What man was ever in a more pitiable condition than Job ? Who, in such a situation, while standing on the brink of death, would not search his heart? All the sham and veneer of life are stripped, and we stand naked in the eves of God. So it was with Job, who expected, nay, pleaded to die. It was then. when all else seemed empty and vain, that the real man and his innermost thoughts were expressed. Read his thoughts and consider the man in Job, Chapter 14. Up to the 15th verse his faith is clear and beautiful. In Verses 14 and 15, he says: “If a man die shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait until my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands.” Amid all Job’s mistaken thoughts on the cane of his suffering and his expressed resentment against God. his faith stands out as a beacon light, and we see the true man of God, holding fast to his integrity. In the following words of the chapter (Verses 16 to 22). the frail, human side once more appears, and again he begins to puzzle over and express indignation over the fact that apparently, in the present evil, God has left him to suffer. Later on, he sinks further into this despondent belief and bemoans the fact that God Himself is adding to his misery without a cause. Yet, in the 19th chapter, his faith again shines through. He still does not understand that no man can be justified in the sight of God through works, and even in the prophetic words which he uttered, his thought was that the One to come would vindicate him in the sight of God. Yet his words express the belief within his heart, and bear out the fact that his faith was as Abraham’s, and he could see the day of Christ. “For I know that my redeemer liveth. and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me (Job 19: 25-27).
With all his failings and lack of understanding, Job uttered a prophetic truth, although perhaps not completely aware of its implications. Just as Moses (Deut. 18:15) knew that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like unto him, and as Daniel knew and believed that “he would stand in his lot at the end of the days”, so Job believed that in the latter days the redeemer would come, and, though worms should destroy his body, yet in his flesh should he see God. Job was rated by the angel with Moses and Daniel, and knew quite well what he was talking about, even though, as in the case of other prophets, the full import of their utterances might not have been grasped. We shall never know until, by God’s grace, we may have the opportunity to ask them how much of what they prophetically uttered the patriarchs really understood. But it is certain that they understood the overall picture of God’s kingdom, and that the Messiah would come and establish this kingdom on the earth.
To return now to the 19th chapter of Job before we sum up the case for Job. The word “redeemer” used in this chapter is from the word “gaal.” The meanings of the word, according to Strong’s Concordance, are as follows : “A prime root ; to redeem according to the oriental law of kinship ; to be next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative’s property) ; to marry his widow, etc. (note the case of Boaz and Ruth) ; to avenge, deliver, perform the part of a near kinsman, purchase, ransom, redeem, avenger.” Now the same word “gaal” is used to proclaim the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, in Chapters 41,43,44,47,48,49,54,59. Many of these are prophecies of the Christ to come, and are well worth taking time to consider. But this is no proof that Job meant the word in the same sense as in these prophecies, unless, as we said before, the context of the chapter, and Job’s own understanding of God’s purpose to raise up a Redeemer substantiate his use of the word in that sense. From the fact that Job voiced the truth that, although worms should destroy his body he should be raised and see God, and from the fact that he utters the divine truth that, although asleep in death, he will answer when the Lord calls, it seems to us that the case is for Job as having uttered a Messianic prophecy. His difficulty was in understanding and realizing that no flesh is righteous before God, and that all that had happened to him in the ultimate is all that flesh is worth in the sight of God. This he learns after his discourse with God in Chapters 38 to 41. In Chapter 42, Verses 1 through 6, he is revealed to himself as being self-righteous and lacking humility. (Chapter 42) when he realizes that in God’s sight he is vile, when he confesses and re-rents in “dust and ashes”, and abhors himself for his self-righteous attitude (Verse 6). In Verse 3 he admits that “he understood not ; things too wonderful for him which he knew not.”
To sum up briefly then the case of and for Job. Job at the beginning was a man that feared God and eschewed evil. He held fast his integrity and sinned not with his lips nor charged God foolishly until his three friends came. Then he lapsed into the common complaint of which perhaps most of us are guilty, of charging God with his undeserved calamities. He believed he was a righteous man and deserved better treatment, and that God had treated him badly. (Can you not hear yourself saying many times, “What have I done to deserve this ?”) He thereby exhibited a proud and self-righteous attitude. He had to learn from practical experience that which he exhibited mechanically (Job 1 :5), that there was One to come who would take away the sin of the world by His humility and obedience. This he expressed in Chapter 19.
Through it all he exhibited a confidence in God as far as the ultimate was concerned (Job 13 and 15, previously referred to). He repented when he was shown that mankind cannot earn eternal life, and that he could not be saved by law or works, but by grace (Romans 11 :6 ; Ephesians 2:9). His experiences are paralleled in the lives of many other sons of God, and it is well that we should learn the lesson that Job learned and see ourselves for what we really are. We, like him, must realize that it is only through Jesus, our Redeemer and Vindicator, that we can approach God, and that we must do so with a humble and contrite heart, “not of works, lest any man should boast.”
But the case of and for Job, and for us, too, does not end here. Job was instructed to pray for his friends when they offered up their sacrifices to God. When Job prayed for them (Job 42: 9,10), it is recorded that it was then that God accepted him. To pray for those who have maligned and slandered us is not an easy matter. Job did it, and was accepted. So must we. Not only must we pray in a general way, but by name for those who have misused us. When we do this, our hearts will be purged from bitterness, and the purifying balm of God’s mercy will be felt with regard to our shortcomings and sins.
Thus the case of and for Job ends, and with it a retrospect of our own lives. Please God that it may be said of us as it was of him that “God will bless our latter end”, and bring us to His kingdom.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One