Does God Have A Certain Time For Everyone To Die?

By Bryan Gibson

When a family has lost a loved one, people naturally want to say things to comfort the family.  They may say something like, “it was his time”; or, “God knows best, and He decided it was time to take him.” People certainly mean well when they say things like this, but do these statements really agree with what the Scriptures teach? Does God really set a specific time for each person to die?

Certainly there were times in the Bible when God intervened and took the life of someone.  However, this was usually for the purpose of punishment (for example, Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5).  But can we say that God does this in every case, with every person? Consider the following principles.

According to 2 Corinthians 4:16, while “the inward man is being renewed day by day,” the “outward man (the body or flesh) is perishing” (or decaying).  In other words, the aging process takes it toll on the body; the body just wears out.  This happens quicker for some than others, but is there any evidence that God fixes the timetable for each person?

Just as we can live in such a way as to prolong life (Ephesians 6:2-3), we can also live in such a way as to shorten our days (Proverbs 10:27).  For example, if one’s years are cut short by drug abuse, can we truthfully say that God took him? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that his life was cut short because he abused his body?

Consider the example of Judas, whose remorse over the betrayal of Jesus led him to hang himself (Matthew 27:3-5).  Did God take him, or did he take his own life? Had God appointed this time for him to die, or did Judas have control over what happened?

What about those who die because of the maliciousness of others? For example, if someone is murdered, can we truthfully say that he died “because it was his time”? The January 9th edition of this bulletin contained a letter from David Duren, who was recently executed for the murder of a 16 year old girl.  God didn’t “take her”; David Duren did.

Think about the Christians in the New Testament who died as a result of persecution (Acts 7, 12; Revelation 2:13).  Yes, God could have intervened and spared their lives, but can we say that God took them because it was “their time”?

We also have to take into account carelessness; there is such a thing as an accident (Ecclesiastes 9:11).  If I fall asleep at the wheel and die in a car accident, was it because it was “my time,” or was it because I didn’t get enough sleep?

So does God have a certain time for everyone to die? The evidence from Scripture says no.  We need to comfort those who are grieving over lost loved ones, but let’s don’t comfort them with words that aren’t true.