Lest we go quickly into our study of this text and it escape our notice completely, I want first to draw your attention to the previous two verses (23,24).
“Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
That with an iron stylus and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!”
How little that faithful man could have realized what Book would bear his words for all generations to read; for the Holy Spirit to engrave them, not in rock, which will one day burn up with intense heat, but in something more permanent; the hearts of God’s called ones.
Now one of the early things most Bible students learn, is that Job is a book about suffering. If we know anything at all about Job, even if we haven’t read it ourselves, that one thing is usually that it’s about a man with a lot of patience. It’s about a man who loses everything, and then philosophizes for 40 more chapters about why he has lost everything.
But this book is much, much more than that. It fits in with the poetical books of the Bible (Psalms, Song of Solomon....) because it is written in the style of Hebrew poetry. But it also fits with what is called ‘wisdom literature’ (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes...) because it deals, in the words of Thomas Carlyle, with “...man’s destiny and God’s ways with him here on this earth”.
Scholars speculate on the time of Job’s writing. They’ve picked several time frames; the patriarchal period, the time of Solomon or the time just before the exile in the eighth century B.C.
I’m willing to concede to their experience and wisdom concerning that, since it really doesn’t make a lot of difference to me when it was written; as I’m sure it does not to you.
I mean, we know it wasn’t written in 1950’s Nebraska, right?
What is important to me, is that you understand that it could have been written in 1950’s Nebraska. The message of Job is that timeless.
I won’t argue with the scholars, but I would say that Job could have been written about events that took place in the early centuries of mankind...within generations of Adam. Why? Because its message is timeless.
The book of Job is written for the thinking person; for the Christian; who is not satisfied with quick and easy answers to the problems of life. For anyone with just a little bit of ambition and a lot of desire to better understand the God we serve, I would suggest getting hold of a modern translation of the Bible (New American Standard, New International, American Standard or Revised Standard), and sit down to read this book in one sitting...as you would a short story. Go to it prayerfully, don’t concern yourself too much with parts that are difficult to grasp, but read slowly and get the overall picture presented there. It will bless.
Now on to our study.
The book of Job, as I said, has much to say about God and our relationship with Him.
But I want to focus on something very specific today; and I want for one primary focus throughout, to be the fact that this is an ancient book. Whenever it was written, it certainly was written long before New Testament times, and possibly long before scholars speculate. Don’t forget that as we go along.
“And as for me, I know that my Redeemer
Lives, and at the last He will take His stand on
the earth.
Even after my skin is destroyed,
yet from my flesh, I shall see God;
Whom I myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes shall see
and not another.”
The first time I saw and understood these lines, I was amazed. This, my friends, is New Testament language!
I want to take these verses, on phrase at a time today, and talk about what they meant to Job and what they mean to us; because saving faith is built upon the truths contained here, and none other.
We’re going to see that the faith that saves, has never changed. It has been exactly the same since the day God first preached the gospel to Adam and Eve.
First then, Job says “And as for me...”
Don’t pass over these four, vitally important words. They are personal, and they proclaim that what is coming next has been internalized. What comes next is a personal conviction, not hearsay, not speculation, but truth uttered from a heart of assurance and firm conviction.
That is the beginning of saving faith. It is not mental assent. It is not philosophical reasoning. It is belief that takes a stand.
“And as for me..”
You may have your doubts. You may go your way. You may have the facts presented to you, and choose not to believe. You may reject out of hand, or after much careful consideration. You choose your own way. BUT AS FOR ME...!
You see? These are the words of someone who will not be turned aside. He has investigated, he has gathered the facts of the case, he has witnessed truth and internalized that truth, and whatever comes, he now says, “And as for me...”
When he is done, you will know where he stands. You may disagree, you may despise his confidence and his determination, you may kill him for it, but you will not deter him from his course.
That is the beginning of saving faith, listener; if you do not begin and end with that firm conviction, then as your religion builds you will find yourself using faulty material. For the rock of God’s truth must be built up on unwavering confidence that what He says is true.
If you’re not willing to take your stand for Him, no matter the cost, then you will also reject the spiritual tenets of the faith for the more comfortable rituals of shallow, feel-good churchiness, and your religion will be a useless, putrid thing to be despised.
Saving faith is not passive. It is active, it is an affront to the spirit of this world, it will meet with opposition, but it is the most solid ground upon which anyone can take his stand.
“For we have become partakers of
Christ, if we hold fast the beginning
of our assurance firm until the end;” -Heb 3:14
So where has Job taken his stand?
“...I know that my Redeemer lives...”
Now this is very interesting to me.
As long ago as this book was apparently written; as long ago as these events must have taken place, here is a man who uses a very ‘New Testament’ term.
“I know that my Redeemer lives”.
How could he have known that? Special revelation? By that term I mean, did God appear to Job and walk with him as He had walked with Adam before the fall, and as He walked with Enoch before he was taken home? As He appeared to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses?
Did He walk in the cool of the evening with Job, His faithful servant, and reveal things to him that Job never told anyone; except to allude to it here?
“I know that my Redeemer lives”
What is a redeemer? I looked it up and the dictionary said, “One who redeems”. (sheesh...)
Fortunately, it also said, “One who repurchases”, and “One who delivers from bondage by paying a ransom”.
Now listen... Job could have said, “I know that my Savior lives”. He would have been accurate.
He could have said, “I know that my Champion lives”. He would have been accurate.
He could have said, “I know that my Advocate lives”. He would have been accurate. We see God acting as Job’s advocate before Satan in the first chapter of the book.
But he didn’t use any of those terms or any other. He said, “Redeemer”.
That means that Job knew he needed to be purchased back. He knew that he ultimately belonged to God, but that something had interrupted that relationship. He may not have understood what it was that interrupted, but he had the confidence in God and His goodness and faithfulness to say,
“And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives...”
