I know -- I've already done a spiritual thought for the month, and I need to get back to the second "Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin" story. But I feel impressed to share this important thought from my reading this past week.
Over the past year, in response to the pandemic, I've heard the religious say things such as: "My days are numbered, and God knows when I'm going to die" or "if it's my time to go, then it's my time" or even "I do not need to fear because I can trust in God and He will protect me -- unless it's my time to go."
It's given me much to think about over this past year or so. Does God know when I'm going to die? Of course -- if He's omniscient, then He knows everything -- including when I'm going to die. So, to answer my big OP question simply, the answer is: Yes. He knows when I'm going to die.
Often in the Bible, the concept of "your days are numbered" is usually coupled with the idea of "the Lord will protect you, so do as He commands." For example, Jesus tells the apostles in Luke 12:7, "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." In other words, "go and do what I command you and I will protect you."
Is this day of death set, then? In other words, has God determined that I'm *supposed* to die at a particular time? Will I be called to an already specified mission when I die? And so on...
In the Calvinistic tradition as I understand it, predestination dictates that, yes ... that date is set, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We can only make the most out of our life until that day comes.
But then, the Bible gives us some interesting clues, such as in 1 Kings 3:14, when the Lord speaks to Solomon.
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
This implies that that date can be changed in accordance to how we live out our lives. Here Solomon appears to be given a choice: keep commandments and live longer. Or don't keep the commandments and die sooner. So, the day of death may not really be set -- or perhaps it may be contingent on the choices we make.
And then -- this past week as I was reading in the "Saints" book (continuing my Church History self-study), I came across an interesting story. In the first volume, page 373, it tells the story of Wilford Woodruff's wife Phebe. As she lay sick, she claims that she died and saw two angels approach her. One said to her: you can choose to come with us and earn your eternal rest, or you can go back and endure the trials that lay ahead. After seeing her husband and others frantically trying to revive her, she quickly choose to return.
She was given a choice!
And that was just one such story I've heard. I'm sure that regardless of the domination you belong to, you've heard similar near-death experiences. The fact that my church chose to include this story in an official book implies that it was a true experience. Sometimes we really can choose when to die.
Is this a contradiction? God knows the day we're going to die, but somehow we can make choices that can change that date? So, which is it?
My wife gave me the perfect answer: Well, God knows the decisions that you're going to make. So, while we have free will to make choices, He knows what choices we'll make that will lengthen and/or shorten our time of death.
If you think about it, what if I were to go to some cliff to test God's protection and throw myself off? Do you think that God would cause a wind to slow down my fall because it's not yet my time? Or rather would God let me die, and tell me later: "Why did you do that? I knew you were going to make that decision, but really?"
So, yes -- God does know when we're going to die. And yes, our days our numbered, but yet, it turns out that we do have input into when that day comes. Do we want to live long? Then we can make appropriate decisions to help extend our own days. We can follow the Word of Wisdom for healthy living. Or we can learn how to stay out of dangerous situations. Each of these require some kind of action or decision making on our part -- exactly as did Solomon and Phebe Woodruff.
Or we could do nothing but solely "rely on God" and end up being taken at an earlier time because we didn't do what it would take to extend our days.
It really is up to us, and if we turn to God, He can help us know what we should be doing or choosing to extend our own lives.
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