It is written:
“What hope do people without God have when it is time to die, when God takes their life away? 9 When they have troubles and cry out for help, God will not listen to them! 10 It will be too late for them to enjoy talking with God All-Powerful. They should have prayed to God all the time.” (Job 27:8-10 ERV)
Recently while reading through the Book of Job, this passage of Scripture stood out to me. Job (who continued to struggle with his faith in the midst of his terrible suffering) pointed out that he was going to continue trusting God, even if God eventually killed him (Job 13:15). He could not understand why the Lord was bringing him to the point of such misery, but he was determined to continue trusting in the Lord!
This was a far different attitude, Job points out, from the person who are without God, and who therefore have “no hope” especially in the time of death. It also reminds us that Job clung to his belief that even if he faced death, he had a “hope” that those who die “without God” do not share.
I was reminded of the famous infidel Voltaire near the time of his death, and especially of the words spoken by his nurse at this terrible event:
“VOLTAIRE, the noted French infidel and one of the most fertile and talented writers of his time, used his pen to retard and demolish Christianity. Of Christ, Voltaire said: “Curse the wretch!” He once boasted, “In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.” Shortly after his death the very house in which he printed his foul literature became the depot of the Geneva Bible Society. The nurse who attended Voltaire said: “For all the wealth in Europe I would not see another infidel die.” The physician, Trochim, waiting up with Voltaire at his death said that he cried out most desperately: “I am abandoned by God and man! I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months’ life. Then I shall go to hell; and you will go with me. 0 Christ! 0 Jesus Christ!” (Herbert Lockyer, Last Words of Saints and Sinners, 133 (Kindle Edition); Grans Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications)
Unless we are that generation which will witness the Return of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:50-58), then death is an appointment that we all must keep (Hebrews 9:27). And it is only when we have a proper view of death that we will be able to embrace a proper view of life.
Voltaire’s life, of course, also demonstrates the sad irony of one who fights against the one true God of Heaven.
“Voltaire is reported to have said that within a hundred years of his day the Bible would be a forgotten book. In a strange twist of irony, within a century of his death, one of his homes in France would belong to the Geneva Bible Society and serve as the place where Bibles were printed and distributed.” (Ravi Zechariah’s, The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists, 22 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan)
Voltaire’s death (and his life) reflect the vanity and emptiness of living a life which seeks to exclude God; for in Him we live, and move, and have our being.
Are you ready to meet the Lord (Acts 2:37-47; 1 John 1:7-2:2)?
Leave a Reply