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The Bible tells us that “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). So, yes, God knows exactly when, where, and how we will die. God knows absolutely everything about us (Psalm 139:1-6). So does this mean our fate is sealed? Does this mean we have absolutely no control over when we will die? The answer is both yes and no, depending on the perspective.

The answer is “yes” from God’s perspective because God is omniscient—He knows everything and knows exactly when, where, and how we will die. Nothing we can do will change what God already knows will happen. The answer is “no” from our perspective because we do have an impact on when, where, and how we die. Obviously, a person who commits suicide causes his own death. A person who commits suicide would have lived longer had he not committed suicide. Similarly, a person who dies because of a foolish decision (e.g., drug use) “expedites” his own death. A person who dies of lung cancer from smoking would not have died in the same way or at the same time if he had not smoked. A person who dies of a heart attack due to a lifetime of extremely unhealthy eating and little exercise would not have died in the same way or at the same time if he had eaten healthier foods and exercised more. Yes, our own decisions have an undeniable impact on the manner, timing, and place of our death.

How does this affect our lives practically? We are to live each day for God. James 4:13-15 teaches us, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” We are to make wise decisions about how we live our lives and how we take care of ourselves. And ultimately, we trust God that He is sovereign and in control of all things.

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Isaiah 65:17 says, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Some interpret Isaiah 65:17 as saying that we will have no memory of our earthly lives in heaven. However, one verse earlier in Isaiah 65:16, the Bible says, “For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.” It is likely only our “past troubles” will be forgotten, not all of our memories. Our memories will eventually be cleansed, redeemed, healed, and restored, not erased. There is no reason why we could not possess many memories from our earthly lives. The memories that will be cleansed are the ones that involve sin, pain, and sadness. Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

The fact that the former things will not come to mind does not mean that our memories will be wiped clean. The prophecy could be suggesting the wondrous quality of our new environment. The new earth will be so spectacular, so mind-blowing, that everyone will quite forget the drudgery and sin of the current earth. A child who is scared of the shadows in his room at night completely forgets his nocturnal fear the next day on the playground. It’s not that the memories have been wiped out, only that, in the sunshine, they don’t come to mind.

Also, it’s important to make a distinction between the eternal state and the current heaven. When a believer dies, he or she goes to heaven, but that is not our final destination. The Bible speaks of “a new heaven and a new earth” as our eternal, permanent home. Both passages quoted above (Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21:1) refer to the eternal state, not the current heaven. The promise of wiping away every tear does not come until after the tribulation, after the final judgment, and after the re-creation of the universe.

In his apocalyptic vision, John sees sorrow in heaven: “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’” (Revelation 6:9–10). John is obviously in heaven (Revelation 4:1–2), and he sees and hears those who obviously remember the injustice done to them. Their loud calls for vengeance indicate that, in the current heaven, we will remember our lives on earth, including the bad things. The current heaven of Revelation 6 is temporary, though, giving way to the eternal state in Revelation 21.

The story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19–31) is further proof that the dead remember their earthly lives. The rich man in Hades asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn the rich man’s brothers of the fate awaiting the unrighteous (verses 27–28). The rich man obviously remembers his relatives. He also remembers his own life of self-serving and sinful comfort (verse 25). The memories of the rich man in Sheol become part of his misery. The story does not mention whether or not Lazarus has memories, but Abraham has definite knowledge of goings-on on earth (verse 25). It’s not until we reach the eternal state that the righteous will leave all sorrow behind.

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As God encourages Israel with the hope of the coming Messiah, He exhorts the people, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18, ESV). Something new was going to happen.

The Messianic announcement was made in Isaiah 42:1–4, and God further describes the certainty of His coming reign in Isaiah 42:5–8. That section concludes with God’s statement that the former things have come to pass and now He is declaring to them new things (Isaiah 42:9). The reference is contrasting the oldness of the judgment under the Old Covenant (or the Mosaic Covenant) with the newness of the hope provided by the promise of a coming Messiah who would redeem the people and rule righteously (ultimately fulfilling the Abrahamic, Land, Davidic, and New Covenants).

After recounting the reasons for the current and soon-coming judgments Israel would encounter (Isaiah 42:10–25), God reminds them that He is their God (Isaiah 43:1–3) and that they are precious to Him (Isaiah 43:4–7). Because of this, they can remember not the former things (Isaiah 43:18). While there had to be a judgment and consequences for Israel—they broke the conditional covenant that God had made with the nation—that judgment would not last forever. God announces the coming of a new administration in which Israel’s failures and the resulting judgments would be long past. While there might be those who would continually accuse Israel and proclaim the former things as if they were an ongoing reality (Isaiah 43:8–9), their witness is false. The former things have passed away as God had promised, and new things are coming.

While some might testify against Israel, the people themselves would be witnesses that their Creator and their Messiah would bring new things to pass just as He promised (Isaiah 43:10–13). Even as the people would experience God’s judgment at the hands of Babylon, God would bring judgment to Babylon as well, and Babylon’s might would be extinguished (Isaiah 43:14–17). Because God is sovereign and faithful, Israel could trust Him and take Him at His word. Thus they would have no need to remember the former things or ponder the trouble of the past (Isaiah 43:18); instead, they could look forward with anticipation to what God would do and how God would ultimately deliver and redeem them (Isaiah 43:19–21).

