Job Answers the Assault and Abuse

Job chapter 19, Job chapter 19. As you are turning, I want to read to you something that was anonymous, but is apropos for our time together in the Book of Job tonight. It's called The Builder. I saw them tearing a building down, a group of men in a busy town, with a hefty blow and a lusty yell. They swung with zest and a sidewall fell. Asked the foreman, are these men skilled? The kind you would hire if you had to build? He looked at me and laughed. No, indeed, unskilled labor is all I need. Why, they can wreck in a day or two, what it has taken builders years to do.

I asked myself as I went my way, which of these roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder with rule and square, measuring and constructing with skill and care? Or am I a wrecker who walks the town, content with the business of tearing down? Job's friends were content with the business of tearing down. They were a wrecking crew. They were not a building crew. They were actually very good at what they did. I'm not so sure they sat around thinking about how to wreck Job's life. I'm not sure that was their intention.

But in doing so, in their conversation, they were assaulting him and abusing him. So when you think about the book of Job, you're always drawn to things that our Lord has said in the New Testament. When James says these words in James 1.26, if anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. James is a great book. James is about, you say you have faith? Show me. Demonstrate it. So he says very clearly, one of the evidences of true religion, genuine faith, is the ability to bridle one's tongue.

Because if you can't control your tongue and you say you love the Lord, then your religion is worthless. He goes on in the third chapter and expounds on this.

He says for verse 2 of chapter 3, before we all stumble in many ways, if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man or a mature man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now, if we put the bits into horse's mouth so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also.

Though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire. The tongue is a fire. The very world of iniquity. The tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell for every species of beasts and birds and reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.

But no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and our Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does the fountain send out for the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. The tongue is that which defiles.

The tongue is that which destroys. The tongue is that which derails people's lives. Job's friends were in the process of trying to derail Job, trying to get him to think differently about himself than what really was in his heart and was true about him. It's interesting that the Bible says that no man can tame the tongue, but you can tame the beast of the sea.

Think about that. When kids were younger, we used to take a yearly journey to Sea World. That was way back when people could actually ride Shamu in the water. We can't do that anymore, but back in those days you could. And think about that. You could tame Shamu. So much so that you could ride on his back. You could go down into the water, have him throw you up out of the water and then pick you up again. Just an amazing scene to be able to watch Shamu there at Sea World and realize that they were able to train this huge whale to do things that are virtually incredible.

But the tongue, just a really small sliver of a thing, now that cannot be tamed. It's like a fire that sets ablaze a forest. It can be so destructive. So the tongue is that which defiles and the tongue is that which defies ever being tamed. But the tongue also displays the reality of our inner man, who we really are. And so as you think about what James says about the tongue and the things that Solomon has even said in the book of Proverbs, chapter 12, verse number 18, there is one who speaks rashly like the thrust of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

That tells you that the men surrounding Job were not wise men because they weren't bringing healing to the life of Job. Solomon would say in chapter 15, verse number 4, a soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit. Instead of being like a tree of life with words that bring healing to Job, those words were crushing Job, vexing him, smashing his life on top of all the other problems that he faced. David, very similarly, said in Psalm 57, verse number 4, these words, My soul is among lions.

I must lie among those who breathe forth fire. Even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. David would know about how people's words would crush him. In Psalm 64, verse number 1, Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint. Preserve my life from the dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of evil doers, from the tumult of those who do iniquity, who have sharpened their tongue like a sword. They aim bitter speech as their arrow to shoot from concealment at the blameless.

Suddenly they shoot at him and they do not fear. David's life, he faced much criticism, much verbal abuse. Job faced even greater abuse because he faced it every single day from the people that were his friends. David had lots of enemies. And Job's friends were not his enemies per se, but they acted as if they were his enemies. And so as Bildad last week assaulted Job and abused Job, Job now is going to respond. And the way he responds is quite remarkable. And the way he responds is a way that we can learn how to respond because what you're going to learn about Job's response is what helps him keep the proper perspective.

And the perspective that Job has on his God is that which blows the mind of the believer today. And you're going to see that. We're going to begin by looking at how Job is crushed by their speeches, how he is consumed, point number two, with his suffering, but how Job is confident in his Savior.

Three very simple points, but three points that will bring home to us the reality of what we need to know when it comes to handling a perspective that keeps us energized in the service of the King. So we'll begin Job 19 verse number one.

