I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES

Job 19:1-29 / Keywords 19:25

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

 

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,

    yet[e] in[f] my flesh I will see God;

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]”

Footnotes

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

1. Job calls out Bildad for his shameless attacks, pointing out that Bildad is not trying to help Job, but rather to exalt himself (5). Job wants his friends to see how “God has wronged” Job by not responding to his cry for justice. It seems that God is personally angry with him as an enemy (11). As a result, all of Job’s family and friends have abandoned him. He only escaped his own death by the skin of his teeth!

 

2. Job appeals again to his friends: “Have pity on me!” (21), but they continue to act as enemies, pursuing him. Job longs that his story be written down, both on a scroll to be shared and inscribed on rock, so generations of the public could read it. Stories are powerful. We do well to take time to listen to each other’s stories, rather than give simple answers to the suffering of our friends.

 

3. But Job had another reason to have his story written: he had faith that there is one who will indeed advocate for him: “my redeemer lives” Job states. Who is this redeemer? The Hebrew word refers to a kinsman-redeemer, like Boaz who took in Ruth (Ruth 4:1-6). But Job had already stated that all his family rejected him (13- 19). Job has faith in God in spite of his impending death. Job’s heart yearns to see God, even though God treats him as an enemy! Why? The redeemer who will intercede.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for redeeming us through your Son Jesus. Help me put my faith in him today.

One Word I know that my Redeemer lives