DAILY READING : JOB 14 - 16

 

TEXT : Job 14:12  So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. Job 14:13  O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, an d remember me! Job 14:14  If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

 

THEME : RESURRECTION

 

Job changes the subj ect abruptly, bringing in the doctrine of man's ultimate departure from this world. Thus, Job accentuates the obvious - that is, all men die. In this Job finds comfort from his troubles. Namely, that he shall lie in the grave and be free from [all] the problems this life brings. [Job_5:7  Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.] Job amplifies this comforting thought, knowing he shall not always lie in a grave.

 

"So man lieth down,.... Or "and", or "but man lieth down" (b); in the grave when he dies, as on a bed, and takes his rest from all his labours, toil and troubles, and lies asleep, and continues so till the resurrection morn." [John Gill]

 

By the power of God through Christ, those who trust in Christ will rise again. However, the wicked shall also rise. Thus, we have two resurrections mentions in the Bible -one of the just, one of the unjust. Both are performed by the will and power of God and are not the work of Man. Once a man or wo man is taken from the earth, they never return to the place they were before. For Job, this is his consolation in his manifold sufferings.

 

"and riseth not; from off his bed, or comes not out of his grave into this world, to the place where he was, and to be engaged in the affairs of life he was before, and never by his own power; and whenever he will rise, it will be by the power of God, and this not till the last day, when Christ shall appear in person to judge the world; and then the dead in Christ will rise first, at the beginning of the thousand years, and the wicked at the end of them." [Gill]

 

The Bible teaches us those who have died in Christ will rise first, and go before those who are alive in Christ into the Heavens. Further, it tells us the living shall be "caught up together" and all of us shall forever be with the LORD.

 

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 

After this, after a seven year period of Great Tribulation shall come on the earth. Then, Christ will rule and reign for a thousand years before the wicked dead are resurrected and judged to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire with the Devil who deceived them.

 

"Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep; for so the words are to be read, not in connection with those that go before, but with the last clauses; though the sense is much the same either way, which is, that those who are fallen asleep by death, and lie sleeping in their graves, and on their beds, these shall neither awake of themselves, nor be awaked by others, "till the heavens be no more"; that is, never, so as to awake and arise of themselves, and to this natural life, and to be concerned in the business of it; which sometimes seems to be the sense of this phrase, see Psa_89:29, Mat_5:18; or, as some render it, "till the heavens are wore out", or "waxen old" (c); as they will like a garment, and be folded up, and laid aside, as to their present use, Psa_102:26; or till they shall vanish away, and be no more, as to their present form, quality, and use, though they may exist as to substance; and when this will be the case, as it will be when the Judge shall appear, when Christ shall come a second time to judge the world; then the earth and heaven will flee away from his face, the earth and its works shall be burnt u p, and the heavens shall pass away with great noise; and then, and not till then, will the dead, or those that are asleep in their graves, be awaked by the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and they shall be raised from their sleepy beds, awake and arise, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." [Gill]

 

To most, death is the great enemy. To the believer in Christ, it is his or her friend. It relieves [us] from this sin stained, cursed planet, and brings us forever into the presence of Almighty God! Therefore, death is a welcome friend to the Christian, and more so, for those who have suffered much.

 

"O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave - Dreadful as death is to others, I shall esteem it a high privilege; it will be to me a covert from the wind and from the tempest of this affliction and distress. Keep me secret - Hide my soul with thyself, where my enemies cannot invade my repose; or, as the poet expresses it: -

 

"My spirit hide with saints above,

 

My body in the tomb." [Adam Clarke]

 

To be hid from God's wrath during the period coming on us in the days in which we live is a blessing indeed. Therefore, it is said that the Christian is a dead man going to the land of the living, as the wicked are living men going to the land of the dead.

 

"Job does not appear to have the same thing in view when he entreats God to hide him in the grave; and to keep him secret, until his wrath be past. The former relates to the body; the latter to the spirit. That thou wouldest appoint me a set time - As he had spoken of the death of his body before, and the secreting of his spirit in the invisible worl d, he must refer here to the resurrection; for what else can be said to be an object of desire to one whose body is mingled with the dust?" [Clarke]

 

Because of sin, all men must die [physically]. This is true of believers and non-believers. However, the spirit of the Christian is raised to be with the LORD at the point or time of death, until he or she is reunited with their body for eternity at the first resurrection.

 

"And remember me! - When my body has paid that debt of death which it owes to thy Divine justice, and the morning of the resurrection is come, when it may be said thy wrath, אפך  appecha, "thy displeasure," against the body is past, it having suffered the sentence denounced by thyself: Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die; then remember me - raise my body, unite my spirit to it, and receive both into thy glory for ever." [Clarke]

 

TRUTH FOR TODAY : "OUR HOPE LIES IN ANOTHER WORLD!"

