Lent: On Mortality

On Ash Wednesday, ashes are marked on foreheads in the sign of the cross. This practice is actually a symbolic reminder of our own mortality. It tells us in the most vivid way that from dust we came and to dust we shall return (Gen 3:19; Ecc 3:20). It is interesting that the whole celebration of Lent begins in this way. It reminds us that the path of Lent is the path of death. This is patterned after the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus was aware that His entire life and ministry will ultimately lead to His death. He journeyed from Galilee to Jerusalem with the knowledge that when He arrives in Jerusalem, He would die at the hands of the religious leaders. He spoke about this quite openly to His disciples. This means that for us, participating in Lent means participating in Jesus’ journey towards death. It is our participation in His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.

Events in the world remind us of the reality of life and death: natural disasters and the deaths of family members and friends. Each of these instances reminds us that death is the ultimate destination of humanity. There are only two things that are inevitable in this world: change and death. These are also the two things that we have no complete control of. Our life on earth is also like the journey of Jesus from Bethlehem to Calvary. Whether we like it or not, we are going to climb our own Golgothas.

We rename death so that it does not sound so bad. We call the dead someone who is “at peace” or “at rest” or “one who goes to a better place.” We call death as “passing away.” We may even try to suppress the thought about death. We make ourselves busy so that we do not have to face the reality of death. The philosopher Martin Heidegger remarked that we busy ourselves in the crowd in the hope of forgetting our fears. Death is feared because it is irreversible: “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die” (2 Sam 14:14).

The immediacy, imminence, and reality of death is vividly narrated in Psalm 90:3-12, which was apparently written by Moses. So what was Moses’ credential to write about human death? Let us look back at biblical history. According to the Bible, there were 600,000 (excluding women and children) who left Egypt (Exo 12:37; Num 11:21). At Mount Sinai, when there was a census, the record was that there were 603,550 men over 20 years old present (Num 1:45-46). In the second census, when the Israelites were on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho (Num 26:3), there were 601,730 males recorded (Num 26:51). [1]

600,000 men, excluding women and children	left Egypt	Exodus 12:37; Numbers 11:21
603,550 men over 20 years	Mt. Sinai	Numbers 1:45-46
601,730 males	Jordan River	Numbers 26:51

We may remember that many (if not all) of those who left Egypt were not able to enter the promised land. Yahweh proclaimed: “Not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it” (Num 14:21-23). Also, we read in the Scriptures how God brought death to the Israelites in huge numbers while they were in the wilderness:

3000 killed by Levites	Golden Calf at Sinai	Exodus 32:28
23,000 killed by God	Golden Calf at Sinai	Exodus 32:35; 1 Cor 10:8
14,700 killed by God	Kadesh Barnea	Numbers 16:49
24,000 killed by God	At Shittim near Jordan	Numbers 25:9
many people killed by God	Zered river	Numbers 21:6

Moses saw and encountered death all throughout his life in the desert with the Israelites. He witnessed how people’s lives are so fragile. All throughout Psalm 90 we see Moses’ description of human mortality. Verses 3, 6, and 10 portray the shortness of human life. Verses 7-9 and 11 reveal Moses’ awareness of the wrath of God which He witnessed as the cause of the death of many Israelites.

You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.
Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

But after considering the life-span of humanity and the anger of God, Moses leaves us a verse with an important lesson: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12).

Teach Us to Number Our Days (90:12a)

We like measuring things. Laboratories are filled with instruments that measure things by milliliters and milligrams, but it is easy to neglect measuring our life span on earth. Thomas Chalmers once remarked, “Once in my unconverted days I forgot two things: the magnitude of eternity and the shortness of life. These are the great mathematical factors which I now see to be important.”

What does it mean to number our days? It is to recognize that life is short. The Bible has some more passages that highlight this: “we all shrivel up like a leaf” (Isa 64:6); “you have made my days a mere handbreadth” (Ps 39:5); and “you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

Life is short and time runs fast. We do not need rocket science and complicated calculations to notice that our days on earth are fleeting. Although we do not notice it, because we are busy living our lives, the people around us are changing. Our children are now attending schools, and what’s left of their childhood are only photographs. Children who we once knew are now in relationships, ready to get married. Some of them have become successful in their careers. Some of our grandparents, parents, relatives and friends have passed away. Time is fast. It runs its course without our permission and observation.

A Heart of Wisdom (90:12b)

Moses admonished that God would teach us to number our days so that we might gain a heart of wisdom. What wisdom is found in the awareness of our fleeting existence?

1. Teach us to number our days so that we do not offend God (90: 7-9, 11). Moses witnessed the hasty death of his fellow Israelites because they have disobeyed God. This is foolishness. It is not wise to spend our short days in blatant disobedience. Moses is saying that since our life on earth is short, we should spend it in pleasing God and obeying His commands. We cannot be arrogant before God, continuously incurring His wrath because of our grumblings, murmurings, and disobedience. Since we owe God every minute of our existence, we should spend it in worship.

2. Teach us to number our days so that we store treasures in heaven: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:19-20). People spend their days trying to gain more money. To use John Bunyan’s words, it is “raking a little bit of dust into a pile: a little bit of money, a little bit of property, and little bit of this and that.”

We are reminded of the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-20): “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” There are many who are fools, although they are not rich.  Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).

3. Teach us to number our days so that we redeem the time. Paul admonishes us to “make the most of every opportunity in these evil days (Eph 5:16). William Whiting Borden, graduate of Yale and Princeton Theological Seminary, once said: “Each day consists of 24 golden hours; each hour consists of sixty diamond-studded minutes.”

Of course, in all these things, we must learn from the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus knew that His days on earth were numbered. The distance from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem is a mere 123 kilometers. It will take about 2 hours to drive this distance. (The average speed a human walks is 3-5 kilometers per hour. Walking 3 kilometers per hour in 8 hours gives you 24 hours per day. This means that to walk from Galilee to Jerusalem should only take 5.125 days.) Jesus knew that His walk to Jerusalem, where He would die was a very short walk. It is true that it took Him three years to get to Jerusalem because of His teaching and healing ministries. But He was aware that every step He took was leading Him closer to Jerusalem.

Jesus knew that His days were numbered. So how did He use His remaining days on earth? He used each day seeking the lost, serving the needy, proclaiming the kingdom, healing the sick, fellowshipping with the outcasts, teaching the gospel, and forgiving sinners. Lent is a commemoration of the short life of Christ before His death. Like Christ, we are all in this journey. The question is: “How are we living our days on earth? Are we pursuing a life full of wisdom or foolishness? Are we using our days like Christ in obedience to the Father and in service to other people, or are we using them to gratify our self with pleasure and indulgence?

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[1] http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-route-population-of-jews-hebrews.htm