Tag: Death

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Defeating Death- Isaiah- Week 5- Day 4

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 25:6-8

Explanation:
After praising God for his protection, Isaiah takes us to an incredible setting. It is a feast and it is being hosted by God, Himself. The best food and drink are provided as God feasts with his people. All of the redeemed are a part of this incredible event. This feasting is not something that is evil or grotesque. We see the people of God enjoying the goodness of God with God Himself in a way that brings Him honor and glory.
Then there is an incredible statement made that should excite us to our very core. God will destroy “the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.” What is it that God is destroying? What is the covering and the vail?
The answer to this is made clear in verse 8. The cover and vail that is destroyed is death itself! God had told Adam that in the day that they disobeyed him they would “surely die.”

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Genesis 2:17

The Bible is clear that sin has brought about death. It is the effect of the curse that every person who has ever lived has had to deal with.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Ezekiel 18:20a

For the wages of sin is death;

Romans 6:23a

God has dealt with sin. He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sin. Those who have trusted Him are saved from the curse of sin, and from death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life! If any man come to me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he who lives and believes in me shall never die!” Romans tells us that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.”
In these verses we see God ending death itself. It says “He will swallow up death in victory”! What an incredible statement. He puts death to death!
The text also says that He will wipe away every tear. This is spoken of in Revelation 21:4 as well.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Revelation 21:4

Think of it! All of the effects of the curse will be known as “former things”! This is what is meant when the text says “the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth.” How do we know this will happen? “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

One hymn writer put it this way:

When fadeth the day and dark shadows draw nigh,
With Christ close at hand, it is not death to die;
He’ll wipe ev’ry tear, roll away ev’ry care;
We’ll say “good-nigh”t here, but “good-morning” up there.

Application:
History is going somewhere. The curse is broken, and death will come to death. Everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere. Do you want to spend eternity with death, pain, and tears as a “former thing” or do you want to be like the rich man who “lifted up his eyes being in torment”?

Response:
• Have you accepted God’s gift of salvation?
• Are you living for eternity today?

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Life or Death? Proverbs Session 7- Day 4

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 14:11-12

Explanation:
When it comes to a chiastic structure, which is the literary device used here, the middle of the chiasm is what is typically being emphasized and gives a clue to the theme of the text. Verses 11 and 12 are the middle verses of this passage.

Notice what happens to the house of the wicked. It is overthrown.
What does an overthrown house look like? Windows are broken. Doors are off their hinges. Everything valuable in the home is broken or taken. There are holes in the roof and nature is coming through. The yard is overgrown and taking over the concrete outside.

Look at the contrast. The tabernacle of the upright will flourish. The word for flourish is also translated blossom or budded. It is used 37 times in the King James Bible and is synonymous with life and growth.

In all of these verses there has been a contrast between God’s Way and man’s way. There is the way of wisdom (God’s way) and the way of the foolish (man’s way).

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man”- in context it would be practice deceit and be naive (vs. 8 and 15), to take sin lightly and make plans devoid of God’s wisdom only consulting ourselves (vs. 9 and 14), and to endure sorrow or try to attempt to express joy but never to God (vs.10 and 13). The ends thereof (the results) are “the ways of death”.

There is also a way that leads to growth, life, and flourishing. Also in context it would be thinking through life and how it ought to be lived (vs. 8 and 15), to be satisfied with the blessing that comes from obedience (vs. 9 and 14), and to express the depths of our feeling to God in prayer (vs.11 and 13).

Application:
Do you want to thrive? Do you want the pattern of your time on earth to be characterized by life? Or do you want your life on earth to be like the overthrown house, ravaged by the “ways of death”?

Moses pleaded with his people in the wilderness over this very issue. Read Deuteronomy 30:19-20.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (20) That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Response:
This is really the response that is encouraged by this whole text. Will we choose the way of wisdom and therefore life? Or will we choose the way that seems right to us, but whose end is death?

Wisdom or Foolishness?
God’s way or our way?
Life or Death?

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Week 13: Day 1- Deuteronomy 32:48-49

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:

Deuteronomy 32:48-49

Explanation:

Moses has been leading the children of Israel at this point for more than 40 years.  The text later tells us that he died at 120 years old.  His service for the Lord really happened between 80 and 120.  God tells Moses to head to the place where he will die.  He wasn’t allowed to go into the promised land because of his disobedience before the children of Israel.  He had not consecrated the Lord in front of them and so God had revealed to Moses that he would not enter into Canaan.  From the mountain Moses would be able to see the promised land.

Application:

Death is something that is coming for all of us.  1 out of 1 people die.  Death is an inevitability for every person. 

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

(Heb 9:27)

The implications are important.  We ought to live in such a way that we are ready to meet the Lord when we die.  That means most importantly that we should be sure to know Christ as Savior.  it also means that we understand how our life here will impact our eternity with Christ.  Paul knew what it meant to be ready for death and how his life impacted eternity.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

(2Ti 4:6-8) 

Response:

  • Are you ready for death?  We don’t know when it will be. 
  • Do you know Christ as Savior?
  • What is something you can do today that will matter in eternity?