Then Job responded, How long will you torment me and crush me with words? They were crushing him. They were using their words to corrupt his life and deride his life. These ten times you have insulted me. You are not ashamed to wrong me. There's no shame in your words. You don't even blush when you speak. These ten times is not a literal ten times. And how do we know that? We know that because ten is a number of fullness. We know that when we read Genesis 31 verse number seven, where Jacob spoke of Laban changes his wages ten times.

Over in Numbers 14, 22, God said of Israel that they tempted him ten times in the wilderness. In Daniel 1 verse number 20, Daniel and his friends found to be ten times better than the wise men in Babylon. It wasn't that they were actually ten times better or that there were actually ten times that Laban increased his wages. It's a number of fullness. You have ten fingers, right? Ten fingers on your hands. Your hands are full. You have ten toes on your feet. So ten is the number of fullness. And so when you speak of that, you understand that Israel fully tempted God in the wilderness during their time when they left Egypt.

And they wondered, they continued to tempt God. It was a continual fullness of their tempting and coming against God. Job says, you have insulted me these ten times. In other words, he has been filled with their temptations. He's been filled with their insults. It's a never-ending continual insult against his life. It says in verse number four, even if I have truly erred, my error lodges with me. In other words, if I've unintentionally sinned, and maybe I have, and none of us knows actually all of our sins, but he says, if I have erred, if I have sinned unintentionally, God knows this and God will judge me for it because God knows everything.

He says in verse number five, if indeed you vaunt yourselves against me and prove my disgrace to me. In other words, you're set on one purpose. That's to act arrogantly against me. He says down in verse number 21, pity me, pity me, oh you, my friends. You show no compassion. Verse 22, why do you persecute me as God does? And then he says in verse number 28, if you say, how shall we persecute him? And what pretext for a case against him can we find? Verse 29, then be afraid of the sword for yourselves.

For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is judgment. Job knows that by your words you shall be judged, by your words you shall be condemned. Those are the words of Christ. He knows that their words are going to bring forth judgment upon them. So be careful how you say what you're saying. Be careful what you say and when you say it. So he expresses how they have vexed him, how they have crushed him with their speeches. But then he begins to say these words as he is consumed with his suffering.

He makes two main points. One, he's afflicted by God, excuse me. And number two, he's abandoned by his friends.

Look at verse number six. Know then that God has wronged me and has closed his net around me. He's trapped me. Now it's not that Job has been running from God and God trapped him and threw a net around him and ensnared him. That's not the point because he's not running from God. He's not like Jonah who ran from God because he didn't want to go to the Ninevites and he ran the opposite direction and God has stared him in the belly of the fish. That's not the case. Job's not running from God at all.

And yet he understands that God in his sovereignty is somehow behind all this. He just doesn't understand it. He can't grasp it. He's looking for answers. Look down at verse number 21. For the hand of God has struck me. Think about that statement. The hand of God has struck me. Now, is it true? Yes. Is it false? Yes. Okay. Both are true. How do we know? Go back to chapter one. Go back to chapter one. In chapter one, Satan says these words. Put forth your hand now and touch all that he has. Verse 11.

He will surely curse you to your face. Then the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only do not put forth your hand on him. So Satan says, if you touch him with your hand and God says, no, you put forth your hand but your hand cannot kill him.

And then over in chapter two. Chapter two. Job says, or God says again. Or Satan says, answers the Lord and said verse number four. Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. However, put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh. He will curse you to your face. So the Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life. So is it God's hand that's touching him? Or is it Satan's hand that's touching him? See what Job is doing is recognizing that God is behind everything.

All things Romans 11 must pass through him back to him again because he oversees everything. He's in control of everything. Yet he doesn't have chapter one to look at to understand what's happening.

That Satan is actually involved in afflicting his life and taking these things from him. But God is allowing Satan to do that. So God says to Satan, you put forth your hand.

You want to touch my servant, touch him. But you can't do this. You can't, you can touch whatever he has, but you can't touch him. Then you can touch him, but you can't kill him. So God gave restraints to Satan. So when Job says, it's God who has struck me, he is speaking of God in his sovereign control over everything. Somehow God is behind this. He just can't articulate it. He just can't explain it. And he certainly doesn't understand why or how. A lot like you and me, we go through times and we just don't get it.

We don't understand why the conflict, why the conflict lasts so long, why the hardship is as severe as it is. When will it ever let up? We don't know. And Job goes on and says this, look at this.

