Wisdom Wednesday: Resurrection Wisdom
Submitted by: Debbie’s Dad
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And 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!
(Job 19:25–27 NASB)
In this passage, the suffering man named Job proclaimed his confidence that beyond the grave, he would stand before His God and His Redeemer. Job believed that after death (his skin is destroyed) he will see and behold God with great emotion.
The context of this passage in Chapter 19 is a low point in Job’s depth of suffering. Remember how God allowed the horrible physical suffering and loss of everything that Job endured in the first 2 chapters of the book, which led him to wish that he could die (3: 20-26).
This was followed by the torment of his accusers in chapter 4 through 18, who sought to find the cause of Job’s suffering and get Job to confess he was enduring punishment for his sin. In three long cycles of accusations (by his companions Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar), Job wearily defended himself. The attacks against his character continued to wear him down; on three occasions, he reveals three aspects of his sense of deep hopelessness:
- Every fleeting day ends without hope for tomorrow – “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And come to an end without hope. (Job 7:6).
- Every day is wearing on him, eroding any hope he has – “Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.” (Job 14:19).
- Any hope he has will die with him – “Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope? “’Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?” (Job 17:15–16).
By chapter 19, Job is exhausted. He responds to his companions, asking, “How long will you torment me?” (19:2). Job acknowledges it is God Who has “closed His net around me.” (19:8; see Job’s more detailed description in 18:8-10).
In verses 7-22, Job enumerates his losses:
- Honor and esteem (19:9)
- Hope uprooted like a tree (19:10)
- Brothers and relatives (19:13-14)
- Respect from those around him (19:15-19)
And in verse 22, Job asks of his companions, “Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?”
Following this exasperating question, Job wishes his words of entreaty were captured in a book (They were!) and then he pronounces his hope for a future resurrection to stand before His God and Redeemer.
Here was the man who feared God (the beginning of wisdom) and retained his hope (and faith) in a future day of resurrection to eternal life with his God and Redeemer. In the presence of his pain and discouragement, Job wisely erupted with his ultimate hope -he yearned for his resurrected body to see his Savior.