The agonies Job faced were terrible. In one day, he lost his sons and daughter, possessions, flocks, and herds. Soon after, he lost his health, covered in sores. Then came his friends, who 'comfort' him with questions and allegations about secret sin which has led to this punishment.
Through all these trials, Job continues to trust in God - in a very remarkable way. Even in the darkest of his days, there are bright spots, where the gospel shines clearly, and our step on the way to the cross is one of those moments.
"For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been this destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom, I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job 19:25-27)
The skin which was already being destroyed through his suffering would one day rot when Job was laid in death. Yet there is a strong hope and certainty here that his Redeemer lives, and that Job too would live, and look at his Redeemer on the earth.
What a great insight for this Old Testament saint, to look forward to his living Redeemer walking on the earth. The one who would endure more humiliation than Job; the one who would suffer more than Job; the one who would pass through death to be the living Lord.
We know it better than Job could have imagined, as we look back at the Lord Jesus with the witness of the apostles in the New Testament. Yet sometimes we're not as certain as Job was - we shy away from certainty - so let's stand and sing with Job:
I KNOW that my Redeemer lives!
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