He says, behold, I cry violence, but I get no answer. I shout for help, but there is no justice. In other words, who's going to vindicate me? I cry to the Lord, but this is where God wants him, you see. We forget this, that God wants us to come to him and God wants us to cry out to him. And Luke 11 and Luke 18 talk about persistence in prayer and patience in prayer and how important it is for us to persistently beseech the throne of grace. That's why God says, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, don't stop.

Because God wants us to continually come to him. And so, God allows things to go as long as they do. Why? Well, Luke 18 tells us, will he find this kind of faith upon the earth? What kind? The kind of faith that's persistent and patient, that does not quit beseeching God and asking God to step in and do what he's going to do. So, Job says in verse number eight, he has walled up my way so that I cannot pass. He has put darkness on my paths. He has no way of knowing where he's going or what's going to happen next.

Because everything in front of him is dark. There was a time when everything in front of him was bright. His kids were happy, he was healthy, things were going along really well. He could see the future with his kids, his grandkids, his great grandkids, how things were gonna grow. He could see the future, but not now.

It's completely dark, it's completely bleak because everything's been walled in around him, he cannot see. But God has him right where he wants him. They might learn to trust the true and living God. It says, verse nine, he has stripped my honor from me and removed the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side and I am gone. And he has uprooted my hope like a tree. He has also kindled his anger against me and considered me as his enemy. His troops come together and build up their way against me and camp around my tent.

His question simply is, I don't understand. I don't get it. I am hemmed in, I am caught, I am trapped, I am walled in. Everything around me is completely dark. I cannot see where to go. I don't know what to do. We can understand that. We get to those places with a lot less suffering than Job's going through. And he's just crying out to God because he feels like he's been attacked by God and then abandoned by his friends. He's consumed with the suffering. Look at this, verse 13.

He has removed my brothers far from me and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. Hey, listen, next time you think you're lonely, read this passage of scripture, all right? It'll open your eyes. Look what it says. My relatives have failed and my intimate friends have forgotten me. Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I'm a foreigner in their sight. I call to my servant and he does not answer. I have to implore him with my mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife.

That could be applied to most of you men. And I am loathsome to my own brothers. Even young children despise me and rise up and they speak against me. All my associates abhor me and those I love have turned against me. On top of all that, verse 20, my bone clings to my skin and my flesh and I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. Not only have my friends abandoned me, not only have my family abandoned me, not only have my servants abandoned me and those who are intimate friends with me, but also children who are my acquaintances abandoned me and even my own health has abandoned me.

Talk about lonely. Talk about isolation. Talk about having no one. That's Job. The next time you think you have nobody cares and no one's interested in what's going on in your life and your family abandoned you and your friends abandoned you and you had no more friends, just read Job because Job had nobody and the three guys sat right around him, but they were as far from him as the east is from the west. And so after he expresses how consumed he is with the suffering, now you're going to see his confidence in his Savior.

And what he says is absolutely astonishing. Verse 23, Oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book that with an iron stylus and lead, they were engraved in the rock forever. I just wish that someone would write this down. Little do you know it would be written down, right? If someone could just record my suffering, if someone could just record my statements, oh, that it would always be there for someone to read, to understand. He had no idea. That they were going to be written down.

None. But they were in the living and abiding Word of God. Those who were there at the time, those who saw him, they've all died and gone off the scene. The exact location of this, we have no idea. But the words that were spoken to him and the words that he spoke to others, they have been recorded. And God did that out of His grace and mercy and kindness. So one day you would pick up the book, begin to read the book, and to realize that what you're going through is not nearly as intense as what Job is going through.

But more than that, He wants you to have a confident perspective in God. Because Job did. So listen to what Job says. Verse 25. As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. At the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God, whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me. What a statement. Job has already made one great confession. This is his second great confession.

His first one is in chapter 9, verse number 10, where he says, Who does great things unfathomable and wondrous works without number.

And we told you at that time, in chapter 9, verse number 10, that that verse unlocks for Job the mystery of God and unfolds for Job the meaning of God. This one in Job 19 unveils to us the ministry of God and unleashes for us the message from God. This is a monumental statement. That expresses everything we need to know about God to get us through whatever trial we're on or in. So I'm going to give you seven words. This was going to be my Resurrection Sunday sermon. But I decided to give it to you early and save it for another year because I've already written this year's Resurrection Sunday sermon, okay?

But this one day will come back again, but with greater detail. But what Job says is monumental because number one, it expresses Job's intensity.

It expresses his intensity. For he says, For I know. Let's see, I guess, I think, if my memory serves me correct, no, no, I know that my Redeemer lives. There is no question about that. This is a statement of confidence. It's a statement of intensity. Why? Because there's passion behind it. It doesn't say, Well, you know, I think I know my Savior lives. No, I know my Redeemer lives. There's intensity behind the statement. There's passion behind the statement. There's strength behind the statement.

There's no questioning behind it. There's no wondering behind it. There's no thinking behind it. It's I know that my Redeemer lives. The question is, do you? Because it's so important. Which begs the question, How does he know? How can he possibly know that his Redeemer lives? How would Job ever understand this? Is that God somehow is going to unveil to him something that he has not unveiled to his three friends? Maybe. What is it about Job that he knows something that his friends do not know? That will allow him to speak with great intensity, great passion, great certainty, great confidence.

I know that my Redeemer lives. What a statement. Faith is always rooted in what God has already said. So if it's a statement of conviction, which it is, a statement of assurance, which it is, I know that my Redeemer lives. He has to know something about his Redeemer. He's have, he would have had to have heard something from someone about his Redeemer. He couldn't go down to the library, pick up some books and read some theology treaty on God and his redemptive purposes. There was no book of the Bible to read because Job's the first book written in the Bible.

So there's nothing for him to read about the Bible. But he knows. He knows more than we know about our Redeemer. And he doesn't have the 66 books that you have in your hand. How did he know? Ah, stay with me. This is so incredibly good. I told you early on that Job was a contemporary of Abraham. He lived after the flood. Okay. He lived in a patriarchal time. That's why he was performing priestly duties with his children in chapter one, offering up sacrifices for them, right? On their behalf. So it was before the Levitical priesthood.

So it was during the patriarchal time. So he lived during the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so what happened with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had to have been passed down to them as well. So we know that what was passed down from the very beginning was a promise. In Genesis chapter three, verse number 15 of the seed of a woman that would crush a serpent's head. This would be all passed down verbally from generation to generation. And as it was being passed down, we know that Abel, because we studied Hebrews chapter 11.

And if you were with us way back in the year 2000, you were with us when we studied the book of Genesis. And you know that Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice unto God. How did Abel know how to do that? Because his parents taught him how to offer an acceptable sacrifice. And Cain's sacrifice was not accepted by God because Abel's was a blood sacrifice and Cain's was not a blood sacrifice. So he knew about that. They knew about atonement for sin and forgiveness of sins. But Abraham, if he was a contemporary of Abraham, he would know, he would know something about Mount Moriah.

He would know something about substitutionary atonement. He would know something about a sacrifice that he went up on Mount Moriah to offer. And this would be being passed down from generation to generation because Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith, would be one who would teach others concerning substitutionary sacrifice. Now the angel of the Lord would stop him from killing his own son and would provide a substitute on the mountain called foreseen by God. All that would begin to pass down.

So he would know something about atonement, something about forgiveness because he would act as a priest for his children in chapter one to offer sacrifices for them. So he learned well. He listened well. He obtained the knowledge well. We knew he was God-fearing. We know he's upright. And we know that Abraham was justified by faith. He was declared righteous, right? Abraham was. Book of Genesis, 15th chapter. So if Abraham was declared righteous and Job was an upright man, then his righteousness was given to him by God as Abraham's was.

He knew about grace because Noah was graced by God. Genesis chapter six. He survived the flood and Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth would pass down the fact that they had been graced by God. So he knew something of the grace of God. So he says, I know that my Redeemer lives. It's an expression of intensity. But note this. It's an expression of intimacy. I know that my Redeemer lives. He doesn't say, I know that your Redeemer lives. He doesn't say, I know there is a Redeemer. He doesn't say, I think there's a Redeemer.

He says, I know that my Redeemer lives. In other words, it's an expression of intimacy on Job's part. Not just intensity, but intimacy. He's my Redeemer. How did he know that? How do you know that God was his personal Redeemer? He is mine. All of his friends had abandoned him. All had turned against him. Paul would say, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded. A statement just like Job would make. I know that my Redeemer lives. I have no question about that. This is the only thing that gets him through his difficult times.

