jesus (Is 65.17, 66.22). They were looking forward to the return of Eden, the perfect creation of the first time — before man had to fight the earth for food, and before woman had to experience pain in childbirth and submission to her husband.
Peter makes the comparison between the first destruction of earth and the second, and quotes Isaiah and Jesus when he says, “But according to his promise, we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth where only goodness can live” (II Pt 3.13). This new earth does not have the curse God put on this earth when humanity sinned (Rv 22.3; Rom 8.15ff). The wording used II Pt and Rev 21, 22 strongly suggests a literal understanding of this teaching. The use of γης for earth (instead of κοσμος), the use of καινην for new (instead of νεος, though this is only suggestive and not something that stands alone as proof), and the use of παλλιγγενεσια (return to a former state) in Mt 19.28 all point to a literal understanding of this promise.
We can add to this the fact that the word “heaven” is ουρανος — a word that was primarily understood to mean “sky” by Greek speakers from the Classical period on. In its plural form — usually the dative plural ουρανοις or genitive plural ουρανους — it could be the realm of the stars (it also means “skies” when context demands). It was understood to be the place where God lives. Jesus said as much in Mt 6.9, 6.14, and 6.32 (and fifteen other passages, mostly in Matthew). Our ultimate destination is not figurative. No figurative interpretation appears to have existed before the Docetics and other gnostic groups came to prominence in the mid-to-late 1st century.
Salvation is not some intangible platitude or vaguely-defined ethereal existence. How would that produce effective anticipation or hope? It had to make sense to the people it was written to, and it had to use language native to their thinking. If not it wouldn’t have been as powerful.
One of the greatest gas engines ever made was Ford’s 300L6. That thing will run without any oil for some time, and you’d have to be paying attention to know it’s low on oil. I once drove from Littleton, Colorado, to Ft Collins, Colorado, and back (total of about 150 miles) with zero oil in a 1972 F-100 and it was fine(ish). But the life expectancy of any engine in that condition is radically diminished, even in such a well-designed platform.
Our bodies are incredibly complex and we still don’t fully understand them. Half our medications have in their literature something like, “We don’t know how this works, but we think it…” We’re well-made engines running without oil because of sin. We’ll run, but we’re destined to die because sin runs us dry.
Romans 5.18 says, One sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people.
Romans 8.2 says, In Christ Jesus the law of the spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death.
Romans 5.12 says, Sin came into the world because of what one man did. And with sin came death. So this is why all people must die — because all people have sinned.
Romans 6.23 says, When people sin, they earn what sin pays — death.
I John 5.16 says, There is a sin that leads to death.
John 8.21 says, Jesus said to the people, “I will leave you. You will look for me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going.” A few verses later, If you don’t believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.
In the very intimate correspondence to his spiritual son that we call the epistle of 2 Timothy, Paul seems very aware that the time of his departure from this earth had come (4:6). Paul was not under house arrest, like we read at the end of Acts. He is in chains (1:16).
The city of Rome burned between July 19-24, 64 AD. The fire started in the Circus Maximus stadium, but burned 10 of the city’s 14 districts before it was extinguished. Some historians blame Nero, but there is no doubt Nero blamed the Christians. He rounded up Christians already in the city, including Peter (cf. 2 Pet. 1:14-15), and had many of them executed that same fall.
Lenski says Paul was in Spain at the time of the fire, but he was captured in a continuing dragnet of Christians: “Christianity had become a religio illicita, and especially its propagation became a crime against the state. Not long after Paul’s return from Spain he was arrested. Now he would be charged with a crime; Paul was, therefore, thrown into a dungeon as a felon. After some delay he was tried and executed. Tradition asserts that he perished under Nero who died June 9, 68. The details of his martyrdom are not known. He must have been condemned to death for spreading a religio illicita” (474).
So, as the time drew nearer for him to die, Paul uses an interesting word to describe his anticipated situation. He reviews some of the events of his first missionary journey, reminding Timothy that at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra he endured many persecutions, “and out of them all the Lord rescued me!” (3:11). You may remember that this including being stoned by the Jews and left for dead. That was a miraculous rescue!
Now, confined to chains with an insane emperor breathing down his neck, Paul says that the Christians had deserted him. Considering the enormous scrutiny they were under simply for being Christians, visiting a notorious, incarcerated Christian was risky! He charitably prayed that it might not be counted against them (4:16). Then, he says that he was rescued from out of the lion’s mouth (4:17), and “interpreters have identified the lion as the literal lions of the amphitheater, the emperor Nero, or Satan” (Lea and Griffin, The New American Commentary, Vol. 34, 256). But, we cannot be sure. But, even if the lion was figurative, the rescue was literal.
At nearly the end of his last letter, Paul confidently adds, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom” (4:18). Consider Nero and the Roman machine! He had already been beaten numerous times. Who knows the terrible hardships he endured in the squalor of this dungeon? Yet, he would state with confidence that God would rescue him from the worst of them. Perhaps weeks or days after he dispatched this letter to Timothy, guards unlocked him and took him to the chopping block where, as a Roman citizen, he died by beheading rather than a harsher death like crucifixion or burning. What about his inspired words in 2 Timothy 4:18?
Paul teaches us to think eternally and heavenly. On the other side of that beheading, there was safety and arrival to God’s heavenly kingdom. It was what he lived for. It was what he died for. What a reminder as we live in this body for such a short time, that we await our rescue. Our rescuer is Jesus, “who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Th. 1:10). He “delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us” (2 Cor. 1:10).
Many substances give a temporary feeling of euphoria/well-being while harming the cells and systems of our bodies. Some of them don’t alter our state of consciousness (refined sugar, salt, tobacco products), some of them do (alcohol, amphetamines, narcotics). Sin is the transcendent version of those things — it often makes us feel good for a little while, but always leads to death.
Sin is simultaneously opposed to law (I Jn 3) and uses law to kill us (Rom 6-8). This is a very confusing dynamic at first, but it all comes down to the heart. Paul says that a heart set on God is going to sin, but not because it wants to. It’s because sin uses our weakness compared to the standard of God’s law to trip us up. John says that we’ll always have sin, and that not all sins lead to eternal death. What John and Paul both agree on is this — we are totally powerless by ourselves, but God’s grace covers our mistakes.
Sin is also a relentless, enslaving force. Few passages more clearly demonstrate this than Romans 6-8. This discourse seems almost contradictory at several points, but I believe this is by design. There is a constant tension between gratitude for grace and recognition of our own sinful nature. I believe this is stated the way it is to keep us in the proper mindset. On the one hand, we have God’s grace and that covers our sins. On the other, we don’t want to run too far with it and fall from grace. This section details a struggle within each Christian to serve God only, while our bodies furiously pull us towards sinful actions and thoughts. Paul’s conclusion at the end is two-fold: Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body that only brings me death and There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Previously we have discussed the importance of knowing for certain that Jesus lived on this earth. The power of His resurrection begins with the hope of His birth. We are all in need of a Savior. Thankfully, 2,000 years ago God sent His Son to take on flesh. He willingly came and left an example for us to imitate. Secular historians all agree that Jesus of Nazareth really did exist. But there’s more to this that we need to study. He lived, oh yes, He LIVED. But we also need to understand that He Died.
Scripture says that, in John 19:18, “There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.” Mark 15:39 adds, “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Scripture tells us that not only did Jesus live on earth, He was also put to death. John tells us that Jesus hung on a cross between two criminals. Mark records the response of a Roman centurion who saw the way Jesus died and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
God in flesh and blood hung on a cross for my sins, for the sins of the world. For me, having several biblical authors record the death of Jesus is more than enough proof. But let’s see what secular history has to say about His death.
The Roman historian Tacitus said this in AD 117, “Their originator, Christ, has been executed in Tiberius’ reign, by Pontius Pilate.” Even Jesus’ worst enemies record His death. The Jewish Rabbis and Religious leaders wrote this in the Talmud, “Jesus of Nazareth was a transgressor in Israel who practiced magic, scorned the words of the wise, led the people astray, and said that he had not come to destroy the law but to add to it. He was hanged on Passover Eve for heresy and misleading the people.”
The truth is, Jesus surely died for you and me. Scripture clearly teaches this, and so do many secular historians. For us to fully grasp the power of what comes next, we’ve got to believe that Jesus lived and that He died on a cross for you and me.
We read of several men and women in scripture who died and were brought back to life. Elijah raised a widow’s son in 1 Kings 17. Elisha raised the son of a Shunamite woman in 2 Kings 4. Jesus saw a funeral procession in Luke 7, He felt compassion towards the widow who had lost her only son and He brought him back to life. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after three days in John 11. He also raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Coming back from the dead wasn’t unheard of when Jesus rose from the grave.
The power of His resurrection is found in the fact that He rose to never die again. With His death, He defeated the grip that death has on us. Elijah raised the widow’s son, but that son eventually died. It’s the same with the son in Luke 7, with Lazarus and the daughter of Jairus. They were raised through the power of God, but they died again.
The Son of God came to be killed, to die in our place. Never to die again! Christ has saved us, there is power in His sacrifice because He continues to live today! He lives to Intercede for us! Muhammad is dead. Joseph Smith Is dead. Buddha is dead. But Christ, the author of our faith, is ALIVE.
We sing a song with these lyrics, “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world TODAY!” Do you truly believe that? His Resurrection gives us eternal life. At least, that’s what scripture tells us. How certain are you that Jesus came back from the dead? Did you see it happen? For many, The Bible’s an old book, a lot has happened since then. Is Jesus really at the right hand of God today?
How can we know this is the truth?
The Power of the cross is only life changing because of Who died on it. Christianity focuses on the cross but Jesus was one of many who were killed by the Romans. The symbol of our faith is just an instrument of torture. The Resurrection is what gives the cross its meaning. If Jesus would’ve died on the cross and stayed in the ground, our faith is worthless. What happened after the cross is what gives us eternal life.
The Bible is clear in teaching that Jesus rose from the dead. Matt. 28:6 tells us the few words that changed the course of history. Words that changed the world. “He is not here. He has RISEN.” The power of the gospel is grounded and built on 4 essential facts. If just one of these is wrong, there’s no point in being a Christian. No point in coming together to worship, no need to change the way you live, and no eternal life.
We know from Scripture as well as secular history that He lived, He died, He rose, and one day He is coming back! The next four weeks we will look at these more in depth as we look at the Truth of the Gospel!
On July 18, 1969, as the world waited for Apollo 11 to land on the moon, presidential speechwriter William Safire had an unpleasant task. He had to write a contingency speech for Richard Nixon to read in the event the astronauts became stranded on the moon. It began, “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.” Can you imagine anyone being willing to go on a mission so dangerous that they write your obituary before you leave?
But it happened 2700 years earlier when Isaiah wrote the obituary of Jesus of Nazareth. “Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:1-3).
You have to think that a prophecy so important to Jewish hope and expectation would have been read frequently in the temple and the synagogues, so how many times did Jesus hear it read? The theme of Isaiah 53 often seems to be on His mind, though He doesn’t directly quote it in the gospels. In Matthew 9:15, He tells His disciples that He would be taken away from them and Isaiah 53:8 says, “He was taken and cut off.” In Matthew 17:12, the disciples bring up Elijah and Jesus connects him to His own suffering. Repeatedly in the gospels, when Jesus connects His coming suffering and death, He is appealing to an aspect of Messianic Prophecy highlighted by Isaiah that was unmistakeable if unpopular.
Isaiah describes His suffering, but the crux of His story is salvation. But just as that word crux means “cross,” it’s difficult to separate the victory from the viciousness. Yet, because Jesus was willing to accept His deadly mission, we can have eternal life!
Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels all showcase for us the growth of Peter as a Christ-follower. In Matthew’s account Peter will be praised by Jesus— then rebuked by Him. The roller coaster ride Peter experienced is felt in the text but there’s more to this account than just an uncomfortable interaction. Peter declares the sonship of Christ through heavenly revelation, then Jesus refers to him as Satan just a few verses later.
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human.” – Matt. 16.21-23
When we step back and look at the chapter as a whole we can see Peter’s response to Jesus as he informs them (the disciples) that He must die and be raised seems to be one motivated purely out of love. Peter doesn’t want his teacher, friend, and master to die. That’s understandable. He even takes the Lord aside so as to not rebuke Jesus in front of the other disciples. This wasn’t something done in Peter’s mind to thwart the plans of God, but the response to this is unexpected. Did Peter deserve to be called Satan?
His rebuke was a stumbling block to Jesus.
Jesus was on a mission but the Pharisees, Scribes, the Roman government, and plenty of others had made the ministry of Jesus difficult- still He was able to overcome. When challenged by them Jesus was able to masterfully handle their questions and accusations. Those were challenges He faced by the wicked and cunning crowds, but someone as close to Jesus as Peter would have presented a different temptation. It’s difficult for us to hear persuasive voices from those close to us like friends and family. They have the ability to talk you out of or into all manner of things and many times this is a great help. Their advice is often appreciated more than those of outsiders. However this can also be a challenge to us in negative ways if their counsel leads us further from God. Peter deserved such a swift and blunt response because it was a threat to the will of the Father, and this is a good principle for us to follow today.
I learned something from dad a while ago: when you’re sick, exercise. It was rare, but whenever he got sick he would run back-to-back marathons or something crazy and would be fully recovered the next day. I decided to try his mad method and found that it really does work! Today was one of those days — I got the bug and didn’t skip the gym.
When I got there I saw one of our lifting buddies. He asked if we had a good Christmas, and I said, “It was awesome, but this year felt different for some reason. It was almost weird, and I can’t put my finger on why.” He said, “It really did! I don’t know why, but this year felt weird. The time is near.”
Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Peter wrote, “The time is near when all things will end. So keep your minds clear, and control yourselves. This will help you in your prayers. Most important of all, love each other deeply, because love makes you willing to forgive many sins” (4.7-8). He said that two millennia ago! From our perspective, that’s not exactly “near”. For those Christians, though, it was.
Whether the end of this earth is imminent or not, Peter’s reminder is relevant. We don’t know when our lives are going to end! Having clarity of purpose, self-control, and selfless love will keep us ready for Jesus’s return.
“Everything that God made is waiting with excitement for the time when he will show the world who his children are. The whole world wants very much for that to happen. Everything God made was allowed to become like something that cannot fulfill its purpose. That was not its choice, but God made it happen with this hope in view: That the creation would be made free from ruin—that everything God made would have the same freedom and glory that belong to God’s children” (Rom 8.19-21).
He’s introduced to us right after the end of the stunning victory at Jericho (Josh. 7:1). He is from the same tribe that the Messiah would hail from. Three other ancestors besides Judah are named, and they are roughly laid out for us in 1 Chronicles 2:3-7. Achan lives in infamy as “the troubler of Israel” (1 Chron. 2:7). A man who stood shoulder to shoulder with the conquerors of Jericho, whose voice was no doubt heard shouting along with everyone else (6:20), and whose sword dealt destructive blows to the inhabitants (6:21), had made a fateful stop somewhere inside the city amidst the rout. It was a detour that would not only change his life, but the life of his family (25) and the lives of at least 36 other families (5). His sin dragged down an entire nation, at least for a little while.
