(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)
When someone tells you a certain action will yield a certain outcome, there may be the possibility of disappointment.
Political scandals sometimes raise two questions—What did he know, and when did he know it? Although our passage this morning is not about a political scandal, we might ask the author of Job these same two questions, because the main character in this book evinces an unusual knowledge of God's program for someone who lives so early in that program, long before the savior, the object of this particular revelation, will even appear on the pages of history. Job also makes more than a vague reference to the issue. For him, it is...
XLIII. The Foremost Conviction1
...which exhibits...
The apostle makes frequent reference to this gradual unfolding of information to earlier generations,2 especially in his letter to the church at Ephesus,3 calling it a "mystery." As Paul explains it, much of that mystery was about Jesus and his role in God's program. For example, Paul says...
Job does not explain how he received this news, whether directly from the Lord or though the mediation of an angel.5 Either way, his experience with God makes Job certain of its reliability, and the Hebrew construction of his statement is emphatic (the only such use in the book), like adding an exclamation point: He says, "I know!"6
After that emphatic opening, Job makes two general assertions. Each one reflects what he believes and (I hope) reflects what you believe, as well as what later revelation confirms. Like Job...
Like Job, as well as later biblical authors, your confidence is in your resurrection, that your replacement body will be both physical and personal.
In The Drama of Redemption, Job has rare insight, seemingly more than his contemporary Abraham, "God's friend" (Jms 2:23),14 and certainly more than we might expect from a man who lived two millennia before Christ. Job has an unusually clear view of what lies ahead, and he expresses what may be the earliest belief in these two fundamental doctrines: redemption and resurrection.15
One of the most encouraging aspects of this passage for us is the consistency it shows in the divine plan. When we ask—What did Job know, and when did he know it?—we discover that he knew about the savior's role in God's redemptive plan long before Jesus ratified that plan on the cross. What should also be encouraging to us is realizing that God's redemptive plan did not change in all that time between Job and Jesus, and it has not changed since then. Through four thousand years, the basis for salvation has always been Jesus, "chosen before the creation of the world" (1 Pet 1:20).16 Job did not know the redeemer's name, but he knew the redeemer's mission.
When Job makes this statement, he is at an especially low point in his life.
A group of parachute trainees were being taken up for their first jump. The instructor gave the last minute instructions: "After you jump, count to 8 and pull the rip chord. If the chute doesn't open, pull the chord on the backup parachute. After you reach the ground, a green truck will be there for the return trip to the airfield." When it came time for Joe to jump, he did as he had been instructed. After counting to 8, he pulled the rip chord, but the parachute didn't open. So he pulled the backup chord, but the backup parachute didn't open. With deep disappointment, Joe said to himself, "With my luck... the green truck won't be there either."When someone tells you a certain action will yield a certain outcome, there may be the possibility of disappointment, unless that someone is God, in which case, you can have The Foremost Conviction that what He told you will indeed happen.
Political scandals sometimes raise two questions—What did he know, and when did he know it? Although our passage this morning is not about a political scandal, we might ask the author of Job these same two questions, because the main character in this book evinces an unusual knowledge of God's program for someone who lives so early in that program, long before the savior, the object of this particular revelation, will even appear on the pages of history. Job also makes more than a vague reference to the issue. For him, it is...
XLIII. The Foremost Conviction1
...which exhibits...
- The persuasion before God (Job 19:25-27)
Job 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!God's revelation to man did not begin with one huge data dump, telling Adam everything about the divine person and plan all at once. That would have been information overload, overwhelming man's ability to understand and absorb a massive amount of knowledge. Instead, the Bible describes revelation as an incremental process, spread over countless generations. Consequently, Noah did not know as much as Abraham, who did not know as much as David, who did not know as much as Paul.
The apostle makes frequent reference to this gradual unfolding of information to earlier generations,2 especially in his letter to the church at Ephesus,3 calling it a "mystery." As Paul explains it, much of that mystery was about Jesus and his role in God's program. For example, Paul says...
Eph 1:9 [God] made known...the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
Eph 3:3 ...the mystery made known to me by revelation.... 9 ...this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God....That information, while not well-known in ages past, was not entirely reserved for disclosure in the first century, when Jesus actually appears on the stage of history. God provides hints of his plan at various points along the way,4 as He apparently does to Job, some two thousand years before Christ.
Job does not explain how he received this news, whether directly from the Lord or though the mediation of an angel.5 Either way, his experience with God makes Job certain of its reliability, and the Hebrew construction of his statement is emphatic (the only such use in the book), like adding an exclamation point: He says, "I know!"6
After that emphatic opening, Job makes two general assertions. Each one reflects what he believes and (I hope) reflects what you believe, as well as what later revelation confirms. Like Job...