He has a Redeemer. It's his own personal Redeemer. There's ownership there. And my Redeemer lives. So important. But note this. These verses not only express his intensity, his intimacy, but his identity. The identity of the Redeemer and the very fact that he is who he is because of his Redeemer. In other words, the word Redeemer, Goel, kinsman. I know that my Redeemer, my kinsman, my champion, my advocate lives. So he knows he has an advocate. And so he talks about a kinsman, a Redeemer. Now listen carefully.

Job knows the plans and purposes of God more so than most people know. Job knows about the redemptive purposes of God way before the book of Exodus, during the time of Moses. When God tells Moses, I'm coming down and Moses says, who shall I say sent me? You tell him I am that I am sent you. Which was in Exodus 3, his memorial name, right? I'm going to be remembered from generation to generation based on my name, my memorial name, because I am a rescuer. I am a deliverer. I am a savior. I am a Redeemer.

So Job knew more about God or knew more about God in an earlier time than Moses ever knew about God. Because you see, Job understood the purposes of God, the redeeming purposes of God, that he would be a kinsman. He would be a next of kin who would fight his battles for him and be his ultimate champion, his ultimate deliverer, his ultimate rescuer, way before God ever gave his memorial name. Those three Hebrew consonants that make up the tetragrammaton that taught us about God being Yahweh. That's his name.

That's his memorial name. But way before that, Job begins to understand the identity of his God. He's a Redeemer. He's a deliverer. He's a savior. So he says, I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that my Redeemer lives. This statement expresses not just his intensity, his intimacy, his identity, but it expresses the immortality of his Redeemer. He didn't say, I know that my Redeemer will live. I know that my Redeemer has lived. He says, no, I know that my Redeemer lives. He is a living Redeemer.

He's not a dead Redeemer. Remember in Revelation chapter 1, when the Lord God comes before John on the island of Patmos and says, I am the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the living one.

Behold, I was dead, but I'm alive forevermore. Speaking of the immortality of the Son of God, Peter would say in Matthew 16, verse number 16, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Psalm 42, verse number 2, it says, my soul thirsts for the living God. Psalm 84, verse number 2, my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. In John 14, 19, Christ said, because I live, you too shall live. In other words, Job knew that his Redeemer lives. Job believed in a resurrection. How could Job believe in a resurrection when he never seen a resurrection?

Hebrews 11, Abraham. Abraham believed God, took his son up on Mount Moriah. And Hebrews 11 tells us that he believed that God would raise him from the dead. Abraham believed in a resurrection. If I have to kill the promised son, my only begotten son, and this is the promise of the seed that's going to come, then God must have a plan to raise him from the dead. And the resurrection of the Messiah was always the plan. So how does Job know that his Redeemer lives unless he believes in a resurrection of his Redeemer?

Speaking of the immortality of his Redeemer. Now listen, we're just getting started because now I'm going to absolutely blow your mind. Listen to this. He says this, as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last, He will take a stand on the earth. This expresses the invincibility of his Redeemer. I know that not only does my Redeemer live, but at the last, at the end, He will stand on the earth. That's not the incarnation. That is the second coming of the Messiah.

And you're going to say, well, how do you know that? That's very easy to understand when you think about it. The invincibility of the Messiah. Then the last days, He will stand. Let me show you what it says in the book of Zechariah.

Zechariah 14, verse number 4. In that day, His feet, the feet of Messiah, will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives, which will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley. It said half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. In other words, when the Lord God returns at the end, He will eventually stand on the Mount of Olives and split the mount. There He will stand. Why? Every conqueror of Jerusalem stood on the Mount of Olives, raised their sword to the heavens as the ultimate conqueror of the city.

Messiah will do the same because He's the ultimate victor. He's invincible. The Bible also says these words in the book of Micah. In the book of Micah, the first chapter, it says in verses 2 to 4, these words.

Here, O people, all of you, listen to earth and all it contains and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place. In other words, God will stand upon the earth. Joseph says, I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.

Listen to the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 43, verse number 5. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court. And behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Then I heard one speaking to me from the house while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. In other words, the soles of my feet will stand on this place, on Mount Zion, in the temple, and I will rule over my people forever.

Job knows that. How does Job know that? Did God somehow reveal it to him in a dream? Nope, doesn't say about that. Did God come down and speak to Job about this? Nope, doesn't say that either. How does Job know that? Before the flood, there was one prophet, just one. And that prophet prophesied not about the first coming, but the second coming of the Messiah.

He's recorded in Genesis chapter 5. The book of Jude tells us what he prophesied. It was also about these men, that is apostates, that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied. So there's one prophet before the flood, his name is Enoch. And the prophecy that he gave was not about the first coming, it was about the second coming.

