What the Bible says about Death, Preparation for
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 In terms of wisdom, Solomon unmistakably comes down on the side of sorrow and mourning as the more important. They are to be preferred because mourning motivates a person toward sober contemplation of his own mortality, which tends to affect the wellspring of our thoughts, words, and conduct effectively and positively. The wellspring of conduct is the heart, which is why “heart” is mentioned four times in these verses. The heart is truly the center of a human being. Recall that Jesus reminds us that our words and conduct spring from our hearts (Matthew 15:18-19). Therefore, we need to search out and reinforce some important truths regarding death and its direct connection to our hearts and thus our conduct in life. A number of years ago, The Denial of Death won the Pulitzer Prize for the best of nonfiction in a certain category. In it, the author, Dr. Ernest Becker, made this telling comment, confirming what the Bible clearly states: “The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is the mainspring of human activity—activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man” (p. ix). Here in Ecclesiastes, Solomon is subtly urging us to take steps to confront the truth of death's influence on our overall conduct in life. Death was set in motion during the Creation Week. The way things now are in this world, it is an almost daily factor in life. It has become the curse of curses, the last enemy to be destroyed. As we will see shortly, it dogs our existence. The specter of death is so dominant in some people's minds that it virtually destroys their lives. Their actions are focused on avoiding death and overcoming it by somehow denying that it is the final destiny for man. These people are really downers in their effect upon others. Conversely, many people, while living, do not prepare for the obvious reality of death. It and its accompanying sorrows are major events of life that everyone must deal with. Solomon exhorts us to face in a balanced way what this issue means in terms of God's truth so we are prepared for its inevitability. He does this partly because he understands, perhaps as well as anyone ever did, that pursuing laughter, as he shows in chapter 2, and relishing enjoyable situations are easy compared to experiencing sorrow. However, mirth is almost useless in terms of leading a profitable life. A person must almost be forced to seek out involvement in sorrowful circumstances. Paradoxically, death and its sorrowful circumstances have far more to teach us about what is valuable to a meaningful life compared to mirth and laughter, passing pleasures that are here today and gone tomorrow. Author Susan Sontag wrote, “Death is the obscene mystery, the ultimate affront, the thing that cannot be controlled. It can only be denied.” Our language of death clearly shows society's attempts to soften, hide, or even deny it by using euphemisms, such as calling the dead person “the departed” or by saying that he “passed away” or “is not with us anymore.” This is done to avoid saying the words “death” or “dead.” God deals with it in His Word by showing that it is best for us to deal with it directly. This allows us to understand more fully that death is indeed the way of all flesh and to lay it to heart, shifting the balance of our thoughts about its reality toward more serious thinking on it. John W. Ritenbaugh Ecclesiastes and Christian Living (Part Eight): Death Related Topics: Death as an Enemy | Death, Preparation for | Ecclesiastes and Christian Living | Ecclesiastes and Christian Living-Death | Euphemisms | Fear of Death | Godly Sorrow | Mirth Useless in Leading a Profitable Life | Mourning Motivates Contemplating Mortality | Preparing for Death | Reality of Death | Sober Contemplation | Sobriety | Sorrow and Mourning Better than Mirth | Sorrow as Motivating | Sorrow Better than Mirth

