Cancer Blog #31
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #31 – Death and Hospitality
April 2, 2022
[Psa 23:6 NASB95] 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
[Jhn 14:2 NASB95] 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
[2Co 5:6-8 NASB95] 6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Believe it or not, death in the Bible is even seen as a doorway to the hospitality of the Lord. For instance, in Psalm 23, we have the odd (to me, probably just haven’t studied it closely enough) change of metaphors from the Lord being a caring shepherd to Him being a gracious host, mentioning first Him having us at a dinner party (“Thou prepare a table for me…”), then surrounding us in this life with goodness and mercy, followed by one of the few instances in the OT of a mention of life after death, with David looking forward to living in the home of God forever. Though there is no time in my little blog entry to discuss it, it seems clear to me (see “Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord: a biblical theological study of the book of Leviticus”, by L. Michael Morales) from the book of Leviticus that the “house of the Lord” (i.e., the tabernacle, which David would have been familiar with as the temple was built by his son, Solomon) is a metaphor for the garden of Eden, and, thus, as we see in the book of Revelation, a metaphor also for the new age, the new heavens and earth.
We see this theme picked up by Jesus, as John reports, when He is reassuring His disciples in a discussion on His imminent departure from them, saying that it is to their advantage for Him to leave as He is going to finish what will be their new home. There will be room for all who believe, so our place is assured, obviously then a large home where we can breathe freely, not feeling cramped or crowded, but comfortable and open. And, when it’s ready, Jesus promises that He will return to take us there so that we can live with Him.
And, of course, the apostle Paul, who has, as I have mentioned before, one of the most positive views of death of all the NT writers, would also discuss this theme. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul develops the idea that our present courage in facing trials and troubles, comes, in one sense, from this basic truth: that while we are still alive, at home living here, we are absent from the Lord. I find this statement quite surprising as where else in the NT are ever we described as being apart from the Lord! But, Paul is making an important point, using this simple metaphor, viz., that death permits us to go home, to finally, at last, be where our hearts have always wanted to be – in our ultimate, complete, spacious, wonderful home, being all those things because that is where the one we love most lives: the home of Jesus our Lord who has prepared it for us and is ready to welcome us there.
Next: Death and the Trajectory