"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come."
Job 14:14
Part 1
In this passage, Job has been answering his “friends” about his vast personal loss. In chapter 14, he moves away from his own thoughts about himself to the more general ideas about what happens to a man when he dies. In verses 10-12, Job has claimed that men will not live again in this present world. But in verse thirteen, he is hoping for a “set time” when God will remember him and call him out of his secret hiding place, his grave. And then, in verse 14, he asks the great question, “If a man die, shall he live again?”
“If a man die.”
People today live as if they were always going to live forever, as they now do on this earth. How foolish. Doesn’t nature teach us that all people die? Death comes for us all at the appointed time.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
The one notable exception to the “all men die rule,” will be the believers who are still alive when Jesus Christ returns. They will meet Him in the air without dying (1 Thessalonians 4:17). All others will contend with death. But here’s Job’s relevant concern,
“Shall he live again?”
This is the real question since everyone dies. Individuals have had many and varied answers to this issue for eons. Where can we find the correct answer? We need to turn to the one who has been there. Who has defeated death, and returned victoriously?
“It was a tremendous question: but let us remind ourselves that there is no answer to it, save that which came to men through Jesus Christ and His Gospel. As Paul said, it is He ‘Who brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel’ (2 Timothy 1:10). The question of Job was answered by Jesus, and that so completely as to leave no room for doubt.”[1] (Morgan)
Jesus taught that the resurrection will come. Tomorrow we will finish up essential verse, come and join us.
[1] Morgan, as quoted by David Guzik. David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.