A World To Come

A world to come.  Some scholars believe that the book of Job is the oldest book of the Bible.  We can at least agree that it is among the oldest books in the Bible.  In our reading today Job is lamenting his condition.  He is acknowledging God’s limitless power and man’s limited time.  Job says to God “a person’s days are determined and the number of his months depends on you” (Job 14:5).  To me, this is a remarkable statement of truth that we glean in other verses of Scripture, such as “it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  Job goes on to make a comparison between a human life that is cut down and that of a tree.  A tree that is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die (Job 14:7).  But a human life that is cut down will “lie down never to rise again.  They will not wake up until the heavens are no more” (v.12).  Clearly, Job’s statement about never to rise again is from an earthly perspective.  Unlike the tree that is cut down that will sprout again, a human life that dies does not replenish itself back to life from roots.  However, Job goes on to state that the person would not wake up until the heavens are no more.  Here, Job understands that this world will one day pass away and there is a new world to come.  In other words, there is coming a day of resurrection!