Our Destiny

Biblical Teachings on the Last Things

Stanley M. Horton

• Publisher: Logion Press
• Year: 1996
• ISBN:
  9781607311683
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

God creates in Genesis, Christ brings salvation in the Gospels;. but then what? In Dr. Stanley M. Horton's book, Our Destiny: Biblical Teachings on the Last Things, you'll discover what's in store for God's people and the answers to other eye-opening questions about the end times. Dr. Horton examines the prophesied last things, blessed hope of the believer, consummation of God's plan, and related Tribulation topics from a distinctly Pentecostal view. Featuring study questions at the end of each chapter, your study and discussion on these Revelation topics will reach a new level of depth and understanding. You'll also hear the unique perspectives from famous theologians such as Tertullian, Tillich, Whitby, Schweitzer, Papias, Origen, Moltmann, Metz, Luther, Kant, Irenaeus, Eusebius, and Augustine. Chapter topics include:

• Death and the Intermediate State
• Resurrection and Rapture
• The Tribulation
• The Time of the Rapture
• Millennial Views
• The Millennial Kingdom
• The Final Judgment
• The Final State of the Wicked
• The Final State of the Righteous

Explore what God has planned for His creation and the glorious events Christians have to look forward to!

Chapter One

Death and the
Intermediate State

Part of eschatology deals with the last things with respect to our present life—the question of death and what happens in the intermediate state, the state between death and Christ’s return.¹ Though the Bible has much to say about death, it has comparatively little to say about the afterlife. It is more concerned about how to live this present life in a way that pleases God. God wants us to be ready for Christ’s return and the glories to follow. That is more important than the details of the temporary conditions that presently characterize the afterlife.²

LIFE AND DEATH

THE OLD TESTAMENT VIEW

The Old Testament recognizes the brevity and fragility of life. Job in his anguish said, “‘My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. … My life is but a breath’” (Job 7:6-7). David spoke of death as “the way of all the earth” (1 Kings 2:2), observing, “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone” (Ps. 103:15-16).

On the other hand, the Old Testament encourages a healthy optimism, putting more emphasis on life as God’s gift to be enjoyed along with His blessings (Ps. 128:5-6).³ Long life was considered a special blessing from God (Ps. 91:16). Suicide was extremely rare. Death was to be avoided as long as possible. In the Law, God set before Israel a choice: Loving obedience would mean life and blessing; disobedience and the rebellion of idolatry would bring death and destruction (Deut. 30:15-20). This was true even when King Saul committed suicide, for the Bible says, “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD. … So the LORD put him to death” (1 Chron. 10:13-14). God has the ultimate control over life and death; however, He allows intermediate causes, even our own carelessness, willfulness, or foolishness, to shorten or terminate life.

At the same time, death is in the world as a result of sin and is inevitable for all, for all have sinned (Gen. 2:17; 3:19,22-23; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; 6:23). This was recognized by the time of Enosh, whose name means “mortal one.” The knowledge that everyone would have to die had a good effect initially, for “at that time men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:26). The godly in the Old Testament continued to follow that example as they looked again and again to the Lord to protect them from death and lengthen their lives. Death was considered an enemy, bringing sorrow usually expressed in loud wailing and deep mourning (Matt. 9:23; Luke 8:52). Even so, the mourning was for the loss of the bodily presence of the loved one, for, as Solomon wrote, “The spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccles. 12:7).

THE NEW TESTAMENT VIEW

The New Testament recognizes that death entered the world through sin, and because all have sinned, death comes to all (Rom. 5:12). It brings an end to our opportunity to make decisions that will affect our eternal future (Heb. 9:27; cf. Eph. 5:15-16; Col. 4:5).⁴ The New Testament also looks at death as an enemy, “the last enemy,” which will not be destroyed until the final judgment (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:14). However, for the believer, Jesus’ victory over the devil has set free “those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14-15). Death is no longer to be feared! “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5-6). Death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:56-57).

Even though the natural body inevitably wastes away, inwardly believers “are being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). Consequently, we can face death and be “more than conquerors through him who loved us,” for “neither death, nor life, … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:36-39). Death does not break our communion with our Lord. We may sorrow at the death of loved ones because of our personal loss, but we do not “grieve like the rest of men [fallen, unbelieving humankind], who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13).

For unbelievers, death is a shattering experience and brings an end to all their hopes and dreams and to all they have lived and worked for. Because in this life they have remained “dead in … transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1), physical death also brings an end to their opportunities to find Christ and to obtain eternal life and reward in heaven. Nothing remains for them but the continued effects of sin and evil that they will suffer in hell.