 

The Old Testament gives us only a few glimpses into the world beyond. However, when Christ comes, we have a much more full expression of the resurrection of the believer. We fi nd this in Jesus' miraculous deeds in raising several people from the dead during His days on earth - e.g. Lazarus, the widow's son, and the ruler of the synagogues daughter. In addition, we see Peter raise Dorcas, Paul the boy who fell from the window, and so forth. Of course, the greatest example is Christ in His own resurrection. Thus, our time spent here must be invested wisely. For death puts an end to all that this world has, and brings us to another where judgment of the things done in our bodies is executed. Once we go into the grave, the time of probation here on earth is over. Then, we will discover the worth of our lives contrasted by the nature of God and His righteous judgment of our lives and how we wasted or advanced them. That is, either with time invested in God's Kingdom with our gifts and talents employed with eternity in mind, or whether it was with time squandered on frivolous or temporal things that do not last.

 

"The change he waits for must therefore be understood either, (1.) Of the change of the resurrection, when the vile body shall be changed (Phi_3:21), and a great and glorious change it will be; and then that que stion, If a man die, shall he live again? must be taken by way of admiration. "Strange! Shall these dry bones live! If so, all the time appointed for the continuance of the separation between soul and body my separate soul shall wait until that change comes, when it shall be united again to the body, and my flesh also shall rest in hope." Psa_16:9. Or, (2.) Of the change at death. "If a man die, shall he live again? No, not such a life as he now lives; and therefore I will patiently wait until that change comes which will put a period to my calamities, and not impatiently wish for the anticipation of it, as I have done." Observe here, [1.] That it is a serious thing to die; it is a work by itself. It is a change; there is a visible change in the body, its appearance altered, its actions brought to an end, but a greater change with the soul, which quits the body, and removes to the world of spirits, finishes its state of probation and enters upon that of retribution. This change will come, and it will be a final change, not like the transmutations of the elements, which return to their former state. No, we must die, not thus to live again. It is but once to die, and that had need be well done that is to be done but once. An error here is fatal, conclusive, and not again to be rectified. [2.] That therefore it is th e duty of every one of us to wait for that change, and to continue waiting all the days of our appointed time. The time of life is an appointed time; that time is to be reckoned by days; and those days are to be spent in waiting for our change. That is, First, We must expect that it will come, and think much of it. Secondly, We must desire that it would come, as those that long to be with Christ. Thirdly, We must be willing to tarry until it does come, as those that believe God's time to be the best. Fourthly, We must give diligence to get ready against it comes, that it may be a blessed change to us." [Matthew Henry]

 

If we live here according to His will, we can expect joy unspeakable and full of glory! Jesus tells us, if we believe on Him we shall never [truly] die. Further, whoever believes on Him, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

 

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: Joh 11:2 6  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

 

Thus, we have a joyful anticipation of leaving this world so we can meet Christ and enjoy Him forever!

 

"A joyful expectation of bliss and satisfaction in this (Job_14:15): Then thou shalt call, and I will answer thee. Now, he was under such a cloud that he could not, he durst not, answer (Job_9:15, Job_9:35; Job_13:22); but he comforted himself with this, that there would come a time when God would call and he should answer. Then, that is, (1.) At the resurrection, "Thou shalt call me out of the grave, by the voice of the archangel, and I will answer and come at the call." The body is the work of God's hands, and he will have a desire to that, having prepared a glory for it. Or, (2.) At death: "Thou shalt call my body to the grave, and my soul to thyself, and I will answer, Ready, Lord, ready - Coming, coming; here I am." Gracious souls can cheerfully answer death's summons, and appear to his wri t. Their spirits are not forcibly required from them (as Luk_12:20), but willingly resigned by them, and the earthly tabernacle not violently pulled down, but voluntarily laid down, with this assurance, "Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands. Thou hast mercy in store for me, not only as made by thy providence, but new-made by thy grace;" otherwise he that made them will not save them. Note, Grace in the soul is the work of God's own hands, and therefore he will not forsake it in this world (Psa_138:8), but will have a desire to it, to perfect it in the other, and to crown it with endless glory.

 

Therefore, the [true] Christian has his or her hope in another world. The matters of this world, indeed, grow strangely dim, in the light of His glorious grace that gives us eternal life. Let us live therefore to please Christ in all things, and look forward to the day we are free from the constraints of the flesh, never more to be sick, feeble, or touched by sin. We will find this in His Kingdom. Even so - "Come LORD Jesus!"