{"id":1101,"date":"2004-07-26T17:56:22","date_gmt":"2004-07-26T23:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=1101"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T06:00:00","slug":"o-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2004\/07\/o-death\/","title":{"rendered":"O Death…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to the juxtaposition of certain events, I have recently been contemplating life, death, and the eternities.
\n
\nMy only nephew, Ethan<\/a>, successfully hit the 18 month mark. Ethan\u2019s mother, my sister Erin, anounced that she was again expecting. My maternal grandmother died unexpectedly. My brother Hugh returned from a mission. Missions have always seemed like microcosms to me. A missionary is \u201cborn,\u201d learns and grows, has specific purposes to fulfill, and then (much like Grandma) \u201cdies\u201d and joyfully returns home.<\/p>\n

\tWith these events on my mind, I have asked myself several questions. Is this life all there is? How am I handling my “probation<\/a>” ? What am I doing with my time? Am I fulfilling God\u2019s purposes for me? (The Oracle<\/a> says, “we’re all here to do, what we’re all here to do.”) When I am \u201creleased\u201d will I look back on my life feeling like a servant who has been true and faithful<\/a>? Or as someone who simply passed the time? (As my first mission president would say, \u201cThat man\u2019s not a missionary, he\u2019s a tourist!\u201d)<\/p>\n

\tHugh Nibley would say my thinking has become eschatological, though only temporarily. See his parable here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\tI derive some comfort from the imagery of the Hebrew Bible. In the ANE and Israel, death, the grave, and hell [sheol<\/i> which refers to the abode of departed spirits, but may also mean \u201cplace of questioning,\u201d or judgement] were frequently personified. Jacob three times refers to \u201cthat awful monster, death and hell [presumably sheol<\/i>] and the devil\u201d (2 Nephi 9:10, 19, 26<\/a>). Death swallowed people alive, dragging them down to sheol<\/i> (Proverbs 1:12<\/a>). Death\u2019s appetite could not be satiated (Pro. 27:20<\/a>, Habbakuk 2:5<\/a>). \u201cTherefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her.\u201d (Isaiah 5:14, NRSV) <\/p>\n

\tGrim, isn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n

Yet, in one of my favorite passages, Isaiah reverses the imagery. \u201c[The LORD] will swallow up death in victory<\/i>; 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. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.\u201d (Isaiah 25:8-9)<\/p>\n

\tDeath, who swallows us alive, shall himself be swallowed up. In what I read as a millenial passage, \u201cGod 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.\u201d (Revelation 21:4) <\/p>\n

Until these things pass away, what am I doing with my time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Due to the juxtaposition of certain events, I have recently been contemplating life, death, and the eternities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}