In this daily Bible reading Job responds to Zophar who also suggested that Job’s plight was the result of his sinful living. Of course, Job did not agree. Job considered himself to be blameless. He did agree with the viewpoint that God judges the wicked.
Job also implored God to remove His hand from Job and let Job die. Job’s perception of death is interesting in that Job did not perceive there to be any life after death for mankind. Job seemed to believe that death was the end of it all, and that man’s awareness would cease upon death. Regarding this Job said, “As a river becomes parched and dried up so a man lies down and does not rise.” However, Job did not know this for sure.
There seemed to be a question when Job said, “If a man dies, will he live again. All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes.” I think that at his core, Job realized that there was indeed life after death and that his awareness would not cease.
Before Jesus came to the Earth, mankind did not learn about life after death. The motivation to live rightly seemed to be linked to an awareness of God’s punishment of the wicked and God’s blessings for the righteous. Job’s plight was raising some questions or doubts about these Truths. Job believed he was being unjustly punished.
