Job 19:1

JOB 19

JOB'S SIXTH DISCOURSE:

KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH; AND THAT HE SHALL STAND AT THE LATTER DAY UPON THE EARTH

There are just two parts of this marvelous chapter:

(1) In Job 19:1-22, Job described his pitiful condition, accepting all of it as being, for some unknown and mysterious reason, the will of God, pleading for mercy from his friends who refused to extend it, and bewailing the abhorrence and persecution heaped upon him by the whole society in which he lived. His kinsmen, his friends, his family, his servants, and his acquaintances - all alike, despised and rejected him, brutally heedless of his cries for understanding and pity. There is no sadder section of the Word of God than this.

(2) And then (Job 19:23-29), rising to the very pinnacle of Divine Inspiration, above the wretchedness of his mortal pain and sorrow, he thundered the sublime words that have blessed humanity throughout the ages of multiple Dispensations of the Grace of God!

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH; AND THAT

HE SHALL STAND AT THE LATTER

DAY UPON THE EARTH

These sacred words adorn and glorify that incredibly beautiful soprano solo from George Frederick Handel's oratorio, The Messiah, honored by the standing ovation led by Queen Victoria at its initial presentation. Where is the man who can hear it without tears of emotion and joy?

In our discussion of this chapter, we shall concentrate our attention upon this immortal second section.

JOB'S IMPATIENCE WITH HIS FRIENDS

"Then Job answered and said,

How long will ye vex my soul,

And break me in pieces with words?

These ten times have ye reproached me:

Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.

And be it indeed that I have erred,

Mine error remaineth with myself,

If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,

And plead against me my reproach;

Know now that God hath subverted me in my cause,

And compassed me with his net."

"These ten times" (Job 19:3). "These words are not to be understood literally."[1] This is an idiomatic expression meaning `often' or frequently.

"Mine error remaineth with myself" (Job 19:4). "This verse is not a confession of sin by Job."[2] It states merely that whatever error Job might have committed, it had not injured or hurt his friends in any manner whatever.

"God hath subverted me in my cause" (Job 19:6). The exact meaning here is ambiguous; but we reject Watson's rendition of the passage, "God has wronged me."[3] The marginal substitute for `subverted' is 'overthrown'; but whatever the passage means, Job does not assert that God has wronged him. Clines gives the true meaning: "God Himself has made me seem like a wrongdoer by sending entirely undeserved suffering upon me."[4]