The End of Everything

“Before I go—and I shall not return—to the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of utter gloom like darkness itself, of deep shadow without order, and it shines like darkness.”  Job 10:21-22  NASB

I shall not return – There could hardly be a more definitive statement about the permanence of death.  “I shall not return.”  When it’s over, it’s over.  There is no coming back, no resurrection of the dead, no other life somewhere else. What will it be like?  Well, Job can only imagine.  A land (?) of darkness and deep shadow—ḥōšek and ṣalmāwet.  Recognize these words?  You should.  Psalm 23—shadow of the valley of death.  ṣalmāwet “describes the darkness of eyelids tired from weeping (Job 16:16), the thick darkness present in a mine shaft (Job 28:3), the darkness of the abode of the dead (Job 10:21f.; 38:17), and the darkness prior to creation (Amos 5:8). Emotionally it describes the internal anguish of one who has rebelled against God (Ps 107:10–14; cf. 44:19f. [H 20f.]). Thus it is the strongest word in Hebrew for darkness.”^[1]

“ḥōšek referring to the primeval ‘darkness’ which covered the world”^[2] also refers to the plague of darkness in Egypt and the darkness of the tomb.  “Utter gloom” is the Hebrew ʿēpâ, another word for darkness found in Isaiah and Job, coupled with ʾōpel, found most often in Job.  Then a repetition of ṣalmāwet, this time in conjunction with lōʾ-sēderim, “without order.”  In fact, the entire metaphorical conglomeration is heightened by the oxymoron that this darkness is so deep that it shines.  The bottom of the well, the inside of the cave, the place where any movement is terrifying—and it lasts forever.  No wonder Hebrew death is better described as sleep.  At least when I am asleep (without dreams) I’m totally unaware of the terrors in the dark.  Unfortunately, Christianity adopted Pythagoras’ view of the eternal soul, and stuck us with the idea that we are conscious after death.  Now there isn’t any respite at all, no matter when.

“I shall not return” is the strong negative particle (lōʾ) and the verb šûb (to turn back, to return).  Job is consistent with the ancient view that this life is all there is.  He’s not Egyptian.  He’s not Assyrian.  He’s not Greek.  And he’s not Christian.  In fact, if the story of Job was written late,

Job is a Sadducee.  He and Paul do not agree.  Perhaps that helps us appreciate the enormity of Yeshua’s return.  But since Job doesn’t know Yeshua, we will have to live with his view of death—absolute extinction.  Forget about the “heaven and hell” modification.  His world is all there is—and it’s a pretty bad one at the moment.  You might ask yourself how deep Job’s faith is when he faces this kind of inevitable darkness.  Would you still be a follower if the end was really the end of everything?  

Topical Index: darkness, ḥōšek, ṣalmāwet, ʿēpâ, heaven, hell, death, Job 10:21-22

^[1] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 1921 צָלַל. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 767). Moody Press.

^[2] Alden, R. (1999). 769 חָשַׁך. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 331). Moody Press.