Listen to what he says. Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. So while the book of Genesis does not record the prophecy of judgment, Jude, through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, records for us the prophecy of Enoch's judgment. And Enoch prophesied in such a way that Methuselah, in the year that he dies, it shall happen, there will be judgment upon the earth.

And there was judgment, there was a flood that came. And there was judgment, but it was a precursor to the ultimate judgment that would come when Messiah comes back with all of his holy ones. That's recorded in Revelation 19. That's recorded in Matthew chapter 25 when our Lord returns again the second time with all of his saints, with all of his angels, with all of his holy ones to establish his kingdom upon the earth.

Listen, Job was a pre-millennialist, okay? He was pre-millennial before the term was ever existed. He believed in the second coming of the Messiah and that he would rule and reign on the earth in the last days.

His feet will be on this earth. He will rule. The invincibility of his Redeemer. His Redeemer lives. He doesn't die. He lives. Now, did he die? Yes, the Lord said, I'm the living one. Behold, I was dead, but I'm alive forevermore. Well, God can't die. God's a spirit. So God becomes man. So man can die. He's God, right? The perfect sinless sacrifice and raises himself from the dead. And Job begins to understand resurrection. He begins to understand the incarnation. He begins to understand redemption.

He begins to understand the revelation of the Messiah at the end. All this. And this is what keeps him going from time to time. He has learned. All this has been passed down. Listen very carefully. So important. Why? Because Enoch would prophesy and the flood would come. Who was the preacher of righteousness before the flood? Noah, right? Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter 2 that that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. He preached for 120 years. But everybody dies except Noah and his family. He has three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

And the blessed son is Shem. The blessing will come through the line of Shem. Shem's name means the name. The blessing comes through the line of the name. Abraham is a descendant of Shem. Why? Because in Genesis chapter 12, Genesis 11 tells us that Abraham is a descendant of Shem. But in Genesis chapter 12, the blessing is given to Abraham that in you, in your seed, all the nations of the world will be blessed. Why? Because the blessing comes through the line of the name. The line of Shem. Not Japheth, not Ham, but Shem.

That's how God designed it. Abraham's a descendant of Shem. Abraham's given the promise from God about how he will make his name great, not just Abraham's name, but the name of the Messiah that comes through the line of the name. For we know that the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Right? We know Philippians 2 tells us that every knee will bow and confess Christ as Lord. Galatians 3, 6 and 9 talks about the blessing that God gave to Abraham.

Why? Because Abraham is in the line of the blessing of the name. So Job, who is a contemporary of Abraham, would have to learn all this through Abraham, his son Isaac, his son Jacob. It will be passed down to him. So he could actually say, I know that my Redeemer lives. And I know that one day, one day in the latter days, at the very end, he will stand upon the earth. He knows that. Enoch, Adam and Eve, Abel, Noah, Shem. And the list goes on and on and on. All this being passed down verbally by word of mouth.

Does he know everything? No. Does he even know what he's saying to all the degree in which it's meant to be? Probably not. But he does know he has a Redeemer. He has a kinsman. It's called a goel, an advocate, a champion. He knows that that Redeemer lives. And that one day he will stand upon the earth. He will rule and reign. And then he says this. He says, even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God. That expresses his indisputability. It's indisputable. I know that when I'm dead, guess who I'm going to see?

I'm going to see my Redeemer. I'm going to see my God. I'm going to see him face to face. Over in Psalm 11, no, I'm sorry. Yeah, Psalm 11, verse number 7. It says these words, for the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright will behold his face. And that was written long after Job. Job chapter 17, verse number 15. And as for me, I should behold your face and righteousness. I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake. There was something in Job's mind that was absolutely indisputable.

When my flesh is gone, when I have died, I know one thing. Absent from the body, I'm going to see his face present with the Lord. Abraham had, I mean, Job had this tremendous faith in his God that was indisputable because he knew his God was invincible. He understood the identity of his Redeemer, which made him to be so intense with his passion and conviction that he could speak with assurance. I know that my Redeemer lives. In the latter days, he will stand upon the earth. When I'm dead, I'm going to see his face.

