 Then Job answered and said:
2 “How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words? 3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me? 4 And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself. 5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace an argument against me, 6 know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me. 7 Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. 8 He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. 9 He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head. 10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree. 11 He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary. 12 His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent. 13 “He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. 14 My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. 15 The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. 16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. 17 My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. 18 Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. 19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. 20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 21 Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! 22 Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? 23 “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! 28 If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’ and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’ 29 be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.” Meditation Christians have concrete confidence in God’s covenant promises, knowing in Christ God is for us. God’s promises in Christ are enough to fuel endurance during seasons of suffering and struggle. The questions of “why suffering” (beginning in 3:23) continue. Job’s suffering is undeserved, an innocent and upright man whose famine of comfort points us to the cross, the place where God is both just and justifier. Bildad just blasted Job who initially agrees that God is in fact treating him as an enemy (1-12). Job is like a man jumped by a gang (7) or a besieged and defenseless city being destroyed (8-12). Job is separated from relationship (13-20), family and friends forsaking him. The weight and “whys” of suffering are overwhelming. Job’s faith focuses on what he knows, three truths that trump his feelings. Job knows: his redeemer lives; this redeemer will walk the earth; and Job will see Him with his eyes (25-27). Job’s redeemer is his vindicator and champion. Job’s friends focus on God’s judgement. Job focuses on being justified, hoping only in His redeemer. God is for His people and plays both roles, both Judge and Justifier in Christ Jesus. Paul uses Psalm 56 to solidify faith, asking, “if God is for us (in Christ), who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31-39) In Christ Jesus, our redeemer who walked the earth, we can have concrete confidence that God is for us, fueling faith during seasons of pain and problems. Richly Dwelling -Where do you identify with Job’s questions of why? -God is big enough for our toughest questions! How does His grace and patience with Job fuel faith for you to ask Him big questions, too? -Jesus is the justifier of all who have faith in Him, so we can know that God is for us through Christ- always and in everything- and nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ! How does this truth act as a trump card when we go through pain and problems? How can you stand more fully on this fact, fueling your faith and hope? Key Verse 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God… Comments are closed.
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