April 3: Death Will Be Destroyed Forever
♫ Music:
Day 50 - Wednesday, April 03
Title: DEATH WILL BE DESTROYED FOREVER
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 (NKJV)
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
Poetry & Poet:
“Hymn to God, My God, In my Sickness”
by John Donne
Since I am coming to that holy room,
Where, with thy choir of saints for evermore,
I shall be made thy music; as I come
I tune the instrument here at the door,
And what I must do then, think here before.
Whilst my physicians by their love are grown
Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown
That this is my south-west discovery,
Per fretum febris, by these straits to die,
I joy, that in these straits I see my west;
For, though their currents yield return to none,
What shall my west hurt me? As west and east
In all flat maps (and I am one) are one,
So death doth touch the resurrection.
Is the Pacific Sea my home? Or are
The eastern riches? Is Jerusalem?
Anyan, and Magellan, and Gibraltar,
All straits, and none but straits, are ways to them,
Whether where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Shem.
We think that Paradise and Calvary,
Christ's cross, and Adam's tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,
May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace.
So, in his purple wrapp'd, receive me, Lord;
By these his thorns, give me his other crown;
And as to others' souls I preach'd thy word,
Be this my text, my sermon to mine own:
"Therefore that he may raise, the Lord throws down."
DEATH WILL BE DESTROYED FOREVER
Poor John Donne. Our poet for today is lying flat in bed, ill with a high fever. The doctors tell him he’s in dire straits. And his feverish brain starts associating ideas and multiplying metaphors. Straits are difficulties, but they are also the narrow bodies of water like those named after Magellan (who also died of a fever) between the Atlantic and the Pacific. And when we sail west, don’t we eventually reach the east? And in the same way, won’t illness and death lead to heaven? Doesn’t death touch resurrection? The old Adam, who let death into the world, is touched by the new Adam, Christ, who gives us eternal life (Golgotha being the spot where Adam’s skull was buried, by tradition). Donne’s fevered body drenched with sweat will soon die, but there’s another liquid which will save his soul––Christ’s blood. Donne has been thrown down by this illness, but he encourages himself by remembering that if he dies, he will be raised up by God and given the crown of life (Rev 2:10).
All these poetic images and paradoxes might seem like a crazed fever dream to us modern readers, but the fact remains, as our Scripture reading in I Corinthians tells us, that “in Christ all shall be made alive.” Donne’s poem is a sermon to himself, and we need to do similar personal preaching––don’t be afraid of death; it leads us to resurrection. Death is our temporary enemy, but it will be destroyed. We may be dire straits now, experiencing constraints and distress, but we are on our way to a place and time when Christ will reign.
Donne’s poem explores the Lord’s ultimate victory over death on a personal level. The art for today explores it on a cosmic level. Both paintings show horsemen in apocalyptic heavens. In the first, by William Turner, the rider is a skeleton, now fallen and about to plunge off his horse. The artist has captured the moment when the rider, who had been roaring into battle, is suddenly stopped. His flesh and blood now fall away, his power dissipates, and the forces of anarchy, greed, and war are revealed as nothing but old bones. The white foam at the bottom of the painting (and today’s music) also brings to mind how Pharoah’s horsemen were overwhelmed when God released the water of the sea as they tried to pursue the Hebrew people. In the second painting, by Walter Rane, a triumphant figure in red rides a white horse into righteous judgment. Is the artist depicting the Word of God, as described in Rev 19:11-21, who is victorious over the kings of the earth?
We know that death and its ugly companions war, conquest, displacement, hunger, illness, loss, and grief wreak havoc that seems to be unending. But followers of Jesus know that an end to all this ruin will come. If we have any doubt––either because of a disheartening personal experience or the disasters we hear about in the news––let’s listen to Handel’s splendid musical setting of Miriam’s song: “Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Whatever hard path or frightening battle is part of our life, let us not forget God’s power as evident in the resurrection of Jesus and his promise to destroy death forever.
Dr. Kitty Barnhouse Purgason
Professor Emerita
Department of Applied Linguistics and TESOL
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Art #1:
Death on a Pale Horse
J. M. W. Turner
c. 1825–30
Oil on canvas
756 x 597 mm.
