BIBLICAL BRIEFS 31
First of all, let’s rather talk about self-death than suicide. The term ‘suicide’ already has condemnation as underlying foundation, and come to that, no human being has any right to that at all: “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged.” (Matt.7: 1). Jesus has compassion with all our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15) because, like God, He has an understanding of us who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed before the moth (Job 4:19). Ps.139: 16 states frankly: “Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do.” God determines with precision your day of birth even the day of your death. Consequently Ecc. 8: 8 is true when it states, “No man has authority over the day of death”, yet it is possible to die prematurely, that your sun sets while it is yet day (Jer. 15: 9). It could happen if you are not willing to pursue God’s perfect will, or being out of line due to your disobedience towards God. You can inevitably also shorten your own life through wilfulness and bad habits. The Bible mentions five people who chose self-death: Saul (1 Sam. 31:4), Ahithophel (2 Sam. 17:23), Zimri (1 Kin.16:18), and Judas (Matt. 27: 5), as well as the judge, Samson (Jdg. 16: 23-31). His self-death is mainly a culmination of disobedience, but in the end, as a matter of interest, it was not condemned, but declared as a heroic deed. His funeral was done in the normal way (Jdg.16:31). Amongst the list of great Biblical heroes, the name of Samson is pertinently mentioned (Heb. 11:32), notwithstanding his self-death. Many strong figures in the Bible were sometimes overwhelmed by their circumstances to such an extent that they did not want to carry on living, such as Elijah, who lied down under a juniper tree, and prayed to God: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” (1 Kin. 19: 4). However, our hope is in God who might rescue you from the impossible, from the dead alley of bad circumstances (Gal. 1: 4). “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Ps 34:19). God promises unequivocally that he will never break the bruised reed (Matt. 12:20). Whenever someone in desperation turns himself to self-death, he/she cannot be held accountable any longer. Nevertheless, I therefore trust the word in Rom. 8: 38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Dr. Tom Gouws
