The Living Dead – Series Intro from Elevate Student Ministries on Vimeo.
What are zombies? They’re usually depicted the same regardless of what you’re watching or reading. Zombies are the “undead.” They’ve died, but their dead, empty bodies walk the earth. There’s emptiness in their eyes (if their eyes even exist) because their brains no longer function within them. With a blank stare, wordless grunts, and robotic walk, they are hidden during the daylight and come out during the darkest of night searching to destroy the living.
Does this sound accurate?
The Living Dead
I must admit that even though I belong to Elevate Student Ministries as a leader, I always look forward to services because I know I’m going to learn something new from Pastor Tyron Caswell. Last night was no different.
He’s been telling us about his new series, The Living Dead, and I immediately knew what it would be about and where he would take us with the series. I didn’t know, however, the eerie truths behind the zombies we see in movies. I didn’t know these things we call zombies have been mentioned throughout centuries and are still feared in many cultures today. Even more than that, I learned the BIBLE describes them (zombies) in great detail!
To my surprise, Isaiah 59:1-11 gives an amazing depiction of what the living dead look like.
Verse 3: Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin. Your lips are full of lies, and your mouth spews corruption.
Verses 4b-7: They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin. They hatch deadly snakes and weave spiders’ webs. Whoever falls into their webs will die, and there’s danger even in getting near them. Their webs can’t be made into clothing, and nothing they do is productive. All their activity is filled with sin, and violence is their trademark. Their feet run to do evil, and they rush to commit murder. They think only about sinning. Misery and destruction always follow them.
This description does sound fairly close to our Hollywood idea of zombies, don’t you think? But the following scriptures is what I found eerily resembling every characteristic of these dead creatures.
Let’s take a quick look at verses 9-11, and you can decide what you think.
So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom. We grope like the blind along a wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. Even at brightest noontime, we stumble as though it were dark. Among the living, we are like the dead. We growl like hungry bears; we moan like mournful doves. We look for justice, but it never comes. We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.
But What Does it Mean?
There are people walking around you who are dead. Maybe even you are dead and don’t even realize it. Now, does that mean these people are what we see glamorized on TV? Absolutely not. I do believe, though, that these Hollywood zombies evolved over time but began from the description here in Isaiah 59.
What do you think?
So take away the crazy makeup, teeth, and pretty much any other outward appearance given to us by Hollywood, and what do you have? There’s a person whose soul is in search for light but is forced to remain in the darkness wreaking havoc on anyone they come in contact with.
To simplify it, these “living dead” need to find true light. Darkness cannot exist in the light. Those people who don’t know God live in darkness. Once someone truly encounters God, they accept his spirit within them. He is the light, so when the light moves in, that darkness is overtaken by its immense brightness. Then, the person is no longer a part of the living dead.
There are so many people who haven’t truly encountered the presence of God and are a part of the living dead. The majority have no idea they aren’t alive inside. Do you walk among the dead, or are you a part of the dead walking among the living?
Characteristics of the Living Dead (according to Pastor Tyron):
- Hard Heart
- Eyes but can’t see
- Ears but can’t hear
- Walk in Darkness
- Stumble
- Have no peace
- Confused
- Bitter/Angry
- Jealous
- Gossip
- Unforgiving
- Judgmental/Critical
Remember that we are all dead in our transgressions (disobedience), so you can probably find yourself carrying some of these characteristics even if you have encountered God (I know I certainly can). But through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, those mistakes we’ve made are taken away making us perfect when God looks at us.
As the living, we should strive to eliminate these characteristics and catch them as soon as they make their way back into our lives.
Pastor Tyron Caswell is youth pastor of Elevate Student Ministries is a part of Milestone Church in Keller, TX.
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