Well‚ The Book of Job speaks so much about loss of life. Go figure since it deals with a guy who looses, he gets bummed, and his awesome friends try to be sure he understands it really is his fault. In Job chapter seven we percieve that when one goes right down to Sheol or The Otherworld, you can’t come back. The history books use a notable exception in 1 Samuel 28 in which the witch of Endor brings the spirit of The ghost away from Hell to talk to with King Saul. You have the feeling in the passage that once the talk with Samuel and Saul was over, Samuel returned to Hell. There doesn’t look like any loitering for the ghost. So the 1 The ghost passage appears to indicate that occult practice could temporarily raise a soul, however, not permanently.
Job 14:10-17 also generally seems to put a caveat in the ‚ once you happen to be there, you don’t get out theory. Job gripes that God is indignant and wishes he could hide in The Otherworld until God cools off – then he would come out again. Great imagery. He uses the phrase, I will wait for me restoration to arrive. Renewal from The Otherworld? In the final analisys, this could be one of the first precursors of the concept of resurrection. The idea of an eternity in a shadowy realm can not have sounded so excellent with the light of such a shabby existence here. Our heart and soul seeks justice, equity, and peace. For people that don ‘t receive it here – spending forever on the shadowy underworld should be small consolation.
The last of the verses I shall take a look at is in Job 17. It seems that once a person is in The Otherworld or The Otherworld, there isn’t a hope. There is only finality in Hell. One cannot hope for an improved or worse moment – it is just what exactly it is. I don ‘t have the impression that people are tortured or that there’s bliss, a a feeling of finality. So I think the story of Job looks at this life and also the afterlife from all angles. Why do bad the unexpected happens to good people? Is an eternity for the underworld really fair? Is there something after eternity?
The Book of Job, at the end of the day, might not be the best look at what we would call the underworld, hades, sheol, etc. Job was pretty annoyed for most of the story. He seems pretty confident that there are a The Otherworld or The Underworld, but he is not particularly concerned about it. He does not fret about demons poking him, fire licking him, or lava scalding his body. He looks at the numbness from it, the finality of it, and wonders if it is fair that he goes all the way down to The Otherworld with the condition that he is in. Why should his parting experiences be so unfair? And why to the wicked go to The Underworld in peace? He was worried about temporal justice since The Underworld did not seem to offer eternal justice.
Interesting, isn ‘t it? The Underworld is not a fiery torment, at least according to Job. It’s a holding tank of souls. What exactly is your take?