This is his hope. There's nobody else. There's nothing else to hope in. There's no one else to trust in. Everybody else is gone. You already read earlier in Job 19. His friends are gone. His family's gone. His wife loathes his breath. So she won't even be speaking to him. So he has no friends. He has no family. He has nothing. He has no servants. No one obeys him. No one listens to him. Even the kids despise him. He's got no one. But he has a Redeemer. He's my Redeemer. In the midst of your loneliness, in the midst of your pain, you have a Redeemer.

You have an advocate. You have a champion. You have a warrior. He's God himself who lives and reigns. He's not a dead God. He's a living God who knows everything about you. And Job says this, verse 27. Whom I myself shall behold, whom my eyes will see and not another, my heart faints within me. A statement that expresses not just his intensity, not just his intimacy, not just his identity, not just his immortality, his invincibility, his indisputability, but his individuality. When I die, I myself am going to see Him.

Job knows more about heaven than you know. You see, when we die, we think we're going to see our friends. Job never said, I'm going to see my family. I'm going to see my kids again. That's not on his mind. Why? He's an upright, God-fearing, righteous man. That's why. All he cares about is seeing who? God. That's all that matters. See, he knows what heaven is going to be like. I'm going to see His face. I'm going to see my Redeemer. I'm going to see my God. He lives and because He lives and will stand upon the earth, I'm going to see Him when I'm dead.

Job knows that. And this is Job's motive for living through all this pain and isolation when no one else cares about his life. He has Redeemer. He's intense about that. He's intimate with that Redeemer. He's mine. I know who He is. I don't question that. He's absolutely invincible because He lives and reigns forever. And one thing that's indisputable is that one day I'm going to see His face. When I see His face, there's only one thing I'm concerned about and that's only seeing His face and no one else's.

See, this is what gets him through his tough time. This is his second great confession, which as I said earlier, unveils the ministry of God as a Redeemer and unleashes the message that God wants to be known by.

He's a Redeemer who lives and lives in such a way that He will never be defeated. The resurrection is that which predicates our salvation. If I confess from the mouth of Jesus the Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved. Job believed in the resurrection of his Redeemer. Somehow His Redeemer would come. Somehow His Redeemer would live. Somehow His Redeemer would die. Somehow His Redeemer would come again. Does he understand all this stuff? No. Does he have a book on eschatology?

No, but he's pre-mill. First pre-mill guy in the Bible, the book of Job. That's why I'm pre-mill. Job is. Oh, by the way, so is Jesus. So we're in good company, Job and Jesus. On top of that, the great chapter in the resurrection of 1 Corinthians 15-58, he closed with these words, that be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. What is it that keeps you in service? The resurrection. The fact that I know that when I die, I'm going to see Him face to face.

That this life is not all there is. This life is a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. Job know that. Job knows this. So even though he goes through all this pain, all this suffering, and yes, he talks about God's afflicted me, and my friends have abandoned me, and this is the way things are, and I'm consumed with my suffering because it's absolutely enveloped me. So much so that I'm completely sitting here among my friends, but they're miles away and no one else is here. I am completely isolated.

I have no one. But in spite of all that, I do know this. My Redeemer lives. And one day I'm going to see His face. How about you? Do you know about your Redeemer? Your next of kin, your kinsman? He became our kinsman when He came to earth in the incarnation and took on flesh and blood so He could die for your sins and mine. How about you? Do you believe in that? Do you understand that? Do you know that if you do, your service never lacks? It just doesn't. You can be steadfast. You can be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Job, the best he could, would abound in the work of the Lord even though he didn't know the verse. He knew the principle behind the verse. The resurrection power of His Redeemer is what got him through each day, every day, time after time after time. Missed all the assault and all the abuse He received. He didn't quit. Never lost hope. He believed in His Redeemer. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you for today. You are a great God. So much we could have said that would speak to the truth of these verses. Time does not permit us on this night, but we are grateful, Lord, for the things you've taught Job. How well he listened, how well he learned over the years. How do we try to pass those things down to his children and live an exemplary life, a blameless life, an upright life, a God-fearing life. It's no wonder he was the greatest man in the East or in your words, the greatest man on the planet.

He believed in you. His faith never wavered. Was he hurt? Yes. Was he bewildered at times? Absolutely. Was he filled with mystery as to why? Yep, all that and much more. And yet there's something he knew that we need to know. And what he knew and we know is that, Lord, you are our Redeemer. And Lord, one day we're going to see your face for a glorious day that will be to pass from this life into your presence. Open our eyes and behold the greatness and splendor of your glory. That will be a great day.

Help us to live in the light of that in Jesus' name.