Obituaries by R. F. Cottrell

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 22, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 28.

Obituaries.

By R. F. Cottrell

THERE is a remarkable difference between Bible obituaries and those of the present day. We quote a few obituary notices from the Bible as specimens: “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.” “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor; and no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.” “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city.” In Heb. 11, the apostle speaks especially of the faithful of the times then past. In this chapter we find the following, which we may call a model obituary on the occasion of the death of the faithful: “Died in faith, not having received the promises.”

The following is extracted from a modern obituary, seemingly Christian: “On Saturday, when apparently dying, her sister said to her, ‘Lucy, if the angels come for you, and you see father and mother, let us know it if you can.’ She said she would. In a few hours she revived again. Sunday morning she said in a whisper, ‘Yes, yes, they have come.’ Her sister asked, ‘Who have come?’ ‘Father, mother, and all of them! Glory! glory! glory!’ . . . And now Jesus has come and taken her to himself. . . . The clouds at length separated; Jesus came as he promised; and her disembodied spirit ascended to the church triumphant.”

What a contrast between this and the utterances of the Bible! Does the Bible teach that dead men and women are angels?—No. But Jesus promises the righteous that they shall be “as the angels,” or “equal unto the angels.” When?—After they are “accounted worthy” of a part in the world to come, and are raised from the dead. Luke 20:35, 36. When do the angels come for the people of God?—When Jesus comes again and raises them from the dead. Matt. 24:30, 31. When does Jesus take them to himself?—At his second coming. John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. In what clouds does Jesus come again? and how?—In the clouds of heaven, and as he went away. Matt. 24:30; Acts 1:9-11. When do the saints join the church triumphant?—When they can shout victory over death and the grave, at the resurrection. 1 Cor. 15:52, 55.

Where is the text of Scripture that speaks of disembodied spirits? It is not. Such an entity is nowhere recognized in the Scriptures. What consolation do the Scriptures offer to those who mourn for the dead in Christ?—The resurrection from the dead, at the second personal coming of Christ. 1 Thess. 4:13-18. What to pious mothers who mourn the death of their infant children?—That “they shall come again from the land of the enemy.” Matt. 2:16-18; Jer. 31:15, 16. Is there a text in the Bible which contradicts the harmonious teaching of all those referred to above?—There is not. What, then, of the case of the rich man and Lazarus?—By a figure the dead are represented as living and speaking, as in other texts of Scripture. Isa. 14:9-11; Eze. 32:21, 27. The hell of the rich man and Lazarus is the hades of the Greek language and the sheol of the Hebrew, in which place or state inspiration has positively affirmed that “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom.” Eccl. 9:10.

R. F. COTTRELL.