seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Job 19:1 Then Job replied:
2 “How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,
6 then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.
7 “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;
though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me;
he counts me among his enemies.
12 His troops advance in force;
they build a siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has alienated my family from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away;
my closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;
they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even the little boys scorn me;
when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me;
those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[a]
21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on(b) lead,
or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer[c] lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[d]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
28 “If you say, ‘How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him,[g]’
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
and then you will know that there is judgment.[h]”
a.Job 19:20 Or only by my gums
b. Job 19:24 Or and
c. Job 19:25 Or vindicator
d. Job 19:25 Or on my grave
e. Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then
f. Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from
g. Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me
h. Job 19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty
All of the commentaries are elegant this morning.... the easy English, though, was the easiest to understand. I've been through the fact that Job didn't cause all this. Satan was talking about the earth, God bragged on Job, and satan told God he could get Job to despise God. So God let satan mess with Job..... the humans on earth don't know about satan. So.... they think God took Job's kids, and livestock, leaving him in a desperate state..... then Job got the boils.... because satan thought the boils would make Job lose his faith. But it's in the last of this chapter that the commentaries have so much to say.
Bildad said that everyone would forget the wicked man (Job 18:17-19). But Job did not want anyone to forget that he was innocent. So Job wanted someone to write his words in a book. Then people would remember them always. And, of course, we still have the Book of Job today. It may be the most ancient book that still exists. Job wanted a permanent record of the things that he and his friends discovered about God.
These verses may be the most important verses in the Book of Job. Elsewhere Job explained his troubles, fears and doubts. But in these verses, Job explained the reasons why he still had hope.
Elsewhere Job had been doubtful whether he could ever prove himself innocent. He prayed. But he was not sure that God would ever help him. But in these verses, Job felt confident again.
Elsewhere, Job argued that death would be the end of everything. He did not think that a dead person could ever live again. But in these verses, Job was sure that God could make a dead person live again. And Job believed that he himself would meet God.
These are very important verses. But they are not easy verses to translate. Bible students are unsure about the exact meaning of many phrases.
But we understand enough to be confident about Job’s main ideas here:
· Firstly, Job was developing his thoughts in Job 16:19-21. There, Job said that somebody in heaven was helping him. He described that person as a lawyer or a friend. Job probably meant God himself. With our knowledge of the whole Bible, we can add that these passages describe Jesus well.
· In Job 14:7-9, Job remembered about trees. A tree that seems dead can often live again. And in Job 14:13-17, Job prayed that this would happen to Job himself. Here in chapter 19, Job seems confident that God will answer that prayer.
· Job used a special word in verse 25. In the original language of the book (called Hebrew) this word is GOEL. A GOEL frees someone by either of two particular methods. Either the GOEL may pay a debt for that person. Or the GOEL may fight to free the person. The English word for GOEL is a redeemer. So:
(1) In the Book of Ruth, Boaz freed Ruth. He loved her. So he paid her debts and he married her. He was her redeemer or GOEL.
(2) God is often called a GOEL or redeemer. For example, Psalm 19:14 and Isaiah 63:16.
(3) The Bible teaches that Jesus is our redeemer (1 Peter 1:18-19). When he died for us, he freed us from the devil’s power. The price for our freedom was Jesus’ death.
(4) In Job 19:25, Job uses this special word to describe God. At last, Job trusts God completely. God will rescue Job, even if God has to take Job from the grave to save him. God will rescue Job, even if God must pay to rescue him. And God will rescue Job even if God must fight for Job.
· Job realised that his body would die. But Job now knew that death would not be the end. In verse 26, the words ‘in my body’ might mean ‘without my body’. The translation is difficult but the meaning of Job’s words seems clear. After Job’s death, Job would see God. And Job desired that day, like Paul in Philippians 1:21-23.
Now I have a problem..... Job had no redeemer. That's a fact.... he might have had a lawyer who paid his debts for him.... like a money man.... or a banker.... but he did NOT have a redeemer as you and I have. My goody-two-shoes, mothers of preachers, Sunday morning wanna-be thumpers and feel good preaching to the offering plate commentary and sermon writers...... want everyone to sleep well over Job.... so they are going to try to sell me on the idea that Job had a redeemer and he went to Heaven. My friends all say "the Bible says so". Where?
If God didn't stand up for Job.... Job would indeed die. That tree they keep talking about.... it was cut down but the roots were still in tact.... so it put out shoots again.... as it always had. There was no Goel for the tree.... it's nature. God was known to take people off the earth without making them go through the death rattle..... In 2 Kings 2.... God took Elijah without making him go through death.
These people didn't know about "the devil". If the "devil" had been available to blame they would have been singing a song about it.... but the devil wasn't a big thing back then..... there was God, the Ten Commandments, and the Book of Law that was handed down by Moses. The deal was... back in that day.... every day was spent doing what God said to do. Here's an example.... God rested on the seventh day so humans were required to rest on the seventh day... so God wouldn't be angry with humans.....
IMHO.... saying Job would go to Heaven.... saying Job would have eternal life..... takes a big chunk out of the cross. If everyone in the Old Testament gets to go to Heaven..... why did Jesus bother?
I'm sorry.... I think the Bible scholars got it wrong. If God didn't call satan off.... no one was going to save Job. Jesus wasn't in the picture yet. God is Job's only hope.... and Job is not an Elijah.
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