Tate Museum
London, England
The subject of artist William Turner’s mysterious painting, known today as Death on a Pale Horse, has baffled generations of scholars. Although possibly incomplete, the subject can be identified as Death, the last of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who announce the day of judgment (see the book of Revelation). It has been proposed that it is a response to the death of Turner’s father in 1829 or perhaps to the cholera outbreak of 1832. The painting’s unfinished state and its macabre subject have conspired to make it one of Turner’s most enigmatic and unsettling pictures. Without further contextual or narrative underpinnings that might explain it, the painting has visual similarities to a memento mori. The archetypal figure of Death looms out of a dark background, its open arms spread wide as though to embrace the spectator. The skeleton’s strangely undefined mount, a mere cipher of a horse, adds to the picture’s otherworldly and nightmarish effect. The overall impression is of an apparition, a phantasm, whose qualities propel it out of everyday experience into another realm.
https://www.tate.org.uk/research/tate-papers/25/fall-of-anarchy-politics-anatomy-turner
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/death-on-a-pale-horse/VAEyZU0R3M3O5Q?hl=en
About the Artist #1:
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker, and watercolorist. He is known for his expressive coloring, imaginative landscapes, and turbulent marine paintings. He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolors, and 30,000 works on paper. A child prodigy, Turner studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, enrolling when he was only fourteen, and exhibited his first work there at the age of fifteen. He earned a steady income from commissions and sales. Turner opened his own gallery in 1804, and in 1807 became professor at the academy, where he lectured until 1828. He traveled around Europe, typically returning with voluminous sketchbooks. Intensely private, eccentric, and reclusive, Turner was a controversial figure throughout his career. He did not marry, but fathered two daughters by his housekeeper Sarah Danby. He became more pessimistic and morose as he got older, especially after the death of his father in 1829; when his outlook deteriorated, his gallery fell into disrepair, and his art intensified. Turner is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner
About the Art #2:
Alleluia - Second Coming
Walter Rane
2019
Oil on canvas
Artist's Collection
About the Artist #2:
Walter Rane (b. 1949) is an American artist who began his career as primarily a book and magazine illustrator but now specializes in religious art. Rane was raised in Southern California and received his B.F.A. at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. There he found the traditional approach to drawing and painting that he desired. That discipline, combined with an emphasis on the human figure, remains central to his art today. Following graduation from Art Center, Rane worked as a freelance book and magazine illustrator in the New York area for twenty-one years, where he illustrated such works as Meet Kit: An American Girl by Valerie Tripp. He also illustrated the Franklin Library 1978 edition of William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom. In the late 1990s Rane began to paint scriptural themes in a classical fashion. These subjects continue to be an important part of his work, along with still lifes, landscapes, cityscapes, and scenes of contemporary life. Rane and his wife currently live in New York City.
http://www.walterraneprints.com/
About the Music:
“The Lord Shall Reign” from the oratorio—Israel in Egypt
Lyrics:
Doubled Chorus:
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. (2x)
Recitative (Tenor):
For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
Double Chorus:
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. (2x)
Recitative (Tenor):
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them:
Solo and Double Chorus:
Soprano:
Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously,
Double Chorus:
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Soprano:
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
Double Chorus:
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
For He hath triumphed gloriously.
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
Israel in Egypt is a biblical oratorio by the composer George Frederic Handel. Most scholars believe the libretto was prepared by Charles Jennens, who also compiled the texts for Handel's Messiah. It is composed entirely of selected passages from the Old Testament, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms. Israel in Egypt premiered at London's King's Theatre in 1739. The oratorio was not well received by the first audience so the second performance was shortened to include mainly choral work augmented with Italian-style arias. The first version of the piece is in three parts rather than two—the first part more famous as "The ways of Zion do mourn,” with altered text as "The sons of Israel do mourn" lamenting the death of Joseph.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_in_Egypt
About the Composer:
George Frederic Handel (1685–1759) was a German baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London and became well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. He was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order.” Handel’s Messiah was first performed in Dublin, Ireland, in April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in western music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-glorious-history-of-handels-messiah-148168540/
About the Lyricist:
Charles Jennens (1700–1773) was a wealthy, reclusive English landowner and patron of the arts. Jennens attended Oxford University, where he formed his lifelong interest in music and literature and became a devout Anglican. As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably Messiah. Jennens' deep knowledge of the Bible and wide literary interest led him to prepare or contribute to libretti for Handel including Saul, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, Belshazzar, and possibly Israel in Egypt. It is also clear that, on occasion, Handel accepted Jennens' suggestions and improvements to his compositions. Their most famous collaboration is Jennens' libretto for Messiah, drawn entirely from the Bible. Musicologist Watkins Shaw describes it as "a meditation of our Lord as Messiah in Christian thought and belief” that "amounts to little short of a work of genius.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Jennens
About the Performers:
Elliot Gardiner, conductor and the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (b. 1943) is revered as one of the world’s most innovative and dynamic musicians, constantly in the vanguard of enlightened interpretation and standing as a leader in contemporary musical life. His work, as founder and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, has marked him out as a key figure both in the early music revival and as a pioneer of historically informed performances. As a regular guest of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Gardiner conducts repertoire from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. His many recording accolades include two Grammy awards and several Gramophone Awards. In addition to numerous awards in recognition of his work, Sir John Eliot Gardiner also holds several honorary doctorates and was awarded a knighthood in 1998.
