Death is the departure of the soul and spirit from the body, but where does each part of man end up after a man dies? The Bible answers this question and more.
At times, God called people to enter into war with the goal of killing their enemies. The Bible clearly distinguishes between this type of killing and murder.
The Lord commended the hypocrite for his discernment in certain areas of life but rebuked him for his lack of discernment in the most needful areas. As such, the hypocrite readily recognizes problems in others but remains blind to those same inadequacies within his own life. Though some might accuse the hypocrite of merely ignoring his own deficiencies, it is likely that he cannot discern the presence of these problems as they appear within his own life. This is most likely caused by the blindness produced by Satan. After all, Satan has no problem when a man finds fault in others so long as that man remains oblivious to his own failures. Without God’s help, the hypocrite will never discern that his hypocrisy is his problem.
Confusion does not always result directly from personal sin, but sin surely causes a great deal of confusion. In today’s passage, we find Daniel making this point as he contrasted God and man. Daniel pointed out that righteousness belonged to the Lord and confusion belonged to the people. Why? Simply because God’s people chose to sin against the Lord. Sin blurs and transforms an otherwise clear and indisputable reality into corruption and vagaries. Committing sin blurs the broad chasm between sin and righteousness. This blurring makes it more difficult for a child of God to discern the perfect will of God. Therefore, only those believers who eschew evil can and will experience clarity of mind. Those who embrace evil reap uncertainty.
Man is made up of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Death takes place when the soul (Genesis 35:18) and the spirit (Genesis 25:8) leave the body. This event happens to everyone regardless of the individual’s spiritual state at death. Saved or lost, a person’s spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 3:21; Ecclesiastes 12:7). However, the soul’s destination is based upon whether or not a person has trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour during this life. There exists no midpoint between earth and heaven (or hell) to purge one’s sins, including places invented by religions to do so. For a saved person, the Bible declares that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Unfortunately for the lost, this same outcome is not true. Following death, the Bible reveals that the lost man’s soul immediately goes to hell (Luke 16:23).
Fasting, similar to other actions in life, has specific purposes and appointed times. The Bible offers various reasons why people might fast: an immediate need in prayer (2 Samuel 12:16), a need to loosen the bands of wickedness or undo heavy burdens (Isaiah 58:6), during times of elevated conflict or duty in service (Matthew 17:21; Acts 13:3), as a symbol of mourning (2 Samuel 1:12), and as an outward manifestation of true repentance (Jonah 3:5). This list is not exhaustive, but simply demonstrates that God’s people have many good reasons for fasting. Even if none of these circumstances surfaces in our lives, we should fast because we know that the Lord expects us to do so.
Christians are supposed to strive to be Christlike. For this reason, today's lesson will involve searching the scriptures to learn about the nature of God. One constant theme concerning the Lord’s nature is that He endures. The Bible not only proclaims that the LORD will personally endure for ever (Psalm 9:7; Psalm 102:12), but the scripture declares forty-two times that His mercy “endureth for ever.” God’s enduring mercy means that man does not always receive the bad that he deserves. The Bible also proclaims that many other things directly associated with God will endure. These include God’s “goodness” (Psalm 52:1), “name” (Psalm 135:13), “truth” (Psalm 100:5), “glory” (Psalm 104:31), “righteousness” (Psalm 111:3), “dominion” (Psalm 145:13), and “word” (1 Peter 1:25). In other words, the God of the Bible and all things directly associated with Him will endure for ever.
