A death wish can materialise in terrible circumstances. When Elijah was is in a gloomy mood suffering from deep depression he prayed and said that he wished to die: “Take my life, Lord.”1 He did not take his own life, for he knew that life and death are in the hands of the Lord. Saul, who was so often the victim of despair and anxiety during his life when “tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord,”2 sought relief with David’s harp playing and the evil spirit left him. However, sometimes he tried to kill David while he was playing the harp.3 The darkness in Saul increased more and more after he started to support occultism. Until finally he takes his own life in his desperate situation. And takes many others with him in his fall. “The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.4 In the end, in a situation that seemed to him to have no future, he took his own life and he took others with him.5 When Job was suffering under the plagues inflicted upon him by Satan, he cursed the day of his birth and lamented: “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest.”6 He asked: “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?”7 When Jeremiah condemned Judah’s idol worship—the worship of Baal,8 the queen of Heaven9 and other gods, and the fact that the Judeans had even made human sacrifices and burnt their sons and daughters with fire10—he prophesied that the Lord’s wrath in reaction to this was so great that the remnant of the people would prefer death to life.11
Do we not call God’s wrath down upon ourselves when we sacrifice millions of unborn children on the altar of prosperity? Will the Lord judge our running after other gods differently than He judged Israel? What happened to Israel is an example, a warning, is it not? Should we not rather be amazed at God’s forbearance, His endless patience, now He has still been waiting for such a long time before pouring out His wrath, instead of shaking clenched fists at Heaven and blaming Him for our troubles? How many have not shouted: ‘How can God allow all this to happen if He is a God of love?’ Modern man impose his will even on life and death matters, saying that it must be possible for doctors to offer help with suicide if human physical or mental suffering becomes too great. We take life and death into our own hands. Nevertheless, many shrink away from actually asking the doctor for a fatal injection when the time comes. Hanging on to life is often indeed too strong, even then, in these most difficult moments of your life. And who knows how God will judge such a deed as suicide? The final judgement is God’s and God’s alone.
When God releases His wrath on mankind, people want to die, but death eludes them. The cup of suffering has to be drunk to the last drop. It looks like ‘Death’ himself is (as yet) refusing to have anything to do with it. It is the time of judgment and wrath. The Lord must settle accounts, because of His honour, His holiness, His age-old promises, His martyrs, His saints and the sum of all the saints’ prayers.
• ‘Torment’ has to do with demons in a special manner. They will be tormented and they know as much.12 Just as they have tormented others, so they themselves will be tormented. They will be tormented day and night, not only for five months, but for ever and ever,13 together with the people who have allowed themselves to be used by them. Torturers who torment people do indeed seem to be demon-possessed. But maybe there is hope for them if they come to their senses and ask God for forgiveness. Let’s hope so.
• The Urim and Thummim was a priestly device for obtaining oracles. On the High Priest’s ephod (an apron-like garment) lay a breastpiece – a pouch inlaid with 12 precious stones engraved with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel – that held the Urim and Thummim (Ex. 28:15–30; Lev. 8:8). By means of the Urim, the priest inquired of YHWH on behalf of Johua (Num. 27:18-21); they were one of the three legitimate means of obtaining oracles in early Israel (Urim, dreams, prophets; I Sam. 28:6).
• Owing to the oracular character of the Urim, the breastpiece is called “the breastpiece of decision”.
Bible References:
1.1 Kings 19:4 2.1 Samuel 16:14–23 3.1 Samuel 19:9–10 4.1 Samuel 28 : 4-7 5.1 Samuel 31:3–6 6.Job 3:1, 11–13 7.Job 3:20–22 8.Jeremiah 7:9 9.Jeremiah 7:18 10.Jeremiah 7:31 11.Jeremiah 8:3 12.Matthew 8:29; Mark 5:7–8 13.Revelation 14:9–10, 20:10
