BIBLE AND HUMAN SUICIDES

KINH THÁNH VÀ TỘI TỰ TỬ

Kinh thánh: 1Các Vua 19: 1-10

Câu gốc: 1CÔ-RINH-TÔ 10: 13 phần A – Những sự cám dỗ đến cho anh em, chẳng có sự nào quá sức loài người. Đức Chúa Trời là thành tín, Ngài chẳng hề cho anh em bị cám dỗ quá sức mình đâu.

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BIBLE AND HUMAN SUICIDES

Bible: 1Kings 19: 1-10

Main verse: 1CORINTHIANS 10: 13 part A – No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able

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– According to national statistic, each year there are thousands of people committed suicide in America. In 2017 there were 47,173 Americans died by suicide and about 1,400,000 others who attempted suicides.

– The government and other organizations have tried for many years to prevent such tragedies happening or reducing its numbers. Christian churches have joined the effort but the results was not much different.

– Sadly, there were some Christians among those who committed suicides. In all of people in the world, Christians should be the last ones who think of such sin, let alone committing it. But in reality, some Christians thought about it as an effective way to be free from burdens of human life. Surprisingly and indignantly, it seems there are some church ministers who do not see it as a sin.

– Because some Christians had already committed suicides, so it’s an urgent matter that needs to be addressed in churches nowadays.

– Today we are not talking or discussing about suicide prevention, but want to look into the Bible and considering some incorrect perceptions about suicide that have taken roots among biblical scholars and theological professors in the last few decades.

– Those kind of perceptions have produced new generations of church ministers who think that some people who died by suicide still had faith in God and they could receive eternal life after killing themselves. That kind of thought is dangerous to Christian communities and abnormal to God’s truth in the Bible.

– Maybe those scholars wanted to soothe the mind of the deceased’s families and relatives that they had come up with an analysis that quite contrary to the Bible’s truth. If that is the case, it is an example of human dishonesty relating to Bible interpretation. We should remember this: Do not attempt to change the Bible’s truth for whatever reason, big or small.

– With God’s help, we are going to look into the Bible and trying to use God’s Word to correct that deadly mistake produced by those who called themselves biblical scholars. Many of them are currently professors in theological colleges and seminaries.

– In modern time many biblical scholars have mentioned in their books about some suicide cases in the Bible and they pointed out that even godly men wanted to commit suicide, like Elijah, Moses, David, Jonas and Job. That kind of thought has become common and widely accepted among scholars and some seminary students, but they are all wrong.

– The first mistake was their contradiction concerning those ancient figures in the Bible. Some of the scholars called those people as godly men, who could communicate directly with God, but analyzing them as merely ordinary men, even thought of them as atheists, who did not know God’s will at all.

– They forgot that as those ancient people were godly men, they must understand that human life had two parts, one temporary period on earth and one eternal after death. Atheists don’t believe in that fact. But those scholars, especially those who called themselves biblical ones, when writing their analysis concerning the Bible and suicide, thought of those godly men as though they were atheists who did not really understand the purpose of human life and the meaning of death.

– To emphasize this point, we just look into our Christian lives in general and can see that anyone among us who studied the Bible thoroughly could understand that human life is so precious to God that He was willing to come to this wicked world and died on the cross to save us. If we can understand that, how come those ancient godly people would not understand and wanted to commit suicide as those biblical scholars suggested?

– For as those ancient figures were men of God, they also must understand that God never allowed a person to take his own life, no matter what. And because God never changes so this principle has been a standard for all humans, no exception.

– In His commandments giving to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, God order them not to murder. It meant not to kill others or oneself (suicide) deliberately. As godly men, Elijah, David, Jonas, Job and especially Moses must understand about it.

– Some of the scholars argued, like liberal and progressive, that because a person is the master of his/her own life so if he/she took it, it’s a suicide, not a murder. But that kind of thought is atheistical and that’s why they also support abortion as they argued that it’s a women’s free choice concerning their bodies, not a murder of unborn baby.

– But those ancient people, on the contrary, were men of God and they understood that God was Master of all men and human life belonged to Him.

EZEKIEL 18: 4 – Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

Ê-XÊ-CHI-ÊN 18: 4 – Nầy, mọi linh hồn đều thuộc về ta; linh hồn của cha cũng như linh hồn của con, đều thuộc về ta; linh hồn nào phạm tội thì sẽ chết.

– That is the contradiction in the way those scholars and professors thought about the ancient godly men.

– Because of His commandment about killing and murdering, so God also warned humankind that if anyone defiled his/her body, they committed sin to themselves and to God. And the punishment is to be destroyed in return, physically and spiritually.

1CORINTHIANS 3: 17 – If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

1CÔ-RINH-TÔ 3: 17 – Ví có ai phá hủy đền thờ của Đức Chúa Trời, thì Đức Chúa Trời sẽ phá hủy họ; vì đền thờ của Đức Chúa Trời là thánh, mà chính anh em là đền thờ.

