Life is a series of tests. We either pass or fail them. YHVH is the school teacher who determines whether we will pass or fail, not us. His Word is our text book that tells us how to pass. If we learn the lessons and put to practice the things we have learned, we will pass. If not, we will fail.
The problem is that we’re not just in a regular school classroom where if we fail, it’s really not a big deal in the bigger scope of life. No. Our “classroom” is this life. Whether we pass or fail will determine not only whether we will obtain eternal life or eternal damnation, but if we pass, the grade we get will determine our level of rewards in YHVH’s eternal kingdom. As should be obvious, there are a couple of important things going on here: there is not only the issue of life after death, but if we pass the test of life and are granted eternal life, where will we be, what will we be doing and, most importantly, how close will we be to the Creator. Some people will be existing in close proximity to YHVH Elohim, while others will be living further away.
When YHVH calls us with his holy calling and we respond, we have a choice. The choice we make will determine whether we will be the least or the greatest in his kingdom (Matt 5:19). If we choose to obey him a little, we will be least in his kingdom. If we choose to obey him all the way, we will be the greatest in his kingdom. Our level of obedience to his commandments determines our level of rewards in his kingdom.
If we give him our all by loving Elohim with all our heart, soul and strength like virtuous Ruth did when she chose to forsake the world and follow Naomi and her Elohim, we can become the bride of Yeshua and live forever in his eternal kingdom. Ruth is a prophetic picture of Yeshua’s bride. The heart-attitude of the bride is: your people will be my people, your Elohim will be mine, and where you go, I will go (Ruth 1:16).
Yeshua refers to his bride in the book of Revelation. She is unreservedly faithful to him. Yeshua’s bride is comprised of those who are following the Lamb of Elohim wherever he goes. They don’t just follow him only when it is convenient, nor do they draw near to him with their mouths, but their hearts are far from him like so many other religious people (Isa 29:13; Matt 15:8)!
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. (Rev 14:1–5)
Romans 2:14-16 Paul is indicating here that Gentiles who do not have Torah, and Yeshua is the Living Torah, may be judged according to their conduct in regard to what they knew (their conscience). Revelation 20:11-15 seems to confirm this, when people are being judged at the second resurrection, according to what they have done. I find it difficult to fathom that people would be condemned because they never had the opportunity to know about Yeshua.
Sonja, I agree with you on this. Below are my thoughts after decades of study and reflection on this subject.
A depiction of the pearly gates of heaven open with the bright side of heaven contrasting with the duller foreground
For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1 Peter 4:6)
1 Peter 4:6, Who are dead. (See also Rom 2:12–16; 1 Cor 5:5; Heb 12:23.) This verse seems to indicate that certain categories of dead and unsaved humans will stand before YHVH’s judgment seat (the white throne judgment of Rev 20:11–15), and will be accepted into his eternal kingdom at some basic level. Perhaps if their hearts showed a willing disposition toward YHVH while they lived, but they hadn’t gone all the way in choosing him for one reason or another, or had never heard the gospel message during the physical life, they will be rewarded for the good that they did in their lifetime and will be given an opportunity to accept Yeshua on judgment day.
It is possible that these are the ones that Yeshua declared who would be least in his kingdom (Matt 5:19)? Moreover, was Paul making a reference to these people in Romans 2:12–16 when he talks about those Gentiles who sinned without theTorah- law, and who will be judged based on whether they lived up to the basic law of Elohim written in their consciences? Will these people, who lived according to the basic tenets of the Torah (e.g. not stealing, lying, committing adultery, murdering, coveting, honoring parents, living according to the golden rule and, in their own way, and adhered to a concept of a Supreme Being before whom they walked in fear without worshiping idols) be given an opportunity on judgment day to make their faith complete by accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice for their sins? Possibly so. Perhaps this explanation would help us to understand Hebrews 12:23, which speaks of the spirits of just men made perfect, as well as the salvation of the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43).
