“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” (Job 14:14)
When Job had his troubles, his three friends came to comfort him, but instead each in turn accused him of lying. This is one verse of 75 that Job answered Zophar the Naamathite’s accusations that he is lying and mocking when he says he is clean. In those days it was believed that misfortune was punishment for sinning. Job had suffered material loss, family loss and loss of his good health, reputation and status in his community. (Job 1:15-19; 2:7,8; 19:13-20)
When he states shall man live again, he refers to life on earth. There is no reincarnation. We do not return after death to live again on earth as the same person or another. Paul stated it in his letter to the Hebrews. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27) Job knew this. He had a revelation of the appointed times of the Lord for man. In verse 5 we get a glimpse of the revelation Job has of God’s appointed time for man. “Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;” (Job 14:5) There are appointed times for our birth, our living on this earth and an appointed time for death. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2)
Job wondered why all this loss had come to him. He knew he was righteous. Many say he was self-righteous and the fact that he knew he was righteous may make him self-righteous, but he had been fastidious in following the law. He couldn’t see why God was punishing him. That in itself is self-righteousness because none are righteous before God without Christ. But in those days, this was the belief. One was blessed if one was righteous and troubled if one was sinful. Job sought the Lord for an answer to know why he was being punished. “How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.” (Job 13:23)
Job never thought his life was going to change for the better. “...all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” In other words, he is saying he’s going to live out the rest of his life (his appointed time) in this condition until he died, until his body would change in death. I don’t think many of us think like this whether we are suffering from a sickness or in a bad situation. We will always think of a way out, a remedy or a miracle. We hate to think that living until we die in pain, sickness or misery is the way we are going to live until we die. People without hope may think this way. But as long as there is a God and we believe in Him, there is hope. God is a God of hope. “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13)
If we have been born again, we know about hope. We believe in hope because we have seen God’s miraculous hand in our lives. The Holy Spirit in us reveals hope to us in every situation, in every circumstance and in every affliction and trouble that comes our way. God wants us to have hope. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11) The King James version, the Webster’s Bible and the Catholic translations are the only translations that don’t have the word hope in it. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJ) The New King James, New International, New Living, English Standard, Berean Standard, New American Standard, NASB, Legacy Standard, Amplified, Christian Standard and at the least fifteen more versions of the Bible that include the word hope in this Scripture. This is also not including the Bible translations in languages other than English.
This is how good our God is. He is our hope. Yes, our times are appointed, but best of all, we have hope that our hard times are not perpetual until our death. We have hope in a merciful God, in a loving God and in a miracle working God. We have hope that any misery will end.
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