1. Your confidence is in your redemption.7Notice again the assurance of Job's assertion in v. 25, as he states what he knows about the author of his redemption.
Job 19:25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.About this individual,8 Job says he is confident...
a. The redeemer is living even now....and that...
b. The redeemer is appearing at last.Later writers say much the same about the redeemer:9
- The author of Hebrews writes:
Heb 7:25 [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
- The prophet Zechariah writes:10
Like Job, as well as later biblical authors, your confidence is in your redemption, that your redeemer is living and appearing.... Also like Job...Zech 14:4a On that day [when the messiah comes] his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem....
2. Your confidence is in your resurrection.11Notice the assurance of Job's assertion in vv. 26-27, as he states what he knows about the effect of his resurrection.
Job 19:26 [I know that] after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27a I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another....About this incident, Job says he is confident. Though he will die...
a. The replacement for his body will be physical (in the flesh).and that...
b. The replacement for his body will be personal (my own eyes will see).Again, later writers record much the same about the body's replacement...
- After his own resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and said...
Luke 24:39b Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as...I have.
- Again, Jesus said to his disciples...
Jesus' resurrection body was recognizable by the disciples, because it was both physical, made of "flesh and bones," and personal, confirmed as his by distinctive marks of the crucifixion. Because your replacement body "will be like his glorious body" (Phil 3:21b),12 as Paul writes, it, too, will be recognizable by others.13Luke 24:39a Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!
Like Job, as well as later biblical authors, your confidence is in your resurrection, that your replacement body will be both physical and personal.
In The Drama of Redemption, Job has rare insight, seemingly more than his contemporary Abraham, "God's friend" (Jms 2:23),14 and certainly more than we might expect from a man who lived two millennia before Christ. Job has an unusually clear view of what lies ahead, and he expresses what may be the earliest belief in these two fundamental doctrines: redemption and resurrection.15
One of the most encouraging aspects of this passage for us is the consistency it shows in the divine plan. When we ask—What did Job know, and when did he know it?—we discover that he knew about the savior's role in God's redemptive plan long before Jesus ratified that plan on the cross. What should also be encouraging to us is realizing that God's redemptive plan did not change in all that time between Job and Jesus, and it has not changed since then. Through four thousand years, the basis for salvation has always been Jesus, "chosen before the creation of the world" (1 Pet 1:20).16 Job did not know the redeemer's name, but he knew the redeemer's mission.
When Job makes this statement, he is at an especially low point in his life.
- His personal loss is unimaginable, including members of his own family.17
Job 1:18 [A] messenger...said [to him], "Your sons and daughters were...at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind.. .struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead... !"
- His health is failing, and he has no prospects for recovery.18
Job 7:7b [Job said] my eyes will never see happiness again.
Job 17:1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, [only] the grave awaits me.
- His wife has given up, and she thinks he should do the same.
Job 2:9 [She] said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"
- His friends accuse him of unconfessed sin, and many have just abandoned him.19
He has no reason to go on, no reason to live20 ...or so it seems.Job 19:14a My kinsmen have gone away.... 19 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.
There may come a time—perhaps you have already encountered it—when you will be at an especially low point in your life. Whether a problem arises with family or friends or finances, whether it involves your job or your health, something brings you to the end of your personal or your emotional resources. You also come to a crisis of faith that tests the core of what you believe, and you face a choice: to go on or to give up, to maintain your belief in God and His ultimate goodness or to trade that belief for something more tangible, more personally gratifying...or so you may think at the moment.
If you have ever been there, you can identify, to some extent, with Job. Your experience would be different from his, but if it threatens the core of what you believe, the overall affect may be similar, and the challenge to your faith would require a response, perhaps an extreme response. Job's response is extreme.21 He says about God in...
Job 13:15a Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;What does that confidence say to you?
- The question from Job is:
The way Job is able to trust God under such difficult circumstances, and the same may be true for you, is to realize what he says about the future. So...
- Do you trust God when it suits Him or only when it suits you?
- The assertion from Job is:
At a point when Job's faith should have been stripped away, he expresses The Foremost Conviction, which exhibits the persuasion before God he has of what is in store for those who serve God, including you. Whatever difficulties you may experience now, you can say with Job, "I know the best is yet ahead, and that includes redemption and resurrection."
- No matter what the immediate future holds, the ultimate future will be far different and far better.
Having considered The Foremost Conviction, we will look next at The Foremost Contrition, which is the penitence before God, in Ps 51:16-17.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)
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Jim Skaggs