“Death is naked before God…” Job 26:6a

The current pandemic we are experiencing is deadly. Though many have recovered from the virus, Covid-19, thousands have died from it, affecting the lives of many families around the globe. Death disrupts the routine of the living, robbing one of the joys from cherished relationships, and creating an urgent demand to deal with the usual proper post-mortem logistics. But death is also an enemy to the living… one greatly feared by those without a basis for eternal hope. The five understandable words at the top of the page, however, provides us another perspective of God’s authority over death and His working through death to deliver an encouraging message for us today.

Job used three names for the location of the dead: under the waters (v.5b), Sheol (v.6a), and destruction (literally, the Hebrew, “Abaddon”; v.6b):

“The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them. Death is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.” (vv. 5 – 6)

Pointing to the obvious signs of their spiritual lifelessness, Job used the metaphor of death as a symptom of their ‘zombiism’. They had not come to a spiritual understanding of justification through faith. The above description is not to be taken as a biblical description of all who die. Indeed, those who die trusting God are not in deep anguish. The psalmist described the death of God’s beloved as “precious” (read Psalm 116:15).

Job’s remarks were given to confront his friends with the reality that God sees their destructive thoughts. Warren Wiersby described the passage like this: “God sees everything, even the realm of the dead... If God sees what’s going on in the world of the dead, then surely He knows what is happening in the world of the living?” (The Wiersby Bible Commentary; 2nd Ed.; ©2007, p.850)

This passage also points to Christ. It was our blessed Savior Who was suspended naked upon a cross: taking the sins of mankind upon Himself; dying there… thus, extinguishing the curse of those sins and the power of sin over the soul of man. Yes, in a very real way, Christ became death upon that cross, being the death that is naked before God. It is His death that offers eternal hope for all who trust in Him.

For our world today, this passage presents us hope: our God Who sees everything, even the world of the dead, is also the God of the living Who is able to bring relief, rescue and resources to bring an end to this earthly suffering. Pray to Him with the many thousands around the world for an end to this plague. Remember to your dying day that you really are precious in His sight!

Have a blessed day…