In this chapter Job gives some of the earliest statements in the Bible about the Resurrection of the dead.
After Job has shown what one can conclude about the resurrection of man from things which are apparent to the senses, he posits here his own opinion about the resurrection. It would be a horrendous and unhappy thing if man should so depart after death that he would never be brought back to life. This is because everything naturally desires its own existence. So Job shows his desire for the future resurrection saying, “Who will grant,” even after death,” that you will protect me in Sheol,” i.e. you would preserve me with the special care with which you protect man, “until you anger passes,” at the time of death. The death of man is caused by the removal of the divine action which conserves life, and so he said before, “Go away from him for a little.” (v. 6) God seems angry with a man when he takes his gift of life away from him, especially for us who believe that death came from the sin of the first man. He explains how he wishes to be protected even in Sheol when he says, “and will you determine a time for me when you may remember me?” For God seems to have forgotten man when he takes the gift of life away from them. Then he remembers man when he leads him back to life. Therefore, to determine the time in which God remembers the dead man is nothing else than to determine the time of the resurrection. He very fittingly calls this “protection.” (v.13) For when an artist, having dismantled his work, does not want to repair the building with the same material, like a house or something of the sort, he seems to have no care for the material of the house which is falling into ruin. But when he intends to repair the building from this material, he guards it diligently so that it does not perish. He calls this guardianship “protection.”
After he has expressed his desire to rise again, he next asks if his desire could ever be realized at some future time for desires are sometimes for things which are also impossible. He then says, “Do you think a dead man can live again?” He shows what he himself thinks about this saying, “For all the days during which I have not struggled, I await the time when my transformation will come.” We should note here that he had compared the life of man on earth to a soldier’s (7:1) and to the days of a hired man in another place (7:6) because both soldiers and hired men await something after their present state. Therefore, just as he expressed that the state of the resurrection is like payday for the hired man, so he now shows the same concept using the metaphor of the soldier. Note that he does not await the desired end in any part of the present life, because he likens all the days of this life to the state of military life saying, “For all the days during which I have now struggled.” One should also note that man does not await another life like this one, because then that one would be like a warfare also. But he awaits a life in which he would not struggle like a soldier, but will triumph and reign. So he says, “I await the time when my transformation will come.” He means here: For my whole life I struggle like a soldier, changeable and subject to labors and anguish. But I wait to be transformed in the state of the other life which is without labors and anguish. The Apostle Paul expresses the same theme of transformation in 1 Corinthians when he says, “We shall all arise but we shall not all be changed.” (15:51)
He excludes man being transformed in the state of the other life natural power saying, “You will call me and I will answer you,” as if to say: The future transformation will proceed from the power of your voice or your command, as John says, “All those who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it will live.” (5:28) Calling is characteristic of commanding, but answering is the obedience by which the creature obeys the Creator. Since the dead will rise not only according to the command of God to life, but also will be changed to some higher state by divine power, he then says, “You will stretch forth your right hand to the work of your hands,” as if to say: The man who rises again will not be the work of nature, but of your power and you stretch forth your helping right hand to this work when he will be elevated to the glory of the new state by the help of your grace. Or his statement, “You will call and I will answer you,” can be refer to the renewal of the body because he adds, “you will stretch forth your right hand to the work of your hands,” to the soul which naturally desires to be united with the body to which God will stretch forth his right hand as a helper when the soul will attain by divine power what it cannot attain by his own power.
Now that he has posited his opinion about the resurrection of the dead, he returns to the subject of his wonder before at how much careful attention God gives to the works of man. He expressed this when he said, “You observed all my paths and considered the traces of my footsteps.” (13:27) Here then he says, “You have numbered my steps,” as if to say: Now it is no wonder if you so diligently examine the deeds of man since you reserve him for another life. Note however that divine providence considers human acts in two ways. First, in the fact that he examines and evaluates them. He clarifies this when he says, “you have numbered my steps.” One numbers things which one cares about. Lest someone object that it is a mark for very great severity for God to examine the deeds of frail man with such great care, Job consequently emphasizes the tendency of God to pardon us when he says, “but spare my sins.” He means: Although you number these things still I am filled with hope that you may spare me. Second, divine providence is attentive to human acts in that he preserves the good and wicked deeds of men in his memory to repay them with good or evil, and so he continues, “You have sealed my faults in a sack.” For what one seals in a sack is carefully kept. Lest anyone say this sealing excludes divine mercy he then says, “But you cured my iniquity,” as if to say: You lay up punishments for sins in such a way that you nevertheless cure my faults by penance.
Go here to read the rest. Job demonstrates that evil does befall good people in this Vale of Tears. Divine justice would be offended if there was not a future life in which the scales will be balanced.
