Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
A worn root and a lifeless stump can still sprout again when water reaches them. A man is not like that, for when he dies and wastes away no spark of life remains in him to renew himself by any power of nature. Death is a blank, unconscious sleep in darkness and silence, without thought, remembrance, or work. Any life again depends wholly on God remembering and calling the sleeper from the dust at His appointed time. At the Redeemer's coming the dead receive immortality by resurrection, and believers who sleep rest in hope of reunion, so mourners need not grieve without hope.
Tree Contrasted With Man
Though the root grows old in the earth and the trunk dies in the ground, the tree is not utterly dead, for its tender life remains and at the scent of water it buds and puts forth branches like a new planting. Even when cut down by the woodman's ax, root life is kept so that new growth can replace the fallen trunk. All there is of man returns to dust, and his hope of future life does not lie in any part of his matter above another.
The image is the first half of a contrast, not an analogy for human resurrection by nature. Unlike the tree, a dead person has no life-germ left within himself, no spark remaining to kindle him anew. By no process of nature can he renew himself, show life again, or appear again among the living. If he lives after death it must be through a power outside himself.
In contrast to the tree, man dies and wastes away, gives up the ghost, lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more, neither awaking nor being raised out of sleep. No human skill can draw signs of life from the lifeless body. He lies asleep in the dust, waiting in the grave until God calls him to live again at the appointed time.
The picture stands within Job's discussion of death and the hope of living again, where he asks to be hidden and kept secret until wrath is past. It belongs to the lament that man born of woman lives few and troubled days, springing to light like a tender flower in the morning, blossoming in youth and withered in age before night, and fleeing like a shadow. He lies down in dreamless sleep like waters failing from the deep and summer brooks running dry, with no more waking till the arching heavens break and nature disappears.
Death as Unconscious Sleep
Death is the exact opposite of life, the cessation of continued conscious existence in a blank unconscious sleep of darkness, silence, forgetfulness and rest. In that sleep the dead know not anything, thoughts perish, there is no remembrance, and its quiet sleepers perform no work nor device and possess no knowledge nor wisdom. The wicked cease from troubling and the weary rest together in the dust, with corruption and the worm, consumed and corrupted. The dead are asleep in death without conscious activity or thought.
The brain is the organ of thought as the eye is the organ of vision, so when the brain loses its vitality the tide of conscious life ceases to flow. Man does not naturally possess immortality. Immortality is received as a gift through resurrection or translation at the Lord's coming.
The dead remain in the grave and do not live consciously in bliss or misery. Death is not the gate to endless life. The dead cannot communicate with the living, and human skill cannot draw signs of life from the lifeless body, so their hope is awakening and restoration at the resurrection and not life immediately after death. The Sheol where Job asks to be hidden is the grave, the common receptacle of all mankind in death for the righteous as well as the wicked, not a place of punishment. The Hebrew word there is Sheol, exactly equivalent to the Hades of the New Testament, meaning the invisible world. Without a resurrection even they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished and lost.
Resurrection Hope and Comfort
Future life depends wholly on resurrection by the direct power of God, since unlike the tree that keeps life to sprout again at the scent of water, man has no life-germ left in himself by which any process of nature could bring him back among the living. Nothing less than that power, with the voice of the archangel, can awaken him and call him forth who lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more. Till then the dead sleep hidden in the dust until wrath is past, waiting all the days of the appointed time till change comes at a set time when God remembers and calls and has desire to the work of His hands. The tree whose root waxes old in the earth and whose stock dies in the ground therefore sets the contrast that makes God's call the only means by which life can be restored, with the grave as the place of waiting until that appointed remembrance.
Then the one who waited will live again and answer when God calls, and will see his Redeemer and God in his flesh at the Redeemer's coming. Death is thus a sleep in the dust and not a conscious life elsewhere, with hope anchored in being called from the grave and in the Redeemer's grave, even while man born of woman lives few troubled days like a tender flower and a fleeing shadow and lies down in dreamless sleep like waters failing from the deep. Immortality is not naturally possessed but is received as a gift through resurrection or translation at the Lord's coming, for death is not the gate to endless life and the dead remain in the grave. The hope of 1 Corinthians 15 dispels the grave's gloom.
For the believer who falls asleep in Jesus, death is a short, calm sleep and a lovely rest, with parting assurance of meeting again shortly at the soon coming of Jesus. The faithful who remain true to the moment of death rest in hope of the first resurrection and reunion, and the upright rest in God's care when they die, so loved ones do not grieve as those who have no hope. Job 14 is in this way a source of comfort while the bereaved look forward to that reunion. The old root and dead stock picture the apparent end of life, while nature's return from winter illustrates renewal and resurrection.
