Scripture reading is from Job chapter 19 verses 23 through 27, although the entire chapter will be referenced in preaching. Job 19, beginning at verse 23. Oh, that my words were written. that they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead forever. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself And my eyes shall behold, and not another, how my heart yearns within me. Let us pray. Lord, now as we consider this portion of your word, we pray that you will open it to our hearts, illumine our minds, help us to receive what you have for us today. In Christ we pray, amen. These words, verses 25 and 26 that we just read, are wonderful words. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. The setting of these wonderful words, of course, The title of the book, Job, is the name Eob in Hebrew, which means hated or persecuted. A person who withstands great suffering without complaint, Eob. It's a play on the word oyeb, which means hating or adversary or enemy or foe. The author of this book, the prologue and the dialogue in the book make it clear that the author is not Job. The author was probably an Israelite since he refers to God by the covenant name Yahweh, while Job and his friends use the term Elohim and El Shaddai, the Almighty. In the book, unknown to Job, and Satan. This is recounted in chapters 1 and 2. And the question that was pondered there was, can God sustain his man in a situation of horrible suffering? Was this horrible As Job sustained these terrible losses, he has remained faithful, though terribly confused. Job's friends have been absolutely no comfort at all. They have presumed that all suffering must be punishment, that God is some sort of karma machine, and whatever you get, you will deserve, and whatever you deserve, you earned. Let's first see in verses one through six, if you're following along, how Job laments his comfortless affliction. Job complains to his friends here that they have not understood or comforted him at all. Here's what he says. How long will you torment my soul and break me in pieces with your words? These 10 times you have reproached me. You are not ashamed that you have wronged me. And if indeed I have erred, my error remains with me. If indeed you exalt yourselves against me and plead my disgrace against me, know then that God has wronged me and has surrounded me with his net. We should take a lesson from these words at the very beginning. Spurgeon says about this, we ought to be very careful what we say to those who are suffering affliction and trial. For a word, though it seems to be more deeply and wound far more terribly than a razor would. Job, in this situation, was steadfast in his refusal to agree with his friends that he had caused his crisis by some remarkable sin and refusal to repent. Job insisted to his friends that he was not a guilty victim before a righteous God. If God had sent or allowed this calamity in Job's life, it could be said that God had wronged Job because the calamity was not a just penalty for some particular sin in Job. All of us are sinners. Job was a sinner, but not a particular sin in Job in this case. With the perspective of the narrator, you can see how, in a sense, Satan, the accuser, was acting as the hand of God. For he had said to God at the beginning, stretch out your hand and strike his flesh. And God had replied, very well then, he is in your hands. So Job was not totally wrong when he said, the hand of God has struck me in verse 11. Secondly, note this, Job describes how God has attacked him. He's being honest about his feelings about what's going on. He says to God, if I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice. so that I cannot pass. He has set darkness in my paths. He has stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope, he has uprooted like a tree. He has also kindled his wrath against me, and he counts me as one of his enemies. His troops come together and build up their road against me. They encamp all around my tent. Job here complained about the core of his crisis. In the past, Job had been accustomed to finding comfort and some sense of an answer from God in his previous trials in life. Yet now, he cried out to heaven and heard The Puritan, Mr. Trapp, says, Job's great grief was that neither God nor man would regard his moans or deliver him out of the net. He has fenced up my way so that I cannot pass, was his reply. This is reminiscent of what Job complained in chapter three, verse 23, where he sadly said that he And then he said here, he has stripped me of my glory, this with deeply moving poetic style. Job here describes how he felt that God had brought him low. He was like a king uncrowned, like a house with its walls broken down, like an uprooted tree. And then he said, he counts me as one of his enemies. Though Job, at this moment could not comprehend it nor be expected to. The truth was that God still held him in special favor and care. God put Job into a place where he was expected to believe despite what seemed to be irrefutable circumstances and personal feelings. He said, they encamp all around my tent. Job recounts the reverse prediction through these various preparations for a siege, conquering the city. We can see the siege here in reverse progress, starting at verse 8. And that is, at the end, captivity. I cannot pass. He has set darkness in my paths. Before that, dethronement, taking the crown from my head. Before that, being like a wall torn down, He breaks me down on every side. Being like an uprooted tree, my hope, he is uprooted like a tree. The besieged city is lost all hope. And having siege works set up against him, they build their road against me. And the first stage, being surrounded, they encamp all around my tent. Now thirdly, in verses 13 through 20, Job described the bitter results of God's attack upon him. Here's what he says about his feelings. He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me. Those who dwell in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger. I am an alien in their sight. I call my servant, but he gives no answer. I beg him with my mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife, and I am repulsive to the children of my own body. Even young children despise me. I arise, and they speak against me. All my close friends abhor me. and those whom I love have turned against me. My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. He has removed my brothers far from me." When he said, he has removed my brothers far from me, he