Job

Job 9: Job longs for an umpire

Begin in prayer

Before Job speaks of needing someone to stand between him and God, let us pray. Ask the Lord to show our family His greatness and the mercy He gives through Jesus Christ.

He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.”

Exodus 33:20

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your greatness and our need for Christ the Mediator. Help us see Jesus. 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 answers by asking how a person can be just with God. He describes the unmatched power that moves mountains, governs the heavens and does wonders beyond searching. Before that God, Job feels unable to present his case or trust that his words will be heard. In anguish he charges God with destroying the blameless and wicked, even mocking the innocent. His days hurry away while every effort to clear himself seems useless. He longs for an umpire between God and himself who could remove the terror and let him speak.

As you read Job 9, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God rules with unmatched wisdom and power, and Job longs for someone to stand between them.

Job agrees that God is great, but that truth now makes a hearing before Him seem impossible. Mountains, the earth, stars and sea lie beyond human command yet beneath God’s power. Job repeats Eliphaz’s words about wonders without number, accepting truth while disputing the friend’s conclusion. His trouble is knowing how a weak person can present a case before such a mighty Judge. His distress leads him to accuse God of mocking innocent suffering, a charge the later divine answer will correct. Neither self-defense nor washing with snow can give Job control over God’s verdict. An umpire could hear both sides and help settle a dispute, but Job sees no one who can fill that place. His longing leads us toward the need that Christ meets, without making every accusation part of that hope.

How does Job 9 show us that God rules with unmatched wisdom and power, and Job longs for someone to stand between them?

God’s wisdom and power exceed human strength.

Job names mountains, stars and the waves of the sea as works under God’s command. No person can summon God as an equal. Job’s true account of that greatness makes him conscious of his own weakness.

Job’s pain does not make every charge true.

He says God destroys the blameless and wicked, and even mocks the innocent. Those are the accusations of a distressed man. God later challenges Job’s attempt to justify himself by condemning God.

Job longs for someone who can stand between them.

An umpire is someone who hears a dispute and helps bring it to settlement. Job wants the terror removed so he can speak. His need prepares us to hear the good news of Christ’s mediation. The memory verse is Job’s longing, and First Timothy 2 verse 5 names Jesus as the Mediator.

Memorise

There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.

Job 9:33

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, why do I need Jesus to bring me to God?

Job longs for an umpire who could lay a hand on both parties. He knows that God is no man he can summon as an equal. Yet he aches for a hearing.

First Timothy 2 verse 5 names Jesus Christ as the Mediator between God and people. The eternal Son became man, without ceasing to be God. He carried the sin of His people to the cross and endured its judgment on their behalf. That sacrifice completed their reconciliation in full. He rose from the dead and lives as the Mediator His people need.

Turn from your sin and trust Jesus to bring you to God. Forgiveness belongs to everyone who depends on Him. You cannot force your own acceptance by winning an argument or washing away your guilt. Christ has accomplished what His people need, and through faith they draw near to God.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Job’s longing finds an answer in Jesus the Mediator, while Job’s accusations against God need correction. 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 access to Him through Christ, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

Father, thank You that You are wise and mighty beyond us. Thank You for Jesus, who brings His people near. Help each of us turn from sin and trust Him. Teach us to approach You humbly through Christ this week. Amen.