DOES THE BOOK OF JOB TEACH ANNIHILATION?
Updated - 4/27/10
Some
passages from the book of Job have been offered as proofs of annihilation.
These passages have been examined and the results are presented in this study.
The following passages have been offered and examined:
o Job
7:9
If
additional verses from the book of Job are offered as proofs of annihilation
then those verses will also be examined.
Statements from Job 3:16-22
have been offered as proofs of annihilation
We
read in Job 3:16-22:
16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not
been; as infants which never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling;
and there the weary be at rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together;
they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there; and the
servant is free from his master.
20
¶ Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in
soul;
21 Which long for death, but it cometh
not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are
glad, when they can find the grave?
Some
of this language may appear to teach the annihilation of the unsaved. However,
in studying any passage, we have to read all of it very carefully and compare
it with other verses that might relate.
We
want to remember that this passage, along with the rest of the book of Job, has
a historic application to the man Job.
The
primary focus of the book of Job is upon the Lord Jesus and the suffering that
He did on behalf of the believers. However, the events recorded actually
happened to Job and the words that he spoke about himself under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit have an application to Job himself.
We
also know from Job 1:1 that Job was a true believer. We read there:
There was a man in
the
This
God’s assessment of Job so we can know that Job was a true believer.
In
chapter 3, the man Job is desiring that somehow that he never would have been
born or that he might have died in child birth. In that case, he reasons, that
he never would have had to suffer in this world.
Job
is hoping that there is some way for him to escape his present suffering.
We
will now examine some of the language of this passage that may appear to teach
annihilation.
We
read in verse 16:
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as
infants which never saw light.
The
phrase “I had not been” may sound like it teaches a cessation of
existence. However, we have to notice something very important in this
statement.
That
is, Job is speaking. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Job says “I
had not been”.
It
is very important that God has guided this statement to include a personal
reference to Job himself.
We
know that Job was a true believer.
Verse
16 is talking about a baby dying in child birth. Job wishes that he had died in
child birth. Then, he would have escaped coming into this world and having to
enduring this suffering.
Now,
we have to consider a very important question:
If
Job had died during child birth would he have ceased to exist?
No.
That would be impossible because Job was one of God’s elect.
If
Job would have died during child birth, then it would have been necessary for
God to have saved him in the womb. The evidence of the Bible is that John the
Baptist was saved from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). God can save an elect
person in his mother’s womb.
Because
Job was one of God’s elect, Job could not cease to exist even if he had died in
child birth.
Therefore,
we can know that Job 3:16 cannot not teach annihilation. This verse is speaking
about Job Himself and Job was a true believer. He could not be annihilated.
The
language “I had not been” from Job 3:16 is similar to what we read in
Genesis 5:24.
We
read in Genesis 5:24:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for
God took him.
Enoch
was a true believer.
The
Bible says regarding Enoch, “he was not”. This is similar to the
phrase “I had not been” that we find in Job 3:16.
Is
Genesis 5:24 saying that Enoch ceased to exist?
No.
It is saying that Enoch was not in this world anymore. The end of the verse
gives more information. God took him.
In
the same way, Job 3:16 is not saying that Job would have ceased to exist.
Rather, Job 3:16 is saying that if Job had died in child-birth then he would
have not had to come into this world and would have avoided experiencing his
present suffering.
The
translation of Job 3:16 could also give the wrong idea.
In
Job 3:16 the translators put the phrase “I had not been”, but the
original Hebrew text is most commonly translated “I was not”.
The
phrase “I had not been” sounds more forceful, giving the idea of
annihilation. However, a more accurate and common translation would be “I
was not”.
When
we make this translation correction, we can see how the language of Job 3:16 is
similar to Genesis 5:24. We see the phrase “was not” in both:
Genesis
5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was
not; for God took him.
Job
3:16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I
was not; as infants which never saw light.
Genesis
5:24 is emphasizing that Enoch “was not” in the earth anymore. Job 3:16
is emphasizing Job’s desire that he “was not” in the earth anymore. In that
way, he could escape his suffering.
We
can see that Job 3:16 is not teaching annihilation. That leads us to ask
another question.
Then,
what is Job 3:16 teaching?
We
read there:
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as
infants which never saw light.
We
get help with our question in the second part of the verse. God says “as
infants which never saw light”.
This
statement can have a Gospel application, but it also applies to this world. It
refers to not seeing the light of the sun. If Job had died as an “untimely
birth” then he would not have come into this world. He would not have been
in this world. He would not have seen the light of the sun.
In
Job chapter 3, the man Job is hoping that somehow he would not have had to come
into this world. Then he would not have had to suffer as he is suffering now.
In
Job 3:16, he is not saying that he would have ceased to exist. Rather, Job is
saying that if he had died in child birth, then he would not have been in this
world and would have avoided his present suffering. Since Job was one of God’s
elect, he would have gone straight from the womb to heaven.
Therefore,
when we study Job 3:16 carefully, noting the verse also applies to Job himself,
we can know that this verse does not teach annihilation. Being elect of God,
Job could not be annihilated. Rather, Job is hoping to have avoided his present
suffering by not coming into this world.
We
read some statements in Job 3:17-22 that may seem to teach annihilation. So, we
should investigate this passage to see if that is true.
We
read in Job 3:17-19:
17 There the wicked cease from troubling;
and there the weary be at rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together;
they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there; and the
servant is free from his master.
We
read about what happens when someone dies from this world.
In
verse 17 we read that “the wicked cease from troubling”. Those
that are put in the grave are not troubled by the wicked anymore. Satan and the
wicked of the world cannot get afflict those who are sleeping in the dust.
We
read “the weary be at rest”. The weary person who is suffering in this
world is “resting” or “sleeping in the dust” in the grave (Daniel 12:2).
We
read in verse 18; “the prisoners rest together” and in verse 19; “servant
is free from his master”.
These
verses seem to teach that once the unsaved die from this world, there will be
never again be any more conscious affliction for them.
We
do know that once someone dies from this world, that he will not experience any
more suffering at the hand of man.
The
question is: Do the statements in Job 3:17-22 provide a promise that the
unsaved will never experience any afflictions from God on the
other side of the grave?
There
are two important clues in Job 3:17-22 that we must examine.
We
read in verse 18; “they hear not the voice of the oppressor”.
Those
corpses sleeping in the dust in the grave “hear not the voice of the
oppressor”. The context of Job 3:17-18 is that of wicked oppressors that
trouble people. Those sleeping in the dust in the grave will not hear the voice
of the wicked oppressors.
Notice
that Job 3:18 says that they will not “hear” the voice of the oppressor
or taskmaster. When someone dies from this world and is buried, he does not “hear”.
This
is a true condition for those put in the grave.
However,
according to the Bible, this is not a permanent condition. At the end of the
world, those in the grave will “hear” the voice of God and come forth.
God
says that at the end of the world, all of those in the graves will “hear”
the voice of God and come out of the graves.
We
read in John 5:28-29:
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
Right
now, the unsaved that are sleeping in the dust do not “hear” the voice of any
of the wicked. However, at the end of the world the unsaved that are buried in
the graves will “hear” the voice of God and will come forth out of their
graves.