Matthew 25:1-13 In Scripture, oil symbolizes wealth, abundance, health, energy, and a vital ingredient for a good life. It can likewise represent spiritual abundance, only possible through what God gives. As Isaiah 55:1-7 shows, this oil is "bought" through listening to God, delighting in what He gives, and seeking to be like Him. However, acquiring this oil is not like a store transaction that takes just a few minutes. Just as our seeking of God occurs throughout our converted lives, so also the abundance that comes from knowing God and His way accrues gradually. A person cannot speed up the process, only be faithful to it. He cannot wait until he hears that the Bridegroom is approaching to drop by the corner market and pick up a can of Spiritual Abundance™ on the way to the Wedding. There are no shortcuts here; the oil that matters accumulates over a lifetime. It is no wonder, then, that Jesus told the foolish virgins, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you" (Matthew 25:12). What terrifying words! He did not know them because they had not invested the time to know Him. A one-sided relationship is no relationship at all. He did not know them because they were not inviting Him into their lives—except maybe when they got into a jam and wanted Him to rescue them. They were not in alignment with the spiritually abundant life that He wanted to provide. That life may have mattered a little to them, but it did not matter enough to make it a priority. The foolish virgins did not have enough oil because they did not pursue God and His spiritual abundance throughout their lives. Maybe they thought it would all just work out as long as they stayed in the church. Maybe they thought that God would just give the oil to them at the end, without demonstrating that they truly wanted it—that they wanted God to be their God and desired to be among His people. Maybe they thought that they could depend on their family, friends, or minister to get them through and give them what they needed, rather than personally preparing ahead of time. Whatever the reason, the foolish virgins were not prepared because they did not earnestly and consistently seek the Source of the oil as their conscious mode of life. In contrast, wise people are described elsewhere as building on solid rock—hearing Christ's words and doing them—because that is the only way they will withstand the ravages of life and time (Matthew 7:24-26). Wise servants are faithful to their masters over an extended period (Matthew 24:45-51). True wisdom only comes from God above (James 3:17). From these examples, we can infer that the wise virgins were people who deliberately ordered and conducted their lives in a manner that resulted in their knowing God, spiritually enriching over time. Jesus ends the parable with the admonition, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" (Matthew 25:13). The Greek word translated "watch," gregoreuo (Strong's #1127), has nothing to do with looking at external events or keeping on top of world news. He is talking about being vigilant with regard to our own spiritual state, as well as being circumspect and spiritually awake as we go through life. The danger is that if we do not watch ourselves, we will be distracted by material concerns and find ourselves spiritually unprepared when the end comes. We will discover that we are without oil, and at that point, it will be too late to "buy" it from God. We do not know when Christ will return, nor do we know the timing of our own deaths. None of us knows how long we have to become prepared. The lesson, then, is that we should always be concerned about how much oil we have and how prepared we are right now because the end—or our end—could be just around the corner. The oil does not just symbolize spiritual abundance and fruitfulness that has its source in God. While it does symbolize that, more importantly, this spiritual richness accrues because we are seeking Him and because we are faithful to the covenant. This abundance comes to us because we are fellowshipping with Him and taking on His image—the only image that will last for eternity. Buying this oil costs us time and attention, two things certainly in short supply today. Ultimately, the price of the oil is our lives, perhaps not in the sense of martyrdom, but at least in the sense of our being wholeheartedly devoted to God and to our fellow man, rather than being devoted to the self or the things of this world (Romans 12:1-2). God's oil comes neither cheaply nor quickly. But having it symbolizes being spiritually ready to inherit His Kingdom, and we become ready for it by being in His image. When we are in His image, we, too, will have lives of abundance, energy, richness, and fruitfulness, perhaps not on the physical plane but certainly on the spiritual one. Only God truly knows how to live, and as we grow to be like Him, we will experience that abundant life as well, symbolized by oil. David C. Grabbe Do You Have Enough Oil? (Part Two) Related Topics: Abundance | Abundant Life | Anointing Oil as type of God's Holy Spirit | Being Watchful | Bride of Christ, Preparation for Marriage | Buying Oil | Death, Preparation for | Delaying Preparation for Christ's Return | Do You Have Enough Oil? | Foolish Virgins | Gregoreuo | Oil as Analogy | Oil as Metaphor | Oil as Symbol | Oil as Symbol of Health | Oil Symbolizes Abundance | Oil Symbolizes Wealth | Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins | Unwise Servants | Wise Servants

 

		The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 155,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Email Address:     A Faithful VersionKing James VersionNew International VersionNew King James Version Leave this field empty
We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time.