Lenten Study Job Ch 14
Job both laments and hopes for the shortness of a human being’s life here. He is in so much pain from his loss he longs for the sleep of death. His greatest hope is that God turns His gaze from Job and just lets him live out the remainder of his life. Job has no way of knowing while God is doing the things to him, he is in Satan’s care, and it is the Devil who is responsible for these troubles, not God.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
1 “Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
2 “Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
Job 14:1-2 (NASB)
This is a statement about all people and is a fact—nothing amazing to see here.
3 “You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself.
4 “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!
Job 14:3-4 (NASB)
Human beings cannot hope to save themselves. We are incapable of keeping all the rules of Life. God created a system of sacrifices to cleanse our unrighteousness. Only God can make us right with Him. It is up to Him. That is why Jesus had to be God made flesh so that the one and only perfect sacrifice could be made to bring us right with God.
5 “Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.
6 “Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.
Job 14:5-6 (NASB)
Job assigns the responsibility for the troubles he has been experiencing to God. This is correct, but it isn’t up to God what troubles Job has. God gave that decision over to Satan. Under normal circumstances, Job’s prayers wouldn’t even be necessary because God would be blessing him as a righteous man. Job is simply asking God just to let him finish out his remaining time without all the attention he’s been receiving.
7 “For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail.
8 “Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil,
9 At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant.
Job 14:7-9 (NASB)
Job is likening the presence of water for a newly cut down tree as hope in a person’s life. The roots of the cut-down tree are not dead. They’ve had part of the plant removed. To try and save everything that is still alive below ground, the tree stump sends out as many new shoots with leaves on them as it can. The interesting thing about trees is that there is as much below ground for any given tree as above ground. That’s a vast root system that still needs to be nourished but has lost all those limbs covered in leaves reaching to the sun.
10 “But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he?
11 “As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up,
12 So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.
Job 14:10-12 (NASB)
Old Testament writers often used “sleep” interchangeably with death. This is a common theme: those who have died are not gone but asleep, waiting to be awakened from their slumber in the last days for the final judgment. Job’s hope is all but gone, and he likens that with the evaporating water. Everything living needs water to continue to stay alive. When that water is gone, so is the hope of life.
13 “Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
Job 14:13 (NASB)
This is a testament to how deep in despair Job is. He asks God to hide him in the underworld, in Hell, until God’s anger is gone. Job incorrectly assumes God is mad at him. Job has no way to know that God has turned him over to Satan’s care.
14 “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes.
15 “You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands.
16 “For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin.
17 “My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You wrap up my iniquity.
Job 14:14-17 (NASB)
Job doesn’t know what he’s done. He has no idea why this is happening to him. However, he trusts that God knows why. He is hopeful God will reveal to him what Job did to provoke God once he is dead.
18 “But the falling mountain crumbles away, And the rock moves from its place;
19 Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.
Job 14:18-19 (NASB)
Everything that seems intransigent and immobile eventually is worn down, passing away. Job’s hope has been so eroded at this point that he is close to being driven from God’s arms, but he has not yet forsaken his Lord.
20 “You forever overpower him and he departs; You change his appearance and send him away.
Job 14:20 (NASB)
Death. This is the change all most go through, altering the outer appearance but leaving the soul intact.
21 “His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.
Job 14:21 (NASB)
Parents generally outlive their children. In Job’s case, his children died first, and now Job has no idea if they are with God or not.
22 “But his body pains him, And he mourns only for himself.”
Job 14:22 (NASB)
So much has happened to Job; all he can do now is focus on the things that are overwhelming his spirit. He cannot figure out why everything is falling apart around him now. It is all-consuming.