“If a man die, shall he live again?” —Job 14:14

No subject is of more compelling and universal interest than the possibility of life after death. This is because death itself is so universal and because all rationally minded humans want to live. No one, under normal circumstances, wants to die, yet all realize that so far as human foresight is concerned death awaits every member of the human race. So the question is in the hearts of all and upon the lips of many as to whether or not there is life after death.

Men and women throughout the ages, in their frustration over the death of their loved ones, and in the certainty of their own ultimate collapse before the “Grim Reaper,” have devised all sorts of philosophies in an effort to calm their fears and to deny the reality of what is so tragically real. They have attempted to believe that death is not what it seems to be; that it is not an enemy but a friend, a means by which humans enter into another and more sublime realm of life.

Over and over again the questions have been asked, both by the learned and the unlearned, Where are the dead? Just what does happen when a person dies? Are the dead more alive than the living? Thousands of years ago the prophet Job asked, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14) Thus did God’s prophet speak for countless millions who have mourned the loss of their loved ones, and who themselves, in common with all mankind, have dreaded the coming of certain death.

Job had a personal and vital interest in the answer to his question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” for he had just asked God to let him die. Job was not tired of living, but was worn out with suffering to the point where he wondered whether or not life under such conditions was worthwhile.

James wrote, “Ye have heard of the patience of Job.” (James 5:11) Job needed patience, for God had allowed exceedingly severe calamities to come upon him. His flocks, his herds, and his family were all destroyed. He lost his health, and became afflicted with a loathsome skin disease which covered his entire body. Finally his wife turned against him, and said, “Curse God, and die.”—Job 2:9

However, Job had no intention of cursing God. He trusted God even though he did not understand why he was allowed to suffer so severely. Understandably he sought release from suffering if it were God’s will, so he prayed, “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!”— Job 14:13

Having thus asked God to let him die, Job pondered the question of what would be involved if God answered his prayer and permitted him to die. So he asked, “If a man die [if I die, as I have requested], shall he live again [shall I live again]?” Job spoke from the standpoint of his own experience and feelings, yet, as a prophet of God, his words are divinely inspired, so we know that he phrased the question concerning life after death in a manner which is in keeping with the truth of God’s Word on the subject.

It is important to notice, therefore, that Job did not ask, “If a man die, is he more alive than ever?” Nor did he ask, “If a man die, does it mean that he has merely moved into another room, or has gone to heaven, or to a place of torment?” Job knew that when a man dies he is dead, so the question he asked was, “If a man die, shall he live again?”

Thus is brought to our attention the great fundamental truth of the Bible that life after death depends upon the reviving, the awaken- ing, of the dead. There is hope of life after death, not because there is no death, but because God has promised to use his mighty power to restore the dead to life. Job knew that if he were allowed to die to escape further suffering, God would later restore him to life, for he further said, “All the days of my appointed time will I wait [in death], till my change [from death to life] come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire unto the work of thine hands.”—Job 14:14,15