Bible Reading: Genesis 48; Job 14; Luke 1:39-80; 1 Corinthians 2
Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Job's suffering brings out some thinking on life and death. Here he makes a statement that is so real and hard to take. In the larger scope of things, life is short and hard. We only have a few days to live out our lives on earth and many difficulties along the way. This is the result of the curse that God brought upon the earth when Adam sinned. The fact that death is coming for all and that life is filled with difficulty is something every man and woman has dealt with since Adam and Eve. Men fighting thorns and thistles and women facing the sorrow of conception and childbirth are days full of trouble. There is disease, persecution, struggle and trial on every corner.
Job 14:2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Job here compares life to a flower and a shadow. The beauty of the flower is so easily cut down as something brushes past it. The shadow is so fleeting when you try to grasp it and as soon as the sun moves, it is gone. Life is short and frail.
Job 14:3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
Here Job marvels that the Almighty God is actually watching him. He is also amazed that God is dealing with him seeing that he is so frail. Job knows that he is only a man.
Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Job shares the common fate of all mankind that he was born sinful. He is flesh and he asks who can bring something clean out of something unclean. His determination is that no one can. However, he is not taking into consideration the Lord Jesus Christ! He touched the unclean lepers and they went away clean. Jesus can give a life that is eternal and without end. He is the only One who can.
Job here is focusing on physical life and it is pretty depressing!
Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass…
Job knows he has a set number of days and he wonders why God will not just let him live them out and be done. But God is doing something so much bigger! God is showing his keeping power in Job's life. Job gives us a realistic philosophy of life. It is hard, short and limited. There is suffering and pain. But Jesus came that we might have an abundant, eternal life. Jesus became a curse for us so that we might be redeemed. You need to read Job and face the reality of life. Then instead of falling into despair, you need to trust in Jesus for eternal life through him.
In Christ,
Rody
