Consider these words of Paul describing the one enemy we all face and who seemingly is winning the battle in which we are engaged. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:56). It is a common enemy for every person who has been born on this earth for “it is appointed unto man to die” (Heb. 9:27). Knowing more about death helps us deal with it. Think of some deaths in the Bible.
· Who died because his brother killed him?
· Who died and was eaten by worms?
· Who died the same day he planned to build a new barn?
· Who died by suicide after losing his “paycheck?”
· Who died because he touched the ark?
· Who died but was not buried for 400 years?
· Who died just after seeing Jesus in heaven?
· Who died in perfect health at the age of 120?
· Who died when she was 12 years old?
· Who died when the roof fell on him?
· Who died with a tent peg in his head?
· Who died immediately after telling a lie (2)?
· Who died by being hanged on his own gallows?
· Who never died (2)?
So how did you do? The answers are: Abel, Herod, Foolish farmer, Judas, Uzzah, Joseph, Stephen, Moses, Jairus’ daughter, Samson, Sisera, Ananias and Sapphira, Haman, Enoch and Elijah.
Very few of the individuals listed above knew the circumstances under which they would die. Very few knew the time of their death. This is the nature of death. We all know that we are appointed to die and after that comes the judgment. Because we do not know when or how we will die, all that matters is that we prepare for it.
Thanks be to God that He, in His wisdom, has given us an understanding that no one in the Old Testament had. It is in the New Testament where immortality is revealed and brought openly into the light (2 Tim. 1:10). Those saints of old were bound by the fear of death, but the resurrection of Jesus has removed this fear from us (Heb. 2:14-15). The open tomb of Jesus assures us of our own resurrection, and we can pray with greater understanding the prayer Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).
When you think about death and the grave remember that God who raised Jesus from the dead raises us!