Death

Death is the greatest of humankind’s enemies, a relentless Grim Reaper that shows no respect for age or wealth. It robs parents of a precious child, leaving them to mourn their loss for the rest of their lives. It deprives wives and children of their breadwinner and protector, leaving them vulnerable in a hostile world. It takes away an aging spouse, leaving a gray-haired senior citizen without a lifelong companion and closest friend. Sometimes it arrives suddenly and unannounced; at other times it approaches slowly, as if stalking or taunting its helpless victim. Sometimes it hauls away its victims en masse; on other occasions it targets individuals. It uses a variety of methods and weapons, but only rarely does it capture its prey without inflicting pain and terror. Power, beauty and wealth can usually overcome any obstacle, but in death they meet their match. As the eighteenth-century poet Thomas Gray wrote, “The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r, And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour; The paths of glory lead but to the grave” (Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, stanza 9).
In the ancient Near Eastern world in which the Bible originated, death was called “the land of no return” and was viewed as an inescapable underworld prison. The OT pictures the realm of death (or Sheol) as being under the earth, comparing its entrance to a deep pit (Ps 88:4–6). Those who descend into this subterranean region are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshipping community of faith (Ps 6:5; 30:9; 88:10–12; Is 38:18). With rare and only temporary exceptions (e.g., 1 Sam 28:12–15), a trip to the underworld is a one-way journey (2 Sam 12:23).
The Canaanite myths picture death as a god who greedily and continually demands human flesh to devour. One text depicts death as having “a lip to the earth, a lip to the heavens … and a tongue to the stars” (Gibson, 69). Death compares his appetite to that of lions and then boasts, “If it is in very truth my desire to consume ‘clay’ [human flesh], then in truth by the handfuls I must eat it, whether my seven portions [a full, complete amount] are already in the bowl or whether Nahar [the river god who transports victims from the land of the living to the underworld] has to mix the cup” (Gibson, 68–69).
The Bible does not deify death, but it does personify it as a hungry (Is 5:14; Hab 2:5) and crafty enemy that uses snares to trap victims (Ps 18:4–5) and sneaks through windows to grab children (Jer 9:21). Death is “the last enemy” (1 Cor 15:28), whose fatal sting is sin (1 Cor 15:55–56; cf. Hos 13:14), an inescapable (Ps 89:48; Eccles 8:8), terrifying (Heb 2:15) and relentless (Song 8:6) foe with which no one can strike a lasting bargain (Is 28:15, 18).
Perhaps the most striking images of death are to be found in the concluding chapter of Ecclesiastes. Qoheleth, the main speaker of the book, has treated death as a major theme. Death renders everything in life meaningless. In Ecclesiastes 12:1–5 he likens the aging process to an encroaching storm. The deteriorating body is represented by a house that, along with its inhabitants, slowly falls apart. Although this is debated, it is hard not to recognize some nearly allegorical connections between the inhabitants of the house and body parts. For instance, when the text says that the grinders cease because they are few, it is hard not to recognize an allusion to teeth. In verses 6 and 7 death is likened to the destruction of precious items. A silver cord is snapped; a golden bowl is smashed.
Despite death’s great power and hostility, it is ultimately subject to God’s sovereignty. Ironically, death finds its origin in God, who decreed that death would be the ultimate penalty for disobedience to his revealed command (Gen 2:17; 3:19; see also Ps 90:3–11). When the first couple ate the forbidden fruit and rebelled against God, death accompanied sin into the world and has reigned over humankind ever since (Rom 5:12–21; 6:23; Jas 1:15). Nevertheless, death remains under God’s authority. God can use it as an ally against the objects of his wrath (Ex 15:12 [where the “earth” is best understood as the underworld]; Hos 13:14 [best translated as an invitation to death to serve as God’s instrument of judgment against his sinful people]) or God can deliver the objects of his favor from its powerful grasp before they descend into its depths (Ps 18:4–19; 116:3–8). In the story of Israel’s covenantal relationship with God, death epitomizes the destructive consequences of a broken covenant (Deut 28:45, 48, 61) which can only be reversed by God’s life-giving power (Ezek 37).
In the end God will eliminate death from his world, swallowing up the great swallower once and for all (Is 25:6–8). This conquest of death is not strictly a future event however. It began with Jesus, who conquered sin when he satisfied God’s righteous requirements and died a sacrificial death for sinners (Rom 5:12–21). He then conquered death when he rose from the grave on the third day (Rom 6:9–10), destroying in the process the power of Satan, who uses the fear of death as a weapon against humankind (Heb 2:14–15). Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the future resurrection of his people (1 Cor 15:12–28) [199] and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s vision (1 Cor 15:50–54). Death, the final enemy whose “reign” of futility and decay extends over the cosmos (Rom 8:20–21), will be destroyed. Never again will God’s people experience death’s sorrow and pain, for it will have no place in the new world order (Rev 21:4). With the hope of the resurrection to sustain him, the apostle Paul viewed death as a defeated foe (1 Cor 15:55–57; 2 Tim 1:10) that cannot separate God’s people from his love (Rom 8:38–39) or his presence (Phil 1:21–23). Through saving faith in Jesus they have already passed from death to life (Jn 5:24–27).
Jesus’ victory over death only benefits God’s people (Rev 20:6). Those who have not been the objects of his saving work will someday rise from the grave, but only so they may stand before his holy throne of judgment for final sentencing. They will then be thrown into the lake of fire, which the apostle John calls the “second death” (Rev 20:14; 21:8).
See also BURIAL, FUNERAL; CORRUPTION; COSMOLOGY; DECAY; GRAVE; JUDGMENT; MOURN, MOURNING; MURDER STORIES; PIT; RESURRECTION; SIN.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. L. R. Bailey, Biblical Perspectives on Death (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979); M. C. de Boer, The Defeat of Death: Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1988); O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World (New York: Seabury, 1978); L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1970) 165–76; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Nether World in the Old Testament (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1969); H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1974) 99–118.