By February 2, 1349, at least 200 people a day were being buried in London, England, as a result of what was called the Black Death, a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history, resulting in about fifty million deaths, approximately half of Europe’s fourteenth century population. It was caused by a bacteria and was spread by fleas and through the air. The idea of describing death as black is very old, and was used by Homer in the Odyssey to describe the monstrous Scylla, having her mouth full of black Death.
“Words from Above” in the Bible tell us that, with the exception of Enoch and Elijah, death has or will come to every member of the human race if the Rapture does not occur first. The apostle Paul tells us in Hebrews, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Most of the time when people look at this verse, they usually emphasize judgment occurring after we pass from this life. Another emphasis worth mentioning is the idea that men have been appointed to die once, which suggests that there was no intention that men would die twice. Unfortunately, due to the failure of Adam and Eve to obey God’s commandment in the Garden of Eden, they put into effect a second death.
Of course, the one death to which men have been appointed is what we know as a physical death. What we have come to understand about the disobedience of Adam and Eve is that they were responsible for what we now know as a spiritual death. God had warned them about this happening if they ate or touched the forbidden fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Unfortunately, Satan took on the form of a serpent and convinced Eve that no such thing would ever happen. A usual, Satan twisted the truth when he spoke to Eve, like he does in the case of all members of the human race.
It may have appeared to Eve that the devil was correct when neither she nor Adam dropped over dead after they ate the fruit. However, there was something that did die that day, which was the living soul which God had created when He breathed into the nostrils of Adam when He created him from the dust of the ground. The good news is that through the death of Jesus on the Cross, people can avoid the second death because Jesus was able to defeat the first and second death when He rose from the dead.
Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville. Everyone is welcome to attend. For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.
