May 22, 2015

HELLO, JOB! YES, I MEAN YOU. YES, YOU.

Job 18–19

Andrew Summey
Friday's Devo

May 22, 2015

Friday's Devo

May 22, 2015

Central Truth

Jesus is our Redeemer. He lives. He will remain when all else fades. He succeeds where all others fail. Can we confidently say that we "will see God" because our "Redeemer lives"? Our names are written in the Book of Life because of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Key Verse | Job 19:25

"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last."
(Job 19:25)

 

 

Job 18–19

Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

“How long will you hunt for words?
    Consider, and then we will speak.
Why are we counted as cattle?
    Why are we stupid in your sight?
You who tear yourself in your anger,
    shall the earth be forsaken for you,
    or the rock be removed out of its place?

Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out,
    and the flame of his fire does not shine.
The light is dark in his tent,
    and his lamp above him is put out.
His strong steps are shortened,
    and his own schemes throw him down.
For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
    and he walks on its mesh.
A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare lays hold of him.
10  A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
    a trap for him in the path.
11  Terrors frighten him on every side,
    and chase him at his heels.
12  His strength is famished,
    and calamity is ready for his stumbling.
13  It consumes the parts of his skin;
    the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14  He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
    and is brought to the king of terrors.
15  In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
    sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
16  His roots dry up beneath,
    and his branches wither above.
17  His memory perishes from the earth,
    and he has no name in the street.
18  He is thrust from light into darkness,
    and driven out of the world.
19  He has no posterity or progeny among his people,
    and no survivor where he used to live.
20  They of the west are appalled at his day,
    and horror seizes them of the east.
21  Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
    such is the place of him who knows not God.”

Job Replies: My Redeemer Lives

Then Job answered and said:

“How long will you torment me
    and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
    are you not ashamed to wrong me?
And even if it be true that I have erred,
    my error remains with myself.
If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
    and make my disgrace an argument against me,
know then that God has put me in the wrong
    and closed his net about me.
Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
    I call for help, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
    and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has stripped from me my glory
    and taken the crown from my head.
10  He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
    and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
11  He has kindled his wrath against me
    and counts me as his adversary.
12  His troops come on together;
    they have cast up their siege ramp 1 19:12 Hebrew their way against me
    and encamp around my tent.

13  He has put my brothers far from me,
    and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
14  My relatives have failed me,
    my close friends have forgotten me.
15  The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
    I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16  I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
    I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
17  My breath is strange to my wife,
    and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
18  Even young children despise me;
    when I rise they talk against me.
19  All my intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20  My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21  Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
    for the hand of God has touched me!
22  Why do you, like God, pursue me?
    Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

23  Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24  Oh that with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
25  For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 2 19:25 Hebrew dust
26  And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    yet in 3 19:26 Or without my flesh I shall see God,
27  whom I shall see for myself,
    and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
    My heart faints within me!
28  If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’
    and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’ 4 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts in me
29  be afraid of the sword,
    for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
    that you may know there is a judgment.”

Footnotes

[1] 19:12 Hebrew their way
[2] 19:25 Hebrew dust
[3] 19:26 Or without
[4] 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts in me

Dive Deeper | Job 18–19

Followers of Jesus need to see themselves as Job.

The Hebrew word for Job is Iyyov,which means "persecuted and hated." He's engaging in a conversation with Bildad, whose name means "Bel has loved." Bel or Ba'el was one of the chief gods of the ancient world. The name literally means "power." You could also look at this conversation as a contrast between those who know the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and those who experience the erratic favor of earthly power.

Chapter 18: Bildad articulates the assumption of the ancient world—that the wicked are the ones who suffer. This is the ancient way of expressing what we often hear as karma. Bad happens to those who do bad. We may also see this sort of thinking with extreme "prosperity gospel" types who embrace a distorted view of blessings and curses. Bildad uses the words "god," "unrighteous," and "wicked," but he defines them incorrectly. His theology is poor or heretical.

Chapter 19: Job counters this world view with a trusting, relational view of how God interacts with man. The worldview expressed by Bildad only adds pain and suffering to Job's existing suffering. Job doesn't look to defend himself. Instead, he cries out to God in humility. He responds with trusting faithfulness. Not in himself. Not demanding that God meet his expectations. Instead, Job declares, "[M]y Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last." (Job 19:25)

No matter how many days we have on this earth, our Redeemer, Jesus, is coming. For those who trust in Jesus' work on the cross, we can declare, as Job did in Job 19:26-27 (ESV):

And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

We may not suffer exactly as Job did. But for us who know that our Redeemer lives, our time on this earth is our "hell." And for those who do not know the Redeemer, those who seek to appease the false powers of our age, this earth is their "heaven."

Discussion Questions

1. How do you feel persecuted? Hated? Are you surprised? Read John 15:20.

2. Where do you place your trust? In the fleeting, erratic powers of our world or the Redeemer? Read John 16:33.

3. For those held captive by worldly powers, have you let them know that your Redeemer, Jesus, lives? That Jesus has stood on the earth and will come to stand again? Read Isaiah 61, Luke 4, and Acts 1:11.