Back
in Job 3:17-22, God is talking about those buried in graves. Notice what we
read in Job 3:22:
Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when
they can find the grave?
Job
3:17-22 is talking about the relief that the grave provides for those that are
afflicted by the wicked. When someone dies from this world, his body sleeps in
the dust. He is no longer afflicted by the wicked.
Therefore,
he has the relief spoken of in Job 3:17-22.
Yes.
This is true as long as he is in the grave, sleeping in the dust.
When
someone is suffering and finally dies from this world, their body sleeps in the
dust. There is no consciousness in their body. That person receives rest from
the suffering of this world. He can no longer hear the voice of the oppressor.
He is sleeping in the dust in the grave (Daniel 12:2).
However,
God tells us in John 5:28-29 that the condition of Job 3:17-22 is only
temporary. At the end of the world, those in the graves will hear the voice of
God and will come out of the grave.
When
we factor in John 5:28-29 and other verses, we find that the relief promised in
Job 3:17-22 has two qualifications:
1.
Those in the grave will never suffer again at the hand of wicked men;
the wicked oppressors. Those in the grave are free from the wickedness of men.
That is true.
2.
The rest in the grave is temporary. During the duration of this world, those
corpses that are sleeping in the dust in the grave will not “hear” in the
grave. However, John 5:28-29 and other verses teach that at the end of the
world, all men will “hear” the voice of God and come out of the graves.
It
is true that when someone is suffering and dies from this world, that he will
no longer “hear not the voice of the oppressor”.
However,
at the end of the world, he “shall hear his voice, And shall come forth”
(John 5:28-29). He will hear God’s voice.
Job
3:22 makes reference to being in the grave. However, that is only temporary.
John 5:28-29 tells us that all of those in the graves “shall come forth”.
Therefore,
the relief promised in Job 3:17-22 is some relief. It is relief from human
oppressors. In regards to man’s accountability before God, at the end of the
world, John 5:28-29 says that all men will hear the voice of God and will come
out of their graves.
There
are those that argue that the unconscious corpse or bones of the unsaved can
“hear” the word of God without any consciousness. That is, an unconscious
corpse or bones can fulfill the statement of John 5:28-29.
One
point to note is that John 5:28-29 is talking about people. It is not talking
about the remains of people.
Again
we read in John 5:28-29:
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done
good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
The
“all” in verse 28 is talking about people; both the saved and unsaved.
It is not talking about the dust of bodies buried 1000 years ago.
More
importantly, we read in 2 Kings 4:31 that an unconscious corpse cannot
hear.
We
read there:
And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff
upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing.
Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not
awaked.
God
is speaking through the servant of Elisha named Gehazi. Gehazi is talking about
the unconscious corpse of this child and says that “there was neither
voice, nor hearing”.
Later
on, this child will be resurrected.
God
is using this incident to teach that an unconscious corpse cannot speak (no
voice), cannot hear and is not awaked, using the same Hebrew word translated “awake”
that is found in Daniel 12:2.
In
2 Kings 4:31, God is teaching that an unconscious corpse does not hear.
Therefore, when God says that the unsaved also shall hear the voice of God, He
is teaching that the unsaved will also awake to consciousness. They will
consciously hear the voice of God and will come out of their graves.
For
more information about the conscious awaking of the unsaved at Judgment Day
please see the study on the conscious resurrection of the unsaved.
Please see the study on
the conscious resurrection of the unsaved
It
is argued that Ezekiel 37:4 teaches that unconscious dry bones can “hear”.
Therefore the unsaved will “awake” as unconscious dry bones. We read in Ezekiel
37:4:
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and
say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
Based
upon this verse it is argued that the unsaved will “awake” as unconscious dry
bones and that these bones can hear without any consciousness.
However,
we have to read everything that the Bible says about these dry bones. We read
in Ezekiel 37:11:
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the
whole house of
In
Ezekiel 37:11 we learn more information about these bones. These bones can also
talk. They say “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off
for our parts.”
These
bones can also experience affliction. Notice that they are complaining about
their bad condition.
Therefore,
the dry bones of Ezekiel 37 can hear, talk and experience affliction. That is,
these bones represent unsaved people with consciousness.
If
someone wants to insist that the unsaved will be resurrected as dry bones that
can hear, then we have to follow everything that Ezekiel 37 says about those
dry bones. The unsaved, as dry bones, will not only be able to hear, but they
will be able to speak and experience the afflictions of the lake of fire. We
have more information on this subject in the study at this link:
Please see the study on
the conscious resurrection of the UNSAVED FOR MORE INFORMATION
It
is also argued that we don’t read about the word “life” in connection with the
unsaved in eternity future. Therefore, there is no conscious “awaking” of the
unsaved at Judgment Day.
For
more information about this question, please the following study:
Therefore,
when we look at Job 3:16-22 carefully, we see that it does not teach
annihilation.
Verse
16 includes Job himself in the discussion. Job was a true believer and could
not cease to exist.
When
Job 3:17-22 is examined carefully with John 5:28-29 and other verses, we find
that it teaches that when man’s body sleeps in the dust there is relief from
suffering at the hand of the wicked. But, finally he will consciously hear
God’s voice and come forth out of the grave at Judgment Day. So, the relief is
only temporary.
Let’s
consider another verse from the book of Job
Job 7:9 has been offered as a
proof of annihilation
We
read in Job 7:9:
As the
cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall
come up no more.
We
read the word “consumed” and it may make us think of annihilation.
Perhaps we think of “consuming” an ice cream cone. However, the Biblical rule
is that we must compare Scripture with Scripture to see how a word is used in
the Bible to understand what God means by that word.
This
same Hebrew word translated “consume” also appears in the following
verses:
Psalms
31:10 For my life is spent <03615> with
grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity,
and my bones are consumed.
Psalms
39:10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I
am consumed <03615> by the blow of thine hand.
Psalms
69:3 I am weary of my crying: my throat
is dried: mine eyes fail <03615> while I wait for my God.
Psalms
73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth <03615>: but God is the
strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
The
above verses are some examples of this same Hebrew word which is translated “consume”
in Job 7:9. In the above examples, this Hebrew word cannot mean annihilation.
Rather, the context of each verse is an “on-going” consuming of conscious
affliction.
This
Hebrew word is used a number of times to describe an on-going consuming of
conscious affliction or experience. We may think of the word “consume” in the
sense annihilation, but God uses this Hebrew word in verses in which it cannot
mean annihilation, but rather a continuous consuming of conscious affliction.
For
more information about how God uses this Hebrew word, please see the study at
this link:
DO THE PHRASES “FULL END”,
“CONSUME”, “UTTER END”, ETC. SIGNIFY ANNIHILATION?
The
next Hebrew word in Job 7:9 was poorly translated as “vanisheth away”.
Maybe the translators got this sense from the verse, but the Hebrew word used
here is mostly translated “go” or “walk”. Here are some examples:
Job 34:8 Which goeth in
company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh <03212> with wicked men.
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I
walk <03212> through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me.
Psalms 126:6 He that goeth <03212> forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Proverbs 3:28 Say not unto
thy neighbour, Go <03212>, and come again, and to morrow I will
give; when thou hast it by thee.
