JOB 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
You remember the story of Job, don’t you? The Bible says in JOB 1:3 He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. That’s pretty heady stuff. Satan went to God and said he had been "roaming the Earth to and fro.....and God said, like a proud Father, have you considered my servant Job? Job was a righteous man, dedicated to God. He was blessed to have riches, a fine family, and good health. What else could anyone want?
Of course, Satan had to try to come in and mess things up. Did you ever notice that every time you think everything is gonna be OK, Satan tries to take it from you. He is the great destroyer of mankind, isn’t he? Anyway, Satan told God that the only reason Job was so prosperous and faithful to God was because God had "put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has" (VS 10) It was agreed that Satan could test Job...the only rule was that he couldn’t kill Job. Before Job’s time of testing was over, he wished he WAS dead.
The first thing that happened was his donkeys and oxen were stolen and all but one servant was killed. While Job was being told this news, another servant came in and told Job that his camels had been stolen and he was the only one to make it out alive. "They put the servants to the sword" is how he said it. While he was still speaking, the Bible says, another messenger burst in and told Job that a big wind had blown down his oldest son’s house, collapsing the house and killing all of Job’s children. (That’s what they get for drinking wine and feasting too much).
So how did Job react? Well....he shaved his head and got naked! (vs 20-21) But...he never blamed God. And that was just the first test! In Chapter 2 we see Job afflicted with sores from his head to his feet. He was sitting on a pile of ashes, scraping off his sores whenever his wife came to him.....that’s just what he needed! She told him to curse God and die! You know what he said? Vs 10 He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" I have always been bothered by this woman’s attitude. However, as I thought about all that she had endured, I could just begin to sympathize with how she must have felt. After all, she has just lost her ten children, she is no longer the "first lady of the east." Her husband, once the greatest man of the east is sitting on a garbage dump scraping his disease ridden body with a piece of broken pottery. No wonder she is a little upset.
Then Job’s three buddies came...vs11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.
Well...at first they were his buddies. I want to point out a couple of things here....When Job’s three friends arrived, they didn’t recognize old Job. He looked so bad to them that he seemed like someone else. It seems that the trials of Job’s life were enough to change his very appearance. Your trials will do the same to you if you allow them to. They will rob you of your joy. They will steal your smile. They will replace the look of hope with the lines of worry. It is evident when people are troubled. Often, you can see the worry and the strain in their faces.
Let’s talk about Job’s buddies for a sec...Eliphaz - This is the man of Testimonial Experience. He has already been there and done that. No matter what you go through, this kind of person has had it worse. Know anyone like that? I knew a guy that no matter what story you told, he had one better. Drove everybody crazy! We used to "embellish" (that means make up) stories just to try to better him. Never worked, he could always out-do your story!
Anyway, back to Eliphaz...we see in Chapter 4 what kind of friend he is. The first thing he does is tells Job what a blessing he has been. He really butters old Job up.But then, he turns right around and accuses Job of hypocrisy! He tells Job in vs 8 that Job must have done some kind of evil for this to befall upon him. Even tells Job in VS 19 that he lives in a "house of clay".Then he goes on in Chapter 5 to REALLY lay it on poor Job.
He tells Job that he is self-righteous, not accepted by God, and basically he’s getting what he deserves. I want to show you something in Chapter 15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 2 "Would a wise man answer with empty notions or fill his belly with the hot east wind? 3 Would he argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value? He just called Job an old windbag! Some friend!
May be something to it, though. Look at Chapter 8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: 2 "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. Man, now Bildad is piling on by calling Job an old windbag! Bildad goes on to say that all these things happened to Job because he was just a bad guy. Then there’s Zophar. He looks at the situation and simply tells Job that he needs to repent of his sins and get right with God, then these things wouldn’t happen. Oh, I don’t want to forget Elihu. It takes this great talker 6 chapters to tell us that God is great and fair. What he says is true, however....he never does do Job any good. Not really any words of encouragement, just pious remarks...that make Job feel even worse than he does already!
Do you have any friends like these men? From time to time, we all have those around us that seem to do everything in their power to keep us in our places. They feel that it is their job to point out our failures and our shortcomings. God deliver us from friends like these! Job finally has enough...in Chapter 13:4 You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! 5 If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom. Basically...it’s like Abe Lincoln once said..."it’s better to be quiet and let everyone think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!"
In the end, Job was restored everything that he previously held - Job 42:10-17. God gave it all back. Life never goes as we plan it, but it never takes God by surprise! He knows the way we take and when we are tried, we shall come forth as gold, Job. 23:10. God knows how to take the worst that face and turn it into great victory in our lives. He may not give everything back just as it was, but you can count on the Lord to prove Himself faithful in your time of trial. I want to tell you today that...JOB 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives...
Can I just be blunt with you? I know that God knew me before I was formed. The first part of JER 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee. I also know that God had a plan for my life JER 29:11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. And, I know that I deviated from that plan. I did everything wrong for God’s plan to work for me. But one thing I always knew and will always know is...my Redeemer lives.
My Redeemer lives whenever trials come and it seems that there is no way I’ll make it.
My Redeemer lives when we get a phone call in the morning that my Mom is in the emergency room at the hospital.
My Redeemer lives when I look around at our once proud country, now more similar to Sodom and Gomorrah than the USA!
My Redeemer lives whenever I see our service men and women killed defending a country that has outlawed Christianity conversion
My Redeemer lives when I see people opening up a website for the purpose of making fun of the Holy Ghost.
My Redeemer lives when I see Muslim children allotted 1 hr of prayer time after recess and Christians are banned from praying at all
My Redeemer lives whenever taxpayer money is used to construct foot baths and buy prayer rugs so Muslims can pray to Allah
My Redeemer lives whenever it seems that wrong is constantly triumphing over right, light seems to be put out by darkness
My Redeemer lives when I see evil men with evil desires and intent abusing women, teenagers, and yes, even small children
And here’s the rest of that scripture...JOB 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
All that you see happening right now, all the wrongs that are going unpunished, all the evil that Satan has brought into this world is only for a season. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He lives and one day we will stand before Him to receive our judgment. No excuses, no calling in sick, no telling Him "I’m just too tired; I worked all day" or "I just don’t have time to go to church". You are going to have time to go to your judgment whether you want to or not. You are going to stand before Him. 2 COR 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
There are no do-overs. You are making your decision where you will spend eternity right now. God has a plan for you, and yes, sometimes you will be tested and tried. Yes, your "friends" may provoke you and make fun of you and even try to get you to "curse your God" because they want you to believe that God has somehow, someway, forgotten about you. Jesus promised us that He is with us always...even unto the end! Remember this, dear brothers and sisters.....In the midst of all his problems...while friends and family had turned their backs on him, Job said...JOB 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. While every head is bowed, I want to ask you something.
Are you looking forward to God’s judgment? Are you excited about receiving the wonderful things that God has prepared for His children? Or are you troubled by the word "judgment’? Is there something that you have in your life that may affect your judgment appointment? Something that you aren’t sure just how God will judge it? Listen...if you aren’t 100% sure about it, then it probably is something that may keep you out of heaven. I encourage all of us...get right with God. Time is running out.
