Job 3:17-19

17 There the wicked [rasha`] cease [chadal] from troubling [rogez]; and there the weary [yagiya`] [koach] be at rest [nuwach].

18 There the prisoners ['aciyr] rest [sha'an] together [yachad]; they hear [shama`] not the voice [qowl] of the oppressor [nagas].

19 The small [qatan] and great [gadowl] are there; and the servant [`ebed] is free [chophshiy] from his master ['adown]. KJV-Interlinear

17 'There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest. 18 'The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. 19 'The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master. NASB

Job is in great pain. Anyone who has suffered greatly in life, knows the feeling of yearning for death as their only hope of relief. Job looks to the grave as his only refuge, his only hope of recovering peace and tranquility.

He has already wished for the disintegration of his day of birth, the elimination of the night of his conception, of dying immediately after his birth, and even the possibility of never having come into existence. Any one of these would have been sufficient to remove the suffering he is now experiencing.

Now Job turns to the grave for a moment, where all people, both great and small, both the good and the bad, come together in equality. Dust is dust, and the dust of human remains is a worthless dust. So, one pile of worthless dust is no better than another pile of worthless dust.

It matters not whether that dust came from a rich man or a poor one.

In the grave, the wicked cease from their trouble making. The wicked are people who go about their lives making trouble of one kind or another, against one person or another.

In the grave, the weary find their rest. The weary describes anyone who suffers from the troubles and pressures, and trials of life. That should include just about everyone. And once a person dies, then all of their problems, from this world, cease.

In the grave, the prisoners find relief from their oppressive taskmasters. Anyone who labors for a living, whether because he has been enslaved by man, or enslaved by debt, or enslaved by his circumstances of life, he too will find that all of his obligations to this world, will end for him. They will no longer hear the commands or the demands of those who put them to a relentless task.

In the grave, both rich and poor, both small and great, both master and slave, all find a unique equality. No one of them is better, or worse off than another. Dust is dust, and if given several piles of dust, then no one can distinguish the rich from the poor, the celebrity from the nobody.

The subordinate is free from his masters. No one has any advantage or disadvantage over another.

Job is viewing this from a worldly viewpoint. Job has not yet addressed the spiritual side of life.

Humanity finds itself equal at two times in its existence, at birth and at death. In both cases, the person has nothing to bring into this world, and takes nothing with him out of this world.

Only during ones lifetime does humanity seek to separate himself from all the rest. And in every case, that separation comes from a unique talent, or gift, from the characteristics of ones environment or circumstances of life, or from ones abilities or status.

Inevitably, mans effort to distinguish himself from others, leads to oppression, violence, prejudice, bias, hate, unfair standards, and so forth.

Leave it to humanity, who begins life with nothing, to manufacture segregated categories of living for himself. And inevitably, this comes at the expense of others.

In the grave, God brings all of this distinction to a halt. The politicians, the celebrities, the tyrants, the social climbers, all will find themselves no better off for all of their efforts, or hustle, or luck in life, than anyone else.

But Job emphasizes those who suffer at the hands of troublemakers, those who suffer at the pressures from life, and those who suffer at the hands of society in general, because he is suffering. Job longs for a death that will bring peace and relief from his present suffering.

He is now short sighted, and looking only to his immediate relief. He is not considering, for the moment, the other side of life's coin. The spiritual side of life.

For in all things, God controls the causes, the circumstances, and the end result. All of which are designed to bring knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to the individual, for the purpose of blessing.

God does not desire pain and suffering, but then this is the devils world. Satan is the author of pain and suffering. And so long as he is loose on this planet, bringing about his incessant series of complaints, then suffering will be a part of life.

One day that will all end. It will end for Job, and it will end for everyone. But for now, Job just wants the hurting to stop. And in so doing, he teaches us that no matter who or what we are in this life, do not boast as to who you are or what you have, and do not cry over your poor state, for in death there will be no worldly difference between the well to do, and the not so well to do.

There will be spiritual differences of course, but no worldly differences.

Therefore, the obvious implied conclusion here is, that one should emphasize his spiritual side of life, and not the carnal side. The worldly side of life is not in itself, bad, but when you emphasize your worldly status to the exclusion of the spiritual side, then only in death will you realize that you have wasted your entire life.

Dust is dust, and it will never be anything more.

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