This
Hebrew word is used many times in this way. Job 7:9 is saying that the cloud
“goes” away. It is not saying that the cloud is annihilated. We see this in the
sky. Clouds are blown across the sky by winds and they can be undergoing a
continuous consuming and reforming and transforming as they blow across the sky
and finally they pass off the horizon. They “go away” in that sense.
We
will return to examine this first part of Job 7:9 in more detail, but now let
us look at the next part of the verse.
First,
let us consider the word “grave”. This is the Hebrew word “sheol”
which is translated “grave” about half of the time and “hell”
about half of the time. Because of how it is translated, some people have come
to the conclusion that “hell = the grave”, just a place of unconscious corpses.
However,
we have to consider everything that God says about this Hebrew word “sheol”
which is translated “grave” in Job 7:9. We find this same Hebrew word in
the following verses:
Psalms 116:3 The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the pains of hell <07585> gat hold upon me: I found trouble and
sorrow.
Isaiah 28:15 Because ye
have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell <07585> are we at agreement; when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies
our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isaiah 28:18 And your
covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell <07585> shall not stand; when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Jonah 2:2 And said, I cried
by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly
of hell <07585> cried I, and thou heardest my
voice.
In
Isaiah 28, the “overflowing scourge” is
an “overflowing whipping” which is a
conscious affliction.
In
the above verses, this Hebrew word “sheol” is associated with conscious
affliction.
The reason that the Hebrew word “sheol” is translated many times as “hell”
and many times as “grave” is given in Luke 16:22-23. The rich man is put
in the grave and the next conscious thing he knows is that he is tormented
(consciously afflicted) in hell. For the unsaved, the grave leads to conscious
affliction in hell. That is why the Hebrew word “sheol” is frequently
translated both “grave” and “hell”. For the unsaved, the grave
identifies with conscious afflictions in hell.
There
is more information on this topic in these studies:
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH
MAN & LAZARUS CAREFULLY EXAMINED
Let
us go back to Job 7:9.
Because
the Hebrew word “sheol” is frequently translated both as “grave”
and as “hell”, we will consider how to understand Job 7:9 with both
translations. Before that, let us do some ground work by looking at the next
word in Job 7:9.
The
next word to consider in Job 7:9 is “goeth down”. When we see words like
“going up” and “going down”, we often think of physical location. We think of
someone “going up” into the sky or “going down” into the grave.
However,
God uses the idea of “going up” and “going down” in terms of man’s relationship
to God. For example, we read in Ephesians 2:6:
And hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians
2:6 is talking about when we are saved. When God saves us, we have been “raised
up”. We did not “go up” in anyway, but we have been “raised up” in
our standing before God. In principle we are now “together in heaven” with
Christ.
Let
us consider two other verses:
Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem is
ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are
against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Revelation 18:2 And he
cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul
spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
In
the above two verses, God is talking about
Regarding
the unsaved, we read in Psalm 140:10:
Let burning coals fall upon them: let them
be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
Psalm
140:10 talks about the unsaved cast into the fire. Those are the fires of God’s
wrath. It also talks about burning coals “falling” on them, and that
these unsaved will not “rise up”.
On
Judgment Day, we don’t have any Biblical information that burning coals are
literally going to be “falling” from the sky upon the unsaved. Rather,
on Judgment Day, the wrath of God will be “falling” from heaven upon the
unsaved. The wrath of God comes from God, who is in heaven.
Also,
the unsaved will not be able to “rise up” like we read in Ephesians 2:6.
The true believers are “raised up” with Christ upon salvation. The true
believers are not physically raised. Rather, we are “raised up” in our
standing before God. However, at Judgment Day, the unsaved will be cast down
under the wrath of God and will never be “raised up” with Christ.
These
are some examples of how God uses the idea of “rising” and “falling” to relate
to man’s relationship to God, who is “up there” in heaven, to use a figure of
speech.
Let
us go back to Job 7:9 and apply these Biblical concepts. We read there:
As
the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave
shall come up no more.
Let
us look at the second part of the verse first. The word “grave” is the
Hebrew word “sheol” which could equally well be translated “hell”.
We are going to consider Job 7:9 with both translations. First, let us consider
Job 7:9 with the Hebrew word “sheol” translated as “hell”.
The
unsaved are cast into hell or the lake of fire because of their sins. God gives
a number of verses that identify hell with conscious affliction that goes with
experiencing the wrath of God. There is more information on this subject in the
study at this link:
In
Job 7:9, the idea that the unsaved person “goeth down” can be understood
with the help of Psalm 140:10 and the other verses given. The unsaved at
Judgment Day are symbolically cast down from God, and away from God. They will
be cast down into the “pit” another figure that God uses for hell.
As
Job 7:9 says, once they are cast into hell, they “shall come up no more”.
This ties into Ephesians 2:6 and other verses. Those cast into hell at Judgment
Day are forever under the wrath of God and shall never be “raised up”
with Christ in salvation. They will remain forever down under the wrath of God.
Let
us consider Job 7:9 using the translation “grave” as the KJV translators
selected.
When
the unsaved die and their bodies sleep in the dust and are put into a grave,
they will never be “raised up” with Christ in salvation. In that sense,
they shall come up no more”. When we die from this world unsaved,
and our bodies sleep in the dust, there is no more possibility of salvation. We
will never “come up” from being under the wrath of God.
This
ties into the first part of Job 7:9 which describes the nature of the wrath of
God upon the unsaved.
We
looked at several verses in which God uses this same Hebrew word translated “consume”
to describe an on-going “consuming” of conscious affliction. That is the nature
of hell or the lake of fire.
Also,
the unsaved are sent away from God. The translation “vanisheth away”
gives the wrong impression. The unsaved “go away” from God. They are
cast away from God.
When
we read verse 10, it helps us to understand more about what Job 7:9 means by
the unsaved not coming up out of the grave. We read:
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth
away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
10 He shall return no more to his house, neither
shall his place know him any more.
In
verse 9, God talks about the unsaved in the grave and says that they “shall
come up no”. The word “more” is not in the Hebrew. In the
Hebrew text, the verse literally says “they shall not come up”.
Then
in verse 10 God gives more explanation about what He means by the fact that the
unsaved “shall not come up”. God says “He shall return no more to his
house, neither shall his place know him any more.” The “house” and “place”
have to do with this world and what the unsaved had in this world.
Verse
10 is focusing on the fact that the unsaved have lost everything they had in
this world. They will never come back to the things they had in this earth.
Whereas, the true believers will inherit the earth, to use the language of
Matthew 5:5. The true believers inherit the new earth. But, the unsaved lose
everything.
So,
the context of Job 7:10 points to the unsaved not coming up out of the grave to
receive anything again from this world. They will come out of their graves at
the end of the world to experience the wrath of God.
Someone
can think of Job 7:9 in terms of the corpse of man returning to the dust and
the man not coming up from the grave. In that case, verse 10 gives more
explanation to what God means by the fact that he “shall not come up”.
Verse 10 indicates that he shall not come up to “return” to his “house”
or his “place”. That is, the unsaved have lost everything they had in
this world, they will never return to the blessings they had in this world. In
that case, Job 7:9-10 is emphasizing that the unsaved have lost everything they
had in this world.