probably meant these three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. He once regarded them as close brothers, but now, feels that they have forsaken him and turned against him. He says in this complaint, I call my servant, but he gives no answer. Think about that for a moment. Before this crisis, Job was a wealthy and influential man. He had many servants. Yet now, even his own servants did not He says, my breath is offensive to my wife and I am repulsive to the children of my own body. Joe was in such a miserable state, both physically and spiritually, that his wife wanted nothing to do with him. I once knew a man who was severely mentally ill and he would just lay down on the floor and roll up into a ball Same thing's happening here. And the children that Job refers to here must either be his grandchildren or those who were symbolically his children, because it seems that all 10 of his children were killed in the tragic events of the first two chapters. But think of this for a moment. As Elmer Smith tells us, in any society, nothing hurts more than rejection by one's own family and friends. What could be worse in a patriarchal society than to have children ridicule the patriarch? This is a very low situation. He says, now, my bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Here, Job refers to his emaciated and unhealthy condition, and just how close he was to physical death. Don't let those words just roll on. Think about it. Picture the man. And then, fourthly, in verses 21 through 22, Job pleads for pity from his friends, former friends. Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you, my friends, for the hand of God has struck me. Why do you persecute me as God does? Are you not satisfied with my flesh? Instead of joining against him in a concert of condemnation, these friends should have had pity on this one so afflicted by the hand of God. He appealed to his friends and hoped to at least turn their hearts toward him, but no. And then we finally come to what I would call a lightning bolt of revelation. A bright light shining in this terrible darkness. That is in verses 23 through 29 and so forth. Here we have light in the midst of the darkness when it is most needed. Job's triumphant and prophetic proclamation of faith. Here he says in verse 23, oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book. He's very excited about this. Oh, that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever. What's he gonna say? For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me. Now, Job, in this situation, had no idea that his own personal tragedy and drama would ever be written in a book and be for the benefit of you and me and others countless through the succeeding generations. His words and life were indeed written And they were written with an iron pen and lead forever, because the word of God stands forever. But he did not have the comfort of knowing this, even though he uttered it. But by, I believe, spiritual revelation, he knew something better. that his story would be recorded. He knew something better. He went on to say, for I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth. This indeed, my brothers and sisters, is a brilliant flash of faith in Job's otherwise dark and bleak crisis and suffering. Now, you need to notice this. The word translated The translated redeemer is in Hebrew the word goel, presenting one of the most wonderful concepts in the Old Testament, goel, redeemer. G.E. Campbell Morgan said, the goel stood for another to defend his cause, to avenge wrongs done to him, and so to acquit him of all charges laid against him. Lawson describes it this way, a Redeemer or Goel was a vindicator of one unjustly wronged. He was a defender of the oppressed, a champion of the suffering, an advocate of one unjustly accused. If you were ever wronged, a Redeemer would come and stand beside you as your champion and your advocate. And an even fuller explanation comes from Elmer Smith. He says, the meaning of the word goel is fundamental to understanding this passage. The word is important in Old Testament jurisprudence. It had both a criminal and civil aspect. As blood avenger, a goel had a responsibility to avenge the blood of a slain kinsman. He was not seeking their revenge, but justice. On the civil side, was a redeemer or vindicator. He had the responsibility to buy back and so redeem the lost inheritance of a deceased relative. So when Job, amid his desolation, declared that he had a Goel living and active, he was uttering a profound truth, the truth that in God, man has a Redeemer in all the fullest senses of that great word. It was a spiritual apprehension of an abiding fact, which came into clearest view when God was made flesh, manifested in the flesh for you and me. Spurgeon says, Christ's kinship with his people is to be thought of with great comfort because it is voluntary. He went on to say, we have some, perhaps, who are akin to us, yet who wish they were not. But our Lord Jesus Christ's relationship to us is no accident of birth. It was voluntarily assumed by him. He became our flesh. He became our brother, our kin. Spurgeon also says, remember too, that it was always considered to be the duty of the Goel, not merely to redeem by price, but where that failed, to redeem by power. Here are two redemptions, redemption by price and redemption by power, and both of these Christ has done for us. By price, by his sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, and by power, by giving us his divine spirit coming into our hearts and renewing our souls. One more word I want to emphasize from this wonderful proclamation. And that is these words, for I know, for I know. That is certainty he's speaking. We are impressed here with Job's certainty. This was something that he knew. It was much more than wish or a guess. I know that my Redeemer, Job knew that he had a Redeemer, someone to rescue him from his crisis and despair, and every accusation set against him. The verses 25 to 27 make it clear that the Redeemer is God. So he's in confusion and yet in faith here. He cannot understand why God is here acting so completely out of character with what he's always that he boldly claims God as his nearest relative, his nearest relative. Job knew that his Redeemer was alive and that because he lived, he could also bring Job back to life someday. So he could go on to say, and shall stand at last on the earth. This meant that Job knew his coming redeemer was more than a spiritual