June 19, 2004
Read Job 17 - 20
In Today's Reading:
Job's appeal to God; Bildad's cruel accusation; Job's reaffirmation of faith; Zophar refers to Job as a wicked man
Job assumed all hope of recovery was gone when he said: My breath (spirit) is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me. . . all my members are as a shadow. . . . My days are past, my purposes are broken off (Job 17:1,7,11).
Bildad interrupted this suffering saint with scathing words that were even more cruel and critical than his first speech. He assumed that Job's sufferings exposed him as a sinful hypocrite who was hopelessly condemned: For he is cast into a net by his own feet. . . . He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world (18:8,18). Bildad went on to say: Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knows not God (18:21). This mistaken accusation from Job's "friend" must have been a bitter blow. Not only was Job facing death, but to be misjudged as a hypocrite when he knew his heart was right with God must have been heartbreaking.
Our hearts are deeply stirred with compassion as this pitiful, lonely, suffering saint looked beyond his "friends." With great spiritual discernment and assurance, Job said: I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth . . . I shall see God (19:25-26) This revelation of life after death is one of the greatest in the Old Testament. God leads us to see, through Job, that we have no valid excuse for complaining about our suffering, material loss, or being misunderstood by others, for all of this life will pass and we have eternity before us.
According to the Law, a redeemer was the next of kin who was responsible for redeeming (buying back) an enslaved kinsman or his lost inheritance (Leviticus 25:25). The kinsman-redeemer foreshadowed the coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior-Redeemer. We were hopeless, lost sinners condemned to die and to be cast into eternal hell. By the deeds of the Law there shall be no flesh (body) be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested. . . which is by (through) faith of (in) Jesus Christ to all and upon all them that believe . . . Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:20-22,24).
Christ Revealed:
As the Redeemer (Job 19:25). Christ, our Redeemer, has bought us with His own blood on the cross. By His death, Jesus provided the required sacrifice to purchase salvation for mankind (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:14; Revelation 5:9).
Word Studies:
17:1 breath = spirit; 17:6 a tabret = an object of contempt, ridicule; 17:14 corruption = decay; 17:16 rest = burial; 18:9 gin = snare, trap; 18:20 day = fate; tragic end; 19:3 strange = alien; 19:14 familiar = close; 19:17 strange = repulsive; 19:19 inward = dearest, intimate; 19:27 reins = heart.
Pray For:
Government Officials: Rep. Jim Cooper (TN), Rep. Trent Franks (AZ), and Rep. James Walsh (NY) · Country: Fiji (813,000) in the southwestern Pacific · Major languages: English and Fijian · Religious freedom · 41% Hindu; 40% Protestant; 9% Roman Catholic; 8% Muslim
Prayer Suggestion: Ask according to the will of God and you will receive (John 16:24).
Prayer Suggestion: Ask according to the will of God and you will receive (John 16:24).
Optional Reading: Ephesians 2
Memory Verse for the Week: Romans 1:17