We’re not told if Achan put together his sin and the downfall of Israel in their first battle with Ai. Yet, when Joshua begins the process by taking lots to discover the culprit (14-15), he had to feel the noose tightening. Finally, when he is exposed as the one who “took some of the things under the ban” (1), Joshua speaks in a surprisingly gentle and compassionate tone as he tells Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me” (19). After the battle, he had the opportunity to immediately come clean and tell Joshua what he had done. Anytime between Jericho and Ai, he might have been led by a pricked conscience to unburden himself and repent. Not until the divinely-led process when he was undeniably found guilty did Achan confess his sin. It is then that Joshua, Israel, and the reader learn how Achan had been “conquered.”
“I saw” (21). My mom used to sing the devotional song with us, “Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.” How many times have our eyes been the gateway to sin and trouble in our lives. The text doesn’t even say he was searching, but at some point his eyes rested on the spoil and he saw a beautiful robe, some silver and a wedge of gold. He found it irresistible. This was Eve’s problem (Gen. 3:6) and David’s (2 Sam. 11:2). In discussing sinful desire for material things, Jesus would reveal how the eye is the lamp of the body (Mat. 6:22-23). Achan’s eye was “bad.” Be careful to say with the Psalmist, “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes” (Ps. 101:3).
“I coveted” (21). This was the tenth commandment in the Law of Moses (Exo. 20:17; Deu. 5:21). It is also repeatedly condemned in the New Testament (Eph. 5:3,5). To covet is to desire, bringing damage upon the thing or person desired, and to take pleasure in (HAL). It’s a passionate desire, but, here and in the prohibition of the Law, it is an unholy desire for what is not one’s own. It leads to theft, adultery, and other sins where unholy desire leads to unholy action. Achan’s heart was conquered by unrighteous desires. How many lives have been overturned and destroyed by this?
“I took” (21). The progression went from eyes to heart to hands. Sin is progressively destructive. James 1:13-15 compares it to a macabre birth process, where temptation leads to lust which when conceived gives birth to sin. Sin, unchecked, leads to death (cf. Rom. 6:23). How did Achan justify transgressing the explicit warning Joshua made prior to Jericho, “But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord” (6:18-19)? Somehow, he rationalized, justified, and convinced himself it was OK. One of the most sobering precepts of all Scripture, to me, is, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives” (Prov. 16:2). Similar to it is, “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes,
But the LORD weighs the hearts” (Prov. 21:2). I’ve not known very many gossips, slanderers, liars, sexually immoral, drunkards, deceivers, troublemakers, sinfully angry, or the like who saw themselves as dirty and wrong. Yet, however we see ourselves, God sets His all-seeing eyes on our motives and hearts. He is looking with perfect perspective at our “ways” (our actions). Ultimately, whether we repent or face judgment, those actions will be correctly measured by the all-knowing Lord.
“I concealed” (21). It’s obvious that Achan understands, in his heart of hearts, that he’s done something wrong. Sin loves darkness and cover. Achan hasn’t really thought this through. Where would he spend the gold and silver? Where would he wear his fancy robe? Who would he sell it to and how would he explain his new-found wealth. When lust and temptation are in the driver’s seat, thoughts of consequences are shoved aside. The anticipated pleasure is tainted or replaced with the need to hide. Ask Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:7-8).
At the end of the day, Achan, his children, his livestock, his tent, and all his possessions lay buried beneath a pile of stones in a place appropriately nicknamed “the valley of trouble” (26). It was an infamous memorial, a tribute to the fruit of sin. The advertisements don’t talk about this part of enticement. The promise of satisfaction gives way to the punishment of senselessness. It is so important for us to have the foresight God has given us in Scripture. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12; 16:25). If he could be heard, Achan would say “Amen.” Thank God for giving us this example to keep us from such an end!
I Pt 4.12-19 is another difficult passage. God doesn’t want us to be caught off-guard when bad things happen to us because of our faith. We shouldn’t think that we’ve been intentionally singled-out. If we’re going to suffer, it should be because we’re doing what God wants. The process of judgment began for the world, and it started with the church. If we live for God, we’re going to be ok. But we have to avoid living like the world because they won’t be saved at the end.