A worn root and a lifeless stump can still sprout again when water reaches them. A man is not like that, for when he dies and wastes away no spark of life remains in him to renew himself by any power of nature. Death is a blank, unconscious sleep in darkness and silence, without thought, remembrance, or work. Any life again depends wholly on God remembering and calling the sleeper from the dust at His appointed time. At the Redeemer's coming the dead receive immortality by resurrection, and believers who sleep rest in hope of reunion, so mourners need not grieve without hope.
Tree Contrasted With Man
Though the root grows old in the earth and the trunk dies in the ground, the tree is not utterly dead, for its tender life remains and at the scent of water it buds and puts forth branches like a new planting. Even when cut down by the woodman's ax, root life is kept so that new growth can replace the fallen trunk. All there is of man returns to dust, and his hope of future life does not lie in any part of his matter above another.
The image is the first half of a contrast, not an analogy for human resurrection by nature. Unlike the tree, a dead person has no life-germ left within himself, no spark remaining to kindle him anew. By no process of nature can he renew himself, show life again, or appear again among the living. If he lives after death it must be through a power outside himself.
In contrast to the tree, man dies and wastes away, gives up the ghost, lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more, neither awaking nor being raised out of sleep. No human skill can draw signs of life from the lifeless body. He lies asleep in the dust, waiting in the grave until God calls him to live again at the appointed time.
The picture stands within Job's discussion of death and the hope of living again, where he asks to be hidden and kept secret until wrath is past. It belongs to the lament that man born of woman lives few and troubled days, springing to light like a tender flower in the morning, blossoming in youth and withered in age before night, and fleeing like a shadow. He lies down in dreamless sleep like waters failing from the deep and summer brooks running dry, with no more waking till the arching heavens break and nature disappears.
Death as Unconscious Sleep
Death is the exact opposite of life, the cessation of continued conscious existence in a blank unconscious sleep of darkness, silence, forgetfulness and rest. In that sleep the dead know not anything, thoughts perish, there is no remembrance, and its quiet sleepers perform no work nor device and possess no knowledge nor wisdom. The wicked cease from troubling and the weary rest together in the dust, with corruption and the worm, consumed and corrupted. The dead are asleep in death without conscious activity or thought.
The brain is the organ of thought as the eye is the organ of vision, so when the brain loses its vitality the tide of conscious life ceases to flow. Man does not naturally possess immortality. Immortality is received as a gift through resurrection or translation at the Lord's coming.
The dead remain in the grave and do not live consciously in bliss or misery. Death is not the gate to endless life. The dead cannot communicate with the living, and human skill cannot draw signs of life from the lifeless body, so their hope is awakening and restoration at the resurrection and not life immediately after death. The Sheol where Job asks to be hidden is the grave, the common receptacle of all mankind in death for the righteous as well as the wicked, not a place of punishment. The Hebrew word there is Sheol, exactly equivalent to the Hades of the New Testament, meaning the invisible world. Without a resurrection even they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished and lost.
Resurrection Hope and Comfort
Future life depends wholly on resurrection by the direct power of God, since unlike the tree that keeps life to sprout again at the scent of water, man has no life-germ left in himself by which any process of nature could bring him back among the living. Nothing less than that power, with the voice of the archangel, can awaken him and call him forth who lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more. Till then the dead sleep hidden in the dust until wrath is past, waiting all the days of the appointed time till change comes at a set time when God remembers and calls and has desire to the work of His hands. The tree whose root waxes old in the earth and whose stock dies in the ground therefore sets the contrast that makes God's call the only means by which life can be restored, with the grave as the place of waiting until that appointed remembrance.
Then the one who waited will live again and answer when God calls, and will see his Redeemer and God in his flesh at the Redeemer's coming. Death is thus a sleep in the dust and not a conscious life elsewhere, with hope anchored in being called from the grave and in the Redeemer's grave, even while man born of woman lives few troubled days like a tender flower and a fleeing shadow and lies down in dreamless sleep like waters failing from the deep. Immortality is not naturally possessed but is received as a gift through resurrection or translation at the Lord's coming, for death is not the gate to endless life and the dead remain in the grave. The hope of 1 Corinthians 15 dispels the grave's gloom.
For the believer who falls asleep in Jesus, death is a short, calm sleep and a lovely rest, with parting assurance of meeting again shortly at the soon coming of Jesus. The faithful who remain true to the moment of death rest in hope of the first resurrection and reunion, and the upright rest in God's care when they die, so loved ones do not grieve as those who have no hope. Job 14 is in this way a source of comfort while the bereaved look forward to that reunion. The old root and dead stock picture the apparent end of life, while nature's return from winter illustrates renewal and resurrection.