What does the bible say about valley of the shadow of death? State of the soul where it feels abandoned and rejected by God, where all light is missing. At the end of this valley there was yet another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death, or the Dark Valley, through which the Christian had to pass necessarily, because the road to the heavenly city lies through the middle. We will see what this topic means. We invite you to stay with us.
What does the bible say about the valley of the shadow of death
This valley is a very lonely place, and the prophet Jeremiah describes it as a deserted place, a land of wastelands and mountains, a dry land, in the shadow of death.
- Psalm 23:4: When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, because you are with me; your staff and your staff reassure me.
- Jeremiah 2:6: They did not say: Where is the Lord, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, who led us into the desert, to a dry land full of pits, to a land of drought and the shadow of death, in a land where no one passes, and where no one dwells? ?
At the mouth of this valley, he met two men, sons of those who once condemned the good land of Canaan, and who were hastily retracing their steps.
- Numbers 13: 32-34: And they denounced before the children of Israel the land that they had explored. They said: The land we have traversed to explore is a land that devours its inhabitants; all those we have seen there are tall men; and there we saw the giants, the sons of Anac, of the race of giants: in our eyes and in theirs we were like locusts.
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What can we see in the story of the valley of the shadow of death?
Let’s note how the story begins and each of the parts:
Where are you going? The Christian told them.
- Come back, they replied, if you still have any worries in your life.
Why that? replied the Christian. What’s happening?
What happens? They responded. We have gone as far as possible on the path you want to enter; but we don’t let him live there.
So what happened to you? asked the Christian; What did you see?
- “The dark valley itself,” they said; isn’t that enough? Darkness reigns everywhere; we only see goblins, dragons that come out of the abyss; we hear moans and howls incessant, like people burdened with heavy chains. In short, it is a dangerous and horrible place.
- I still see nothing more in all this, said the Christian, except that this is the path I must go through to reach the end of my path.
- If this is your way, they said, we don’t want to follow you… At the same time they separated from the Christian, who continued on his way, still with his sword in hand, for fear of being surprised. .
I also saw that on the right side of the valley there was a deep ditch along the road (where the blind always fell, those who led the blind and where they perished miserably). To the left was a swamp so full of mud and mud that when a traveler falls into it, his foot finds no bottom. It is the place where King David once fell, and where he would have perished miserably if the Almighty had not brought him out.
The valley of the shadow of death means doom
- Psalm 69:3: I sink into the mud, unable to contain myself; I fell into a ditch and the waters flooded me.
The path was also extremely narrow, and that was what added to the danger; for, while the Christian walked in darkness, he ran the risk of falling into the swamp when he wished to avoid the ditch; and, on the contrary, he ran the risk of falling into it when he wanted to avoid the swamp; so that he walked with much anxiety and pain.
Approximately in the middle of this valley, quite close to the road, was one of the chasms that lead to hell. The fire, the smoke and the terrible screams that issued from this abyss so terrified the Christian, when he got there, that he stopped short and said to himself: “Alas! That I have to do? “. And as his sword proved useless to him, he was forced to put it back in its scabbard and resort to
- Psalm 116:2: Because he has inclined his ear to me; And I will invoke it all my life.
I heard him yell, “Free my soul, Lord!” And as he passed, the fire got so close to him, he heard such terrible screams and such great explosions, that many times he feared that he would be torn to pieces and trampled like the mud of the streets. He heard those frightful screams and saw these horror objects for a few hours on the road. And since he thought he heard the sound of a troop of enemies dealing with him, he stopped for a while to deliberate on what to do.
Sometimes he felt the urge to turn back, but then, reflecting that he had crossed half the valley and had already overcome so many dangers, he realized that there would be more danger in turning back than in continuing his journey.
Valley of the shadow of death also means victory over enemies
However, sometimes it seemed to him that the enemies were getting closer and closer and that he was going to have them in his hands, so he shouted, as if to encourage himself: “I want to advance in strength. Lord of Lords”. So, they all fled and didn’t show up.
There is one more thing that I must not forget here: that this poor Christian was so astonished that he no longer recognized his own voice. And I noticed that in front of the abyss one of these villains was coming from behind, and approaching him gently, he whispered very low and very quickly in his ears several frightful blasphemies, which he believed came from his own heart: which caused him the most concern. everything that had happened to her before, unable to understand how it was that she was now spewing blasphemies against the one she had loved so much until then. But what added to his pain was seeing that he could not dispel these blasphemies, no matter how hard he tried.