Chapter 5 is addressed to elders in the first four verses. Elders who are proactive in watching out for peoples’ souls will get a huge reward at the end. Jesus will personally give out that reward. Verse 5 reminds the rest of us that we should submit to the authority God gave elders, because God is against pride but will lift up people who practice humility. 6-11 is Peter’s parting encouragement to these Christians facing imminent death. Be confident in God! No matter what happens to us here, everything will be alright in the end. God will personally ensure that everything we go through in this life will be worth it!
(Bobby delivered this as a devotional talk at Lehman Avenue on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. He served for several years as a shepherd, until recently. He lost Brenda almost nine months ago. They had been married for 46 years)
Hardship can be defined as severe suffering. Just take a minute and look up and down your pew; I would say, these are the ones that are very near and dear to you! My plead is don’t take these individuals or even tomorrow for granted; We know that every day people are diagnosed with some dreaded disease, and every day, people die. Disease and death are real, just like divorce, addiction, and suicide. Hardships are going to happen; you and I are not the first to suffer from hardship, and we certainly won’t be the last.
Now we know that hardships are going to happen, but what does this look and feel like? Classic examples are feelings of emptiness, loneliness, fear, anger, abandonment, and guilt.
So, if and when hardships come, how to move forward?
I have 6 suggestions:
Make a choice and decide that you don’t have to go through this life counting the months, days, and minutes consumed with these feelings.
Realize that God is not the source of our hardships, Satan is! However, after you blame God (and Christians sometimes do), keep moving through, and realize that we serve a God who cares, a God who loves! He is the ultimate source of healing.
Listen to God; get into His Word, absorb His word, Seek after God’s heart.
Now Believe and trust it, God knows what’s best.
Pray to God and petition for specifics: like healing, comfort, and deliverance.
Get to work. Turn all that energy into action; channel it for God’s work and glory. Realize there are so many others hurting from hardships. Hear their stories and allow them to hear your stories; this will help the healing process.
In summary, hardship will come to you, me, and others. But What an example we have of the Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior, and King. So, stay focus on Jesus and continue to point others to Jesus!
Remember Hebrews 12:2: “fixing your eyes on Jesus” … and Matthew 11:28, where Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
I Peter 1.1-2 tells us that God chose us a long time ago. This doesn’t mean we have no say, it just means he’s always known who would and wouldn’t follow him. Broadly speaking, it means that he specifically chose Christians to be the ones who leave with him at the end. This means three things: One, he wants us to have a spirit of moral purity. Two, he wants us to obey him. Three, he wants us to be made clean by Jesus’s sacrifice.
1.3-12 — Our reason for living this difficult life is hope. In the context of this letter, hope is the anticipation of what we’ll get after we die. The entire letter points to the next life as our primary incentive for living morally pure lives. When Peter says to do something difficult or painful, he usually follows it up with a reminder that this life is nothing. Everything we do is in view of the next life. Below are a few examples (we’ll look at the rest next week):
1.3 — His mercy gave us new life.
1.3 — This new life makes us live with anticipation for the next life and gives us a powerful, unstoppable hope. We only have this hope because Jesus came back to life, proving that we can and will, too.
1.4 — This new life has us waiting for God to reward us at the end.
1.4 — We know it’s at the end because vs 4 says that it’s being guarded by God for us. Unlike our current life, which is subject to the law of entropy, the next is not capable of wearing down or losing any of its value or novelty. Things that are new and exciting to us in this life can get boring after a while. Hobbies may eventually become an expensive ritual, rather than something that gives fulfillment or excitement or purpose. New Earth has none of that. It’ll be just as exciting on day one trillion as it was on day one!
Unveiling Sheol: Exploring the Depths of the Old Testament’s Concept of the Afterlife
During my junior year at Faulkner University, I enrolled in Hebrew classes. Unfortunately, I had to miss a semester due to illness. Because of the rotational nature of the Biblical languages courses at Faulkner, I took Greek when I returned and only passed thanks to Dr. Carl Cheatham’s grace. Because the documents of the Christian faith are written in Koine Greek, knowing the language makes more sense. However, I’ve always been interested in archaeology and Old Testament history. I still wish I could have barely passed Hebrew instead.