https://monteverdi.co.uk/about-us/john-eliot-gardiner
The English Baroque Soloists, the Monteverdi Choir with soloists Paul Tindall, Andrew Tusa, and Donna Dean
The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early baroque to the classical period. The English Baroque Soloists developed from the Monteverdi Orchestra, which was formed by John Eliot Gardiner in 1968. The Monteverdi Orchestra played on modern instruments and accompanied Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir. In the late 1970s, the orchestra transitioned to period instruments and became the English Baroque Soloists. The orchestra played at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in Westminster Abbey in 2023.
https://monteverdi.co.uk/about-us/english-baroque-soloists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Baroque_Soloists
The English Baroque Soloists often appear with the Monteverdi Choir, which was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. A specialist baroque ensemble, the choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the Renaissance period to classical music of the twentieth century. The choir played at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in Westminster Abbey in 2023.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monteverdi_Choir
Paul Tindall is a British tenor who obtained his B.A. in music theory and practice of music from the King's College London, University of London (1980–1983). Tindall is a member of the Monteverdi Choir and participated in their Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000. He is also a member of the Choir of the King's Consort, and the English Concert Choir.
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Tindall-Paul.htm
Andrew Tusa has had a twenty-five-year career in financial services, starting in asset management and currently as a managing director in the investment banking team at Barclays. On graduating from Oxford University with a degree in music, Tusa followed a career as a professional singer for eight years and sat on the board of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra from 2001 for seven years.
https://lpo.org.uk › people › andrew-tusa
Donna Dean is a New Zealand soprano and an award-winning songwriter whose lyrics deal with the human condition, making her live performances deeply moving and inspirational. Her voice has been labeled “haunting” and “heavenly.” An award-winning feature-length documentary film of her life was a huge hit at the New Zealand Docedge Film Festival in 2016. Dean has released seven albums and has had songs covered by artists in both New Zealand and Germany.
https://nzmusic.org.nz/artists/singersongwriter/donna-dean/
https://roanoke.com/news/aspiring-singer-gave-up-musical-life-for-family/article_82733791-e1e3-5099-a6ff-5edcf6aeb68b.html
About the Poetry and Poet:
John Donne (1572–1631) was an Anglican cleric and one of England’s most gifted and influential poets. Donne was so respected by his followers that they thought him “a king that ruled as he thought fit, the universal monarchy of wit.” Raised a Roman Catholic, Donne later converted to Anglicanism, though his sensibility, as indicated perhaps in his late Christian poetry, always seems to have remained with the Roman Catholic Church. Unable to find civil employment, Donne was eventually persuaded of his calling to the church and took Anglican orders in 1615. His work is distinguished by its emotional intensity and its capacity to deeply delve into the paradoxes of faith, human and divine love, and personal salvation. His works are noted for their strong, sensual style and contain a variety of forms, including sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires, and sermons. His poetry is noted for its eloquent language, fusion of intellect and passion, and inventiveness of metaphor. In 1621, he was appointed the dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London and also served as a member of Parliament in 1601 and in 1614. After a resurgence in his popularity in the early twentieth century, Donne’s reputation as one of the greatest writers of English prose and poetry was established.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-donne
About the Devotion Writer:
Dr. Kitty Barnhouse Purgason
Professor Emerita
Department of Applied Linguistics and TESOL
Biola University
Kitty Barnhouse Purgason is professor emerita of TESOL at Biola University. She has a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from UCLA. She has lived, studied, served, or taught in India, Russia, Korea, China, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Mauritania, Indonesia, Kuwait, Oman, Vietnam, Spain, and Tajikistan. She is a three-time Fulbright fellow and a US State Department English language specialist. She is the author of Professional Guidelines for Christian English Teachers (William Carey Library).