Job

Job 19: Job’s living Redeemer gives hope

Begin in prayer

Before Job speaks of his Redeemer, please ask God to give us hope and compassion. Ask Him to show our family Jesus, the living Redeemer.

Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:

Exodus 6:6

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Please give us compassion for people who have been rejected. Help us know the living Redeemer and the hope He gives. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Job says the friends torment him with words and use his reproach against him. He describes God as surrounding, blocking and attacking him. Relatives, servants and friends withdraw, while his wife and young children recoil from him. He pleads for pity and wishes his words could be permanently recorded. Then he declares that his Redeemer lives and that he will see God in his flesh after his skin is destroyed. He warns the friends that if they plan further persecution, they must fear the sword and remember judgment.

As you read Job 19, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God is Job’s living Redeemer, and Job expects to see Him despite bodily ruin and the loss of human support.

Job’s friends have made his reproach an argument against him, so he pleads for pity instead of further pursuit. His images of nets, walls and a siege express his sense that God treats him as an enemy. Those distressed charges must be heard alongside God’s earlier verdict. Rejection reaches relatives, household servants, his wife and young children, leaving him without ordinary human support. Then Job looks beyond that rejection to his living Redeemer, the defender who can establish his cause. He expects to see God for himself even after his skin is destroyed. This hope does not remove the grief, and his warning to the friends still carries its condition. Their continued persecution must answer to judgment.

How does Job 19 show us that God is Job’s living Redeemer, and Job expects to see Him despite bodily ruin and the loss of human support?

Job needs pity instead of further accusation.

He describes relatives withdrawing and servants refusing his call. Even people he loved have turned against him. His plea for pity asks the friends to stop adding their words to his suffering.

Job’s living Redeemer gives hope beyond bodily ruin.

A redeemer acts to recover or defend someone in need. Job says his Redeemer lives and that he will see God for himself. The hope reaches beyond the destruction of his skin, rather than merely expecting his household to become friendly again.

Those who persecute must remember judgment.

Job’s warning begins with the friends deciding how to persecute him further. He then tells them to fear the sword because judgment is real. Their claim to explain his suffering does not excuse their own conduct.

Memorise

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

Job 19:25

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, do I need Jesus, the living Redeemer, to make me right with God?

Job’s confidence rises within real bodily ruin and rejection. He knows that his Redeemer lives and expects to see God for himself. His words give hope beyond the support that other people have withdrawn.

Job did not know the name of Jesus, but Jesus is the living Redeemer whose death and resurrection make that hope secure for His people. He died in their place and bore the judgment of their sins. His sacrifice completed their redemption, with nothing left to add. He rose in His body from the grave. In John 11 verses 25 and 26 He promises life through death to those who believe in Him.

Turn from your sins and trust Jesus Christ. He forgives all who seek Him by faith. His people can face bodily weakness and human rejection with the hope of seeing their living Savior.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Job expects to see God after bodily ruin, while the gospel reveals Jesus’ finished redemption and resurrection. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for the living Redeemer and hope beyond bodily ruin, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;

Titus 2:13

Father, thank You for the living Redeemer who gives hope beyond death. Forgive our sins and our lack of pity. Please bring us to trust Jesus and His finished sacrifice. Help us show compassion to suffering people and look to the risen Savior this week. In Jesus' name, Amen.