Job 14:1-5


Mortals, born of woman,
are of few days and full of trouble.
2 They spring up like flowers and wither away;
like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3 Do you fix your eye on them?
Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!
5 A person’s days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.


Today’s title is “mortals, born of woman”


What do you feel when someone says to you, “You are mortal!”? Obviously, it depends on the context in which the word “mortal” is used. But in general, we wouldn’t feel good about the direct address to our mortality. Some would even feel offended at such an expression. Why is it so? We all know that we are mortals. There is nothing secret about it. Then why does the mere mention of mortality bother us? I believe it bothers us because our mortality hurts us deep inside of us. It feels like a fatal disease that we want to deny that we have it. People want to get rid of it. But they know they can’t. So a lot of people try to avoid reality as much as possible. They think that the issue of mortality better is not talked about. What do you think? What is your attitude toward your own mortality? Do you ever talk about it? The biblical characters show a very different attitude from those people. They do not eschew the issue of their own mortality. They openly and frequently talk about human mortality. What does make the difference? The difference lies in how they view mortality. The worldly people avoid the issue because they think that they would never escape from the formidable power of mortality. But the believers do not hide from the issue because they know that they can overcome the fatal power of mortality. In fact, knowing and admitting the mortality in us is the beginning of liberation from it. Once convinced that you are free from mortality, you can overcome any challenges and hardships. I am sure that was why Job brought up the issue of mortality in his defense against the accusations of friends. He is saying that he knew that he was mortal. His hope was not on his own might or righteousness. His only hope was in his redeemer. He knew that his redeemer lives and that in the end, He will stand on the earth. He said, “And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh, I will see God; (Job 19:26). Year-end is a good time to be sober about our mortality. Yes, we are mortal, born of woman. But what really matters is not the mortality but whether you know the redeemer or not. Do you know the Redeemer? Then rest and rejoice even at the end of the year!