THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH

When I was a youth and I would be at a funeral I would hear Psalm 23 spoken and I would imagine as it was recited that it reflected the after death journey from this earth to heaven because it was spoken after people died and at their funeral. Mind you I was young and not a born again Christian The religious affiliation I had only heard Psalm 23 spoken at a grave site and I had never actually heard it elsewhere and it was not even mentioned in church growing up other than for funerals. Thus my perception although wrong was what I believed. If you will continue to read further you will understand that the valley of the shadow of death is not some far distant land of the days of old.

While the Lord inspired me to write this I believe it relates to a recent YouTube video I saw about tours of the Holy Land where a man stood up on a hill and pointed to a valley between two hills and said this is the valley of the shadow of death were David walked. I thought no that isn’t the valley of the shadow of death because of the revelation the Lord gave me. This is why the Lord prompted me to write this post. When you understand that the whole earth is the valley of the shadow of death you will understand the great commission to preach the Gospel of Christ Jesus throughout the earth. Under the curse of sin and the consequence of death from sin the whole earth groans for the sons of God to come forth.

Romans 8:19–22 (NKJV)

¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

8:22 groans together and suffers agony The created order is in turmoil. Like God’s people, it is longing for Christ’s return, when He will liberate the world from death and decay (see Rev 21:1 and note). This restoration is a prominent theme of the ot¹ prophets² (compare Isa 35:1–10).³

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The true spiritual battle is based on the great commission and Ephesians 6 tells us about our opposition to fulfilling the great commission. The objective is by preaching the good news of the gospel which will deliver people from the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. This can only be done by preaching the gospel in power through the Holy Spirit. In short people need to believe in the whole gospel, repent and be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Not a sinners prayer. Too many are deceived believing in the prayer and not the finished work of Calvary which includes the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 2:4–5 (NKJV)

⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Sadly I was visiting a church in Florida during one of my ministry travels. At the end of the sermon the pastor asked everyone to close their eyes and then asked those in attendance who wanted to be saved to raise their hand and he said no peaking. He then said you can put your hands down and everyone can open their eyes. He said I will lead “everyone” in a prayer for salvation. First of all I was already saved and filled with the Holy Spirit by saying this prayer the enemy would likely laugh at me as in the form of a question. “Look he doesn’t know if he is saved or not”. In addition the Word of God clearly states that we are not to be ashamed of the gospel. So why was everyone told to close their eyes! The deceptions of Satan!

Matthew 10:33 (NKJV)

³³ But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

While we battle with spiritual hosts, principalities, rulers of this world the gospel must be preached. In any type of warfare you must know your adversary along with your “equipment” and plan of action. In spiritual warfare we need the equipment listed in Ephesians 6 and plan of engagement being LED by the Spirit of God. Take for instance Moses conversing with the Lord about delivering the Israelites (Exodus 3) Moses was raised in Egypt in the Egyptian palace and their traditions. Who better to be commissioned as Moses knew the enemy of the Israelites personally.

Romans 5:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at Psalm 23

Psalm 23 NKJV

The Lord The Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

³ He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

One day about three years ago, give or take, I was walking with the Lord in a remote area by a river praising the Lord and meditating on scriptures. This was only about 4 or 5 years after my born again experience. As I was meditating the Lord spoke to me and asked me a question which really opened my eyes to Psalm 23. The Lord asked me “where was David when he wrote Psalm 23”? I said Lord David was in Israel but Lord, that answer does not witness in your spirit with me to be the correct answer. So I kept talking with the Lord as He listened I said Lord in the beginning (Genesis) of creation you make no mention of creating Israel. You created the heavens and the earth. Lord the earth is the Valley of the Shadow of Death. I said Lord even though they recite Psalm 23 at funerals David was alive when He wrote Psalm 23. The Lord said yes, that is correct and confirmed that the earth is the valley of the shadow of death.

I never doubted or had any misconceptions that evil spirits existed as the Lord has had me come against demons in people and command them to come out. I guess in my mind I just did as the Lord led me each day but I never really thought of the bigger picture. I was focused on what was in my immediate area in my daily walk and the spiritual realm that would come against me and the will of God that I didn’t see the bigger picture. For me it was natural to share Christ Jesus with people and I never really saw the bigger picture and to me each day no matter where I was there was the great commission.

I said Lord, now everything come into proper understanding of the spiritual realm and why the battle is so real. I am alive in Christ, but I am surrounded by people who are physically alive, but spiritual dead to the Lord. If they are dead to you Lord then the devil uses those people who are not of you Lord (born again) to come against us because their father is the Devil and they are influenced and blinded by the spirit of this world the Devil. Now Ephesians six took on a whole new perspective so did the great commission to go throughout the world and preach the gospel.

