Is There an Appointed Time for Each Person to Die?
No.
When and how you die is more up to you than it is up to God. The only definite thing is that you will die unless Jesus returns before you get old enough to die.
Of course, God, being omniscient, has foreknowledge of exactly when you will die, but that is not the same thing as God determining exactly when you die. Most of us know people who just wanted to die and died quickly, and we know others who wanted to hang on longer and did. Sometimes dying people stick it out long enough to say goodbye to all the family members to whom they want to say goodbye. Then suddenly they’re ready to go, and the next thing you know, they’re gone.
I have amassed a parade of Scriptures that prove that it is mainly up to you. You can do things that will shorten your life on the earth and you can do things that will lengthen your stay here. You obviously cannot stay here forever, but you can decide when you’re ready to go. You do not have a Pre-Assigned Death Date from a Heavenly Death Panel that decides when your number is up.
This topic is dedicated to all those who have been fed the lie that when God decides it’s time for you to die, that’s just it and there’s nothing you can do. This lie is usually brought forth by preachers doing the funeral of someone who is dead before his time. “Well, the Lord saw fit to call him home.” (Baloney.) This often leads to even more stupid statements, such as, “Obviously his work on earth was finished.” Aside from the fact that the person’s actual work on earth is by definition finished, a person’s death does not indicate that the person even started the work that God had intended for him, much less finished it. (Failure to even start what God wanted may even be why he died so young!)
Then there is the classic idiocy, “God wanted another little angel to sing in His choir” as may be suggested at a child’s funeral. God does not use Satan as His personal employment headhunter to fill positions in heaven. God isn’t short-staffed, and people don’t become angels when they die anyway – they become as the angels (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25).
You’ve probably heard it said, “When your number’s up, that’s it!” But God is not pulling balls out of a lottery machine in heaven or calling out some kind of Death Bingo numbers.
The confusion probably starts with a misunderstanding of Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”. This verse does not state that there is a specific appointed day and hour when you are supposed to die. It only states that it is appointed for you once to die and then face judgment. (The idea of reincarnation is totally at odds with Scripture. No one has any “past life” and everything to do with “revelations” of past lives is demonic.)
The apostle Paul had a choice of whether he wanted to stay on the earth to help the Church or die and be with the Lord (Philippians 1:22-24): “But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot [know] not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Paul was deciding what he should choose. He had a choice.
You should definitely not die before you are 70 to 80 years old, and that is definitely not an upper limit. Consider Psalm 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” The context of this verse is the wrath poured upon the Israelites because of their sins! Moses was bemoaning the short lives people were having. (Moses himself lived to be 120.) You should surely live at least as long as the disobedient Israelites!
To the man who makes God his refuge and habitation, God says, “With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation” (Psalm 91:16). This promise is not made to anyone who does not meet this requirement. It is instructive to read all of Psalm 91 and see all the life-shortening tragedies from which God has promised to deliver you.
God repeatedly states that hearing His words prolongs your life, and scorning them shortens it. Here’s proof, and this is by no means a comprehensive list of verses:
Keeping the Lord’s commandments prolongs your days – Deuteronomy 5:33, Deuteronomy 6:2, Deuteronomy 11:8-9, 1 Kings 3:14
Laying up God’s Word in your heart multiplies your days – Deuteronomy 11:18-21
God’s Law adds length of days to you – Proverbs 3:1-2
Length of days in is wisdom’s right hand – Proverbs 3:16
Receive God’s sayings and the years of your life will be many – Proverbs 4:10
The fear of the Lord makes you live longer – Proverbs 9:11
Wickedness shortens your life – Proverbs 10:27
Not keeping God’s commandments can lead to death – Proverbs 19:16
Honoring your father and mother lengthens your life – Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, Ephesians 6:1-3
Speaking evil with your tongue keeps you from living a long life, but avoiding evil with your tongue gives you long life – Psalm 34:11-14, 1 Peter 3:10-11
Wickedness and foolishness make you die before your time – Ecclesiastes 7:17
Psalm 55:23:
But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
Since it is possible to lengthen your days or shorten your days, there cannot be a set time when you must die. It is you, not God, who lengthens or shortens your days based on the decisions you make about God and His Word.
Yes, there are sinners who live to a great age, but we can assume that they would have lived even longer if they did the things that “multiply your days.”
The fact that Ecclesiastes 3:2 says that there is a time to die does not mean that you cannot move when your time to die is!
See also: