Job 4:20
From dawn to dusk,
They are shattered,
Perishing, Forever, Unnoticed.
Talk about a downer. I just was discussing how fleeting glory on earth is. This verse tells us that we are not even noticed. Not the highlight of one’s day.
I picked “from” over “between” as it carried a little more continuously feel to it that I thought was appropriate. Several sources had the part about being shattered before the time element. I am not sure there was a real drive for why I chose this order, but I feel it allows the following stich to stand on its own a little more. Options for “shattered” include “destroyed”, “broken to pieces”, “crack into shards”, and “crushed”. I know I avoided crushed due to using it originally in the previous verse. I often avoid destroyed as it has too physical a quality when discussing spiritual issues. I liked shattered over the others as it was more concise and fit better with what follows.
“Perish” could have been ”destroyed”( (again) or “lost”. Perish carries the right amount of finality over lost. In place of “unnoticed” I saw “without any regarding it”, “with no one regarding”, “not even aware of their fate”, “unawares”, and “while they pay no heed”. I felt the two differences of “others” not being aware or caring as opposed to “selves” not being aware or caring. I took the easy way out and eliminated the known for the unspecified. As it turns out, I pulled the second part right from the Jewish Bible source and may not have even known it. It certainly fit.
Talking to my mentor, I was impacted by the idea of nothing matters (from his reading Ecclesiastes). I have recently learned a small nugget of how the wealthy use life insurance and trusts to retain wealth and how Elon Musk lives off debt. I do not like the idea of debt regardless of the mountain of assets it is balanced against. I know the Bible tells us to make provision for our children and grandchildren, but I am not sure where the priority of provision is distributed between giving knowledge of the Bible, knowledge to provide for oneself, and cold hard cash. I do not feel as though God used my parents to provide me with lots of cash although they did provide for me when I was young, provided me an environment to learn about God and learn how to earn a living. My mom did end up providing a little to help the girls with college, but it was the act of it more than the quantity of it that impacted us.
People want to be noticed. They want to live a life that means something. They want to be remembered. Looking back at all the people who have lived, only a small number are remembered at all and most for bad things, probably. If Christ does not come back before I die, I doubt I will be much remembered in a hundred years. But I know if I love those around me and glorify God, He will notice and He will remember, and I will be living with Him. I want to live in such a manner than God takes notice, and know my body will be broken into pieces and perish, but I will live forever.