The Desert Shall Blossom

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;

the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

it shall blossom abundantly

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the LORD,

the majesty of our God.” [1]

Reading the text before us this day, I cannot escape the understanding that the Court Prophet is telling readers that death is not an end. To our natural mind, that concept seems somehow to be in error. Though we struggle against allowing ourselves to dwell on our own death, at the last we are forced to admit that we are powerless to change the inevitable—death comes apace. How disturbing, and how very real, the poet’s observation:

“Come he slow, or come he fast,

It is but Death who comes at last.” [2]

Death is an impelling theme among the intelligentsia of our world. No less is the theme of death fascinating to the rest of mankind. Thus, we witness multiple quotes that address the theme of death, such as these:

• “Brief and powerless is man’s life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark.” [3]

• “To himself everyone is an immortal: he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead.” [4]

• “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” [5]

It is the inevitability of death that makes Easter such a highly anticipated observance in the Christian calendar. Reading the Hebrew Letter, we come very early in the missive to a most encouraging statement that reads: “It was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

‘What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,

putting everything in subjection under his feet.’

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

‘I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.’

And again,

‘I will put my trust in him.’

And again,

‘Behold, I and the children God has given me.’

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” [HEBREWS 2:5-18].

Death is a constant theme of study for Christians, not because we are frightened by the dark spectre of death, but because we understand that we must set aside this decaying tent in order that we can be clothed with the new home promised by our Master. And He promises this based on His own conquest of death, for Jesus the Son of God gave His life as a sacrifice for sin, and then rose from the dead. Jesus our Saviour is alive, and because He lives, we are alive in Him.

I appreciate the view of death given by Tozer. He wrote, “For the Christian, death is a journey to the eternal world. It is a victory, a rest, a delight. I am sure my small amount of physical suffering in life has been mild compared with Paul’s. But I think I have some understanding of what he meant when he told the Philippians: ‘To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain… I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far…’ [PHILIPPIANS 1:21, 23]. The more a Christian suffers in the body, the more he or she thinks about the triumph of going home to heaven. But we modern Christians seem to be a strange breed. We are so completely satisfied with the earthly things we have collected, and we so enjoy this age’s creature comforts, that we would rather stay here for a long, long time! Probably we do not tell God about that kind of desire when we pray. We know it would not be considered pious or spiritual if people knew we preferred our position here to the prospect of heaven.” [6]