The One who buys me back.
Do you know that? Is that your firm conviction today? Can you stand on the highest hill and shout with confidence, “I KNOW that my Redeemer lives”?
In historical fulfillment of Job’s words, centuries later, Paul told the Galatians that, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -”
Christ is our Redeemer, who has repurchased us. He has delivered us from bondage by paying the ransom with His own sinless blood. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We must move on.
“...and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.”
Now translators have made it abundantly clear that there are several ways to understand that term, “at the last”. NIV says “in the end”, NKJV says “shall stand at last”, RSV says “at last He shall stand”, and KJV says “He shall stand at the latter day”.
The common theme that seems to be accepted by all, is that in the final analysis, or finally, or despite what transpires in the interim, He shall finally take His stand on the earth.
What is the implication? It seems very clear to me, that the picture being drawn is of an Owner/King returning to reclaim that which has been usurped in his absence.
I’ll refer back once more to the story of Robin Hood. Good King Richard is off on the crusades, and evil Prince John usurps the throne. He mistreats the true King’s subjects, he exacts from them taxes they cannot pay, he throws them into prison for imagined infractions of his cruel laws, he beats and tortures for the sake of setting an example.
But in the end, King Richard rides back on the scene, rewards his faithful subjects who have separated themselves from the evil of John’s rule, and reclaims his throne.
It’s not just a return home from a long journey. It is a coming back in power to set things right!
“And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth”
Oh, brothers and sisters in Christ; this is a truth that should give you goose bumps! It should give you cheer and encouragement in the worst of circumstances.
Have you been driven from comfort by a world that hates who you are? Are you living in the forest, outside the camp, often doing without and having to fend for yourself because you no longer accept the priorities or follow the commands of the evil prince of this world?
Do you sometimes grow weary because you have to stay so constantly alert against the onslaught of the enemy, who chases you even to the doorstep of your stronghold and shoots his fiery darts at you without mercy?
Keep your eye on the Eastern horizon. Your Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. All who are His will be instantly vindicated; all His enemies and yours will be instantly banished by the power of the sword of His Word.
This is saving faith, people, and it has been the same always, and will not change.
I don’t know if Job had any writings to go by. I don’t know if he had anything but the verbal testimony of those who went before him. I don’t even know if he had thought these things through prior to this horrible time of trial in his life, or if the Holy Spirit came on him at just this moment in inspiration of truth.
But I do know that salvation has never been through keeping the Law, or being good, or working toward acceptance with a Holy God. It has always, always, been based upon this truth...
...the Redeemer of sinful man lives, and in the end, He will stand as final and supreme conqueror of all!
The Rapture will certainly be a wonderful thing. I am anxious for it; if it happened before this sermon is done, I wouldn’t mind a bit.
But the Rapture will not be enough. Escape is not enough. As Redeemer Christ has purchased us back. As Savior, He will call us up to meet Him in the air. But as Champion and Reigning King, He will come back, bringing us with Him, to take back all that is now rightfully His through purchase of blood.
But wait; there’s more!
The faith of this godly man, and true saving faith, understands that the Redeemer of all redeems all. Nothing will be lost to Him. Sin and Satan have corrupted all flesh, but in the end, our redemption will be complete.
This is one case where I like the wording of the KJV best because it is so graphic.
“...though after my flesh, worms destroy this body...”
That is the terrible destiny of all sinful flesh, my friends. The one without God has only this end in sight; the feeding of worms with his flesh, and the feeding of demons with his soul.
But true, saving faith says, “...yet from my flesh I shall see God”
How can I say that is part of saving faith? Because saving faith says that God is able to raise the dead.
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac;
...He considered that God is able to raise men even
from the dead” Heb 11:17-19
“For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all...in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.”
-Rom 4:16,17
“...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.’
-Rom 10:9
Here is a man; a righteous man by God’s own declaration, but just a man nonetheless.
He has lost everything he ever held dear.
His children have been wiped out in a moment.
His crops and livestock are gone.
His own wife has left her kitchen to find him in his pile of ashes and nag him like a dripping faucet.
His flesh is covered with boils and sores. He is physically tortured without relief.
His best friends have come over to sit at his side and speculate about his suffering; like scientists gathered around a petri dish discussing the slimy growth they see there.
His own doubts and questions assail him until he is wearied even from thought itself.
Yet, in the midst of it all, saving faith looks beyond the physical, ‘endures as seeing Him who is unseen’, and confidently declares,
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God;
Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another”
Do you see here that death means nothing to faith? Job hasn’t set any conditions here.
He hasn’t said, “if I live long enough”.
He hasn’t said, “if God delivers me from this suffering”
He hasn’t said, “if my Redeemer comes before I utterly waste away in this ash pile”
He has placed His faith and trust in the timeless, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Redeemer, God; He has looked beyond the physical with spiritual eyes, and declared that no matter what life brings, no matter how death comes, yet, with physical eyes...his own eyes and not another’s....he shall see God!
My friend, whether you call yourself Christian, or whether you never have, I want to assure you today that without this kind of faith you will never see God.
But if from your repentant heart you can boldly proclaim, “And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will take His stand on the earth”, then you can also confidently declare that even if the worms destroy your body, your Redeemer will reclaim that too; so that in the final analysis, you will look with your own eyes, on God!
This is the faith that was first offered to Adam and Eve, when God promised a Redeemer in Genesis 3:15, and every man, woman or child of Adam’s race since then has entered into eternity lost and without hope, or they have believed as Job believed here in these verses, and been assured of eternal life in presence of their Redeemer, glorified and eternal.
It is the faith of the ages, as changeless as God Himself, and it is the very power of God to save all who believe.
AND AS FOR YOU...?
