I hate death. I hate it intensely. ~ Ray Ortlund, Tweet, June 2022
The original title of this, the opening chapter of a book on a serious subject was, "Yucky. Not Yucky." My editor wisely suggested something more grown-up-sounding. I'm good with adult words. However, having raised two daughters all the way from silliness to full maturity, clearly the word yucky was a favorite. The target of this word could have ranged from small sticky place on the kitchen counter to something much more serious. Like mortality.
The opening two chapters in the first book in the Bible paint a pristine picture of all things good. In some cases... very good. But when we arrive at chapter 3, the landscape changes. And everything in this Genesis chapter shows us what bad looks like. In some cases, very bad.
And one of those terrible things that resulted from Adam and Eve's disobedience was death. Until that moment, nothing or no one died. Then a decree went out that eventually everything would perish:
For you are dust, and you will return to dust. — Genesis 3:19 CSB
Like, which part of this diagnosis don't we understand?
And the most sobering part of this God-spoken directive is that the word you isn't just delivered to Adam. The pronoun is plural. Thousands of years later, you and I are included. The people we have loved, the people we love now, and the people we will love tomorrow are in there. And the process of dying begins the moment we suck in our first big swallow of air as tiny newborns. Like an hourglass that's been flipped over, the sand above begins trickling below through the pinch in the middle. There's no turning that thing right side up. We're on a one-way trajectory.
And beyond the Garden of Eden and throughout the Bible and all of recorded history, there's plenty more that has been written about death.
For example, the man Job, from the depths of his own despair affirmed this to be true.
Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble. He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last. — Job 14:1–2 CSB
A flower that "does not last." A brilliant and descriptive metaphor for death.
Even the most beloved psalm written by David assumes life's end. He doesn't open this subject in the Shepherd's Psalm with "just in case" or "maybe"; rather he begins the death phrase with the conjunction "even though," like there's no choice in the matter. Because there isn't.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley... — Psalm 23:4
So because of the shortsightedness of Adam and Eve's disobedience, and the consequence, the Bible includes the stories of men and women dying. From these accounts you and I can learn a few important things. Here are some examples.
THE MURDER OF THE BIBLE'S SECOND SON
The verses immediately following the eating of the forbidden fruit tell of the birth of two boys — first Cain, then Abel.
Imagine the joy the parents of these men must have experienced at their births. And like every mother and dad throughout the remainder of recorded history with more than one child, Adam and Eve likely wondered, How is it possible that these boys came from the same parents? They could not be more different from each other.
If you're the parent of more than one kid, you've had this conversation with your mate, right?
Apparently, it was too much of a difference for Cain to bear.
Cain said to his blow-dried, always-do-everything-right brother Abel, 'Let's go out to the field.' And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. — Genesis 4:8, Robert's paraphrase
God's sentence of death directed to Adam's sinful decision struck first in his own family. It doesn't matter how long it was before Cain murdered his little brother, the sting must have been awful... for their dad and mom.
Remember that it had been many years since Adam and Eve had disobeyed God. We know this since there had been time for Cain and Abel to be conceived, born, and grow up. And don't you know that when their mother and father first learned of their son's murder, their minds must have careened back to God's declaration of the thing called death. And this, as a result of their own disobedience. Now death was paying a visit to their family. No small thing to be sure.
As you know, the whole idea of this book is that you and I are going to die. Someday we will cross that line. The event will be complete. The finish line will be our death.
It's a certainty. Or is it?
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