Consequently, I always like to plumb the depths of Jewish scholarship, tempering it with my Christian worldview. The idea that the Greek Hadean realm influenced the Christian concept of the afterlife has always piqued my interest, even though I know it is incorrect. People will say the Old Testament presents no such ideas about the afterlife. Yet that is not true. There is one word that one encounters particularly within the poetry section of the Old Testament: Sheol. The King James Version calls it “the grave.” Unfortunately, the King James translators ruined the tapestry’s richness by rendering it generically.
Sometimes the context tells you that the realm of the dead being discussed is associated with the concept of destruction. This association makes it sound like Tartarus (translated “hell” in 2 Peter 2.4) in Hades . This possibility becomes apparent when you pair Abaddon with it, as in Proverbs 27.20.
“Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.” (NASB95)
Proverbs 27 extols virtues such as humility, wise decision-making, healthy relationships, self-control, and diligent stewardship as keys to a fruitful life. In verse 20, Solomon compares this life and one where greed rules. Greed has the same appetite as Sheol and Abaddon.
Indeed, such concepts denote a location, but they take on a personification akin to our true adversary, who roams the earth seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Peter 5.8). As a result, by the time one reaches the end of the New Testament, assuming that John’s Apocalypse was the last book written, he finds Abaddon and his Greek counterpart Apollyon as rulers of the abyss (Revelation 9.11).
I understand that Revelation is difficult for modern readers to comprehend fully, but it is simple to imagine this figure as the devil. It is not my intention to delve into the interpretation of Revelation here. To summarize, there is no need to read a future yet to-be-realized into this text as if there were some nebulous end times ahead of us. Because these concepts are associated with destruction, more than one commentator has pointed out that they could easily describe the actions of Christians’ persecutors that resulted in their deaths. And as the angel told John at the outset of his Revelation, these things would shortly occur (Revelation 1.2-3; 22.10). As a result, rather than a demonic figure or a fallen angel, the rulers of destruction could have been imperial Rome’s rulers.
However, when Sheol appears alone, it refers to the concept of the realm of the dead. For example, when Joseph’s brothers convinced their father Jacob that a wild animal had killed him, Jacob tore his clothes and put on sackcloth. Jacob warned his family that his mourning would send him “down to Sheol” (Genesis 37.35 NASB95). Jacob uses a trip to Sheol to suggest his mourning will kill him.
Hebrew is a unique language because it lacks vowels. As a result, assigning vowel sounds is dependent on the diacritical marks Jesus referred to as “tittles” or “strokes” (Matthew 5.18). As a result, you have some pairings that can mean different things depending on where one places those strokes. In other words, changing the vowel sounds creates an entirely different word or meaning. Therefore, we can reduce Sheol to “shin-aleph-lamed.” In this case, the root is aleph-lamed,” which one uses as a negation word. As a result, Sheol would be a place of nothingness or belonging to nothingness.
This understanding does not refer to the atheistic belief that after death, one becomes like the dog Rover: dead all over. Instead, it demonstrates that current opportunities are no longer available. Consider Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 9.10:
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” (NASB95)
That understanding fits well with what the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 9.27. We have a date with death, and then we will be judged. The implication is that there are no actions we can take after death to change our fate.
Returning to the concept of “shin-aleph-lamed,” the word means “to ask.” When the Israelites left Egypt, they were to ask their neighbors for gold and silver articles (Exodus 3.22). With this new dimension to Sheol, we get the idea of the earth reclaiming what God took away when he created man (cf. Genesis 2.7). It reminds us of the fleeting nature of life, that we are like vapors appearing only for a brief moment (James 4.14). As a result, as Moses stated in Psalm 90.12, we must learn to number our days. As Paul puts it, we must redeem our time (Ephesians 5.15–17).If there is an overarching theme to this brief discussion of Sheol, it is not to impress you with my research but to encourage you to go deeper in your study of God’s word. Simple tools such as Greek and Hebrew lexicons, Bible dictionaries, and reliable commentaries can help you extract far more value from the scriptures than a casual reading. And sometimes, a better understanding of even the most straightforward words can change your entire perspective on life and death.
