Solomon said that God has put eternity in our hearts. Most of us have had those times, perhaps even as a child, when we wondered about eternity and what would happen when we die. Even believers can wonder about eternity. If not where we will spend it, we wonder what eternity will be like.
Today, TV producers and movie-makers, while not focused on death and eternity in a godly way, seem obsessed with the afterlife. Movie and TV screens are full of vampires and the so-called living dead, a perversion of the kind of eternity that God places in our hearts.
But there was a time when the dead came out of their graves and the Bible says it will happen again. But instead of bodies ravaged by death and filthy grave clothes, they will receive bodies fitted for heaven.
Today’s Readings:
Jeremiah 19 & 20
Psalm 119.1-8
Proverbs 27.13
1 Thessalonians 4.1-18
The Living Dead & the Bible
1 Thessalonians 4.1-18:
Eternity in Our Hearts
Ecclesiastes 3.11 says that God has put eternity in our hearts. We often wonder what lies beyond this life. Most of us have asked, “What will happen when I die? Will anyone remember me?” or “What’s it all about?”
John MacArthur in his Study Bible said, “God made men for His eternal purpose and nothing in post-Fall time can bring them complete satisfaction.”
I believe it was Paul Tripp who said we were “made for glory.” We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s in our bones. We yearn for eternity.
The Apostle Paul describes it this way:
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5.1-8).
The Rapture & Eternity
We can look forward to a time when we will be “clothed with our habitation which is from heaven.” Today’s reading in 1 Thessalonians says it this way:
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
This pictures what we call the Rapture of the Church when those who are alive will not only be taken out of this world but those who have died in Christ will come out of their graves. Then our mortality will be “swallowed up by life” … eternal life. And we will “be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven.” We will receive bodies that are fitted for heaven.
A Preview
But this will not be the first time the dead have come out of their graves. First, there was Lazarus who had been dead for three days before Jesus raised him from the dead. And when Christ was crucified, Matthew tells us:
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many (Matt. 27.50-53).
Even though these resurrected believers would die again, it was a preview of what will come in the future.
The word “rapture” means to be “caught up.” Paul said those who have died in Christ will rise first. So when Christ returns for His church, the bodies of believers who died previously, whose spirits are already in heaven, will be resurrected and changed. And those of us who are alive will be caught up and our bodies will be changed, as well.
Uncle Levi?
Can you imagine what it must have been like at the time of the Crucifixion? Perhaps a family was sitting around having dinner when there was a knock at the door … and there stood Uncle Levi or Cousin Benjamin who had died a few years before!
Now imagine what it will be like when the Rapture happens. The graves of dead believers will be opened, but this time they’ll be gone, along with believers who are alive at the time of the Rapture!
I would imagine there will be more than a few family members who had rejected what their husbands and wives and moms and brothers were telling them, who fall to their knees and cry out to God. It won’t be too late for them to be saved, but it will be too late for them to escape the Tribulation … seven years of famine, disease, earthquakes, disasters, and persecution the likes of which the world has never seen. We’ll talk more about this when we get to the book of Revelation.
So, let’s pray and stand up for the truth while there is still time for those who will listen.
Today’s Other Readings:
Jeremiah 19 & 20:
Is the Word like Fire in Your Bones?
In chapter 20 of Jeremiah, rather than believe the truth, the Jewish leaders tried to intimidate the Prophet into silence. If you listen to much news, that may sound familiar.
Even though Jeremiah was tempted to keep quiet, he said:
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not (20.9).
I have to ask myself, is that true of me? Is it true of you? Are we so full of God’s Word that it’s like fire in our bones, so much so, that we would risk mistreatment, persecution, or death, as Jeremiah did? May we pray for that holy boldness.
Psalm 119.1-8:
The Longest Psalm in the Bible
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and is an acrostic psalm. As it was written in the original Hebrew, it has a literary device to drive home the truths contained in it—something like what we do when we say “A is for apple; B is for ball; … or when we use an acronym to help us remember the name of an organization.
With the Whole Heart
While it’s long, it contains some of the greatest truths about God and His Word, beginning with verses 1-2:
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the LORD!
2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
“Who walk …” When the Bible speaks of our walk, it refers to our lifestyle. Blessed is the man or woman whose lifestyle is one that is centered on God and His Word.
“… Who seek Him with the whole heart!” The heart speaks of the inner man including the mind, the will, the emotions … who we really are. We’re not to be mindless in our beliefs, but mindful, studying His Word and getting to know Him better and better. Our faith is not blind faith, but faith built on the truths of Scripture. Loving God is not primarily a feeling, it’s a choice to fix our hearts on Him.
More than Emotions
Our emotions are certainly involved in our seeking and worship of God. We should put our whole heart into loving, knowing, and worshiping Him and when we do, there will be times when we experience Him in our emotions. But too often, people seek after experiences or feelings instead of God Himself.
And yet, if we only know Him with our intellect, it may never impact our lives. And if we just grit our teeth and will ourselves to serve God, it can become nothing more than religious activity. Instead, all three aspects of our inner man are to be involved in seeking to know, to love, and to worship Him.
Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4.24).
Proverbs 27.13:
Lending Foolishly
Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.
Lending foolishly to those who are irresponsible can cause our own financial ruin.
Why Not Share?
There’s a lot in today’s Bible reading. I hope you were blessed. It should be our lifelong endeavor to know God better through His Word. Is there someone who would benefit from today’s post and readings? Why not share it so they can be blessed, as well?
Coming Up:
In the next few days, we’ll talk about ways to live like we’re expecting Jesus to come back soon, how our words and attitudes matter, abortion, unborn babies, the Tribulation, and more.
I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. You might also like to check out our YouTube channel.
If this post spoke to you, I would love it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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