However,
Job 7:9-10 is not teaching that the unsaved will not awake to consciousness at
Judgment Day. The Bible does teach that at the end of the world, the unsaved
will awake to consciousness, but they will still be down under the wrath of
God.
Regarding
the idea that the unsaved remain as unconscious corpses in the grave, the Bible
teaches that this is not the case. For the unsaved whose bodies are presently
sleeping in the dust in the grave, the Bible does teach that they will
consciously “awake” (Daniel 12:2) and will consciously “hear” the
voice of God (John 5:28-29) and come out of their graves. God has carefully
defined the Hebrew word “awake” in Daniel 12:2 to require conscious
awaking. Also, the Bible shows that the unsaved will “hear” consciously the
voice of God.
This
information is developed in more detail in the study at this link:
A STUDY OF 10 BIBLICAL
PROOFS OF CONSCIOUS RESURRECTION OF THE UNSAVED
We
will summarize Job 7:9 phrase by phrase. We read there:
As
the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave
shall come up no more.
1.
God gives examples of the word “consumed” in which it means an on-going
consuming of conscious affliction. This is the nature of the wrath of God on
Judgment Day.
2.
The translation “vanisheth away” gives the wrong impression. This Hebrew
word is mostly translated “go” or “walk”. The unsaved “go away”
or are “cast away” from God. That occurs at Judgment Day, but also occurs, in a
sense, when they die from this world, and their bodies sleep in the dust and
are put into a grave. At that point, there is no more hope of salvation.
3.
God uses the idea of man “going up” or “going down” to speak about his
relationship with God. The unsaved that are cast into hell or the lake of fire
at Judgment Day “goeth down” to hell. They are cast down and away from
God.
4.
Once we are cast down into hell or the lake of fire, we will never “come up”.
We will never be “raised up” with Christ in salvation. We will be
forever down under the wrath of God.
5.
Links to studies have been given show that the Bible teaches that the unsaved
who are presently sleeping in the dust will consciously “awake” and will
consciously “hear” the voice of God and come out of those graves.
6.
Verse 10 directs our understanding of the statement that the unsaved “shall
not come up” out of the grave to indicate that they shall not come up to
return to the blessings and things that they had in this world.
A
careful examination of Job 7:9 shows that it does not teach annihilation.
Rather, it shows that the unsaved will remain “down” under the wrath of God and
will not again receive the blessings that they had in this world.
Let’s
consider another verse from the book of Job
Job 10:18-19 has been offered
as a proof of annihilation
Let
us look at Job 10:18-19. We read there:
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out
of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
In
verse 19, we read the language, “I should have been as though I had not been”.
We
read similar language in Job 3:16:
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as
infants which never saw light.
The
theme of Job 3:16 is similar to that of Job 10:18-19. This language may make us
think of annihilation. However, we have to check out how every conclusion with
any verse in the Bible that might impact the understanding.
We
read in Genesis 5:24:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for
God took him.
Enoch
was a true believer. Concerning Enoch we read that “he was not”.
This is similar to the phrase “I had not been”.
Genesis
5:24 is not saying that Enoch ceased to exist. Rather, God is saying that Enoch
“was not” there. That is, Enoch “was not” in the
earth anymore because God took him to heaven.
We
can read “was not” or “had not been” and get the idea of a
cessation of existence. But, God does use these kinds of phrases to teach the
idea of “was not there” and “had not been there”.
Another
example is found in 1 Samuel 9:4. We read there:
And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed
through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed
through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed
through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.
1
Samuel 9 recounts the efforts of Saul and the servant to find the lost donkeys
of Saul’s father. The donkeys were finally found. However, in verse 4, Saul and
the servant are still looking for them.
In
this verse we read that they came to the
The
language “they were not” is similar to what we read in Genesis
5:24, Job 3:16 and Job 10:19.
With
passages like Genesis 5:24 and 1 Samuel 9:4, God is helping us to understand how
He uses statements like “he was not” or “they were not”. God can
use those kinds of the phrases to indicate that the one in question was not “there”.
In
the case of Enoch, he was not in the world, but in heaven. In the case of the
donkeys, they were not in that town. They were somewhere else. In the case of
Job, he desired not to be in this world.
This
is the idea that God is teaching in Job 3:16 and Job 10:19.
Job
was under great affliction in this world because he was being used as a picture
of the Lord Jesus as He was suffering for the believers’ sins.
In
Job 3:16 and Job 10:19, Job is desiring that he would never have been born into
this world. In that way, he could have avoided the suffering that he was
experiencing in this world. This is a big theme of Job 3.
There
are two important points to note about the translation of Job 3:16 and 10:19.
1.
The translators put the phrase “had not been” in those two verses, but
the original Hebrew text is most commonly translated “was not”.
The
phrase “had not been” sounds more forceful, giving the idea of
annihilation. However, a more accurate and common translation would be “was
not”
2.
Also, we read the word “though” in Job 10:19. However, this word is not
in the Hebrew text. It was added by the translators and gives a wrong
impression.
We
will make these two translation corrections, and compare these two verses with
Genesis 5:24:
Genesis
5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was
not; for God took him.
Job
3:16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I
was not; as infants which never saw light.
Job
10:19 I should be not as I was; I should
have been carried from the womb to the grave.
The
moving of the word “not” in Job 10:19 fits better for how we write
English sentences, but does not change the meaning. Job 10:19 is saying that
Job was in the world, but if he had been still-born, then he should not be that
way. He would no longer be in the world.
The
language of “was not” is carried through the 3 verses. Enoch “was not”
in this world anymore because God took him.
Likewise,
if Job had been still-born, then he “was not” because God would have
taken him also out of this world.
Job
3:16 and Job 10:19 are not teaching annihilation. Rather, they are the plea of
Job to be removed from this world. That would be a way for him to avoid the
suffering that he was experiencing in this world.
The
phrase “no eye had seen me” in Job 10:18 means that Job would not have
come into this world. He would have been still-born. No one would have seen
him.
Another
point to keep in mind is that Job was elect of God.
If
Job had been still-born, could he have ceased to exist?
No.
Job was elect of God. If he had been still-born, he would have gone into heaven
to be with God. Job would not have ceased to exist. He would “not” be in
this world, but he would be in heaven.
That
is an important point about Job 3:16 and Job 10:19. These verses are talking
about Job who was elect of God. Job could not have been annihilated. This is
another reason that Job 3:16 and 10:19 cannot be talking about annihilation.
A
more detailed study of Job 3:16 is provided in the beginning of this study.
There
is more information on this subject in the studies at these links:
WE READ THAT THE UNSAVED
“ARE NOT”. DOES THAT TEACH ANNIHILATION?
Click
here to learn more about Job 3:16-22
Let’s
consider another verse from the book of Job.
Job 20:4-9 has been offered as
a proof of annihilation
We
read there:
4 Knowest thou not
this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
5 That the triumphing of
the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a
moment?
6 Though his excellency
mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
7 Yet he shall
perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is
he?
8 He shall fly away as a
dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the
night.
9 The eye also which
saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold
him.
We
read the word “perish” in verse 7. This is the Hebrew word “abad” which
is used very frequently and is mostly translated as “perish” or “destroy”.
