Job 16:18-22 & 19:25-27
Hymn: “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”
Key verse:
“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end He will
stand upon the earth.”
Job 19:25
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you actually
craved it? In today’s society that kind
of response isn’t hard to imagine. Food
advertisements look so enticing that you may find yourself wishing that you
could just reach into the television and take the food being featured for
yourself. Our economy is dependent upon
us wanting and never being satisfied.
The example of the advertisement is a good one to
explain how Job is feeling in these two passages today. When we see an advertisement, we know that
there are barriers between us and our heart’s desire. We can’t just reach out
and grasp what we want even though we know that it exists somewhere.
Job is experiencing a similar frustration, only on a much
deeper, heart level. He believes that there
is a friend in heaven. He believes that an
advocate exists somewhere. He believes that
his redeemer lives! He understands
enough about the character of God to know that He must have provided a solution
somewhere. Job, however, can't get to
what he knows he needs. He thinks that
he will have to die before he can meet the object of his heart's desire.
In Romans 1:19-20, Paul says, “What may be known about God
is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s
invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
We see this clearly in Job.
He knew enough about God through his history and what he had seen to
know that God exists, that He demands justice and must be obeyed. We see him here, longing for Messiah so badly
that he is willing to die to find what we have.
We often find nonbelievers asking the question, “Well, what
about the people who have never met Jesus?
Will they go to hell automatically?”
Here, in Job, and in what Paul has written, we see the answer. Everyone knows at some level of their being
that God exists. The question is what
are they doing with the level of knowledge that they have? That is what they will be held responsible
for.
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