With regard to the thief on the cross who professed faith in Yeshua (Luke 23:43), let’s go one step further. Next to this thief was another thief whose heart remained obdurate and unrepentant toward Yeshua. It appears that on Golgatha (or Calvary), we have three categories of people, even as Peter describes three categories of people in 1 Peter 4:18: the righteous, the ungodly and sinners. The first category is self-evident. The second category seems to imply those who lived a decent life, but who never professed faith in Yeshua the Messiah during their physical lives, while the last category were unrepentant and hard-hearted individuals who made no effort to live up to even the most basic standards of right and wrong (often referred to as “the moral law”) that was written in their conscience. This verse seems to describe these three categories of people on earth, which are the same three categories of people who were crucified on Golgatha: Yeshua the righteous, the repentant and ungodly thief, and the unrepentant second sinful thief.
With regard to those who never came to faith in the God of the Bible, different biblical-based religions treat these “morally good” but unsaved folks differently by pronouncing different fates on them. For example…
The Roman Catholic Church deals with these folks by consigning them to a non-biblical purgatory where, apparently, they can work out their salvation.
Rabbinic Judaism consigns these folks to the so-called Book of the Undecided as opposed to the Book of Life and the Book of the Dead. What happens to those in the middle book, is not clear in my mind, but I assume that they get a second chance.
The Protestants consign everyone to everlasting torture in hellfire who never accepted Yeshua while alive physically. There is no second chance for them.
Armstrongism (a small side branch of Protestantism) had these folks resurrected at the end of the Millennium where they were given “a hundred year period” to come to faith.
My theory, on the other hand, proposes a middle of the road approach where the wholly wicked will be destroyed in the lake of fire, while those who lived faithfully according to whatever light of spiritual truth they had will eventually be given an opportunity to accept Yeshua. This seems to square with Paul’s statements in Romans 2:12–16 and the view of YHVH’s Elohim as being a more merciful and just Being.
Numbers 14:20–24,I have pardoned. This Bible passages teaches us that there is a general pardon of sin of which all humans are the recipient, and a salvational pardon of sin that only a few receive. How is this?
YHVH pardoned Israel for the sin of disobedient unbelief, but forgiveness in this case only meant that YHVH’s judgment would not come upon them for this particular sin. This pardon did not expiate them of all their sin resulting in eternal life of which entering into the Promised Land was a prophetic antetype.
This is the same genre of pardon that YHVH extended to Adam and Eve after they sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit. They did not die immediately, but were able to live out their lives under that pardon, but it did not guarantee them eternal life.
Later we read that in verse 23 that YHVH would not allow this unbelieving generation of Israelites see the Promised Land because they had rejected Elohim and refused to obey him. This was in contradistinction to Joshua and Caleb who had a different spirit in them and fully obeyed YHVH (v. 24).
What can we learn from this? In general sense, YHVH pardons all humans for the sins they commit. If he did not, his judgment would come upon them immediately, for the wages of sin is death, and they would be no more. But humans keep sinning, rejecting Elohim, and yet he graciously, in most cases, allows them to live out their physical lives, but this does not mean that they will have eternal life. This is YHVH pardoning them momentarily, but not saving them or granting them eternal life. Only those, like Caleb and Joshua, who have a different spirit (i.e. the Holy Spirit) and a personal spirit or heart that is inclined to fully obey him will be rewarded with eternal life in the Promised Land of YHVH’s eternal kingdom.
This psalm presents several fundamental biblical truths that should ignite the fires of hope for the saints of YHVH Elohim. First, YHVH, the Mighty One or El, is coming to judge the earth and the wicked thereon with the fires his judgment. Second, out of this, he will deliver his saints from that fire and will gather those who are in a covenant relationship and who glorify him through the sacrifices of praise and who walk righteously. Wherever his saints may be, whether in heaven or on (or in) the earth, he will show them salvation.
