Just over 10 years ago, I preached a series of lessons on “The Dead and Dying.” I don’t recall much of it (probably the whole series has been lost in the digital world), but I found what was probably the first outline in the series, on Adam and Eve. The main points:
- The condition of death: disobedience, Gn 2.16. The first time the verb “command” is used in Bible (though not the first imperative, Gn 1.28).
- The certainty of death, Gn 2.17. (Hebrew: “dying you will die”, construction emphasizes certainty of the fact.)
- The companion of death: Not by chance that the creation of woman, Gn 2.18-25, follows immediately the command. Here, the woman was first in disobedience.
Might be a good series to preach around Halloween or All Souls’ Day, in cultures that celebrate such nonsense.
Oh, I did find this on Hezekiah, from the series.