Job

Job 14: Our days are numbered by God

Begin in prayer

Before Job speaks of short days and a tree that sprouts again, please remember how quickly our days pass. Ask God to teach our family to number our days and to give us hope in the risen Jesus.

I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

Genesis 49:18

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Jesus, whose resurrection gives lasting hope beyond our brief days. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Job describes human life as brief, troubled and unable to escape God’s appointed limits. A cut tree can sprout again, but a person dies and does not return to ordinary earthly life. Job wishes God would hide him until His wrath passes and then remember him. He imagines God calling and himself answering as the work of God’s hands. Yet his thoughts return to sins counted and sealed up. He ends by comparing lost hope with mountains falling and waters wearing away stone, while a person departs into pain and mourning.

As you read Job 14, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God appoints our passing days, and Job longs for Him to remember the life that death brings low.

Job speaks to God about the limits God has set, so his grief is also a plea for mercy. His question about bringing cleanness from uncleanness admits a weakness no human strength can repair. A tree can grow again from its remaining root, while death removes a person from ordinary earthly work and family. That difference drives his wish for God to hide him, remember him and call him again. He says God would call, speaking of what he longs for rather than announcing a promise. The sealed bag pictures the guilt Job fears God is keeping against him. Job then says God destroys human hope, and his grief ends without relief.

How does Job 14 show us that God appoints our passing days, and Job longs for Him to remember the life that death brings low?

God sets the limits of our brief lives.

Flowers fade and shadows pass, giving Job pictures for human frailty. He says the number of our months rests with God. A person cannot extend life beyond the boundary God appoints.

Job longs to be remembered beyond present misery.

A living stump can put out new branches, while the dead do not resume their former earthly place. Job asks to be hidden and remembered at an appointed time. His wish makes us hear his need, without removing the uncertainty in his speech.

Job’s speech ends with hope worn away.

Water wears down stone and washes away soil. Job uses that slow destruction to describe what happens to human hope. His closing words return to pain and mourning rather than an easy answer.

Memorise

his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass;

Job 14:5

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, am I seeking lasting hope in Jesus while my appointed days pass?

Job sees a tree sprout after being cut down and longs for God to remember him. His own speech moves between that longing and the fear that hope is being worn away. Death is more than he can overcome.

First Corinthians 15 verses 20 to 23 announces that Jesus has risen from the dead. Those who belong to Him will also be raised at His coming. He secured that future by dying in His people’s place and bearing the judgment their sins required. His finished sacrifice paid for their sins in full. His bodily resurrection gives their hope a living foundation.

Turn from sin and trust the risen Christ. He forgives everyone who comes to Him. Our passing days cannot give us mastery over death, but Jesus brings His people into the life He has won.

Parent's note

Tell your children that their brief lives are in God’s hands, and lasting hope is found through faith in Jesus. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for appointing our days and giving hope in Christ, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Father, thank You that our passing days remain in Your hands. Forgive us for living as though this life could last forever. Please bring us to repentance and faith in Jesus, who rose from death. Help us use this week to seek You and love others. In Jesus' name, Amen.