For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Job 19:25, 26
Job cries out in the pain of his humiliation. But Job’s inner strength remains unmoved. He is sure God has wronged him. God’s attacks have turned everyone against him. Now his three closest friends refuse him pity and join God in trying to tear him apart!
Engraved forever (19:23-24). How often we say things we immediately wish we could take back. Now in the strongest terms, Job proclaims the rightness of what he has said. He is willing to have his words engraved in rock. One day what he is saying will be proven true.
23 “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! 24 That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!
The next verses are stunning in their affirmation of Job’s unshakable faith. Rather than change a word he has uttered, he wants each one recorded forever.
Resurrection. Because the very God who now torments Job is his Redeemer, one future day Job will see the Lord with his own eyes. Then Job will be vindicated. And then at last Job will understand. As for his friends, they should be careful what they say. Falsely accusing Job will not go unpunished!
Here is a strong, resolute hope for a mediator between God and humanity. Ultimately Job’s longing for a vindicator or mediator was fulfilled in Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:5).
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5
19:27 Again, the redundant, emphatic pronoun I in the Hebrew text, as in v. 25, indicates a strong belief and deep conviction. This is a wonderful example of a sufferer passionately expressing his resolute faith even in the middle of a horrible situation.
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
28 If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’– Since the root of the matter is found in me, 29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, That you may know there is a judgment.”
–> God lives and man will be raised. If we fix our hope in eternity, nothing that happens in our brief lifetime can overcome us.