Psalm 50:0, A Psalm of Asaph. Asaph is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 16:5. He also wrote Psalms 73–83.
Psalm 50:4–6, heavens…earth…gather my saints. This verse declares that YHVH will gather together his saints from the heavens and from the earth that he may judge them (see also Deut 32). This is referring to the last days’ judgment seat at Yeshua’s second coming when the righteous saints, both the living and the dead, will be transformed into immortality. What is interesting to note here is that these verses indicate that two things. First, when YHVH comes to gather his saints, some saints will be in heaven and some will be on this earth (1 Thess 4:15–17). Second, of those saints who are dead, Scripture elsewhere indicates that a part of them (i.e. the body and soul which is their mind, will and emotions) is dead and buried in the grave, while another part of them is in heaven (i.e. their spirit). Elsewhere Scripture informs us that when a person dies physically, their body along with their soul dies (Ezek 18:4, 20; i.e. the soul is not immortal), but that their spirit returns to YHVH (Eccl 3:21; 12:7 cp. Ps 90:10; Luke 23:46; Deut 30:4). So whether dead or alive, and wherever they may be, this verse succinctly states one of the fundamental and elementary biblical doctrines of the gospel message, namely, that of the of the resurrection of the dead (Heb 6:1–3). For YHVH as the righteous Judge of the universe will gather his saints (that is, those who are in covenant with him, as verse 5 states) together before his judgment seat, where we learn elsewhere in Scripture that he will grant them rewards in his eternal kingdom based on their good works that they did while alive in their bodies (Matt 5:19; 2 Cor 5:10).
Psalm 50:5, Made [or cut] a covenant…by sacrifice. This refers to the method by which covenants were made in ancient times between two parties. This same ritual occurred when YHVH made (or cut) a covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 except in that instance YHVH took all the responsibilities for fulfilling the covenant upon himself, for Abraham was asleep when this covenant was cut (Gen 15:9–10, 12).
What is the lesson in this for us? Simply this: this is the model for salvation. All Abraham had to do was to have faith in YHVH and all the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant would fall upon him (Gen 15:6). We know from Paul’s discussion in Romans chapter four that the Abrahamic Covenant is the original biblical model for how an individual can receive salvation from Elohim. We know from Paul’s discussion in Romans chapter four that the Abrahamic Covenant is the original biblical model for how an individual can receive salvation from Elohim.
We also know that when YHVH made his covenant with Abraham, the vision Abraham had while he was asleep prophetically pointed to Yeshua’s death on the cross and his initiating the new or renewed covenant as prophesied in the Tanakh (e.g. Jer 31:31–33; also see my notes at Gen 15:12–21).
Moreover, Yeshua at his last supper and subsequent crucifixion fulfilled this ancient prophecy as well as the spiritual types and shadows discussed in Psalm 50:7 and Genesis 15:9–21. At his last supper, Yeshua made a new covenant with his disciples through his body (the bread) and blood (the wine), which redeemed believers now commemorate when they take communion.
And as they were eating, Yeshua took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matt 26:26–28)
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (1 Cor 11:24)
Prior to his death on the cross, Yeshua’s predictively explained the significance of his broken body and spilled blood as it relates to covenantal agreement between him and those who would place their faith in him (as Abraham did in Gen 15).
35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.…47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.…50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.…58This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John 6:35, 47, 50, 53, 58)
In the context of the Passover service when the saints through the ritual of communion annually commemorate Yeshua’s “cutting” the new covenant with his saints and then ratifying that covenant through his death, Paul has the following to say about the significance of Yeshua’s body:
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Cor 11:26–29)
Those who carelessly take communion are literally disrespecting not only the high value of the covenant that was made (or cut), but the tremendous price of making a covenant with Elohim (i.e. it cost Yeshua his life, and the believer must also die to himself as he accepts, unconditionally, Yeshua as his Lord and Master). Moreover, careless partakers of communion are not only underestimating the cost of their salvation, but the value and the benefits of that salvation, which is spiritual rewards including eternal life. Elohim is not only not duty bound to give immortality to such people, but would be foolish to immortalize people who don’t sufficiently recognize and appreciate the cost and value of covenantal agreement. In doing so, he would risk having another rebellion on his hand at some point in the future.
