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| The Fear of Death Confounds Me |
One of
the more prevalent fears haunting us is the fear of disease, especially a
debilitating disease like cancer. My
mother suffered from severe dementia before she died and I often catch myself
dreading the possibility that I, too, may suffer the same horrible fate. Following closely behind the fear of
debilitating disease is the fear of dying.
Of all
the tormenting fears that afflict people, the fear of dying is certainly one of
the most common. Many fear losing their
job but not everyone loses their job.
The fear of public speaking is a particularly common fear but most can
avoid public speaking if they choose. If
you are tormented by the fear of spiders or snakes you can easily avoid places
where those critters can be found. Most
of our fears are founded on things we find difficult to control such as the
fear of rejection, the fear of poverty or the fear of loneliness.
We can
make accommodations for all the fears listed above accept one. You can fill your life with people if you are
lonely. You can eat right, exercise and
try to get plenty of sleep if you fear poor health. But no one can successfully run from
death. The Grim Reaper comes to claim
everyone. We are born to live and
eventually to die. Life for many is
difficult because of all of its uncertainties.
The only true certainty in life is death. Well, actually Ben Franklin added one other
certainty, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
Necrophobia,
or the fear of death is closely connected with xenophobia, the fear of the
unknown. There is a German proverb that
says, “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he us.”
Conspiracy theorists thrive on the fear of the unknown. We look into the vast and diamond studded
velvet sky in the moonless night and we imagine Martians or aliens because we
don’t know what is out there. The fear
of the future caused world panic before Y2K and it appears to be returning as
we begin the year 2012. The fear of death is so prevalent because it is
something new, something we’ve never experienced before. We long for someone to die and then come back
and comfort us about dying.
The
Bible seems to confirm the idea that everyone must die, it also confirms that
everyone must face the judgment of God.
Perhaps the real fear of dying is grounded in the latter fact rather
than the former. “It is appointed unto
man once to die, but after this the judgment.”
(Hebrew 9:27) But let’s back
up. The Bible also teaches that there
were two men who never died. “And all
the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not;
for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24-25) The
writer of Hebrews confirms this: “By
faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found,
because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony,
that he pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5)
The
other biblical figure who escaped death was Elijah. The Lord took “Elijah into heaven by a
whirlwind…there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them
both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2 Kings 2:1,11) Are these two incidents not contradicted by
Hebrews 9:27…”It is appointed unto man once to die”?
John
the Revelator envisioned two witnesses which he wrote about in Revelation
chapter 11. These two will share gospel
truth with the Jewish people and then they will be brutally murdered by the “beast
that rises from the bottomless pit.” (Revelation 11:7) If Elijah and Enoch are the witnesses
foretold here then the requirement that all men taste of death would be
satisfied.
Having
established that none shall escape the Angel of Death, what can be done to
reduce or eliminate the fear of death?
John Donne addresses the topic in his poem, “Death, Be Not Proud.”
“Death
be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty
and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For,
those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die
not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me
From rest and sleep, which but thy
pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow.
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow.
It may
sound arrogant for Donne to claim that death cannot kill him but he has a
supernatural hope that destroys his fear of death. His faith is founded in the promise of
Christ. Christ is the one who has died
and come back to comfort us regarding our fear of death. The Apostle Paul speaks of this promise in 1
Corinthians 15. Paul asserts the reality
of a resurrection based on the fact that because Christ arose from the dead he
is qualified to fulfill his promise to raise us from the dead also.
Donne
reveals the impermanence of death by comparing it to rest and sleep. Because of the hope of the resurrection death
becomes nothing more than a prolonged period of sleep before we are brought
again to life by the grace and power of Christ himself. Our fear of death makes the wolf bigger than
it really is.
The
poet turns the tables on death and portrays it as something powerless and
inadequate:
“One
short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And
death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.”
Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.
