One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
The verse is poetry from the colloquies between Job and his three friends in chapters 3-31 about the cause and object of human suffering, spoken by Job himself from a limited human standpoint of wisdom and observation as he held to his integrity without understanding God's dealings yet without charging God foolishly. It describes one person dying in full strength, wholly at ease and quiet, paired with the contrasting case of one who dies in bitterness, showing that death can come with different outward circumstances and emotional experiences. It shows that the wicked prosper in this present life, since punishment is future and not executed here.
Such an easy death without distress is not the threatened punishment of tribulation and anguish. Whether healthy, comfortable and prosperous or not, and whether good or bad, all alike go at death to the dust, to the grave, to sheol or hades, a land of darkness, an unconscious place, so differing circumstances in dying do not mean a different state in death. The dead remain in the dust until they are brought forth for the day of destruction and wrath, for judgment and the resurrection of damnation, so rewards and final punishment are given only at the resurrection.
Because all enter the same unconscious grave, the conversation of the rich man and Lazarus cannot take place immediately after death. A peaceful or joyful death is not necessary for assurance of acceptance with God nor part of the promised reward for Christ's followers, and the righteous have hope in death even when dying is troubled or painful. God saw the end from the beginning and was working through such suffering what would glorify Himself forever, bring comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones, and prove a blessing to Job.
The verse is poetry from the colloquies between Job and his three friends in chapters 3-31 about the cause and object of human suffering, spoken by Job himself from a limited human standpoint of wisdom and observation as he held to his integrity without understanding God's dealings yet without charging God foolishly. It describes one person dying in full strength, wholly at ease and quiet, paired with the contrasting case of one who dies in bitterness, showing that death can come with different outward circumstances and emotional experiences. It shows that the wicked prosper in this present life, since punishment is future and not executed here.
Such an easy death without distress is not the threatened punishment of tribulation and anguish. Whether healthy, comfortable and prosperous or not, and whether good or bad, all alike go at death to the dust, to the grave, to sheol or hades, a land of darkness, an unconscious place, so differing circumstances in dying do not mean a different state in death. The dead remain in the dust until they are brought forth for the day of destruction and wrath, for judgment and the resurrection of damnation, so rewards and final punishment are given only at the resurrection.
Because all enter the same unconscious grave, the conversation of the rich man and Lazarus cannot take place immediately after death. A peaceful or joyful death is not necessary for assurance of acceptance with God nor part of the promised reward for Christ's followers, and the righteous have hope in death even when dying is troubled or painful. God saw the end from the beginning and was working through such suffering what would glorify Himself forever, bring comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones, and prove a blessing to Job.