Job 14: "Job expostulates with God setting forth: [1] man's
hopeless state: weak, prone to evil (vv 1-12), [2] Job's longing for another
better life after this one (vv 13-15), and [3] Job's complaint of a present
perplexity and hopelessness (vv 16-22). This ended the first trial of Job.
Perhaps it was at the close of the day, and the friends retired to ponder the
results of their discussion" (GEM).
MAN BORN OF WOMAN: How can man be strong, when he
receives sustaining life from woman -- a creature already weak and doomed to
sorrow (Gen 3:16)?
Job 14:3
Why does God look so unmercifully upon so piteous a
creature?
Job 14:4
"O that a clean might come out of an unclean..." (cp RV mg).
If only man did not inherit by birth the impulse to sin...
While it is true that cleanness cannot come from the unclean
-- Haggai makes this point (Hag 2:13) -- Job was incorrect to suppose that man
cannot be cleansed by God. This is the work of Jesus, but was available to all
by faith (Gen 15:6). However, it is righteousness that is imputed -- not
cleanness. Maybe Job should have used a Biblical word rather than one of his own
making.
Job 14:6
SO LOOK AWAY FROM HIM: Do not look too closely to judge
him.
Job 14:7
If this is all there is to life, then a tree is better than a
man! The power of a plant to spring forth lies within itself (Gen 3:22), but man
needs "outside help" (v 10n).
Job 14:10
New life for man is totally dependent on God: Joh 3:16; 11:25;
1Co 15:21; Joh 10:28. Man has only one chance to bear fruit.
Job 14:11
Even the great rivers (Euphrates...Nile) are subject to
seasonal changes, dependent on the weather.
Job 14:12
TILL THE HEAVENS ARE NO MORE: "Till the Gentile times
be fulfilled..." (JT).
Job 14:14
In AV, "again" is italicized... not in original. Poss, "If a
man die, does he YET live?" Answer: NO! A change must take place
first.
Job 14:15
God's great care toward man, the work of His own hands (Job
10:8-12).
Job 14:18
Vv 18,19: Mountain slides...earthquakes...Even the strongest
things fall or wear away, with repeated assaults! And a man will do the
same.
Job 14:19
SO YOU DESTROY MAN'S HOPE: That is, all the things in
which man (falsely) hopes: his wealth, his buildings, his plantings, his desire
for lasting fame, etc.
Job 14:20
In the unequal struggle, God invariably prevails and man
succumbs.