Many
people read the word “perish” and think of a corpse. Or, they read the
word “destroy” and think of annihilation. However, the Biblical rule is
that God defines words by how He uses them in the Bible.
One
thing we discover is that God indicates that unsaved man is already
perished.
In
the verses below, we find the same Hebrew word “abad” that is frequently
translated as “perish” or “destroy”:
Jeremiah 50:6 My people
hath been lost <06> sheep: their shepherds have caused them
to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone
from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
Ezekiel 34:4 The diseased
have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither
have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again
that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost <06>; but with force and with cruelty have ye
ruled them.
Ezekiel 34:16 I will seek
that which was lost <06>, and bring again that which was driven
away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that
which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them
with judgment.
The
Hebrew word “abad” in these verses is in the past or perfect tense. These
verses indicate the unsaved are already “perished”. By translating
the Hebrew word “abad” as “lost”, the translators have hidden some of
the meaning. However, the above verses would have been better translated as “perished”
indicating that the unsaved are already “perished”.
The
fact that unsaved man is already “perished” teaches that the word
“perish” does not mean annihilation or cessation of existence.
The
Bible uses the word “perish” in a similar way as to the word “death”.
The Bible teaches that Adam died the day he sinned (Genesis 2:17) and that
unsaved man is already dead (Ephesians 2:1,5, Colossians 2:13, 1 Peter 4:6).
Even the body of the true believer is dead (Romans 8:10, 1 Corinthians 15:29).
The
correct Biblical understanding comes when we learn that God Himself is “life”
(John 11:25, 14:6). Normally, we think of “life” as conscious existence and God
as the giver of “life”. However, the Bible says that God Himself is “life”.
Also, the Bible teaches that “life” for mankind has to do with his relationship
to God, who is “life” (John 6:53, 1 John 5:12). The Bible also teaches that
“death” for mankind is separation, especially from God (Genesis 2:17, Ephesians
2:1,4, 1 Peter 4:6). The corpse is a body sleeping in the dust.
There
are several studies that examine verses that teach these truths. They are found
at these links:
THE BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF
“LIFE” & “DEATH” FOR MANKIND
These
studies give more than 50 verses that teach that God is “life” and that “life”
for mankind has to do with his relationship to God, and that “death” for
mankind is separation. The corpse is a body sleeping in the dust.
The
unsaved are spiritually and physically dead because both their spirit and their
body is dead. That is, in both spirit and body, unsaved man is separated from
God.
The
word “perish”, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, is used in a
similar way as the word “death”. Unsaved man is already “perished” because he
is separated from God, who is “life”. That is why we read that unsaved man is
already “perished”.
To
learn more about how God uses the word “perish” in both the Old Testament and
the New Testament, please see the following study:
FREQUENTLY WE READ THAT
THE UNSAVED ARE DESTROYED, CONSUMED, PERISH, ETC.
When
man’s body finally fails and falls on sleep, we read again that man “dies” or
“perishes”. That is because when unsaved man’s body fails and he passes from
this world, he is separated from God again.
Deuteronomy
28:15-68 describes the “perishing” that God has in mind for the unsaved.
In
Deuteronomy 28:15-68, God describes the “perishing” that He has in mind for the
unsaved. Verse 15 applies the chapter to all of the unsaved throughout time. We
read in Deuteronomy 28:15:
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice
of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes
which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and
overtake thee:
This
verse applies to all unsaved people. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 applies to all
unsaved people.
In
Deuteronomy 28:15-68 we find the same Hebrew word “abad” that is translated “perished”
in Job 20:7. This same Hebrew word is found 4 times in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 in
the following verses:
Deuteronomy 28:20 The LORD
shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest
thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish <06> quickly; because of the wickedness of thy
doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD
shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an
inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with
blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish <06>.
Deuteronomy 28:51 And he
shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be
destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or
oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have
destroyed <06> thee.
Deuteronomy 28:63 And it
shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good,
and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy <06> you, and to bring you to nought; and ye
shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Two
times it is translated “perished” and two times it is translated “destroyed”.
However all four verses have this same Hebrew word.
In
each of these four verses, this Hebrew word “abad” is not in the past or
perfect tense. It is not describing a completed action. Rather, it is in
a tense that indicates an on-going action. A more precise translation would be
“until thou be perishing” or “until destroying thee”
In
Deuteronomy 28:15-68, there are many words that signify conscious affliction.
In this passage, God is describing an on-going “perishing” or “destroying” of
conscious affliction.
For
more information on Deuteronomy 28:15-68, please see the study below and search
for the phrase “Deuteronomy 28”.
A STUDY OF 10 BIBLICAL
PROOFS OF CONSCIOUS RESURRECTION OF THE UNSAVED
Let
us summarize the points about the word “perish” in Job 20:7.
When
we think about the word “perish” we normally think of a cessation of existence
or a corpse. However, a careful study of the Bible shows that a corpse is a
body sleeping in the dust.
The
Bible teaches that unsaved man is already “perished”. Unsaved man is already
“perished” like he is already “dead” because he is separated from God, who is
“life”.
Deuteronomy
28:15-68 teach that the “perishing” that God has in mind for the unsaved is an
on-going “perishing” of conscious affliction.
Let
us continue to examine Job 20:7 to learn further truth from this verse:
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own
dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
We
read that the unsaved person will perish “for ever”.
As
we saw, the unsaved are already “perished”. As shown in the above studies, the
Biblical definition of “perishing” for mankind is separation from God. If they
remain unsaved, they will remain “perished” forevermore. As shown in the
studies above, a big difference between the present “perished” state of the
unsaved and the “perishing” forevermore of the unsaved in eternity future is
that Today, there is separation between the unsaved and God, but it is not a
complete separation. However, in eternity future, the unsaved will be
completely separated from God, who is “life”.
Next,
we read the word “dung”.
Sometimes
people read certain words and they forget the Biblical rule that Christ spoke
in parables and without a parable He did not speak (Mark 4:34). Since the whole
Bible is the Word of Christ, then we expect to see parabolic language
throughout the Bible. So, we can expect that the word “dung” is also used in a
parabolic way.
However,
people will read a verse like Job 20:7 and see the word “dung” and conclude
that it must be understood in a very literal way, so that this verse is
teaching that corpses of the unsaved will cover the earth and look like literal
dung.
However,
we cannot forget the Biblical rule of Mark 4:34, that Christ spoke in parables.
We have to search the Bible to see how God uses any word to understand what God
means by that word.
The
Biblical rule is that we understand words and phrases by how God uses them in
the Bible, rather than looking out into the world for understanding.
We
read in Philippians 3:8:
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ,
The
Apostle Paul is speaking about himself and his background under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit.
In
Philippians 3:4-7 the Apostle Paul is recounting his own credentials. The
Apostle Paul had a fine religious background and training and he had
outstanding religious credentials before he was saved. God is guiding Paul to
write all of this so that we could know that the Apostle Paul had very fine
training and learning in the Old Testament.
However,
as we read in verse 8, the Apostle Paul counts all of his background and
credentials as but “dung” in comparison to knowing the Lord Jesus as
savior.
Were
all of the Apostle Paul’s training and credentials literally “dung”?
No.