Jesus came back to life after he died. In his new body, he spent time with his apostles and ate with them (Acts 10.41). Clearly this resurrection body was a real, physical body (though different in ways we don’t yet understand, cf I Cor 15.44). God the father used his power to bring Jesus back to life (Acts 2.32), and will do the same for us after we die.
The bible gives us some pretty clear information about where we’ll be going after we die, and it’s amazing. We have life now, and we don’t seriously question its reality. Death is just a blip from our perspective (cf I Cor 15.52). We’ll have life then, and it’ll be just as real. So where are we going? Our citizenship is in “the heavens” (Phil 3.20). For some reason, most translations have it singular — “in heaven,” even though this is dative plural in Greek. Jesus is going to come back from the heavens too (3.20). The plural form of ουρανος (“heavens”) is also found in Col 1.5, 16, 4.1; II Cor 5.1; Eph 1.10, 3.15, 4.10, 6.9; I Thess 1.10, Hb 1.10, 4.14, 8.1, 9.23, 10.34, 12.23, 25; I Pt 1.4, II Pt 3.5, and many other passages. It can mean “skies”, but in many contexts it means “space”. This makes perfect sense in light of II Pt 3.13 and Rev 21.1-2 (cf Is 65.17; use of παλιγγενεσια in Mt 19.28).
After our death, we’ll be given a body and source of life that cannot be killed (I Cor 15.42-49; I Pt 1.3-7). This applies to good people and bad people. The difference for good people is that we’ll get to leave Earth with Jesus, while everyone else will suffer forever. We want to avoid everyone else’s fate, so we do our best to follow God as he gives us constant forgiveness.
Names are hard. You can forget names, mix up names, and mispronounce names.
But there’s a subject in scripture that is described many different ways, and it is given multiple names. The word “gospel” appears 101 times in the Bible. Some have described this word as meaning, “a reward for good tidings.” The basic meaning of the word “gospel” is “good news.”
It is the good news about the benefits we receive from the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fundamental facts of the gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These facts are found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Notice what else we learn about the gospel from this passage,
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
In this text we see what the gospel can do in the hands of a faithful Christian:
First, Paul preached this gospel.
Second, they received that message.
Third, they were standing in that message. That is, they were following the gospel.
Fourth, they were saved by that message.
Fifth, they would continue to be saved as long as they held fast to that message.
Sixth, these facts were true if they truly believed those facts.
Seventh, he delivered what he had received. He didn’t make-up this message. In Galatians 1:12 he explained, “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Eighth, what he delivered was of most importance which was that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (according to what had been foretold in the Old Testament).
Ninth, Christ was buried.
Tenth, Christ was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures – according to the Old Testament prophecies.
That is the gospel. That is what we are commanded to proclaim. So let’s share the good news with our lost and dying world.
We’re writing this to you so you’ll know you have life forever. This is for those of you who believe the name of God’s son. We can be confident when we talk to God — if we make a request that aligns with his will, he listens to us. We know he listens whenever we ask, and that he’ll give us what we ask for.
If one of you sees a Christian family member sin (not the kind that causes death), ask God to give them life, and he will. This only applies to the kind of sin that doesn’t cause death. There is a kind of sin that leads to death, and I’m not saying you should pray for someone who commits that kind of sin. Every morally wrong act is sin, but there are sins that don’t lead all the way to death.
We know that no one in God’s family continues to sin. God’s son personally protects us, and evil can’t affect him at all. We know that we belong to God, but evil controls the whole world. We know that when God’s son came to earth, he gave us the ability to understand the true one. We live in truth through his son, Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and he is life forever. Children, keep each other away from idols.
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