Scripture Commentaries

Life after Death? What does the Old Testament say?

Irene Nowell, OSB

Originally published in God’s Word Today
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In the second half of the Book of Wisdom (chaps. 10—19) the author takes up the age-old practice of retelling the sacred story to meet the needs of his own audience. Evidence of this re-interpretation can be found within Scripture itself (“inner-biblical exegesis”) and in our current experience (“extra-biblical exegesis”). The stories that are most frequently told and interpreted cluster around the central events of biblical faith: the exodus event in the Old Testament and the death and resurrection of Christ in the New Testament. All the other stories eventually find their way back to these stories of God’s redemption.

Isaiah

Isaiah, the eighth-century prophet who preached in Jerusalem, sings the exodus song as a way of encouraging the people of Judah who have seen the destruction and deportation of their sister kingdom to the north. In 722 B.C. the Assyrians destroyed Samaria, the capital of Israel (the kingdom of the ten northern tribes), and forcibly resettled the people in various other locations in the Near East. Isaiah sings in hope, “My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior” (Isa 12:2). The Judahites would remember that Miriam sang these words after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea on dry land (Exod 15:2). Isaiah introduces the song by declaring: “There shall be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when he came up from the land of Egypt” (Isa 11:16). The prophet is assuring his audience that God’s redemption was not just for Israel during the exodus from Egypt in the thirteenth century B.C. God’s redemption is effective for all time.

Two centuries later the people of Judah themselves are exiled by a new super-power, the Babylonians. Another prophet, whose message was attached to the preaching of Isaiah (chaps. 40-55), echoes Isaiah’s encouragement. He urges the people to hope for a new exodus. God will again save them from captivity.

Thus says the Lord,
who opens a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters,
Who leads out chariots and horsemen,
a powerful army,
Till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
snuffed out and quenched like a wick.
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isa 43:16-19).
God’s salvation is ever old and ever new!

The prophet sees all of salvation history through the lens of the exodus. Even creation itself was a kind of exodus. The spirit of God, that mighty wind, hovered over the waters (Gen 1:1; Exod 14:21). God separated the waters and brought forth dry land (Gen 1:9-10; Exod 14:22). A new people were created (Gen 1:26-27; Exod 14:30-31; 15:13-16). So, the prophet tells us, this is God’s new thing that he has been doing forever: creating and re-creating a people, always saving them from death.

Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord!
Awake as in the days of old,
in ages long ago!
Was it not you who crushed Rahab,
you who pierced the dragon?
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
Who made the depths of the sea into a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee (Isa 51:9-11).

Rahab and the dragon, names for the sea monster that symbolizes primeval chaos, have been defeated (creation). The sea has been opened to form a road for God’s redeemed (exodus). The returning exiles will come back to their home in Zion.

Thus prophets in the eighth and sixth centuries have encouraged their people by re-interpreting the exodus story. God, who saved the people from Egyptian slavery and led them to a promised land in the thirteenth century, can be counted on to redeem them from slavery once more and restore them in their own land.

Psalms

The psalmists also, those great poets who sang Israel’s prayer, retell the story of the exodus and the wilderness wandering. By praying the story they bring it into the present. How do they do this? Through the power of memory, especially liturgical memory. In the biblical worldview to remember is to make present. As we pray together we reach into the past and, through the power of our common memory, we bring God’s saving deeds into the present. This remembering together is a basic principle of community worship.

The singer of Psalm 105 gives us a hymn to praise God for redeeming us in the past and in the present. After summoning us to give thanks to God and remember his wonderful deeds (105:1-7), he begins by telling the stories of the ancestors (105:8-22). Then he recites his version of the plagues in Egypt (105:23-38). Finally he describes the journey through the desert and God’s tender care in providing food and water for the people (105:39-41). All this, says the psalmist, is because God remembers the covenant with Abraham (105:42).

And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
And he gave them the lands of the nations
and they took what the peoples had toiled for,
That they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws. Alleluia (105:43-45).

The psalmist does not just tell the story to make us feel good. He is reminding us that we, who are God’s redeemed today, have a responsibility to keep God’s law. God has ransomed us from slavery so we are God’s own. We must live as God’s people.

Psalm 106 is a companion psalm to Psalm 105. In Psalm 105 we praise God for God’s wonderful deeds. In Psalm 106 we recognize that we have not always lived up to our responsibilities as God’s ransomed people. The psalmist begins with the same call to give thanks (106:1-2), but soon reminds us that those who do what is right and just are the ones who are happy (106:3). We call on God to remember us with love so that we may celebrate that joy (106:4-5).

Then we begin with our confession of sin. Our ancestors sinned; we have sinned too. Their sin began even as God redeemed them at the Red Sea (106:6-11). At the moment they believed in God, “but soon they forgot his works and did not wait for his counsel” (106:12-13). They gave way to their craving; they burned with envy of Moses (106:14-18). They substituted a calf for God who had redeemed them (106:19-22). The prayer of Moses is all that saved them from God’s anger (106:23). Still they continued to murmur against God and to participate in the worship of idols, even to the point of human sacrifice (106:24-39). Again God grew angry and gave the people over to the oppression of their enemies (106:40-43). But no matter how many times they turned away, God continued to forgive and have mercy on them:

Yet he had regard for their affliction
when he heard their cry;
And for their sake he was mindful of his covenant
and relented, in his abundant kindness,
And he won for them compassion
from all who held them captive (106:44-46).

Is the psalmist telling this wilderness story simply to recall the past? No! The next verse reveals his purpose. This psalmist is singing his song at the same time that the prophet of Isaiah 40-55 is preaching. It is the sixth century B.C. and the people are in exile. The psalmist is giving them a way to acknowledge that they, like their ancestors, have deserved God’s punishment. But he is also giving them a prayer to call upon God to have mercy yet once more:

Save us, O Lord, our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
That we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in praising you (106:47).

Another psalmist, a wisdom writer, tells the story again of the people’s failure in the wilderness wanderings. The singer of Psalm 78 insists that we have to keep telling the story to the next generation, so

that they should put their hope in God,
And not forget the deeds of God
but keep his commands
And not be like their fathers,
a generation wayward and rebellious,
A generation that kept not its heart steadfast
nor its spirit faithful toward God (Ps 78:7-8).

This psalmist sees the root cause of sin as forgetting God’s wonderful deeds. Every time the people forgot, they sinned (78:11, 42). They failed to believe God or trust him (78:22, 32, 37). Over and over again they rebelled against God, testing him to see if he really cared for them (78:17-18, 40-41, 46). They even had the nerve to ask: “Can God spread a table in the desert?” (78:19). They knew God gave them water, but doubted that God could also give them food (78:20). Only in David does the psalmist find any hope (78:65-72). Why is the psalmist telling this dismal story? To encourage the people to remember and not to be like their ancestors who forgot God’s deeds and sinned against him. This psalm encourages us to remember too.

Conclusion

Preachers, prophets, and psalmists from ancient times to our own day, recognizing that Scripture is the living Word of God, have probed the biblical stories to discover what God is saying to the people at the present moment. We too are called to ponder and retell these stories, always searching for their current meaning. Whenever we read the Bible or listen to others read it, we hear God speaking to us. The psalmist warns us to pay attention: “Today if you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:7). It is promised us that we will hear God’s voice today. May we always be listening.s