I WILL WAIT FOR MY RENEWAL TO COME

Passage: Job 14:1-22

Key verse: 14

NIV

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)”

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Footnotes
  1. Job 14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me
  2. Job 14:14 Or release
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All

14 “Man who is (A)born of a woman
    is (B)few of days and (C)full of trouble.
2 He comes out like (D)a flower and (E)withers;
    he flees like (F)a shadow and continues not.
3 And do you (G)open your eyes on such a one
    and (H)bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring (I)a clean thing out of an unclean?
    There is not one.
5 Since his (J)days are determined,
    and (K)the number of his months is with you,
    and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
6 (L)look away from him and leave him alone,[a]
    that he may enjoy, like (M)a hired hand, his day.

7 “For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root grow old in the earth,
    and (N)its stump die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put out (O)branches like a young plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and (P)where is he?
11 (Q)As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
12 so a man lies down and rises not again;
    till (R)the heavens are no more he will not awake
    or be (S)roused out of his sleep.
13 Oh that you would (T)hide me in (U)Sheol,
    that you would (V)conceal me (W)until your wrath be 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 (X)service I would (Y)wait,
    till my renewal[b] should come.
15 You would (Z)call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for the (AA)work of your hands.
16 For then you would (AB)number my steps;
    you would not keep (AC)watch over my sin;
17 my transgression would be (AD)sealed up in a bag,
    and you would cover over my iniquity.

18 “But the mountain falls and (AE)crumbles away,
    and (AF)the rock is removed from its place;
19 the waters wear away the stones;
    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
    so you destroy the hope of man.
20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes;
    you change his countenance, and send him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he (AG)does not know it;
    they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,
    and he mourns only for himself.”

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Footnotes
  1. Job 14:6 Probable reading; Hebrew look away from him, that he may cease
  2. Job 14:14 Or relief
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

No longer content to talk about God with his friends, Job addresses God directly (13:20), pouring out his bitterness, frustration, and pain. This becomes the opportunity to drop pretense.

Reflecting on human mortality, Job likens people with flowers that do not endure (2). Job envies the flowers: God doesn’t bring them to judgment! If only God would look away from people and leave them alone, like the flowers! Job also envies the trees, who have hope because they continue to sprout, year after year, but people die and are no more.

Job even envies the grave, where he might be free from God’s anger. His rhetorical question: “If someone dies, will they live again?” allows him a moment to long for such renewal, where God would answer, and not hold sins against him. But since no one who dies lives again, Job’s hope is destroyed (19), leaving only pain and mourning (22).

In Jesus we are given a different answer to Job’s question. Yes, there is One who has died and lives again (Mark 16:6)! Rather than judgment, his death brings forgiveness, and his resurrection gives us living hope. We need not envy flowers, trees, or the grave, but rather embrace this living hope.

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving us the answer to Job’s question in Jesus. Help me today to press into this living hope, awaiting renewal.

One Word: Jesus is Risen, our Living Hope