So when Yeshua died on the cross, he become the sacrifice that was cut (i.e. his body was brutally mutilated prior to and during his crucifixion) to which this verse in this Psalm 50 makes allusion.
Moreover, Abraham not only had faith in YHVH, but he had to walk out that faith the rest of his life, for faith without works is dead (Jas 2:14–26). Similarly, those who place their faith in Yeshua must also back up that faith by doing his words (John 5:24), doing good (John 5:29; 3:21), loving him and keeping his commandments (John 14:15), coming to the light of Elohim’s truth (John 3:20–21), and showing that they are overcoming the word, the flesh and the devil resulting in eternal life and great spiritual rewards in the world to come (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).
At the same time, those who don’t place their trust in Yeshua by accepting the covenant he “cut” through his death on the cross and then by backing that faith up with good deeds, or those who have “accepted” Yeshua, but lightly esteem him, will have a terrible price to pay.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (1 Cor 11:29–30)
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28–29)
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
Psalm 50:8, Continually before me. Yeshua the Great High Priest is continually before the throne of Elohim interceding on behalf of his people (Rev 7:9, 10, 17).
Psalm 50:12, The world is mine. The earth belongs to YHVH, but the cosmos (the kingdoms of this world and their man-made systems) belong to Satan (Matt 4:8–9).
Psalm 49:1–14,This psalm is an evangelistic message to the unsaved. This entire psalm is a good basis for a sermon to the unsaved or spiritually lost.
Psalm 49:4,Dark sayings [or riddles] on the harp. Harp is the Hebrew word kinor from an unused root word meaning “to twang.” Poetic music is a though provoking way to “preach” the gospel; it touches the heart of man in a special way. This is because music is capable of bypassing the innate defensiveness of the mind and can go straight to the heart.
Psalm 49:7,None…can…redeem his brother. In that all men are of equal value before Elohim, a man can’t redeem his brother from the penalty of sin, which is death. One can only atone for his own sins by dying, and once dead, there is no more possibility of living, since the wages of sin is death. So there is no possibility of a man atoning for his own sins, much less those of another; this verse makes this truth clear.
Even if a man could live a sinless life, he could at best save only one other individual—that is, give his life in exchange for only one other sinner. Only Yeshua who was the Creator of all humans life (Col 1:16; Heb 11:3) could exchange his sinless life for all humanity, since common logic tells us the one who creates something is of more value than the sum total of all that he creates. This is why verse eight states that the redemption of men’s souls is costly, since it cost the life of the Son of Elohim, the Creator of all things. Only this costly sin sacrifice could redeem men from the pit of the grave and give men the gift of eternal life (verse nine).
Another point to consider in this discussion is that since Yeshua was born of a virgin and not of the seed of man, his nature wasn’t polluted or defiled by Adam’s sin nature. If he had not been born of a virgin, this would have disqualified him from being the perfect and blemish-free Passover lamb sin offering for the remission of men’s sins before the judgment seat of Elohim. Since the life of man is in his blood (Lev 17:11), and man’s blood was defiled by Adam’s sin nature, and since Yeshua’s blood didn’t derive from man, but from his Father in heaven, Yeshua’s blood was acceptable to a holy Elohim as the required atonement for the redemption men’s souls (Lev 17:11 cp. Isa 53:10). No man except Yeshua has ever met these criteria, thus no man other than Yeshua is qualified to atone for another man’s sin.
Because Yeshua was the blameless and sin-free Passover lamb, those who spiritually identify and unite with his atoning death through faith and the ritual of baptism for the remission of sins can now be presented as blameless as well before Elohim in heaven (Col 1:21–23).
