Job 14:10–12

There is no hope for him for this earthly life. He dies and is done with. A plant, on the other hand, may be cut down to the worst state with nothing left showing, and yet it may shoot up again, especially if there is water to help it.

There was no mystery about the tree, but there was about the human race. Like the tree stump, the body of man wasted away in the ground. But there was no sign of life going on, as there was when young shoots sprang from the old roots of the tree. Still, Job realised that man was made of more than a body, for he spoke of his spirit, and this is what puzzled him. The body of the man wasted, but where was the man that lived in the body?

In Job 14, he does not go beyond this present world of sight, and in the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now, in plain view, in this present world. Man does not, and in fact never will, unless by a miracle, as with Lazarus. Death has fully passed on him as a dweller in this world — a child of Adam. He never gets that life back. Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor did he know here Him who is the resurrection and the life.

That is the language of man apart from revelation. It is the expression of one who is in darkness and uncertainty. Teachers of errors — soul-sleep, the wiping out of the wicked, and so on — often quote Job and the words of these friends to defend their false teachings. They treat them as if they were true revelations from God. But their words are only the expressions of the human mind, and often false and misleading. Scripture gives an unfailing inspired record of what Job and his friends said, but revelation is a different matter altogether.

The Lord answered Job's hard question in Luke 16:19–31 and Luke 23:43, and Paul answered it through the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 and Philippians 1:23. For the believer, death means entry into Christ's presence in the heavenly paradise. For the unbeliever, it means entry into hell with all its torments.

Justified and right with God as he was, he has died. That raises another question about him, and we read it in Job 14:10. We may well echo that second question, for we are not left in any doubt about the answer. For this we turn to 2 Corinthians 5:8: "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." That is where our brother is, WITH THE LORD.

Yet here is the fact. Man's body decays completely in the grave, but the fresh sprouting of a tree is a comparison, not a contrast, to the "sprouting" of a new body from the old in the end. Man's resurrection takes longer to come, but it is just as certain. Job knew this, as he says in chapter 19:26. In chapter 14, though, he is too taken up with the near future to give proper weight to the distant future.

Job had the resurrection of the just before him (Job 19:25-27), and no less the resurrection of the unjust (Job 14:10-12). The first is tied to the Kinsman Redeemer standing up on the last day on this earth of dust. The second is tied to a day when even the heavens are no more.

"Though the root grows old in the earth, and the stock dies in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dies, and wastes away." There is no hope for him for this earthly life; he dies and is done with. A plant is different. It may be brought down to its worst, with nothing showing, and yet it may shoot up again, especially if water helps it.

And the more, as life on earth closes for man hopelessly, though a tree cut down may sprout again, while, like waters that fail and dry up, man lies down, and rises no more while the heavens last. He speaks of "man" for this world, and nothing can really be conceived more exact.

This is man — the prey of sorrow, decay and death, with no ray of divine light, till all ends in utter gloom. But it is not actual extinction. Yet it is a "sleep" only broken when "the heavens are no more." How striking the agreement with Revelation 20:11! This resurrection comes after the resurrection of the blessed and holy, who reign with Christ. It comes only when the thousand years of their reign are over.

Many people stop there, but the Spirit of God, speaking here through Job, does not... We might have expected "till the earth is no more," which would be natural and easy to understand. But man lives and dies, and does not rise — not till the earth is no more, but till the heavens are no more.

But what is that sleep? That he cannot tell you. He only uses words that fit a man who knows nothing of the other world, or of the state between death and resurrection. Those words certainly do not say the dead have ceased to exist. They imply the opposite. When I say they shall not rise, they shall not awake or arise out of their sleep, these words assume someone who is asleep. He will not wake till a set time. It is not a statement of non-existence, but the contrary... Job does not tell me what becomes of his soul in the meantime, and I do not expect him to. The Lord tells me it is not destroyed with the body. The apostle uses this same word "sleep," adding "in Jesus" for the saints, who have their gain in death, because He receives their spirits.

He lies down and rises no more, so long as earth and heaven remain. This is not exactly the language of unbelief, nor yet of faith. It is one speaking as a man, and of things upon earth... Thank God, even in the Old Testament there was more light.

In Job 14 he clearly does not go beyond this present world of sight. In the bitterness of his spirit he has no sense of resurrection. The tree sprouts now and visibly in this present world — man does not... Job was right, only he did not see beyond, nor here know Him who is the resurrection and the life.

His wondrous words were "written" — yes, "printed in a book"... A "Redeemer" should one day stand upon the earth. Job knew this; and that, though his body should become the food of worms, yet in his flesh he should see God. He knew that he should die, and rise again... His memorable words are written in the BOOK OF BOOKS forever. So they give us the first clear statement of a life beyond the death that man's sin brought in.

"But man dies, and wastes away." There is no hope for him for this earthly life; he dies and is done with. A plant on the contrary may be brought down to the worst and nothing appear, and yet it may shoot up again, particularly if there is water to help it.

He speaks of "man" for this world, and nothing could be more exact. It was not the time or place to introduce the special blessedness of the first resurrection, which we shall find has its echo elsewhere in this book. Every scripture is given by inspiration, and consistent with every other.

There people very often stop, but not so the Spirit of God here by Job. For it is plain here he really does say what Scripture fully warrants — "till the heavens be no more." A very remarkable expression. It might have been thought to be — and that we could easily understand as a natural thing — "till the earth be no more"; but man lives and dies, and does not rise — not till the earth be no more, but — "till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep."

Yet it is certain that in Job 14:12 Job speaks of man's resurrection (i.e., of man, as such) when the heavens are no more and eternity begins, contrasted with the rising of the righteous like himself, to enjoy their hope when the Kinsman-Redeemer shall stand on the earth, which is clearly for the kingdom.

This is an exaggeration because the time seemed so long to Job, as though death was the end of everything.

He lies down and rises no more, so long as earth and heaven remain. This is not exactly the language of unbelief, nor yet of faith. It is one speaking as a man, and of things upon earth.

But you chiefly rely on Job 14:12: nor are you singular… Thus speaks Job: "Man lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." And if they do not, what does that prove? I believe that fully; but I would remark, that we cannot take all that Job says in the vexation of his spirit as revelations, any more than all his friends say, who did not speak rightly of God as he did.