Job 14:1, 2, 14: Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Job’s observations reflect critical certainties with which we readily identify, namely that (1) human existence is, generally speaking, difficult; (2) life begins ever so full of hope & beauty only to either be (3) unexpectedly cut-short or (4) suffering the ills of age and fading away; regardless, (5) God knows (i.e., controls) the days & hours of life (Job 14:5) and finally (6) assures us of a life change. But not all aspects of this transition are clear so what do we know and what don’t we know? The answer may be found as we look to:
Historical Context: Attributed to have been written in the reign of Solomon or Hezekiah, during the Biblical golden age of wisdom literature, the book of Job tells of a righteous man whom God allowed, at Satan’s insistence, to be afflicted as a test of fidelity and integrity. Often referred to as an explanation as to why the righteous suffer, and to some degree it does, but the underlying essence of the book is really why a person should serve God’s explanation uniquely presented in terms of everlasting destiny (Job 14:14). Job’s friends insisted that to serve God was the safe thing to do: wickedness invites God’s fury while righteousness results in prosperity [the essence of modern prosperity theology]. Job agrees at first, (1:5) only to have to reconcile underserved pain in his own life misinterpreted by his friends forcing Job to confront questions heretofore never faced. Job learned that the real benefit of his piety was not about his wealth, health or off-spring; rather it was about God, the Creator and Judge of all, who vindicates a righteous life in the everlasting sense.
Grammatical Usage: The word change in Job 14:14 is halipa in Hebrew and is literally translated replacement or the concept of ending one existence and immediately beginning another. The word is specifically used to forcefully introduce the idea of eternal life being the reason to live a righteous temporal life, juxtaposing temporal vs. hereafter considerations.
Literal Application: Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. 2 He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
Contextual Interpretation: Job combines the pleas of two prayers, identifying himself as both mortal yet a creation of God. The resurrection to life hereafter answers his need for immortality while making creation understandable we are, indeed, a special creation as we reflect the image of God yet the result of sin has a natural negative influence providing specific weapons used by satanic forces against the righteous. In the end, our hope is in the everlasting life, not the temporal life where we are plagued by the kingdom of evilthat is if we are engaged at all for the Kingdom of God.
The doctrine of the resurrection to everlasting life is not well defined in the Old Testament. Job’s conclusion is so revolutionary in concept it shocks his friends with a here-to-fore unconsidered perspective. But in fact Ps. 17:15; 73:23-26 and 49:7-20 allude to God’s eternal intention for mankind. To be clear, Job was written in 1520 BC; the Psalms were not collated until late in Israelite history the postexilic era hence, the concept would have been radical in Job’s era. More forcefully, Isaiah 26:19 [760 BC] specifically refers to a resurrection while Daniel 12:2 couldn’t provide a clearer affirmation of a life after death but, again, these writings come after Job. So this whole idea of life after death was absolutely new to Job.
In Jesus’ time, most Greeks did not believe in bodily resurrection/immortality after death, the afterlife for the soul only. Imprisoned within the body, the soul was released to an eternal state. Christianity, in contrast, affirms body/soul reunited after resurrection. The church at Corinth was in the heart of Greek culture, so Paul is writing to clear up confusion to culturally conflicted believers. So we have established there is a resurrection.
Scriptural Comparison: Jesus interpreted Exodus 3 (to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) to imply unending existence: He is not the God of the dead but of the living Mt. 22:32. The continuing interpretive feud between the Pharisees (who held to the resurrection doctrine) vs. the Sadducees (who denied it) ended when Jesus forcefully condemned the Sadducees’ view when he stated, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Mt. 22:29; Mk 12:27; Lk 20:38).
But in relation to human death, what happens to the soul and spirit? The question implies a difference between the two, some insisting man’s make up is trichotomous (body/soul/spirit) others insisting upon a dichotomous position (body/soul-spirit). It is impossible to be dogmatic. What is clear is that the body refers to the material part of man, while the soul and spirit refer to the immaterial part of man including soul, spirit, intellect, will, emotions, conscience those things God-infused at the time of creation. It is true that when Paul uses the term spirit he defines it as the element in man which gives him the ability to have an intimate relationship with God (1 Cor. 2:14; 3:1; 15:45; Eph. 1:3; 5:19; Col. 1:9; 3:16).
The word soul has a total scriptural meaning referring to the whole person, alive or after death (Job 30:25; Psalm 43:5; Jeremiah 13:17). Taken as a whole, both refer to the immaterial part of man, but only the spirit refers to man’s walk with God while soul refers to man’s walk in the world, both material and immaterial. Remember Paul specifically writes in Ephesians 2:1, And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins clearly delineating between the soul and the spirit. Unsaved man has a body, soul and spirit. With his body he walks and talks; with his soul he thinks, feels, experiences; but his spirit is not activated or in tune with his Creator as it has not been quickened.
Paul affirms God will ultimately provide us a body that would be like Christ’s glorious resurrected body (1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 4:21). Indeed, just as with our Lord, our bodies which are now perishable, dishonored, weak, and natural will one day be raised into bodies that are imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual (1 Cor. 15:42-44). Our spiritual bodies will be perfectly equipped for heavenly, supernatural.
Conclusions: One last thing we need to address: when Stephen was dying he said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, (Acts 7:59) as he had the anticipation of immediately entering into the conscious presence of Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as an eternal unconscious state (soul sleeping, etc.,) which is what makes entering eternity for the believer so great immediately in the conscious presence of the Lord. It is also what makes hell so horrible immediately in torment, consciousness in the absence of God forever. Paul affirms in 2 Corinthians 5 that there exists no purgatory, not intermediary condition, no state of unconsciousness or semi-consciousness, no spiritual coma so, consequently, no lighting candles for the departed or prayers for the dead as some traditions have it. No, our destiny is fixed at the moment of our last breath and determined by our relationship with (or not) with God by a quickened spirit.