Ecclesiastes 8:8a – “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death”
Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment….”
Euthanasia can be a challenging issue with two sides that are difficult to balance. On one end, we do not want to take a person’s life into our own hands and end it prematurely. On the other end, at what point do we simply allow a person to die and take no further action to preserve life? Adding to the confusion are medical advances balanced against healing which has led to various opinions with respect to physicians and the extent of their influence. To determine the Biblical perspective, we turn to:
- Historical Context: The Book of Ecclesiastes does not directly identify its author but the conventional belief is that the author is Solomon. If so, it was likely written towards the end of his reign, approximately 935 B.C. Ecclesiastes is a book of perspective. The narrative of “the Preacher” (KJV), or “the Teacher” (NIV) reveals the depression that inevitably results from seeking happiness in worldly things. This book gives Christians a chance to see the world through the eyes of a person who, though very wise, is trying to find meaning in temporary, human things. Most every form of worldly pleasure is explored by the Preacher, and none of it gives him a sense of meaning. In the end, the Preacher comes to accept that faith in God is the only way to find personal meaning. He decides to accept the fact that life is brief and ultimately worthless without God. The Preacher advises the reader to focus on an eternal God instead of temporary pleasure.
Although some include the book of Hebrews among the apostle Paul’s writings, the certain identity of the author remains an enigma. Missing is Paul’s customary salutation common to his other works. In addition, the suggestion that the writer of this epistle relied upon knowledge and information provided by others who were actual eye-witnesses of Christ Jesus (2:3) makes Pauline authorship doubtful. Some attribute Luke as its writer; others suggest Hebrews may have been written by Apollos, Barnabas, Silas, Philip, or Aquila and Priscilla. Regardless of the human hand that held the pen, the Holy Spirit of God is the divine author of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16); therefore, Hebrews speaks with the same canonical authority as the other sixty-five books of the Bible. The early church father Clement quoted from the book of Hebrews in A.D. 95. However, internal evidence such as the fact that Timothy was alive at the time the epistle was written and the absence of any evidence showing the end of the Old Testament sacrificial system that occurred with Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70, indicates the book was written around A.D. 65. This letter is an exhortation for those persecuted believers to continue in the grace of Jesus Christ, keeping in mind that God is in control and will, indeed, have the final say.
- Grammatical Usage: Dealing with the Ecclesiastes passage, “power” in the Hebrew is “shalat” meaning, “to exercise power over…dominate…have mastery”, in short: no autocratic control; “spirit” is “ruah”, a noun occurring 387 times in the OT, has it root meaning in “wind or breath” when, used in context with humanity, emphasizes the mental/emotional/spiritual over the physical. This is consistent with the Genesis 2:7 where the “breath” of man was bestowed by a special creative act of God (in contrast to the beasts of Genesis 1:24); “death” or “mawet” in the Hebrew means, “death personified as the realm of the dead…an certain eventuality.”
In Hebrews, the Greek word for “appointed” is “apokeimai” which “carries the distinctiveness of being reserved – established” while “die” or “apothnesko” means “to die out…the separation of the soul from the body…natural death (spiritual death to come after the judgment.”
- Literal Application: “And in view of the fact that the fatr of death is reserved for the human race once for all, but after that – judgment”
- Contextual Interpretation: A basic assertion of Ecclesiastes and Hebrews is the fact that, ultimately, death is inevitable and can not be prevented by man. Ezekiel reminds us that God has no pleasure in the death of men, for his purpose was and is that they live (18:32). Yet, as pointed out in Gen. 3:3 death is the result of rebellion against God’s command. Consequently, the introduction of death was an undesirable but necessary result of disobedience.
In verse 18 Paul indicates that, “the sufferings of this present time” need to be placed in proper perspective. Conformation carries with it a two-stage implication: 1) regeneration and 2) glorification. The glorification element is the object of v. 29 – where we “share” in the context of the totality of God’s creation which “waits with eager longing” (v. 19) and which is presently “subjected to futility” (v. 20) and in “bondage to decay” (v. 21). It is a creation which “has been groaning in travail” (v. 22) just as we human beings “groan inwardly” (v. 22). And just as the total creation “will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God” (v. 21), so we can anticipate “the redemption of our bodies” (v. 23). God’s design is to have us view our circumstances through the eyes of Christ – conforming our actions and reactions accordingly which lends testament to our faith by which God is pleased, the faithful strengthened and the unsaved convicted.
- Scriptural Comparison: In context, Phil. 3:10 better elaborates the purpose by conforming, identifying with or demonstrating the death of the carnal self and enduring one’s share of sufferings as sharing in the sufferings of Christ. In fact, this conformation is physical (1 Cor. 15:49b), ethical (2 Cor. 3:18) and intellectual (Co. 3:10).
- Conclusion: Conformation is the work of the Holy Spirit. In the first half of Romans, Paul emphasized the majesty and glory of God and pointed to the certainty of God’s redemptive plan. All that happens to the believer rests in the sovereign hand of God, who in all things, “works for the good of those who love him” (8:28). Believers gain assurance knowing that God is for them (8:31). In all the testings and sufferings that confront believers, they can be confident that they are more than conquerors through Christ who loved them (8:37). Believers can expect difficulties in this age (8:35.36); yet they can be certain that nothing will be able to separate them from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (8:39). However, the emphasis of the entire passage truly is that God works in all things toward the good purpose of conforming us. But only “those who love him” know that, because they are participants “with him” in the out-working of that purpose.