Death Reigned

Paul wrote to the Romans that Death reigned from Adam until Moses (Rom 5:14). He does not treat death as an experience, but refers to both Sin and Death as personal spiritual powers. Death is the name of a powerful cosmos dominator (evil spirit) who loves killing and destroying people. He dominated events on earth up until the time of the giving of the law, when his activity was curtailed in Israel.

The accuser (satan) was craftiest, so he tricked Adam and Eve, but Death was stronger, so he quickly came out on top in the struggle for control between evil powers. Death became the dominant spiritual power on earth, because the Holy Spirit had been squeezed out by human rebellion. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, and Death came in through sin (Rom 5:12).

If Paul was correct about Death controlling the first part of human history, you would expect to see some evidence of it in Genesis. Not surprisingly, when the book is read with that perspective in mind, there are plenty of activities that were probably the result of Death’s work on earth.

• Death stirred up Cain to kill Abel, because he hoped to eliminate humans from the earth.

• Death worked with another powerful spirit called the Destoyer to wreak havoc on earth. During the flood, Destroyer got locked up with a third of the evils spirits that worked with him, but Death escaped and remained in power.

• Death worked with human genetics to significantly reduce their normal lifespan to 80 to 120 years.

• The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was the work of Death.

• Death tried to get Isaac killed, so he could cut off God’s covenant promise.

• Death stirred up Esau, so that he would kill Jacob and prevent Israel from coming into existence.

• He tried to get Joseph killed by his brothers. He would be able to destroy them if they had blood on their hands.

• Death tried to kill Moses, but his wife took action to protect him.

• During the Exodus, Death agreed to free the Israelite slaves in return for getting to kill the firstborn of all Egypt. The blood on the doorposts was a sign of that deal.

• Once the Israelites had escaped, Death cheated and stirred up Pharoah to slaughter them when they were trapped against the Red Sea. When God rescued them, Death turned on the Egyptian army and slaughtered them.

• Death stirred up the Amelikites to attack the Israelites in the desert, but God defeated them.

Covenant Victory

The covenant established by God through Moses broke Death’s power over the children of Israel. There are three reasons why Death’s activity was curtailed.

• The Laws that God gave to Moses specified the penalties for crimes. The set of crimes that deserved death were limited, and alternative options for restitution and expiation were provided, so the ability of Death to punish people was limited. The ultimate penalty under the law was exclusion from the community. This left the person convicted and excluded vulnerable to attacks by Death. This was referred to as “dying to Death”.

• People had to be convicted under the law before the spiritual powers of evil could act against them. This strengthened the position of the Accuser over Death, because other spirits could not act until he had achieved a conviction. Sin became powerful, because he was skilled at leading people into sin.

• The tabernacle sacrifices fulfilled the demands of Death, so he had to be satisfied with the blood of animals. He hung around the tabernacle because he loved blood and gore, but he was unable to act against people who made the specified sacrifices.