Rather than put an overwhelming amount of scripture I thought I would just list them as a timeline as most of us know about the Garden’s provisions, the tree of Life, etc.

Let’s go back and read Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)

The History of Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

When the Lord God created the earth He saw that it was good.

Genesis 2:7 (NKJV)

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Man was created from the dust of the earth which God saw that the earth was good. In Genesis the serpent was cast to his belly to eat the dust of the earth. Wasn’t humanity/man created from the dust of the earth. The devil comes to kill, steal and destroy!

Genesis 3:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,

You are cursed more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you shall go,

And you shall eat dust

All the days of your life.

Genesis 2:15–17 (NKJV)

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:22–24 (NKJV)

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Garden of Eden. Location east of Eden (Gn 2:8) in the Tigris-Euphrates area of Mesopotamia, referred to 14 times in the OT⁴. The data in Genesis 2:8–10 show that it was in the Shinar Plain area, and that four “heads” were formed from the one river flowing through Eden to water the garden. The heads were the Tigris and Euphrates (both of which are familiar modern rivers), and two rivers which have disappeared—the Pishon and Gihon. The latter were most probably irrigation canals, since in cuneiform there is no separate word for “river” and “irrigation canal.” Thus the Eden area was irrigated after the Sumerian manner, making for a highly fertile garden. If Pishon and Gihon were in fact irrigation canals, the narrative places Adamic man firmly in a historic high culture, and takes him out of the realm of myth and legend. If the above identification is correct, Cush referred to the land of the ancient Kassites, while Havilah may have indicated Arabia.

The notions that the rivers were the four encircling the earth and that Eden is to be identified with the Sumerian Dilmun are based on inadequate geographical information.

Eden was the testing ground of man’s fidelity to God’s commands, and through disobedience, the garden was lost. It will be regained in the form of the new paradise (Rv 22:14).⁵

So as you see the whole earth is the valley of the shadow of death. Now lets look at some of the verses from Psalm 23.

Psalm 23:1 (NKJV)

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

This passage reflects the Lord’s care and protection.

Psalm 23:2 (NKJV)

² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

Sheep graze in pastures so this reflects the Lord’s provisions and nourishment for us.

Psalm 23:3 (NKJV)

³ He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

This would reflect being led by the Spirit of God as the Lord orders our steps and those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of god. (Proverbs 16:9 & Romans 8:14)

Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

This symbolizes that life will not always be characterized by green pastures and that we will walk through darkness and gloom.

Psalm 23:5 (NKJV)

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

While my study bible does not specifically state this, I see this as a prophesy of the last supper as well as David uses the term “table” and yet it also refers to David’s daily walk with the Lord. The holy Spirit revealed this to me and as I continue you will see it more clearly. Seeing how it prophesies of the “table in the presence of enemies” it is telling us that even surrounded by darkness and enemies we can partake of the Bread of Life Christ Jesus. See how this ties in the last supper. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. The anointing of oil symbolized constant refreshing of the Lord. (Psalm 92:10)

Psalm 23:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

This statement refers to being led and guided by the Lord through the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s unfailing convenantal love. I also see Psalm 91:1 even though it is not mentioned in my study bible. So when you meditate on God’s Word you will see the last supper and Psalm 91 in Psalm 23.

I would also like to make this statement because to many speak Psalm 91 like they are entitled to this. The rest of the Psalm 91 will not apply to you unless you yourselves fulfill line one. This is also stated in John 15 as I always like to provide more than one scripture.

Psalm 91:1 (NKJV)

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

So know I hope you see the greater picture and revelation of the spiritual battle and significance of the valley of the shadow of death how it relates to the great commission. I would also like to state while I have been invited in the past to travel to other nations the whole world is our mission field and a saint must be sent by the Lord and in the Lord’s timing. It is not that I do not want to go so please do not take it personal or feel offended or left out.

We must be led by the Spirit, this is just the plain truth. You can see in the book of Acts for yourselves that Jesus sent the Apostles out to different areas they did not chose where they were sent and commissioned. While I know there are many afflictions of the righteous and many degrees of affliction globally I also know that suffering is not local it is global. That being said my mission field is always before me and not confined in a region as the whole world is the valley of the shadow of death.

Psalm 34:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Perhaps now you can see why when the second coming of the Lord arrives the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth as the corruptible and evil ways of this world will be no more.

Numbers 6:24–27 (NKJV)

²⁴ “The Lord bless you and keep you;

²⁵ The Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

²⁶ The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.” ’

²⁷ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.