Walking through the valley of the shadow of death
He walked for a while in this sad state, and as he advanced, he thought he heard a little in front of him the voice of a man who said: “Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, do not fear, no, because you are with me.” The Christian was delighted with this meeting, for many reasons.
Psalm 23:4: When I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, because you are with me; your staff and your staff reassure me.
- First, because he had just heard words that reminded him that God was with him, even though he was in such a sad and overwhelming state. Why, he said to himself, should it not be so, though various obstacles prevent me from seeing or understanding it?
- Second, because he came to this conclusion, that there were people in this valley who feared the Lord as much as he did.
- Third, because he conceived the hope that by pushing himself a little he would be able to reach the one who was walking in front of him, and thus he would soon have good company.
Then, having taken courage, he doubled his pace. And when she thought she was close enough to the one she was walking in front of, she called out to him. But she was very surprised to hear that they asked why he was so lonely. However, the day dawned immediately, causing him to say: “Turn the darkness into the dawn of the day.”
Valley of the shadow of death is struck down by the light of Christ
In the daylight blooming thus, he tried to look behind him once, not because he had the slightest inclination to turn back, but to see what dangers he had run in the dark. It was then that she clearly saw the ditch on one side and the swamp on the other; She saw at the same time how narrow the path he had been forced to walk was.
And though the goblins, dragons, and locusts from the abyss were far enough away, not having approached as soon as day came, he saw them quite clearly, as it is written:
- Job 12:22: He discovers what is hidden in the darkness; He casts the shadow of death into the light.
The valley of the shadow of death from another point of view
For this part, we must read Matthew, chapter 4, verses 12 onwards, where we say:
- “Jesus, having heard that John had been betrayed, withdrew to Galilee.
- He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was announced by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
- The people of Zebulun and Naphtali, from the land near the sea, from the land on the other side of the Jordan, and from the Galilee of the Gentiles, this people, sitting in darkness, saw a great light; and on those who were settled in the region and the shadow of death the light rose.
- From that moment Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. “
And verse 23 says:
- “Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing all the sicknesses and diseases of the people.
- His fame spread throughout Syria, and they brought to him all those who suffered from diseases and pains of various kinds, demonic, crazy, paralyzed; and he healed them.
- A great multitude followed him, from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. “
May God bless our souls with his Word, open the Scriptures and the mind to understand it. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
That thisthe valley of shadow and death
The valley of shadow and death, Galilee of the Gentiles, land of Zabulon and Naphtali. The Land that was in darkness for two thousand years and more was the Land of the Gentiles and was represented in Zebulun and Naphtali.
On this earth, in the Galilee of the Gentiles, was the representation of the world of the Gentiles, of the kingdom of the Gentiles that has existed from the time of Nebuchadnezzar until today, in darkness and in the shadow of death.
But just as the light rose with the arrival of Christ in Capernaum and Naphtali, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, with the arrival of the Gospel of Christ brought by Peter and Paul to the Gentiles, the light shone in the valley from the shadow of death of the Gentiles, the nations, peoples and languages of the Gentiles, where Christ commanded to go with the gospel.
Preach the gospel to all nations starting with Jerusalem, this is Christ’s mandate to his Church from the beginning.
- “Go everyone and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Christ has illuminated the valley of the shadow of death
This has been going on among the Gentiles from the time of the apostles until today. And this valley of the shadow of death of the Gentiles, of the Kingdom of the Gentiles, sees the light that shines through the gospel of Christ being preached. Christ has illuminated the soul and heart of each person to give them Eternal Life and opens the Scriptures and the spirit as he did with the disciples there.
In Luke, chapter 24, verses 30 and 31, we say:
- “While he was at table with them, he took the bread; and after giving thanks, she broke it and gave it to him.
- Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him; but he disappeared from before them.
- And they said to each other: Did not our hearts burn within us when he spoke to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us? “
When the Scriptures are opened, they reach the heart of the person, it is like a fire in the person: the divine light ignites in the soul of the person, he feels the presence of God opening the Scriptures to him, the person can see and… .