THERE IS HOPE FOR A TREE 

Job 14:7(NKJV)

For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease.

This is a really interesting verse of the Bible, interesting because not just does it not mean what many interpret it to mean today, it in fact means the exact opposite. 

Let's examine this chapter together. Shall we? 

Job 14:1–12(NKJV) 

1. "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.

We see this is a lamentation by Job about the brevity of man's life on earth.

2. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.

3. And do You open Your eyes on such a one, and bring me to judgment with Yourself?

4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!

5. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

6. Look away from him that he may rest, till like a hired man he finishes his day.

Then he goes ahead to contrast man's life with that of a tree. 

7. "For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease.

If a tree is cut down, its roots can still put out fresh sprouts and grow new branches. Thus, there is hope for a tree. 

8. Though its root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground,

9. Yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.

But, on the contrary, it is not the same for man. 

10. BUT man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he?

11. As water disappears from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dries up,

12. So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.

Can you see that? 

Job was actually contrasting man's life with that of a tree. A tree has such a hope of starting its life afresh (all over again) but that does not happen to man, i.e., man does not have such hope. 

Job 14:18–20(NKJV)

18. "But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, and as a rock is moved from its place;

19. As water wears away stones, and as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so You destroy the hope of man.

20. You prevail forever against him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.

Job is simply emphasizing that man has but a short time on earth. And when that time ends, there is no “recharging.”

James puts it this way, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

So, “there is hope for a tree” is actually not figurative for man; it is literal for actual trees. It is not an admonition about how we can bounce back from a defeat. There are several other Bible references that tell that (like Micah 7:8) but not Job 14:7–9. Unlike Psalm 1, which compares man with a tree, Job 14 contrasts man with a tree. 

Job’s words in our theme text are actually a lamentation about the brevity of man's life on earth unlike that of a tree that can be renewed. 

This is why Moses in his prayer in Psalm 90 says, “Teach us to number our days.”

Blessings. 

Victor Ibosiola © 2023