Change Your Entire Outlook on Death with this Weird Historical Fact

A preview of June's email-only article.

Christina Morillo

HAVE YOU EVER pondered the afterlife?

That's the question we're asking in this month's email-only article. No doubt you've though about what lies beyond death before, but maybe you've never thought about the privilege of revelation that we all enjoy today.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

Job's vision of death and the beyond is something much different than what you or I imagine. He sees an existence filled with darkness where even the light is like darkness. In fact, as many commentators have pointed out, Job actually uses three different Hebrew words to signify darkness.

At this point, Job just wants to be left alone so he can enjoy a few moments before he dies because, in his mind, death results in eternal gloom.

The question, then, is how did we transition from Job's view of eternal darkness to one of everlasting light?

 
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The Best, Worst Things about Bearing God's Image

   A preview of February's email-only article.

Jared Rice

LIFE HAS A way of beating us down at times. But no matter how bad our circumstances, often the worst part is not knowing why terrible things occur.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and this month we're looking at Job 10. Job reached some depths of despair most of us will never know, but he always held on to one truth. We discuss that truth in this month's article.

If you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

When we open up the tenth chapter of Job, we find our protagonist in a dark place.

Of course, Job spends most of the book in metaphorical darkness, but here in chapter ten he takes a turn for the worse, admitting, "I loathe my life" (v. 1). Life, the most precious of gifts, the most beautiful and fragile and rarest of possessions, and yet Job loathes it.

What does it mean to loathe? Merriam-Webster defines loathing as great disklike; disgust. Job is disgusted with his own life. Why? You know the reasons. His children have died. His possessions have been plundered. His health has deteriorated to an excruciating degree. His wife told him to "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). His friends, helpful at first, descend into jerk territory—accusing him of sin, suggesting his children deserved their fate, and proclaiming he should repent—all for want of a better theology.

Penniless, abandoned, bereaved, confused, accused, and afflicted, you can see why Job's life might disgust him. Earlier in the book he even said it would have been better if his mother had miscarried! That's some pretty dark stuff right there.

Have you ever loathed your life?

 
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Deus intra Machina: The Incredible Story of When God Subjected Himself to His Own Creation

A preview of December's email-only article.

Jill Sauve

Did you know I write a monthly article just for email subscribers? It's true!

This month we're discussing the incredible story of Immanuel--God with us--and what that means for you and me this Christmas season.

Here's how it starts:

 

As the creator of our universe, it is no big deal for God to restore the material. For the Israelites in the wilderness he supplied bread out of thin air in the form of manna. He provided water from a rock so they could drink. He restored Job's fortune and health at the conclusion of the man's trials. And God even restored the life of Lazarus though he was dead for four days.

Nevertheless for God to restore humanity from the curse of their sins, something radical had to occur. You see sin, no matter how innocent it may seem, must have a consequence. The most extreme of these consequences, as God warned the first couple, is death.

This isn't some kind of power play or overreaction to eating a piece of fruit, although such a result is certainly the right of an omnipotent, omniscient, God. Instead, death is a natural consequence of sin. All sin results in death.

 

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