“You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” (Job 14:5 NLT)

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-10 NLT)

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalm 139:16-18 NLT)

“For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:24-28 NLT)

“So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.” ((1 Corinthians 15:21-23 NLT)

…I have been called…

…to help the children of God realize that it is our Father’s desire that as His children we live strong long lives worth living, without limit or end, with nothing missing or broken; therefore He designed us to live lives filled with purity, passion, power, and purpose; as in partnership with Him we expand the manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (here and now); regardless of our current age or condition.

I need to start today with prayer.
“Father – I come to you in Jesus name seeking wisdom and clarity as I share what you have put within my spirit. I can see so clearly within me the life that you designed for your children to live. Life without limit or end. Life without debilitating aging or death. Life today, not just with you in a far off place someday. Your Spirit has burned this so deeply within me that what is on the inside is far more real to me than anything that I am currently experiencing in my body or all around me.
Holy Spirit – please give me the words that convey your heart. Please open the spiritual eyes and ears of those that read this. Impart life to them to a greater degree than they have ever dreamed was possible. Do what only you can do.
I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen. (so be it)”

Every day it becomes more and more obvious to me that I am living in the midst of a culture of death. People are doing all kinds of crazy things to pack as much “life” in as they can before it is too late. Others are looking for a way out of the pain turning to the only escape left when all hope is gone. The media focuses almost exclusively on everything perceived as tragic, divisive, painful, dark, and death ridden. Even those attempting to bring light into this darkness focus on preparing for death. More than ever, the idea that we are “born to die” has permeated every aspect of our lives. We even use death as a way of expressing positive sentiments… 

…I am dying to see you;

…I love you to death;

…I am thrilled to death, etc.

As I receive deeper and deeper revelation of my heavenly Father’s desire and design for life I become more and more aware of just how death conscious I have been (and based on what I see and hear around me I know that I am not the only one). 

The place where death most blatantly stares us in the face is at a funeral. Since 2020 death has been at the forefront like no other season of my life during the 64 years that I have lived. It has moved individuals, and society as a whole, further into this culture of death. What I see all around reminds me of the thing that I have heard so many times, “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow I die.”(This actually comes from a combination of two verses which share an unhealthy viewpoint that we are encouraged to avoid – Ecclesiastes 8:15 & Isaiah 22:13). Scriptures give us clear indications of how to think and how not to think, how to speak and how not to speak, and how to act and how not to act. As I am being set free from the culture of death to live fully in the Kingdom culture of life, the Holy Spirit is transforming the way I think, speak and act. It started as he began opening my eyes to how I had misunderstood and misapplied the five key passages that I believe are the common foundation for most believers’ concept of death. So, here we go…

… Job 14:5

“You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” (Job 14:5 NLT)

The book of Job consists of three very important conversations. The first two chapters allow us to listen in to a very interesting conversation between God and Satan. Chapters three through thirty seven are filled with a conversation between Job and his three friends. This lengthy conversation is a murky combination of truth, error, foolishness, empty religion, complaining, and flawed thinking. Finally God shows up in chapter thirty eight and clears the air in a conversation with Job that lasts until the book ends with chapter forty two.

As I began my current journey into life, the Holy Spirit took me to this book. As I read from its pages he highlighted a verse that I believe is the key to understanding all three conversations. Take a look at Job 38:2 in a few different translations. This is the first thing that God said to Job after listening to his lengthy discussion with his three friends.

New International Version
“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?

New Living Translation
“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

English Standard Version
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

New American Standard Bible
“Who is this who darkens the divine plan by words without knowledge?

Contemporary English Version 
“Why do you talk so much when you know so little?

International Standard Version
“Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel without knowing what he’s talking about?

I think we get the point. 

When Job said that God sets the time of death for each individual, and that we are locked into that exact time, God said he was speaking foolishly. Job’s council was darkened. That included the counsel that he had received from his friends. According to God, Job’s words were ignorant, darkened, and completely without knowledge (Hosea 4:6 says that “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”). 

Job and his friends spoke way too much and said far too little. They simply didn’t know what they were talking about. And yet, Job’s outlook on death is foundational to the predominant view of death today (inside and outside of the Church). Most of the book of Job is a manual on how not to think, speak, or act (especially as it came to God’s identity and death). There are a few precious nuggets of truth to live by, but most of the book is filled with truths NOT to live by. The best experience to learn from is the experience of others. We can learn from the mistakes made by those around us and avoid much of the pain, loss, and sorrow that we experience. Job gives us many examples of things to avoid in our lives (our thoughts, words, and actions).

Have you ever heard (or worse yet, said), “When it’s my time, it’s my time.” Or maybe, “When your time’s up, it’s up.”? This type of thinking comes from the example of Job and God labels it as foolishness.

When someone passes away unexpectedly it is common to hear someone say, “Well, I guess it was their time to go.”

These far too common sayings, and others like them are pure foolishness. They are ignorant, without understanding, and beg the question, “Why do you say so much when you know so little?” (Don’t get mad at me, I am simply quoting God).

Until next time, look this up for yourself and confirm the truth of what I am saying, as you think about…

…Eric’s Life Lesson # 377: Late Life Assignment: Part 13 – The Promise: Strong, Long Lives: Part 9