God is not saying that the training and credentials of Paul were literally
dung. Rather, God is saying that in comparison to salvation, all of Paul’s
background was worthless and despised.
In
Philippians 3:8, God is using the word “dung” in the sense of something that is
rejected, worthless or despised. God is defining how He can use the word
“dung”.
We
read 3 verses about those under the wrath of God being on a “dunghill”:
1
Samuel 2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them
among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of
the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.
Psalms
113:7 He raiseth up the poor out of the
dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
Lamentations
4:5 They that did feed delicately are
desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace
dunghills.
1
Samuel 2:8 and Psalm 113:7 teach that before we are saved, we are on a “dunghill”.
The unsaved are not literally sitting on a “dunghill”.
However,
God is teaching that before salvation we are under the wrath of God and in a
despised condition. God is identifying “dung” or a “dunghill”
with that which is despised or rejected.
We
read in Malachi 2:3:
Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon
your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall
take you away with it.
We
read in Malachi 2:3 that God will spread dung upon the faces of his unsaved
corporate people.
God
is not teaching about a literal event here. Rather, the unsaved corporate
people of God are despised and rejected because they have rejected the Bible.
The word “dung” is used in the sense of something despised or rejected.
We
see this definition of “dung” used in 1 Kings 14:10 and other verses. We read
there:
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of
Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and
him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the
house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
Man
takes away dung because it is despised and rejected. God removed the house of
Jeroboam because God had rejected him as king. He was despised in the eyes of
God because he did not obey the law of God.
We
have seen several verses in which God defines the word “dung” as something that
is despised, rejected or worthless.
In
order to reach a Biblically-correct understanding of a verse or a word, we must
remember that Christ spoke in parables and that we understand what God is
teaching by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
When
we follow that approach, we find that God uses the word “dung” in the sense of
something that is despised, rejected or worthless. It does not have to mean
literal dung or corpses.
Let’s
apply this understanding back to Job 20:7. We read there:
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own
dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
We
read the phrase “perish for ever like his own dung”
and that can make us think of a desecrated corpse. However, for truth, we have
to remember the Biblical rule to compare Scripture with Scripture and that
Christ spoke in parables.
We
already examined the word “perished” and found that God describes an on-going
“perishing” of conscious affliction in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 that He has in mind
for the unsaved. We also saw that the word “perish” is like the word “dead” and
means to be separated from God who is “life”. The result of that separation
from God is the on-going “perishing” of conscious affliction described in
Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
Next
we read “like his own dung”. Maybe this
phrase makes us think of a desecrated corpse. However, we have to compare
Scripture with Scripture. We looked at Philippians 3:8 and found that the
Apostle Paul counted all of his credentials and background as “dung”. In that sense, it was his dung.
We
have seen several verses in which God uses the word “dung” as something that is
despised or rejected.
Job
20:7 is saying that at Judgment Day the unsaved will be like “dung” in the
sense that they will be despised and rejected by God, just like the Apostle
Paul had despised and rejected any trust in his credentials.
We
read as the next phrase in Job 20:7, “they which
have seen him shall say, Where is he?”
Let’s
consider the last part first, the question, “Where
is he?”.
This
is a rhetorical question. Some people read this statement and conclude that it
teaches that the unsaved don’t exist anymore.
But
that understanding did not come from this verse. That is something that people
have concluded this verse teaches, but the verse itself does not say that the
unsaved person does not exist anymore. It says that those that have seen him
shall say “Where is he?”
We
find the same statement in Exodus 2:20:
And he said unto his daughters, And where is
he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may
eat bread.
It
turns out that the phrase “Where is he?”
in Exodus 2:20 is the same Hebrew word which is also found in Job 20:7. Both
verses have the same Hebrew word.
In
Exodus 2:20 Jethro is talking to his daughters about Moses. Moses had helped
Jethro’s daughters with their flocks and Jethro wanted his daughters to bring
Moses back to the house of Jethro.
The
question “Where is he?” did not
mean that Moses did not exist. Rather, it was asking a question about the location
of Moses.
In
the same way, Job 20:7 is not saying that the unsaved do not exist. Rather, it
is asking the question “Where is he?”.
The rest of the Bible answers the question that the unsaved have been eternally
separated from God and from the true believers and are suffering the wrath of
God.
Just
like the question “Where is he?” in
Exodus 2:20 puts focus on where is Moses, the same question in Job 20:7 puts
focus on where are the unsaved at Judgment Day. However, this question does not
mean that either Moses or the unsaved ceased to exist.
Let’s
consider the whole phrase again to learn more truth, “they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?”.
We
know that this phrase is not teaching that the unsaved are annihilated.
However, God is teaching something important by this phrase.
God
does use the rhetorical question “Where is
he?” at times to put emphasis on the person or his location. We see
this in the verses below:
Genesis
27:33 And Isaac trembled very
exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and
brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have
blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.
In
Genesis 27:33 Isaac just realized that he had given the blessing to Jacob
rather to Esau. Jacob and Rebekah had deceived Isaac into giving the blessing
to Jacob rather than to Esau. The fact that Jacob had received the important
blessing greatly impacted Isaac as we read that he “trembled very
exceedingly”. So the rhetorical question “Where
is he?” puts emphasis upon who is the one and where is he
that has done this thing.
This
is one possibility for the rhetorical question “Where
is he?” in Job 20:7.
Another
emphasis of this rhetorical question in Job 20:7 could be the final separation
between the saved and unsaved at Judgment Day. When we get to Judgment Day
there will be a final and complete separation of the saved from the unsaved. In
that sense, the true believers that were in a world with unbelievers will see
them no more.
We
read about this theme of final separation in these two verses in Matthew 13:
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels,
and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which
do iniquity;
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the
angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
Matthew
13:41 & 49 emphasize that at Judgment Day there will be a complete separation
between the saved and the unsaved. That could be a point that God is making in
the second part of Job 20:7.
Continuing
on in Job 20, we read the next verse, verse 8:
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
We
can read the language “He shall fly away as a dream” and think about the
fact that a dream disappears and think that this verse is teaching that the
unsaved cease to exist.
However,
we should notice the phrase “as a dream”. God did not say that the
unsaved are a dream, but they are “as a dream”. The word “as” is
in the Hebrew text.
When
God uses the word “as”, He is making a comparison between two things,
but those two things are not necessarily alike in every way or even in many
ways. For example, we read in Psalm 1:3:
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not
wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Talking
about the true believer, God says that he shall be “like a tree”. The
word “like” is the same Hebrew word translated “as” in Job 20:8.
The
true believer is “like” or “as” a tree in some ways, but in many
ways the true believer is quite different from a tree. So, in looking at a
tree, we can learn something about a true believer. However, we cannot look at
everything about a tree and conclude that the same thing is true about a
believer.
In
like manner, God in Job 20:8 says that the unsaved are “like” or “as”
a dream in some ways. That does not mean that they are like a dream in
everyway, in the same way that the true believer is not like a tree in every
way.
The
rest of Job 20:8 helps us to understand how the unsaved are like a dream. God
says “He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found”.
