It is important to realize that Old Testament saints did not have the understanding we have been given this side of the cross. Their view of the afterlife was shadowy at best, and their thoughts about it often seem plagued with doubts and fears. The writer of Ecclesiastes is often very mournful, because he has blinders on and has so little hope in the afterlife. His words are often similar to those of Job. He often asks mournful questions in his prayer journal.
Find the doubting question or statement in Part A, and then find the New Testament answer in Part B.
1. What’s it all about?
A. Ecclesiastes 1:2
B. Colossians 3:1-4
2. Is there an afterlife?
A. Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
B. John 11:25; John 14:1-3
3. Is there no Comforter?
A. Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
B. John 14:16-18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Now turn to Job 14 and find the doubting or mournful statement in part A, and the New Testament promise in part B.
1. Is there any hope of forgiveness at life’s end?
A. Job 14:1-4
B. Romans 8:1-2; 1 John 1:9
2. Is there any hope we will have new bodies?
A. Job 14:7-12
B. 1 Corinthians 15:35-55
Job's Lament and Plea
1. Job rejects suicide, but does wish God would take his life. But then he is afraid of even that, for his view of the afterlife is so shadowy. So in his lament, he expresses what he wishes God would make happen. Find it in Job 14:13.
2. Find the question he asks of God in Job 14:14a.
The Glorious Revelation
1. As can happen in a lament, the Spirit of God now speaks to the one who is lamenting. Job’s doubt begins to turn to hope in the last part of Job 14:14. Find it.
2. Here is the glorious promise, beginning in Job 14:15.
- What does Job realize is going to happen after his death and why? (verse 15)
- Contemplate this phrase “you will long for the creature your hands have made.” If you are a mother or a spiritual mother, compare this to your feelings about your “child.” Though you didn’t “make your child,” you surely had a part in what she or he has become. What does this phrase mean to you?
- This is exactly what happened to Lazarus in John 11. How did Jesus feel about Lazarus? What did He do?
- How does Jesus feel about Job? About you? About your loved one in Him? What will He do?
3. What does God also reveal to Job in Job 14:16?
4. And what else in Job 14:17?
5. How will you apply this to your heart?
