February 14 / Job 14

Job 14

Job continues his response to Zophar, turning his attention to the brevity of this life. Other passages of Scripture echo the notion that life is short. (For example, Ps. 78:39; 103:15; 144:4; Isa. 40:6-8; 51:12; James 1:10-11; 4:14.) Here Job bemoans that any chance of enjoying this brief life has been taken away, consumed by suffering — and all because God somehow chooses to focus His (negative) attention on man. (Job 14:1-6) He views a tree that is cut down, yet sprouts new growth from old roots, as having more hope than man, who dies and just returns to the dust with no hope of anything more. (Job 14:7-12)

But Job opens the door — just a crack, and only for a moment — to the idea of life beyond this one:

Oh that You would hide me in Sheol,
that You would conceal me until Your wrath be past,
that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my service I would wait,
till my renewal should come.
You would call, and I would answer You;
You would long for the work of Your hands.
For then You would number my steps;
You would not keep watch over my sin;
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and You would cover over my iniquity.

Job 14:13-17

If there were some possibility of life after death, then Job could endure this suffering and look forward to new life with his sin “sealed up” and “covered over”. But this is just a (cynical?) hypothetical for Job at this point. He does not grab onto it as a real hope. Instead he ends with his continuing view that he is steadily — and painfully — being destroyed. (Job 14:18-22)

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Finally, as an aside, I’d like to note that if the word “Sheol” trips you up, you can almost always substitute “the Grave” (capital “G”, so to speak) and arrive at pretty much the same meaning.