The
unsaved shall “fly away”. This means that they are going to be sent away
from this world that God will create as a new earth. Matthew 5:5 says that the
meek, the true believers, will inherit the earth. But, the unsaved will be cast
away from God and all of His blessings. They shall “fly away” from God
and any blessings from God.
The
next phrase, “shall not be found”, gives further explanation for what
God is talking about in Job 20:8.
While
we are in this world and this world continues, there is always the possibility
of salvation.
Right
now, the Lord Jesus is working in this world seeking and saving that which was
“lost” as we read in Luke 19:10:
For the Son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost.
Jesus
is working in this world, seeking and saving that which was “lost”, His
elect.
When
we have become saved, it is like God has “found” us.
For
example, we read in Genesis 6:8:
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
God
saved Noah and in that sense God “found” Noah and Noah found grace in
the eyes of the LORD.
We
read several passages in Luke 15 that identify salvation with being “found”
by God:
4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if
he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and
go after that which is lost, until he find it?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it
on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his
friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my
sheep which was lost.
In
Luke 15:4-6 God talks about salvation in the sense of one sheep being “found”
by the Good shepherd, the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the man that “found”
the lost sheep, the one to be saved.
8 Either what woman having ten pieces of
silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house,
and seek diligently till she find it?
9 And when she hath found it, she
calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice
with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
In
Luke 15:8-9, God typifies salvation by a woman who lost a piece of silver and
rejoicing that she “found” it. This points to the Lord Jesus who “found”
and saved us.
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again;
he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be
glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is
found.
Luke
15:24 & 32 is part of the parable of the prodigal son. The son who is “found”
represents someone who is saved and has been “found” by God.
Upon
salvation, we have been “found” by God. However, Job 20:8 says that at Judgment
Day the unsaved will not be “found”. God is not teaching that the unsaved cease
to exist. Rather, God is teaching that the unsaved at Judgment Day will never
become saved. God will never seek them out so that they may be “found” by God,
just like a dream is not found.
In
the second part of Job 20:8 we read “he shall be chased away as a vision of
the night.”
We
examined the word “as” in the phrase “as a vision of the night”.
We remember that the word “as” indicates that something is like something else
in some ways, but not necessarily in every way. Just like Psalm 1:3 says that
the true believer is “like a tree”. The Hebrew word translated “like”
in Psalm 1:3 is the same word translated “as” in Job 20:8.
Job
20:8 is not saying that the unsaved are “a vision of the night”. Rather,
it is saying that in some ways, the unsaved are like “a vision of the night”.
A “a vision of the night” could be a dream. An unpleasant dream is “chased
away” out of your mind because you do not like it. That is one way to
understand this language. At Judgment Day, God will “chase away” the
unsaved by casting them into the lake of fire. They will be rejected by God.
Let
us examine the next verse. We read in Job 20:9
The eye also which saw him shall see him
no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
The
fact that “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more”
may refer to the separation between the saved and the unsaved. Earlier we
looked at Matthew 13:41 & 49 that talked about the separation between the
saved and the unsaved at Judgment Day.
The
saved will be eternally separated from the unsaved at Judgment Day and in that
sense, their “eye” shall not see the unsaved any more.
Let
us consider Job 20:9 in the sense of the “eye” of God.
The
Bible talks about the “eye” of God from different perspectives. However,
in some verses, the “eye” of God is used in the sense of God looking to
the person to give blessing. We see this in these verses:
Psalms
33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is
upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
Psalms
34:15 The eyes of the LORD are
upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
1
Peter 3:12: For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the
face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Isaiah
1:15 And when ye spread forth your
hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will
not hear: your hands are full of blood.
The
above verses speak of the “eye” of God upon someone in the sense the God
will bless that person. However, at Judgment Day, God will never again look
with His “eye” towards the unsaved to bless them. To use the language of
Isaiah 1:15, the “eyes” of God will be hid from the unsaved at Judgment
Day. In Isaiah 1:15 the “eyes” of God are already hid from His unsaved
corporate people. At Judgment Day, the “eyes” of God will be completely
hid from the unsaved in the sense that He will not bring any blessing to them.
The unsaved will be cast away from God, but that does not mean that they will
not exist.
This
is how we can understand the “eye” of God not seeing the unsaved any
more at Judgment Day.
The
second part of Job 20:9 says “neither shall his place any more behold him”.
The
“place” that God has given to mankind is this earth. Matthew 5:5 teaches
that the meek, the true believers, will inherit this earth. They will inherit
this earth which will be re-made as a new earth. That is the eternal “place”
that God plans for His people. However, the unsaved are cast away from God.
They will not receive the new earth. Their “place”, the earth, is taken
away from them.
We
have carefully examined Job 20:4-9 and found that it does not teach
annihilation in any way. To understand any passage correctly, we must always
compare Scripture with Scripture remembering that Christ spoke in parables.
That way, with God’s blessing, we can come to a Biblical explanation of a
verse.
Let’s
consider another verse from the book of Job.
Job 24:19 has been offered as
a proof of annihilation
We
read there:
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth
the grave those which have sinned.
We
read this verse and maybe we think of a corpse decomposing in a grave as it returns
to the dust of the earth. That may lead us to think that the unsaved are
consumed in the grave until there is nothing left of them.
We
could understand this verse in this manner. However, there is a problem with
that line of thinking.
Both
the bodies of the saved and the unsaved decompose and return to the dust in the
same manner. There is no difference in the outcome for the corpse of the true
believer versus that of the unbeliever.
One
can think of Job 24:19 as talking about the decaying of the corpse of the
unsaved. However, the same thing happens to the corpse of the saved. With that
thinking, Job 24:19 is not teaching anything in particular concerning the
unsaved. The bodies of the saved also decompose in like manner.
If
we are just talking about the body of man, we could say:
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth
the grave all.
The
above statement applies equally to all mankind.
However,
the word “grave” is the Hebrew word “sheol”. This Hebrew word is
also translated as “hell” about half of the time. So, Job 24:19 could as
well have been translated like this:
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth
the hell those which have sinned.
This
translation will fit the context better because the focus of the verse is upon
the unsaved, “those which have sinned”. The bodies of both the
saved and the unsaved decay equally in the grave.
It
argued that the word “hell” is a synonym for the word “grave” and simply refers
to a burial place for corpses. However, God has more to say about “hell”. For
example, we read this same Hebrew word “sheol” found in Job 24:19
translated as “hell” in these 3 verses:
Psalm
116:3: The sorrows of death
compassed me, and the pains of hell <07585> gat hold upon me: I
found trouble and sorrow.
Isaiah
28:18: And your covenant
with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell <07585> shall not stand;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down
by it.
Jonah 2:2: And said, I
cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the
belly of hell <07585> cried I, and thou heardest my
voice.
In
Isaiah 28:18 God is linking “hell” to an “overflowing scourge”, a phrase that always signifies conscious
affliction.
In
the 3 verses above, God identifies hell with conscious affliction. When we
study the Bible carefully concerning the word “hell” we find that God
identifies “hell” with conscious affliction. For more information on this
subject, please see the following study:
Let’s
go back to our examination of Job 24:19.
If
we look carefully at the words in Job 24:19 we will learn important Gospel
truth. We shall begin with the word “drought”. We find this word in a
number of significant locations:
Psalms 63:1 <<A Psalm
of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.>> O God, thou art
my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth
for thee in a dry <06723> and thirsty land, where no water is;
Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness
and the solitary place <06723> shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom
as the rose.
Isaiah 41:18 I will open
rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make
the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry <06723> land springs of water.
Isaiah 53:2 For he shall
grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry <06723> ground: he hath no form nor comeliness;
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
In Isaiah 53:2 the Lord Jesus came to a nation, the nation of
Jeremiah 2:6 Neither said
they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought <06723>, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed
through, and where no man dwelt?
Jeremiah 50:12 Your mother
shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the
hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land <06723>, and a desert.
Hosea 2:3 Lest I strip her
naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness,
and set her like a dry <06723> land, and slay her with thirst.
Joel 2:20 But I will remove
far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land
barren <06723> and desolate, with his face toward the
east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come
up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
Zephaniah 2:13 And he will
stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make
Nineveh a desolation, and dry <06723> like a wilderness.
As
can be seen from the above verses, and from other verses with this same Hebrew
word translated “drought” in Job 24:19, this word often signifies a
drought or lack of the Gospel. The Gospel is typified by water. The lack of the
Gospel, the lack of salvation is a “drought”. This is how God often uses
this Hebrew word found in Job 24:19.
So,
this Hebrew word translated “drought” in Job 24:19 signifies a lack of the
Gospel of salvation.
Let
us examine the word “heat” that is found in Job 24:19.
The
word “heat” identifies with the word “fire” and has to do with the wrath
of God, because God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). We see this truth in
these example verses:
Jeremiah
17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall
not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Deuteronomy
29:24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore
hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this
great anger?
Deuteronomy
32:24 They shall be burnt with
hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will
also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the
dust.
Isaiah
4:6 And there shall be a tabernacle for
a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a
covert from storm and from rain.
Revelation
16:9 And men were scorched with great
heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and
they repented not to give him glory.
So,
the word “heat” in Job 24:19 refers to the wrath of God.
Let’s
consider one more verse with the word “heat” which also identifies heat
with the wrath of God:
Job
30:30 My skin is black upon me, and my
bones are burned with heat.
When
we think about Job 30:30 we realize that it must be a parabolic statement.
Job’s bones could not be literally burned, otherwise Job would not be able to
talk with his friends. This verse uses parabolic language to teach that Job was
under the “heat” of God’s wrath because he is being used as a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ under the wrath of God.
Sometimes
people read verses that refer to “bones” and forget that Christ spoke in
parables and they think that the verse must be talking about literal bones.
However, as we study the Bible, we must remember that Christ spoke in parables
and without a parable He did not speak (Mark 4:33-34). The whole Bible is the
word of Christ. Therefore, we expect parabolic language throughout the Bible,
including those verses that use the word “bone”. God often uses the word “bone”
in a parabolic way that does not signify literal bones. Job 30:30 is an example
of such a verse.
Below
are some more verses with the word “bone” in which the word “bone” can not be
understood in a literal way:
Psalms
51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that
the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psalms
102:3 For my days are consumed like smoke,
and my bones are burned as an hearth.
Isaiah
66:14 And when ye see this, your
heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand
of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation
toward his enemies.
Lamentations
1:13 From above hath he sent fire into
my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he
hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
Lamentations
3:4 My flesh and my skin hath he made
old; he hath broken my bones.
Ezekiel
37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are
dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
Micah
3:2 Who hate the good, and love the evil;
who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
Micah
3:3 Who also eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in
pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
Ephesians
5:30 For we are members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones.
In
each of the above verses, the word “bone” cannot be understood in a literal
way. The point of these verses is to illustrate that when we read the Bible, we
must remember that Christ spoke in parables throughout the whole Bible,
including those verses with the word “bone”.
Therefore,
when we read the word “bone” or any word in a verse, we must remember that
Christ spoke in parables throughout the Bible and that God might be using the
word “bone” or any word in a given verse in a parabolic way.
Let’s
look at the next word in Job 24:19, the word “consume”.
The
Hebrew word translated “consume” in Job 24:19 is significant because
this is the only verse in which this Hebrew word is translated “consume”. It is
mostly translated “rob”, “take away”, or “spoil”.
Here
are some examples verses with this same Hebrew word translated “consume”
in Job 24:19:
Genesis 21:25
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which
Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away <01497>.
Genesis 31:31
And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said,
Peradventure thou wouldest take by force <01497> thy daughters from
me.
Judges 9:25
And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the
mountains, and they robbed <01497> all that came along
that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.
Judges 21:23
And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives,
according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught <01497>: and they went and
returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
2 Samuel 23:21 And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and
the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and
plucked <01497> the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with
his own spear.
Psalms 35:10
All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which
deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the
needy from him that spoileth <01497> him?
The
Hebrew word translated “consume” has the meaning of to “rob”, “take
away” or “spoil”.
The
word “waters” point to the Gospel of salvation. The word “snow”
in Job 24:19 further points to the pureness of salvation as we can see from
these verses with the same word:
Psalms 51:7
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow <07950>.
Proverbs 25:13 As the cold of snow <07950> in the time of
harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he
refresheth the soul of his masters.
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow <07950>; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 55:10
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow <07950> from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
When
we have become saved, we have become pure as “snow” in the sight of God.
So, “snow” has to do with the pureness of salvation.
We
want to put all of the above information together to explain what Job 24:19 is
teaching. We must keep in mind that Christ spoke in parables.
Let’s
consider the first part of the verse which reads, “Drought and heat consume
the snow waters”.
We
can think about this phrase in two ways; one in a purely earthly way and the
other in a parabolic way.
Drought
and heat will certainly melt snow and turn it in the running waters. We can
understand that phrase in a very earthly way.
However,
when we follow the Biblical rule that Christ spoke in parables and without a
parable He did not speak, we can learn a lot more truth from the first part of
Job 24:19.
The
word “drought” is used to is often used to indicate the lack of the
Gospel, the lack of salvation. The word “heat” indicates the wrath of
God.
The
word “consume” is more commonly translated “rob”, “take away” or
“spoil”. The “snow waters” refers to pureness of salvation.
When
we put these words together, we see that if the Gospel is lacking because of “drought”
and the “heat” of the wrath of God is present, the “snow” white
pureness of salvation will be “consumed” or “taken away” or “spoiled”.
This
agrees with the second part of Job 24:19 which says, “so doth the
grave (or hell) those which have sinned”.
When
the unsaved are cast into hell they are “spoiled” or “taken away” from any
blessing of God. That agrees with how this Hebrew word translated “consume” is
used in other parts of the Bible. In hell there is a “drought” of the Gospel.
There is no gospel in hell. There is only a “drought” of the Gospel. Also,
there is the “heat” of God’s wrath in hell.
Job
24:19 fits perfectly in the Gospel message and does not teach annihilation of
the unsaved, when we study it following the Biblical rules.
We
have examined several passages in the book of Job and found that they do not
teach annihilation. Sometimes it is possible to form a conclusion by reading a
verse in a particular way. However, we have to always compare Scripture with
Scripture in order to make sure that our understanding of a verse is consistent
with how God uses the same words and phrases in other parts of the Bible.