– Suicide is the kind of permanently defiling one body (self-destruction/self-murder/self-slaughter), so the punishment is to be suffered forever in the fire of hell:

REVELATION 21: 8 – But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

KHẢI HUYỀN 21: 8 – Còn những kẻ hèn nhát, kẻ chẳng tin, kẻ đáng gớm ghét, kẻ giết người, kẻ dâm loạn, kẻ phù phép, kẻ thờ thần tượng, và phàm kẻ nào nói dối, phần của chúng nó ở trong hồ có lửa và diêm cháy bừng bừng: Đó là sự chết thứ hai.

– Moreover, all godly men, ancient or modern, know that God’s children must endure sufferings and persecutions in some forms, more or less, while living on earth. That is the common requirement from God. Even unbelievers have to suffer in some kinds, mostly by their own actions and their consequences.

2TIMOTHY 2: 12 – If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

2TI-MÔ-THÊ 2: 12 – Nếu chúng ta chịu thử thách nổi, thì sẽ cùng Ngài đồng trị; nếu chúng ta chối Ngài, thì Ngài cũng sẽ chối chúng ta.

– As God’s Word has indicated, we Christians must endure sufferings, hardships, persecutions, tribulations and the like to the end in order to receive salvation in Christ. But if a person committed suicide, his action would be seen as denying God as his Master and God would deny him in return the salvation. In other words, anyone who committed suicide will be damned forever.

– Godly people of the ancient times certainly knew of this principle, so considering them as godly men and at the same thought of them as those who wanted to commit suicide is the contradiction of ignorance. Surprisingly, many biblical scholars and theological professors have that same kind of thinking.

– Their second mistake was counting the cases of Elijah, Jonas, Job and Moses as suicides because of the pressure from persecutions and tribulations that they faced. Those scholars either arrogantly wanted to prove themselves as biblical intellectual or intentionally as biblical ignorant as they thought of those ancient figures like that.

– They did not read the whole stories about those people but just picking some verses here and there and analyzed them according to their personal perception. We will take time and consider each case one by one so that we can understand clearly what happened and know why those scholars made that kind of mistake.

– According to the Bible, in each case, those godly men wished that God ended their lives on earth so that they could happily start the second journey with God sooner.

– In Elijah’s case, it was clearly recorded that he asked God to take his life, not wanting to kill himself:

1KINGS 19: 4 – But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said: It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!

1Các Vua 19: 4 – Còn người vào đồng vắng, đường đi ước một ngày, đến ngồi dưới cây giếng giêng, xin chết mà rằng: Ôi Đức Giê-hô-va! Đã đủ rồi. Hãy cất lấy mạng sống tôi, vì tôi không hơn gì các tổ phụ tôi.

– Elijah’s prayer was like asking God for an early retirement from his duty as a prophet, because he must know death was just a door for him to go to the other side and rejoice happily in the presence of God. It would make no sense if someone could communicate with God and did not know what life and death meant.

– Elijah was a great prophet and he must understand God’s commandments, especially concerning self-murder. It is certainly that he did not want to face God’s wrath after death if he committed suicide (killing himself). Therefore his wish was the same as Paul’s, who really liked to be with God than continued living on earth:

PHILIPPIANS 1: 21-24 – For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

PHI-LÍP 1: 21-24 – Vì Đấng Christ là sự sống của tôi, và sự chết là điều ích lợi cho tôi vậy. Ví thử tôi cứ sống trong xác thịt, là ích lợi cho công khó tôi, thì tôi chẳng biết nên lựa điều chi. Tôi bị ép giữa hai bề muốn đi ở với Đấng Christ, là điều rất tốt hơn; nhưng tôi cứ ở trong xác thịt, ấy là sự cần hơn cho anh em.

– Nobody thinks Paul’s wish was a suicide attempt, but those scholars tried to make Elijah wish looked different in order to fit into their personal perception and became proof for their liberal analysis.

– One thing is for sure that both Elijah and Paul had been guided by the Holy Spirit in their duties as a prophet and an apostle. And because the Holy Spirit never changes so they must had the same understanding of life and death in God. As Paul never considered suicide although he faced many persecutions, so Elijah must be the same. And as Paul wished to be with God because it’s far better than life on earth, so Elijah must have the same wish.

– Therefore, considering Elijah’s prayer as an suicide attempt like those scholars had anylized in their books is a Bible’s abuse and it is a dangerous thought that cannot be allowed within Christian communities.

– May God bless us with more wisdom and understanding of His Word in order for us to distinguish God’s truth and mankind imperfect interpretation of the Bible. May God help us to see clearly His way so that we won’t be lost in this life but can be able to follow Him until the day He comes back to earth. Amen.

(will be continued)