May the Name of the Lord Be Praised, Alan Wolff
IF A MAN DIES, WILL HE LIVE AGAIN?
Passage: Job 14:1~22  
Key verse: 14a
14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
2 They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
No one!(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;(M)
you have decreed the number of his months(N)
and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)
7 “At least there is hope for a tree:(R)
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots(S) will not fail.(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump(U) die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water(V) it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(X)
he breathes his last and is no more.(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(AA)
till the heavens are no more,(AB) people will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.(AC)
13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(AD)
and conceal me till your anger has passed!(AE)
If only you would set me a time
and then remember(AF) me!(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service(AH)
I will wait for my renewal[b](AI) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(AJ)
you will long for the creature your hands have made.(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(AL)
but not keep track of my sin.(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed(AN) up in a bag;(AO)
you will cover over my sin.(AP)
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(AQ)
and as a rock is moved from its place,(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents(AS) wash away the soil,(AT)
so you destroy a person’s hope.(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(AV)
you change their countenance and send them away.(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(AY)
and mourn only for themselves.(AZ)”
Cross references
- Job 14:1 : Job 15:14; Mt 11:11
- Job 14:1 : S Job 10:20
- Job 14:1 : S Ge 3:17; S Job 7:2
- Job 14:2 : Ps 103:15; S Jas 1:10
- Job 14:2 : Ps 37:2; 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8
- Job 14:2 : Job 8:9; Ps 39:4; 102:11; 109:23; 144:4; Ecc 6:12
- Job 14:2 : S Job 4:20; Ps 49:12
- Job 14:3 : Ps 8:4; 144:3
- Job 14:3 : S Job 7:18
- Job 14:4 : Ps 51:10
- Job 14:4 : S Job 4:17; Eph 2:1-3
- Job 14:4 : S Job 9:30; Jn 3:6; Ro 5:12; 7:14
- Job 14:5 : Job 24:1; Ps 31:15; 139:16
- Job 14:5 : Job 21:21; Ps 39:4; 90:12
- Job 14:5 : Ac 17:26
- Job 14:6 : S Job 7:19
- Job 14:6 : Job 7:1, 2; Ps 39:13; Isa 16:14; 21:16
- Job 14:7 : Job 19:10; 24:20; Ps 52:5
- Job 14:7 : Isa 11:1; 53:2; 60:21
- Job 14:7 : Isa 6:13
- Job 14:8 : Isa 6:13; 11:1; 53:2
- Job 14:9 : Job 29:19; Ps 1:3; Jer 17:8; Eze 31:7
- Job 14:9 : Lev 26:4; Eze 34:27; Zec 10:1
- Job 14:10 : ver 12
- Job 14:10 : S Job 10:21; 13:19
- Job 14:11 : S 2Sa 14:14
- Job 14:12 : ver 10
- Job 14:12 : Ps 102:26; Rev 20:11; 21:1
- Job 14:12 : Ac 3:21
- Job 14:13 : S Job 7:9
- Job 14:13 : Ps 30:5; Isa 26:20; 54:7
- Job 14:13 : S Ge 8:1
- Job 14:13 : Job 6:8
- Job 14:14 : S Job 7:1
- Job 14:14 : S 2Ki 6:33
- Job 14:15 : S Job 13:22
- Job 14:15 : S Job 10:3
- Job 14:16 : S Job 10:4; Ps 139:1-3; Pr 5:21; Jer 16:17; 32:19
- Job 14:16 : Job 10:6; 1Co 13:5
- Job 14:17 : Jer 32:10
- Job 14:17 : S Dt 32:34
- Job 14:17 : S Job 9:30; S 13:23
- Job 14:18 : Eze 38:20
- Job 14:18 : Job 18:4
- Job 14:19 : Eze 13:13
- Job 14:19 : S Ge 7:23
- Job 14:19 : S Job 7:6
- Job 14:20 : S Job 4:20
- Job 14:20 : S Job 7:10; 8:18; S 12:19; 27:19; Jas 1:10
- Job 14:21 : Job 21:21; Ecc 9:5; Isa 63:16
- Job 14:22 : Ps 38:7; Isa 21:3; Jer 4:19
- Job 14:22 : Job 21:21
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. At least there is hope for a tree (1-12)
Job thinks of the mortality of man and despairs. He wonders why God bothers with men. If indeed they spring up like flowers and wither away, if they are like fleeting shadows, why does God fix his eye on them? He says that a tree has more hope than a man because if it is cut down, it's stump will sprout again! Every man longs for immortality, for every man has an immortal soul. Job asks a fundamental question: 'If a man dies, will he live again?' Job, in his despair, could not answer at this time. But God's answer in Scripture is 'Yes' (1Co 15:12-20,49).
2. Surely you will cover my sin (13-22)
Job waits for renewal to come (14). He knows that he can only be renewed when God covers his sins. He prays that God may count his steps, but not keep track of his sin. But in his pain, he despairs. He can't think of anything but the pain of his own body.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for resurrection hope that you have given us in Jesus. Thank you for covering my sins with his blood.
One Word: Hope in God and in his Son