If a Man Dies, Shall He Live Again?

Job 14:1-22 

1 "Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.

2 He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

3 And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself?

4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one!

5 Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

6 Look away from him that he may rest,
Till like a hired man he finishes his day.

7 "For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.

8 Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,

9 Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.

10 But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?

11 As water disappears from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dries up,
12 So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens are no more,
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.

13 "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.

15 You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.

16 For now You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my iniquity.

18 "But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,
And as a rock is moved from its place;
19 As water wears away stones,
And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
So You destroy the hope of man.

20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;
You change his countenance and send him away.

21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

22 But his flesh will be in pain over it,
And his soul will mourn over it."

Job wavered between hope of a change after death to relieve his suffering, and with the doubts of being worthy to find his fleeting life judged for all his sin and shortcomings in life.  We find God’s word inspired Job to write things which he himself did not fully grasp.  He begins here with the trouble we are all born to, the sin nature as we know it, and how quickly man grows and dies as a flower of short-lived splendor or a passing shadow with little substance.  He knows judgment is due because it is impossible with man to cleanse himself from that innate sinfulness.  No one can bring clean from unclean, yet we know in Christ that He alone can do that in us by regeneration and rebirth by His work and will alone.  Our times are predetermined in His hand, and unlike a tree cut down and regrowing, man breathes his last and is buried to send no new shoot out of the ground as that tree.  Man dies, dries up, and stays there until the heavens are no more.  This hints of a resurrection and a new creation as the only hope for of a change for life after death.  Job pleads with God to keep him in the grace until His wrath on sin is abated and that God would remember him after that.  He then asks if a man will die and then live again.  This veiled hope of a resurrection fills his thoughts because of the suffering he is going through, and the doubts of God’s love and care as the suffering is not answered with release and healing.  He knows that God loves the creation of His hands, and that will answer Job’s cry for deliverance.  More importantly, Job knows his iniquity will be covered by God, a picture foreshadowing Christ covering the sin of His beloved ones called to Himself.  Looking around, it would appear that there is no hope, that men just die and cannot even see their family grieve over them, and this makes him sad to consider the hopelessness of a life that simply ends without a continuation after the grave.  Job seems to doubt, yet hold on to hope in a resurrection or at least a life after death in some way, for the things he says are inspired by God’s Spirit and recorded here as scripture.  We see then that the book of Job offers hope in our suffering and doubts as well, pointing to fulfillment and clarification revealed in Christ by His work for our resurrection assurance through change in this life for the continuation through the grave and into eternity.  The question of whether a man shall live again after he dies has been answered assuredly, decisively, and absolutely in the life and work of Jesus the Christ of God for all He calls to Himself (Romans 4:17, John 10:3-4, 27-29).  Job’s question has been answered!