These teenagers were ready to celebrate! They had just finished their mid-term exams, and better yet, some of the last COVID-19 restrictions had just been lifted in South Africa. Hundreds of them decided to celebrate at a bar in a coastal town called East London on the evening of June 25-26, 2022. What they thought would be a night of fun, laughter and dancing would end in tragedy for 21 of them. The ages of those that would have their lives snuffed out would be from 13 to 17 years old.
Their sudden and unplanned deaths were to prove the truth of a very sobering message written to all of us in the Word of God, the Bible. It is this: “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death” (Ecclesiastes 8:88There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. (Ecclesiastes 8:8)). God warns us that each one of us will have to face the day of death, as these 21 teenagers did on that fateful night. When God determines that our time on earth is done, not one of us can stop or prevent it.
Both floors of the bar were jam-packed with young people dancing and trying to have a good time. But at about 4:00 in the morning, police received a call saying that there were “lifeless bodies” in the bar. Rushing to the scene, police saw teens who had fallen on top of tables, some who had collapsed onto the floor and others who were draped over chairs. Most of them were dead already. Two died at a clinic, one died on the way to a hospital, and one died at the hospital. None of them had any visible signs of wounds or injury.
So How Were Their Young Lives So Suddenly Cut Short?
At first it seemed that the mystery would be quickly and easily solved. A few weeks later it was announced that the toxicology report showed that there was methanol in all of the teenagers’ blood. Methanol is a toxic chemical that is a colorless liquid with a strong odor. Methanol can be absorbed through the eyes, skin, lungs and stomach. It is not used in alcohol for human consumption, but is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide and alternative fuel source.
Further testing would show whether there were lethal amounts of methanol that would have killed them. High levels of alcohol and carbon monoxide were ruled out as a cause of death, as was a stampede, as there were no signs of bodily injury.
One 19-year-old girl described how she narrowly escaped with her life in a phone interview with AFP. While trying to exit through a door crowded with people, she shouted, “Please let us through,” while others shouted, “We are dying, guys,” and yet others shouted, “We are suffocating” and “There are people who can’t breathe.” It was a scene of total fear and confusion!
She said this is when she passed out because she was running out of breath. There was a strong smell of some type of spray in the air, which they thought was pepper spray. When she revived after someone sprayed water on her, she saw dead bodies lying around. People tried to revive them with water, but to no avail. Her comment was, “I could have died.”
Ready to Meet God
Her experience shows why it is so critical to be prepared to meet God. None of those 21 teenagers had time to “get ready” for death that night. They were either ready to meet God or they weren’t. We decide where we will spend eternity in this lifetime, not after we die. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Police Minister Bheki Cele said, “They dance, fall, and die. Literally. Others would just feel dizzy, sleep on the sofa, [and] die. It tells you the story that they were all kids because somebody should have taken note.”
Every day that we have life God is giving us a chance to “take note.” We see the beauty of His creation; we draw breath to live; God’s Spirit speaks to us, telling us that there is life after death and that there is a God to whom we must answer.
God has made a way for us to know Him and to serve Him. There is a way to know that our sins are forgiven and that we will spend eternity in heaven. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). “For God so loved the world” — God’s love reaches out to everybody, no matter how deeply we have sinned; “that He gave His only begotten Son” — God sent His Son Jesus, who in love and obedience left the palace of His glory to die on a shameful cross and shed His royal blood for our sins. He was without sin, spotless, undefiled and pure. He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins; therefore, God raised Him from the dead so that we can be made righteous (right with God) in Him. If we put our faith in Jesus’ work on the cross for our sins, we will not spend eternity in hell but in heaven.
Families of the 21 teens were told a few months later by health officials that their children had died from suffocation due to “friction” caused by dancing in the overcrowded bar. Whatever the cause of death, the only thing that matters now was what choice those children had made about Jesus. Did they put their faith and trust in Him? Had they repented of their sins?
And what about you? While you now have life, you can make the choice to have “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:2121Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)).
We have spoken of the love of God. But the Bible also tells us of the wrath of God. The experiences described in A Night of Terror are a faint picture of what the wrath of God will be like.