There will, however, be degrees of punishment in hell, just as there will be degrees of reward in heaven (Luke 12:47-48; 1 Cor. 15:41-42; cf. Matt. 23:15; Heb. 10:29). The degrees of punishment refer to the intensity of punishment, not the length of time, for those who die in their sins are eternally lost.⁵

Faith in Christ brings a new attitude. Death robs nothing from believers that they have lived and longed for. As the apostle Paul said, “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21); that is, to die would mean gain in Christ, more Christ—and that is better by far than anything in this life (Phil. 1:23). Paul was “already being poured out like a drink offering” (Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6), an offering giving glory to God. His death, therefore, was not a defeat, but a “departure” (Gk. exodos), like the exodus from Egypt, a triumphant deliverance—a way out that leads into a better country than the promised land of Canaan (Heb. 11:16). ⁶ Paul expected to go directly into the presence of Christ and to experience joy and peace beyond anything we know in this life (Rom. 8:38-39; Phil. 1:23; cf. Luke 16:22; 23:43).

OLD TESTAMENT TEACHING

Though much of what we know about life after death was not revealed until New Testament times, the Old Testament does hold hope for life after death. Most Old Testament Israelites seem to have had at least a vague idea of the afterlife. But because the emphasis is on serving God in this life some scholars say that most Israelites did not believe in an afterlife at all. This would be very strange and quite contrary to all the culture around them. The Egyptians made great preparations for what they believed would occur in the afterlife. They also believed in judgment after death. In the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, across the Nile from Luxor, I saw paintings on the walls that depicted people coming before the gods, one line going away looking happy, another going away upside down—their heads cut off. Every Canaanite burial included a lamp, a jar of oil, and a jar of food.⁷ Israelites, however, simply wrapped the body in linen, anointed it with spices, and laid it in a tomb or buried it in a grave. This did not mean any less of a belief in an afterlife, for they spoke of the spirit going to a place called Sh^e’ol⁸ or into the presence of God (Ps. 23:6).

If the Israelites really did not believe in an afterlife, the Bible would certainly have drawn attention to this.⁹ Instead, Solomon recognized that God has “set eternity in the hearts of men [humankind]” (Eccles. 3:11). This implies we are made for eternity and, therefore, though we can enjoy the good things He gives us, we cannot be satisfied with them. Unless deadened by sin, our very being cries out for eternal fellowship with God.

Another phrase indicates the Old Testament saints expected an afterlife. God told Moses, after Moses went up the mountain (Mount Nebo in the Abarim range) and looked across to the Promised Land, “‘You too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was’” (Num. 27:13). Aaron, however, was buried at Mount Hor, and no one knows where God buried Moses (Num. 20:27-28; Deut. 34:1,5-6). Therefore, being “gathered to one’s people” can hardly refer to the grave. The phrase also implies that “his people” were still in existence, not annihilated, not nonentities, as Jesus himself pointed out (Luke 20:38).

THE PLACE OF THE AFTERLIFE

In the Old Testament the place of the afterlife for the wicked is most often called Sh^e’ol (usually translated “hell” or “the grave”).¹⁰ It is also identified with ‘avaddon, “Abaddon, the place of destruction” (Job 26:6; 31:12; Ps. 88:11; Prov. 27:20), and bor, “the pit,” literally, a cistern, but used metaphorically as the entrance to Sh^e’ol or as a synonym for Sh^e’ol itself (Ps. 30:3; Isa. 14:15; Ezek. 31:14). When translated “hell” (KJV), however, it is not a place where Satan has his headquarters, nor is it controlled by Satan. God rules it (1 Sam. 2:6; Ps. 139:8; Amos 9:2).

Sh^e’ol Not the Grave. Because Sh^e’ol, “the pit,” “the grave,” “destruction,” and “death” are sometimes parallel in grammatical construction (e.g., Pss. 30:3; 88:11-12), some say both Sh^e’ol and “the pit” always mean “the grave.”¹¹ However, when the Bible speaks of graves in an unmistakable way, as when the Israelites asked Moses, “‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?’” (Exod. 14:11), another word, qever, is normally used. When Jacob thought Joseph was torn to pieces and obviously not in a grave, Jacob still thought he was in Sh^e’ol (Gen. 37:35). The Bible also pictures people as having some kind of existence in Sh^e’ol (Isa. 14:9-10; Ezek. 32:21). God acts powerfully and intervenes in Sh^e’ol (Ps. 139:8; Amos 9:2), and it can do nothing against Him (Job 26:6). Consequently, others limit it to the place of the afterlife and say it never means the grave.¹²

Three passages (Pss. 6:5; 115:17-18; Isa. 38:17-19) are often cited to show that Sh^e’ol is the grave.¹³ Psalm 6:5 reads, “No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave [Heb. Sh^e’ol]?” The remembering is, however, parallel to the praising. The same word (Heb. zakhar) is used of a solemn naming of God among the people (Exod. 3:15). It speaks of ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: Good News
• 1. Death and the Intermediate State
• 2. Resurrection and Rapture
• 3. The Tribulation
• 4. The Time of the Rapture
• 5. Millennial Views
• 6. The Millennial Kingdom
• 7. The Final Judgment
• 8. The Final State of the Wicked
• 9. The Final State of the Righteous
• Glossary
• Selected Bibliography
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index