Job 14:1-22 (ESV)

“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud  and put out branches like a young plant. But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.

“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man. You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away. His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.”

This passage points to Christ. Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. … Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? … Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. … For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity. Those who know the LORD always knew the Christ would come.

He had to. There’s no other way.

The whole Old Testament points to Christ. The whole universe points to Christ. There is a Christ because there had to be a Christ. The world was broken and a broken world can’t fix itself.

It’s not a fluke that the Old Testament is most of the Bible. It’s most of the message. Once you establish the inevitability of the Messiah, His showing up is just the climax. Sure, that’s the best part, but if you ignore the lead-up you won’t understand the ending.

Too many Christians do just that. They think that the message of the Old Testament is, “Be good.” Many pastors preach that message, if they preach on the Old Testament at all.

Ask God to make you hungrier for this part of His word. It’s a high calorie diet.

All the weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies