Written Excerpts:
Introduction:
Today we celebrate life. We celebrate victory. We celebrate hope.
As I tried to seek God’s message for today, my mind was drawn to a very
familiar text in the book of Job. I have referred to this text many times, but I don’t think I have ever
preached from it.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where it seemed like life
was crushing you down? Everywhere you turned, there seemed to be no relief,
only more troubles or more threats. … one of those seasons in life when it seems like “everything that can
go wrong, IS going wrong!”
If you have, you already know that in those times it becomes extremely
vital for survival to “wade” through all the peripheral problems, cut through
all the noise, and force yourself to focus on those things that you know for
certain are still true and reliable. You know you need to focus on the things that you know for certain and
then work your way through all the trouble from that perspective.
Is there anyone here that knows what I’m talking about? I believe that our Scripture text for today is one of those kinds of
seasons for the subject of the story, Job.
I assume that most of us here know about the book of Job and the story
portrayed there. For those who may not be familiar with it, let me just say that the
book of Job is the long story of a man that probably lived in the earlier years
of time; many think during the time of the “patriarchs” of the Bible – Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, etc.
Basically the story tells how God was bragging to Satan about how
faithful Job was in serving Him. In order to prove to Satan that Job was not
just faithful because God had blessed him, God allowed Satan to destroy all his
possessions and destroy his own family. In addition to that, Satan was
permitted to attack Job personally with boils and physical suffering.
The details of what I just told you are given in the first few chapters
of the book, then the rest of the book consists of dialog between Job and some
of his so-called friends who argue with him about his guilt as the cause of his
troubles. Throughout all the dialog, Job maintains his innocence and keeps
challenging them (and God) to show where he had violated his covenant with God.
The book is a long detailed argument between Job and his “comforters.”
Job sinks at times into deep despair and discouragement, if not literal
depression. It is in the midst of this overwhelming assault that Job utters these
words in our text, “I know that my redeemer lives….” It’s as if he has cut through all the doubt and uncertainty and the
things that confound him in order to clearly proclaim something that he knows
for sure.
Before we take a brief look at what Job is saying, let me propose to
you that Job may actually be saying more by prophetic inspiration than he
realizes he is saying.
I want to declare to you this morning a few things that Job has
proclaimed as bedrock truths, which he KNOWS, and to which he clings in the
midst of his life-threatening calamities.
I. He knows he has a redeemer.
In the KJV and a couple of other translations, the word redeemer is not
capitalized, but in most of the recent translations of the Bible, this word is
capitalized to emphasize the fact that Job is probably talking about God.
Redeemer – a kinsman and a “vindicator”; This kinsman-redeemer
basically functioned as the avenger of the blood of someone unjustly killed (2 Samuel 14:11).
He had the right to preempt all others in redeeming property left by a kinsman
(Ruth 4:4-6). He also recovered stolen items (Numbers 5:8) or
vindicated the rights of the oppressed (Proverbs 23:10-11).
He was one who redeemed, delivered and liberated. (Walter C. Kaiser et al., Hard
Sayings of the Bible, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996)
It seems as though Job is using this term in the sense of “vindicator.”
Meaning that God would some day vindicate His servant and show that he truly
had been faithful. However, he seems to convey the idea that it may not happen in this
life, which we will talk about in just a few minutes.
II. He knows his Redeemer is
alive.
In spite of all that Job had suffered, he apparently did not jump to
the conclusion that God was dead, like some remarkable examples in modern
history. I’ve read various accounts of individuals who completely lost faith and
reverted to atheism because of moments in their lives when they perceived that
God didn’t come through for them when they needed him the most, so they simply concluded
he wasn’t real.
Not so with Job. “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God
foolishly.” (Job 1:22) He maintained his faith that God was his redeemer and He was alive. Those are both good things to know for anyone who is going through
their worst trials and adversity.
III. He knows his Redeemer is
going to show up.
“He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth.”
“stand” – a word that can mean stand up, but is more often translated
“arise.” Is this a prophetic reference to the resurrection of Christ? Perhaps. I
don’t know if Job realized that it was, but he uttered the truth regardless of
his level of perception.
This reference to the “latter day” is probably a good hint that Job
didn’t really expect his vindication to take place before he died. Job welcomed death because of his suffering, and he probably expected
to die before he was vindicated. So, he “looks forward” to another day when God would arise and stand on
the earth to set the record straight.
“latter” – can carry two ideas, either sometime in the future, or the
actual latter days as in the concept of near the end of time. It’s not clear
which idea should be taken here as far as Job’s perspective. Either way, Job
knows it is in the future.
IV. He knows he will be there
to see Him when He comes.
v. 26 “in my flesh” – lit. from my flesh. He expected to have a
physical body again.
vv. 26-27 “I shall see God”, “shall see for myself”, “mine eyes shall
behold.”
There are some differences of opinion about the true meaning of the
words Job uses here, but after reading through the arguments I had access to,
I’m convinced that he intended to argue for the fact that he would live again
in flesh and bone to see God and be satisfied with His vindication.
Some have argued that there is
very little evidence of a belief in life after death in the OT, but others have
strongly argued that it was there none-the-less. Some have even said that there
is evidence that Egyptians believed in life after death more than 1,000 years
before Abraham lived.
Certainly the Pharisees in Jesus
day, who only had OT Script to read, believed in a resurrection.
Conclusion:
Today, we have much more
revelation of God’s truth than Job had, but we can certainly echo all that Job
proclaimed with even more rich meaning.
I'm thankful on this Easter Sunday in 2014 that we can know that our Redeemer liveth! We understand it in the general sense that "God's not dead," but also in the specific sense that Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, rose again from the dead and He is alive today! Hallelujah!
“I know that my Redeemer lives!”
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