Psalm 49:8,The redemption of the soul is costly. Indeed it is, for it cost Yeshua his life.
Psalm 49:9,Continue to live. In other words, the soul is not immortal.
Psalm 49:10–20,The senseless person. That which the world esteems is an inversion of the truth and reality and is, therefore, anathema to and enmity with Elohim (Jas 4:4). The redeemed are those who have come out of the confused mixture of light and darkness or good and evil (called Babylonianism) of what worldly people esteem (1 Cor 6:17; Rev 18:4), and who no longer esteem that which the unsaved foolish or senseless people esteem (i.e. wealth, the houses and monuments they create to last forever to honor their memory, as well as the lands they name after themselves, v. 11). This is the way of the senseless and foolish person (v. 12). The wise person knows that all humans death comes to all humans, and all die like common animals (vv. 11, 20). Only Elohim has the power to redeem our non-immortal soul from the grave (v. 15), so that a person will see the light of life again (v. 19) at the resurrection of the righteous dead.
Psalm 49:15,Redeem my soul. This verse tells us that the soul (i.e. the mind, will and emotion) is not immortal, but dies along with the body. Ezekiel confirms this truth when he declares that the soul that sins will die (Ezek 18:4, 20). Moreover Yeshua’s soul died as well, making atonement for man’s sin when it went into the grave (Isa 53:10–11) in fulfillment of Leviticus 17:11 which says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”
Shall receive me. To be received of YHVH Elohim as his a resurrected, glorified and immortalized child is a far greater reward than all the wealth, possession, fame, honor and glory this world has to offer a person.
“But Elohim will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.” This is a generic reference to the resurrection of the righteous dead. Using a kal v’khomer or light and heavy (a fortiori) rule of logic (or Hillel’s first law of Biblical hermeneutics or interpretation), we can reason that if the righteous dead are resurrected how much more so YHVH’s righteous Messiah?
Psalm 49:19,Light or light of life (see NKJV marginal reference). This is a Hebraic idiom for the resurrection of one’s dead body (cp. Ps 56:13; Isa 53:11).
I recently received a comment on this blog from a man who believes that it was Yeshua’s resurrection that atoned for man’s sins and not his death. Is this a new wind of doctrine that’s circulating out there?
When I suggested that he do a search of the New Testament to see if the death or the resurrection of Yeshua was emphasized more, and when I told him that his belief was heretical and false, he turned angry, vitriolic and attacked me. I had to delete his comments. Can’t have this kind of nonsense around here. I requested of him an honest and polite discussion on this subject, but instead he attacked me personally. That’s his problem, not mine.
Anyway I decided to do a study on the subject, and this one is hot off the press, so to speak. Please enjoy.
The Testimony of Yeshua (or New Testament) has more than twice as many references to the death of Yeshua (more than 99 references) than to his resurrection (approximately 49 references). Why is this? Why did the apostolic writers emphasize the death of Yeshua the Messiah more than his resurrection? This fact has perplexed some of us for years. We now will briefly explore why this may be.
To be sure, the resurrection of Yeshua is a momentous event in the history of the world not to be minimized or understated in any way, and is not sub par to the importance of his incarnation, life or death. Furthermore, had Yeshua not resurrected from the dead, there would be no hope of the resurrection of the saints, for as Paul writes,
And if Messiah is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of Elohim, because we have testified of Elohim that He raised up Messiah, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Messiah is not risen. And if Messiah is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Messiah have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Messiah, we are of all men the most pitiable. (1 Cor 15:14–19)
Adding to the perplexing fact that the Testimony of Yeshua emphasizes the death of Yeshua over his resurrection is that notable fact that of the seven biblical feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23 and elsewhere in Scripture, there no feast that specifically points to the resurrection of Yeshua. The day of Passover addresses Yeshua’s death and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the next biblical feast completely skips past the resurrection. After that comes the Feast of Weeks, which corresponds to the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, which also occurred after Yeshua’s resurrection.
