Death And The Christian - Set Your House In Order For You Shall Die And Not Live – Was Hezekiah’s Time Up? Series

DEATH AND THE CHRISTIAN - SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER FOR YOU SHALL DIE AND NOT LIVE – WAS HEZEKIAH’S TIME UP?

[A]. INTRODUCTION

{{Isaiah 38 v 1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER FOR YOU SHALL DIE and not live.’”}}

We see here that Hezekiah is mortally ill and told to set his house in order for he is to die. Literally, the expression means, “Give orders to your house,” which means, “make or update your wilI.” Isaiah’s message was blunt as a lot of warnings and conclusions in the word of God are. God is direct and what He says is to the point and vital. It is man that wants to make a story out of every fact and cloud and confuse the issue. God’s brevity is amazing. Nicodemus came to Jesus and wanted to engage in a dialogue but the first thing Jesus said to him was – {{John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “TRULY, TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, UNLESS ONE IS BORN AGAIN HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”}} Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

We have Hezekiah who was terribly sick being given the frightening, exact message for his future, from God in just 12 English words, much fewer in Hebrew. Barnes wrote, [[“There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. There is no sin more aggravated than that of designedly deceiving a dying man, and flattering him with the hope of recovery when there is a moral certainty that he will not, and cannot recover.”]] Is this not true also in the spiritual realm? I can picture the apostles saying to a dying man, “If you die in your sins you are going to Hell,” but we avoid the matter, maybe thinking, “We don’t want to upset the person,” or we might say, “I hope you recover and wish you well.”

What this sickness was, we can’t be absolutely sure, but most likely, because of Isaiah 38:21 where Isaiah commanded a cake of figs be placed on the boil, then it was a boil, but not any boil, probably it was a pestilential boil. The pestilence or plague is attended with an eruption or boil; a fiery redness. [[“No one,” says Jahn, “ever recovered from the pestilence unless the boil of the pestilence came out upon him, and even then he could not always be cured” (Biblical Antiquities, Section 190)]] The pestilence was, and is still, rapid in its progress. It terminates the life of those who are affected with it almost immediately, and within three or four days.

What reaction would a person have to this news? Death is an event which demands preparation - a preparation which should not be delayed to the dying moment. In view of it, whether it comes sooner or later, our peace should be made with God and our worldly affairs so arranged that we can leave them without distraction, and without regret. People are told every day that they need to set their house in order – 2 months, 6 months. Such news comes as a shock the younger we are. What is our attitude to all this? How do we digest it mentally and emotionally? What preparations are needed and how do we set our house in order? I want to look at these points.

[B]. ATTITUDE TO DEATH ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHRISTIAN

There is nothing more mixed than one’s attitude to impending death. These words describe some of the feelings, emotions and responses – sorrow, alarm, regret, apprehension, uncertainty, bitterness (as in feeling cheated), relief, expectation, joy, and neutrality such as in “so be it” “such is life” “we must all die sometime”. The unsaved person can have most of those reactions. A saved person can have all those reactions as well, but many more of them will have the joy and expectation for the home ahead. I am only theorising now but I would not be surprised if the Lord graciously comforts a dying Christian in the last days and weeks on earth, as if His hand is extended to His beloved one. It is not an area I have had experience in with people. What is our individual attitude to approaching death? Well, like most of us, we subconsciously put it out of our minds with the sole recognition it will happen one day, but NOT NOW, so “Let’s put it away in the cupboard.”

I need to say this – any reaction a Christian has to impending death must not be counted against him. There are some Christians who don’t really seem to live in the real world, but in a doctored-up version of it in their own minds. They think a Christian must be happy-clappy all the time, and express no judgement, or criticism of anything. There is one thing Christians must be in the current world, and that is, be realists. We need to be real and honest with ourselves. One class of Christians may be in nursing homes, old and frail, and in pain often. They can be so happy in the Lord and are waiting with joy to see their dear Saviour, but I think they are in a special class.