Did you see the video(s) of the explosion in Beirut? It is a shocking scene. There is one video out there that shows buildings vanishing in the shockwave of the explosion. Strong, sturdy, concrete buildings crumble as if they were made of delicate butter wafers. (WARNING: May disturb some viewers. Video here.)
The promise to a believer is NOT that we will be spared from suffering. Jesus promises something much, much better. No matter how we die or when we die...
The Word of our God will stand forever. Are you hearing this? The words of Jesus are more permanent than death. It is more powerful than any explosion. When buildings crumble, His word remains standing: "Everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die."
Some of those buildings were businesses, others were homes, others were stores (Source). The temptation is to think that it is unfortunate that this happened "over there." We foolishly comfort ourselves by saying things like, "That wouldn't happen over here. Regulations are tighter here." Allow me to burst your bubble in telling you that those accidents happen on U.S soil also. That's why we have have "Hazmat Team" and other specialty rescue teams on standby. They train often for scenarios like Beirut.
IT HAPPENS.
78 deaths so far with 4,000 injured. From what we learned after Sept. 11, 2001, there are many more bodies to be found in that rubble. Some of those 4,000 will succumb to their injuries and die from it. None-- not one-- of those people thought this was how their day was going to go. There wasn't even an inclination that this was how the day was going to go. No warning signs. Just... boom.
Think about where you would have been. Would you have been going to the store to get groceries for your family? Or were you out running a quick errand? Did you tell your family, "Hey, I'm going out. Text me if you need me to grab anything on the way home"? Or were you at home prepping a meal? Napping? Watching the kids?
Stories like this ought not to be censored or dismissed. Death stares us in the face and says, "I'm coming for you." Looking away does not deter his pursuit.
James 4 warns us of this, "13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. "
Isaiah 40:7 paints the same principle in a different way:
The grass withers, the flower fades
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
surely the people are grass.
The death of Kobe Bryant earlier this year should remind us of it too. No matter how rich, powerful, famous, popular you are... your life is incredibly fragile.
Let's leave Beirut for now and let's go back to a small village called Bethany. Martha and Mary send word to Jesus that their brother is ill. By the time Jesus gets there, Lazarus died. John 11 records the conversation Jesus has with Martha and Mary. Jesus says something incredibly:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
... we will never die.
It doesn't matter if you die in a flash explosion, Covid19, car wreck, heart attack, helicopter crash, or peacefully at a ripe old age... the believer can cling on the promise of Jesus that there is still life after. Death just becomes a "mode" of how we get transported to Heaven! Beyond that, it has absolutely zero power over the ones who place their trust in Jesus.
I quoted Isaiah 40:7 for you earlier. Let me read for you the following verse from Isaiah 40:8--
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Take time to pray for Beirut. Pray for the local church as they deal with the heavy grief-- may they find comfort from the words proclaimed in Bethany. May the local church mobilize to reach the lost while there is still time. Pray for the people there. May they come to know Jesus and live.
May the lyrics of this song be true to each of us:when the world has fallen out from under me
May the lyrics of this song be true to each of us:
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