So why is there no biblical holiday, contrary to popular but ill-informed opinion, specifically portraying the resurrection of the Messiah? In answer to this question, some Bible students will point to the so called “Feast” of First Fruits (Lev 23:9–13) as the biblical holiday that answers to the resurrection of Yeshua. While First Fruits Day (the correct biblical name for this occasion) does definitely point prophetically to Yeshua’s resurrection, this day was neither a biblical feast or miqra kodesh or a high holy day Sabbath. Rather, it was a moed or divine appointment (all biblical feasts are moedim [the plural of moed] but not all moedim are feasts) on which the Levitical priest performed the ritual of offering up a sheaf of the barley first fruits before Elohim. But for the rest of the Israelites, First Fruits Day was not a Sabbath-day of rest or holy or sacred assembly (Heb. miqra kodesh). Rather it was a common work day when the Israelites went into their in the fields to harvest the newly ripened barley. (I discuss this subject at length in my 23 page article on this subject available at https://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/firstfruits.pdf.) To call First Fruits Day a feast is a misreading, if not a twisting, of Scripture. Facts are stubborn things for some people to deal with, but facts are truth, and truth is still truth regardless of people’s opinions to the contrary.
Psalm 88:1–18. This psalm is a heart cry of a righteous person who is weary of the struggles that life in this mortal existence throws him.
Assuredly, the author of this psalm is a righteous person. This is evident because he knows that Elohim is his salvation (v. 1), and attests to the fact that he is in a faithful, prayerful and faith-driven spiritual relationship with his Creator, even as he cries out to heaven night and day (vv. 1–2, 9, 13), and even while complaining about his plight as a human who is struggle with his faith. To the super-spiritual saint, the writer of this psalm may seem like a spiritual wimp—a melting snowflake or a pansy wilting under the noonday sun. Yet the transparent and honest saint will humbly admit that from time to time they find themselves in a similar place of weariness, or even in a waste-howling wilderness of doubts and despair, in a miry pit of self-pity. David records being in this psycho-emotional state himself several times in various psalms. Even Elijah, the mighty prophet of Elohim, depressed and somewhat despondent, found himself fleeing for his life from the murderous claws of the demonic Jezebel. He finally escaped to the mountain of Elohim weary, discouraged and alone complaining to his Maker about his seemingly hapless plight.
As weary warriors traversing this life, passing our time as a pilgrim en route to the spiritual Promised Land of the eternal kingdom of Elohim, often we feel adrift in our flimsy dinghies on the seas of humanity struggling to row against the countervailing tides and currents of the surrounding hordes of heathen, who are, in reality, in their unsaved state as good as physically dead (v. 5). This earth is a dark and lonely place for the saint. How can he relate to the walking damned around him, who are like zombies in a catatonic stupor refusing to wake up to reality, and to see, hear or consider the deeper issues of life and to acknowledge the Creator and his Messiah Savior (v. 1)? To them, the saints are a mere fools (1 Cor 4:10), and the Bible is a collection of pointless and foolish fairy tales and legends (1 Cor 1:18, 27).
Yes, the saint sometime feels as if he has been condemned to spend his or her life in the foreign land of this world as a sojourner or pilgrim merely passing through en route to something better out there somewhere that never seems to arrive at their doorstep. Although we’re en route to a better place, nonetheless, along the way we find ourselves passing much time in the Valley of Baca or weeping (Ps 84:6), which is a place that is rife with trouble and discouragement, for many times we feel as if the resting place of the grave would be an improvement to our present lot (vv. 3–4). However, consider this: What would our life be like without Elohim who is our salvation (v. 1) and who, along with his Word and Spirit, guides and walks besides us en route to the better place that is beyond this present life? His help and guidance and what lies beyond is our light and hope in the present darkness of this world. This is the substance of the saint’s faith (see Heb 11:1) is it not?
