Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Do they live in other lands, or has the grave closed over them forever? I. THE HEATHEN ANSWER; or the light of reason on this subject. The heathen looked forward to the future with grave misgivings. Even the most enlightened could do little more than form conjectures. In the absence of positive information, they based their arguments on the principles of reason. They felt, as we all feel, a natural desire for immortality. This universal instinct receives confirmation in many ways. 1. By the analogy of nature. All nature dies to live again. 2. By the anomalies of existence. (1) Social irregularities. (2) Unsatisfactory surroundings, (3) Early deaths. In the light of nature, we can only say that a future life is a possibility. II. THE JEWISH ANSWER. Here we pass from darkness into twilight. The Jews had the first faint streaks of Divine revelation. Their information, confined as it was to predictions and promises, was imperfect and unintelligible to the great mass of the people on whose conduct the doctrine exercised little or no practical influence. Such obscurity was in keeping with the temporary and progressive character of their dispensation. III. THE CHRISTIAN ANSWER. Here we come into daylight. In the light of the Gospel, the question of the text presents no difficulty. The Christian replies, in the full assurance of faith, "Yes, he shall live again." This is true of the soul, but what of the body? Modern science is apt to run away with a mistaken impression of what is meant by the resurrection. St. Paul meets the modern objection by his analogy of the seed. We are not left in uncertainty as to what takes place when a man dies. After death, the judgment. The human race will gather at the call of the last trumpet. All will live again after the long sleep of the tomb. (D. Merson, M. A. , B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. |
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