Job and Isaiah Deny a Resurrection? Job 7:9 and Isaiah 26:14

Question

Do Job and Isaiah deny there will be a resurrection? Job 7:9 and Isaiah 26:14

Answer

Job 7:9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return.

Isaiah 26:14 They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them.

The text from Job above speaks of not returning from the grave to this present life. This is followed immediately by Job 7:10 which says, "He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more." Job believed in resurrection of an immortal body. He said, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God" (Job 19:25-26; cf. 1 Cor 15:42-44). The book of Job also speaks of being hidden in the grave until the appointed time of God (Job 14:12).

Isaiah 26:14 is followed by Isaiah 26:19 which says, "But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise - let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy - your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead." Clearly, when Isaiah 26:14 states, "They live no more; those departed spirits do not rise," means until the resurrection.

Another text that is also questioned in this regard is Amos 8:14. It says, "They who swear by the shame of Samaria - who say, 'As surely as your god lives, Dan,' or, 'As surely as the god of Beersheba lives' - they will fall, never to rise again." But this simply refers to the enemies of God falling, never oppose him again; God overthrew them permanently.

These texts do not deny the doctrine of the resurrection, which is clearly affirmed in the Bible (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15; Rev. 20:4-6).

Answer by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr.

Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).