Your Days Are Numbered

I often do what most people don't … I turn to the Book of Job for counsel. I think its okay to do that because Paul said in 2nd Timothy 3:16 … "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness …"

Reading the Book of Job just reaffirms my feeling of mortality. Of course some might say it's because of reading the Book of Job. But I read it anyway. Let me take you through part of it.

Job 14:1 … "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble."

Our heritage is going to be … a few days full of trouble. Man is born to it being born in sin; sin and trouble go together. Where there is sin there is trouble; sin entered into the world, and death because of it.

Job 14:2 … "He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not."

Man is compared to a flower; he springs up, his bloom is often nipped by disease, blasted by afflictions and at last cut down by death. The bloom of youth, even in the most prosperous state, is only the forerunner of gray hairs, feeble muscles, impaired vision, and a general loss of ability. How nice. Sorry, but it's true.

I think the theme of Job is … there is nothing that is permanent. A shadow of a cloud moves on gently and silently, and is soon gone. It leaves and returns no more. They who have watched the shadow of a cloud on the landscape, and have seen how rapidly it disappears, will have a vivid conception of the truth of this illustration.

Job 14:5 … "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass …"

"His days are determined …" God knows exactly and precisely how many days a man shall live … "thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass …" meaning an appointment of time, the boundaries of his life, and the period of his days beyond which he cannot go. Some say the "days" of a man's life are so peremptorily fixed and settled by God, that he cannot die sooner, nor live longer, than God has determined he should. (More on this in a moment.)

So, as with the time of a man's birth, the time of his death is according to the purpose of God; and all things (good and bad) that will come to man throughout the whole course of his life … they all fall under "the appointment of God," and are according to His … decree, design, purpose and will.

The word for "bounds" signifies a set, stated, or appointed time. Job also uses the word "determined" here, and it means "fixed or settled." Has God, fixed the number of a man's days, so that they cannot be exceeded?

But notice, although it is stated that a man cannot live past his appointed bounds, he may also live such a sinful and hard life that he may never reach all of them according to Psalm 55:23 which says, "… bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days …"

Three things we are assured of …

1.) Death cannot be avoided. Our life will come to an end; our days upon earth are not numberless, they are not endless; they are numbered, and will soon be finished.

2.) It is determined, by the counsel and decree of God, how long we shall live and when we shall die. The number of our months is with God, and they are within the disposal of His power, of which we cannot control. (I am not certain that God's providential care has ordered the days, months and years of our lives even though He knows the exact number.) But I am certain that our time is in His hand.

3.) The bounds God has fixed, the appointment of time … we cannot pass, for His counsels and decrees are unalterable, and His foresight infallible.

Job 30:23 … "For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living."

The phrase "to death" means to the house of the dead, or to the place where the dead are, the grave. That house is "appointed" for all, the rich and the poor, the young and old. It is not by chance that we go there, it has been so ordained; it is fixed and settled that all should die. Job knows it will be the same with him as it is with all men; death has become a necessary evil because of sin which brought the sentence of death on all men by the decree and appointment of God.

Job 12:10 … "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."

The Amplified reads … "In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind."

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing or "life" as stated in the Amplified, which is the more correct meaning. The idea is … that all are under the control of God who gives life as He pleases; and if He so chooses, He can take it away. His sovereignty is also manifested in the beasts of the field, the fish of the sea, and the fowls in the air. Man is subjected to the same laws as the rest of the creation. God is sovereign and the same principles of His rulership may be seen in all His works.

Job says that we should learn this truth … that there is a Providence which guides and governs all these things by the rules and laws of nature of which we are neither acquainted with nor are competent judges of.

We should note and learn from God's sovereign dominion over all of nature … and then acquiesce (express agreement) with the disposition of His design, purpose and will concerning the affairs of men; even though many times they are contrary to our desires.

Job is resolute in his conclusion; he believes in the absolute propriety (proper conduct and behavior) which God uses with all His creatures … "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."

All of nature and man in particular, derive their being from Him, owe their being to Him and depend upon Him for their support. We are at His mercy, are under His direction and dominion, entirely at His disposal … and at His summons must resign our lives. All souls are His … and may He not do what He will with His own?

He will anyway … like it or not.


Comments welcome.