Then Job spoke again: “How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words? You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly. Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours. You think you’re better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin. But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net. [Job 19.1-6]
Okay, so the previous two days' articles have certainly revealed my personal confusion about what is going on in Job. However, as I faithfully trudge on keeping in mind that Job repents, that Job's friends need forgiveness too, that God said Job's friends were not accurate in what they said, and that Job was indeed accurate in what he said... I am forced consider the implications of it all. What are we to focus on in this story?
I think perhaps a clue is found in the following statement by Job:
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought! [Job 19.25-27]
If, in fact, Jesus is indeed found in all Old Testament Scripture as He declared in John 5.39, then Job has revealed Jesus right here.
While we most often find ourselves looking back to God's and Satan's conversation and agreements regarding Job, we overwhelmingly fail to look forward to Jesus as He factors into the story. Job obviously had some anticipation of Redemption, so, it is only right that we should look for Redemption in Job's story just as he did!
I am only just beginning to see how this comes together, but I am convinced that Job's friends were acting a bit like the disciples in a well-known New Testament situation:
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” [John 9.1-5]
Question: What did it matter to the disciples who was responsible for the man's blindness? THINK! They never asked that question at any other circumstance of miraculous healing and Jesus never brought it up either. As this John 9 story played out, even the religious leaders got caught up in the "blame game" and could not appreciate the miraculous Redemption they had all witnessed!
Consider also Jesus' response in a previous situation in John's Gospel:
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” [John 8.1-11]
Job's friends, like Jesus' disciples and the religious leaders, were more interested in pointing out Job's sin than in bringing Redemption. For this reason, God would go on to encourage Job to intercede (ask forgiveness) for his misguided friends.
Why then did Job rightly repent before God (especially if he spoke accurately about God)? Perhaps it was because Job felt compelled to proudly defend his innocence. Job was divided in his loyalty - while he cried out for a Redeemer, he was more focused on his own justification for not needing a Redeemer than he was focused on the Redeemer. Job's friends did not help that situation either.
All the banter about what Job's sin was (or was not) did nothing for the cause of Redemption. It was, in fact, as both sides of the argument accused the other of, a lot of talk - a lot of hot air that would remedy nothing.
The application for us today is obvious: Our focus needs to be on the Redeemer, Jesus. The need for Redemption is evidence enough of the sin. No further 'hashing out' of the sin is necessary - but instead the encouraging words, after bringing Redemption (forgiveness in healing, provision, and peace) to the situation, "Go and sin no more." All the arguing accomplishes nothing.
Let's see how the rest of Job's story plays out... Does it confirm what is said here?
Father, Job's story, difficult as it is, shows us much about ourselves as believers in You. Job believed in You and his friends believed in You - and yet they had this terrible argument among themselves. Help us to see for ourselves how Jesus is present in Job's story. Help us to find Redemption for ourselves and each other as we do. So be it.
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