Dancing in Leg Irons

Some people think having favorite verses is a bit like having favorite children: it’s just not done. Those who think this way either have yet to produce large families or else are not big on self-awareness. At any given moment, every parent has a favorite child, even if their favor is a moving target and its object a different child every day of the week. The trick is not to let one’s affections direct one’s behavior as Jacob did, very much to Joseph’s detriment.

It’s hardly surprising that my favorite verses come from my favorite book, Hebrews. I’m not the least bit Hebrew myself, but few books of the Bible glorify Christ so explicitly and magnificently, even if this one was primarily targeted at a Jewish audience.

Here’s the passage in which I so disproportionately delight:

“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.”

I’m not going to attempt to dissect this exhaustively, as any such effort would simply reveal my own shortcomings. One of the many reasons Christ partook of humanity was to deliver us all from bondage. You could write a book about that. So let’s just consider two questions that arise from this profound statement.

The Power of Death

First, in what sense does the devil have the power of death? It seems evident he cannot merely dispatch people at will. Satan had to ask God’s permission to strip Job of his blessings, let alone do him injury or take his life. It is reasonable to assume most devout Christians enjoy the same sort of hedge of protection Job did. Watchfulness and prayer are the antidotes to the schemes of the “roaring lion”, limiting his agency in our lives.

Still, even if Satan does not determine the moment or method of our death unless permitted, we must acknowledge the Pauline truism that “in Adam all die”. Through Adam’s sin, the human race forfeited its right to eat of the tree of life and live forever. In that sense, we fell into the hands of Satan, becoming victims of his original deception. The state of affairs that currently exists, in which all are born, age into decrepitude and eventually expire, is a direct product of the devil’s interference in the world.

There is also a second sense in which the devil has the power of death, in that he functions as the “accuser of our brothers”, and presumably of all men, since all have sinned and “the wages of sin is death”. God, of course, does not need his reminder of the condition into which mankind has fallen and the consequences that must inevitably follow. Nevertheless, Satan is permitted to serve as a sort of divinely appointed “prosecuting attorney” in the heavenly courts until such time as he is forever stripped of the authority and power associated with his rank. In this sense, he wields the legal “power of death” over mankind.

Enslaved to What?

My second question is this: “In what sense does the fear of death enslave men?” We should note that the fear of death is not the slavemaster; rather, it is the mechanism by which one is enslaved. The question then becomes, “Enslaved to what?” There are several different answers to that. The way fear manifests depends on the individual.

1/ Preoccupation and Uncertainty

One obvious manifestation of fear is slavery to debilitating preoccupation and uncertainty. The prospect of dying is too distant and abstract to become an obsession for most young people, but even young people quickly change the subject when their own mortality comes up. With age and the loss of friends and family, the inevitability of one’s own departure from this world becomes increasingly a feature of one’s thoughts. Hezekiah serves as a fine example of the fear of death producing uncertainty and a sense of oppression which so preoccupied him that he could think of nothing else:

“I said, ‘In the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.’ I said, ‘I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.’ My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. Like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end. I calmed myself until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.

Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.”

Hezekiah lived before Christ conquered death, and before much of the Bible’s explicit revelation concerning resurrection and eternal life. As a result, uncertainty about the grave characterized his thoughts to a degree I cannot recall ever experiencing. The believer today knows that to be with Christ is not just “better”, but “far better indeed”. Death is a prospect we need not fear. And yet, as I see the panic that comes over my older unsaved friends when medical personnel raise the prospect of their exit from this world, I believe Hezekiah’s uncertainty comes close to approximating the state of dread in which many who do not know Jesus Christ live today. With good reason.

2/ Denial

The Matrix movies vividly displayed how living in unreality is a form of slavery. Many people deal with death by refusing to deal with death. They are slaves to the delusion they will live forever. They may acknowledge the certainty of death intellectually and verbally, but for all practical purposes, they behave as if they will never die. They lack the freedom to deal appropriately with reality. Thus they live in a world from which they are increasingly disconnected as the inevitable approaches, usually much to the frustration of their loved ones, who are trying to get them to make arrangements they refuse to even consider, because to do so threatens the delusion bubble they are desperately trying to maintain.

3/ Sinful Behavior

The sense that the clock is ticking gave rise to the YOLO philosophy that makes men slaves to sin. If the clock is ticking and time is running out, and you have no prospect of judgment or reward, why not “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”? The subtext of YOLO is “Do the things you wouldn’t otherwise do. You may never get another chance.” Because you only live once, “Don’t worry excessively about the possible consequences of your actions.”

That sounds like freedom, but it’s not. It’s a fraudulent promise of freedom that makes you a slave of corruption, for “whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved”. It’s 11:59, and all the prisoners are dancing in leg irons. They just don’t realize it ... yet.

The antidote for the ticking clock is the resurrection of Christ, in whom all shall be made alive. Time cannot hurt the man who knows he is eternal, no matter how fast the hands of the clock appear to be moving.