One of the earliest mentions of death in our Bibles...On the subject of departing from the snares of death

Proverbs 13:14  The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. 

Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Many people had died in the scriptures by the time this passage was there.

Genesis 21:16  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Hagar was an example of one who escaped early, the guillotine of death for herself and her son, through her faith in God. The subject I am meditating on is "avoiding the snares of death". She was a believer in the true God, in spite of the testimony of the man of God in her generation. Abraham had left them out to die. He had not provided sufficiently for their life outside of his home. God intervened amazingly and made promises to Ishmael for his future life. They weren't woven into the spiritual covenant with Abraham, but they were woven into the covenant of life of the earth as a creature, through faith. It is not surprising that they would have emphasised the activities of consistency as opposed to the heart of religion. They have been deceived for generations because of the bitterness of being the forgotten part of the family and left to die. Jesus ready stands to save the child of the promise and the child of the earth.

Help us Lord, not to miss what you are saying about avoiding the snares of death on either side of the promise. Every promise of life is fulfilled in Christ! If we are deceived on this side of the promise to believe that our goodness has wrought it, we will miss it. If we believe that our having been used and taken advantage of wins the redemption of it, we have missed it also. In Christ the earth is saved for the Hagars and our souls are saved for the daughters of Sarah. Christ, we pray that You will make these promises of life effectual for our ultimate salvation and the improvement of life and healing on the earth, through Your Church for the glory of Christ and for the satisfaction and comfort of His Holy Soul! Amen.