concept. He was a living being who could stand on the earth. Job knew that his redeemer would come to comfort and vindicate him. Though to this point, he had been conspicuously without any evident comfort from God. But here in chapter 19, he expects to see his own vindication in the future on earth, not just in heaven, on earth, the sphere of God's working at some future resurrection day. He says, after my skin is destroyed. At this point, Job held no more hope for the preservation He was already in very bad condition. After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, raised up flesh, resurrected flesh, reconstituted, made perfect flesh, shall I see God? F.B. Meyer says, beyond the heavens, Job knew that there lived a kinsman who saw all his sufferings and pitied him. And when one day appear on earth to vindicate his innocence and avenge his wrongs, he was content to leave the case with him, sure that his redeemer would not fail as his friends had done. And he goes on to say these words, which are words, again, pointing to the resurrection. Whom I shall see for myself. That's with physical eyes. Resurrected, future, physical eyes. Whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold. And not another. And though it shines here as a flash of faith and a dark background of despair, his confidence and trust They see God. That's the beatific vision for which we all long. Moses wanted to see God. We long to see God. He knew he would see God. Anticipating the fulfillment of all this, no wonder Job could say, how my heart yearns within me. With this wonderful revelation and proclamation of his anticipated Redeemer, he clearly, though from a distance, looked forward to Jesus Christ and his work as Redeemer. suffering to redeem, rising from death to justify, and vindicating all those who trust in him. This vision of Jesus changed Job. Seeing Jesus changed Job and transformed him in the midst of his suffering. The rest of the story is this. In the fullness of time, Job's Redeemer did come and did take on Job's human nature and yours and mine as well. Job's Redeemer experienced life in a fallen world and he suffered. He suffered. He suffered far more than Job did. because he suffered the punishment for our actual sins and our true guilt. I want you to think for a moment of the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, recorded in Mark 14, verse 32 and going on. There it says, And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray. And he took Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. They're suffering. Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. What cup is that? That is the cup of the wrath of God. Yet not what I will, but what you will. And then also in Luke 22, it's described, verse 44, and being in agony, there's that suffering again, being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground, and just like were nowhere to be found. He came and found them sleeping, and he said, Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. And he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again, he came and found them sleeping. for their eyes were very heavy and he did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said, are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough, the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. And the Psalm, Psalm 22, which we are singing today, Most of it tells of his anguish. Verses 16 through 18, listen to these words of his anguish, parallel to Job's anguish. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They make their mouths at me. They wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him if he delights in him. Let him rescue him. that you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breast. On you was I cast from birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me. Like a ravening and roaring lion, I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast. And my strength is dried up like a potsherd. And my tongue sticks to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast, and for my clothing they cast lots. But the worst of all are these words from Psalm 22, which Jesus spoke from the cross. Verses one and two. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. Isn't that what happened with Joe? And by night, but I find no rest. But in the end, my dear friends, in the end, We will sing those last stanzas of Psalm 22. And they are also depicted in part in Revelation 21, verses four through six, where there we are told when God restores all things and makes them all new, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. When these things have come completely true, Job's prophetic words will have come completely true for Job and for you and me as well. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand on the earth And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, and my eyes shall behold and not another." Job believed in that kinsman, that human redeemer of fallen, suffering humans. Let me ask you, do you so believe today in this redeemer, in all of your troubles, in all of your perplexities, Redeemer? When the world seems like it cannot be trusted and no one can be trusted, do you believe in this Redeemer? I ask you to consider that question. And then I also ask you to consider that you need to Repent of any bitterness about things that are, at any moment, not clear to you. There are many such things. Why did this happen? How could that be allowed? Why did God permit this tragedy? Repent of bitterness about things not clear to you. And, along with that, repent of judging others who are suffering. and repent of trusting in anything or anyone except the God who became your Redeemer in Christ. He will raise your mortal body someday as your Goel. He will vindicate you. And I want to close with these words, which capture our doctrine beautifully. In the words of the Shorter Catechism, question and answer 38, listen, what benefits do believers Answer, at the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment. That's the work of your Redeemer. Amen. Praise the Lord. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that in all of our struggles and our troubles, we have a great Redeemer. and he will raise us from the dust. He will set us in a place of honor. We will be completely acquitted, not because we have been perfect, indeed we have not, but because he is our righteousness. He stands up for us as our advocate. He defends us completely. We praise you and thank you in his name.