God brought the promised judgment to Judah at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon in 605, 597, and 586 BC, when the people were taken into exile. Less than 50 years later—before Judah’s 70-year judgment and exile was complete, Babylon fell to Medo-Persia. God keeps His word. His people could remember not the former things or ponder what is past (Isaiah 43:18) because He promised redemption and restoration, and these new things would come.

In the same way that Israel was exhorted to trust in God and look toward the fulfillment of His promises, we are encouraged to keep our eyes focused on the Author and Finisher of the faith so that we will be able to run the race He has set before us (Hebrews 12:1–2). God has made commitments, and He always keeps those commitments. Because of that we can read His Word and take it at face value, knowing that what He has said He will bring to pass. Like Israel, we can remember not the former things or consider the things of old. We also have a past riddled with failure and sin (Ephesians 2:1–3), and, as He will do with the nation of Israel, God has intervened to resolve our past and redeem us for a life of newness, hope, purpose, and joy (Ephesians 2:4–10).

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The name “LORD of hosts” occurs some 261 times in the Old Testament Scriptures. God is first called the “LORD of hosts” in 1 Samuel 1:3. The word LORD, capitalized, refers to Yahweh, the self-existent, redemptive God. The word hosts is a translation of the Hebrew word sabaoth, meaning “armies”—a reference to the angelic armies of heaven. Thus, another way of saying “LORD of hosts” is “God of the armies of heaven.” The NIV translates YHWH saboath as “LORD Almighty.”

This name for God first appears at the close of the period of the judges. In the same sentence as “LORD of hosts” is a reference to Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The Ark symbolized Yahweh’s rulership, among other things, for He sits enthroned above the cherubim (1 Samuel 4:4; Psalm 99:1). Some have suggested that ”LORD of hosts” reaffirms that God is the true Leader of Israel’s armies, in spite of the low spiritual condition of the nation of Israel at the time of the judges. In 1 Samuel 17:45, as part of his pre-fight verbal sparring with Goliath, David invokes this name of God. In doing so, David was claiming that God is the universal ruler over every force whether in heaven or on earth.

Soon after David’s defeat of Goliath, Israel would enter the international scene. It was necessary for the nation to realize that Yahweh was King even of the many other mighty nations. This kingship of the LORD of hosts is vividly expressed in Psalm 24:10: “Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!” (ESV). He is the glorious King of Israel, and Zechariah 14:9 tells us that He will be King of the world, over all the kingdoms of the earth (cf. Isaiah 37:16).

Eventually, Yahweh of armies will put down all rebellion (Isaiah 24:21–23) and establish His Kingdom from Mt. Zion (Isaiah 31:4–5; 34:12). As the LORD of hosts, God is the all-powerful Ruler over the entire universe. All power and authority are His. He alone intervenes to provide victory for His people. He alone brings world peace. At the same time, He is available to hear the prayers of His people (Psalm 80:19). There is no other God like this.

The sovereign LORD of hosts has the grace to always be there for the one who comes to Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The King of glory, who commands the armies of heaven and who will eventually defeat all His enemies in this world, is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the LORD of hosts (Revelation 19:11–20).

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The title “Ancient of Days” first appears in Daniel 7:9, where Daniel is describing his vision of heaven. There an ancient, or venerable, Person sits on a flaming throne with wheels of fire, His hair and clothing white as snow. The flaming throne is symbolic of judgment, while the white hair and title “Ancient” indicate that God existed before time began. In Isaiah 43:13, we find that God refers to Himself existing from ancient of days (literally, “before days were”). That means God existed before days were even created. We read in Genesis 1 that God created time, days and nights, so God existed from before the beginning of time. God is often represented as ancient, as He that is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2) and as “the first and the last” in Isaiah 44:6.

There can also be no doubt that the reference in Daniel 7 is to God as Judge. A similar description occurs in Revelation 1:14-15, wherein Christ is described as having snow-white hair and blazing eyes. In Revelation, God the Son is depicted with the same power of judgment over His church as the Ancient of Days is described as having in judging Israel. In fact, His sharp gaze judges all seven of the churches in Revelation 1–3 with complete clarity of the reality of all there is to know.

The title “Ancient of Days” is found only three times in Scripture, all three in prophetic passages in Daniel 7:9, 13, and 22. Verse 22 refers specifically to Jesus whose judgment will be part of the end-times events. In Daniel 7:13, the term “ancient of days” refers to God the Father, and we see Him on His throne as Jesus, the “Son of Man” approaches the throne on clouds. God is a triune God, meaning three Persons in One, and at different times “Ancient of Days” refers to Jesus Christ and at other times, to God the Father. But in the prophetic sense, it clearly refers to Jesus, the Ancient of Days returning to pronounce judgment on the world (Daniel 7:22).