JOB: LIFE UPSIDE DOWN? KNOW YOUR REDEEMER LIVES

Pastor Jonathan Falwell 

Two weeks ago, we left off on our study of the book of Job in chapter 12 and we ended with these important truths to remember: 

• Everything is in His hands and His control
• There is nothing that escapes His power
• No matter your circumstances, God is with you
• He will bring you through every storm

Today, we will take a quick look back to summarize Job’s journey to this point and we will finish with the ultimate truth we must never forget.

1. Absolute Despair

Job 3:3 (CSB) May the day I was born perish, and the night that said, “A boy is conceived.”

Job 3:11 (CSB) Why was I not stillborn; why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

• Job quickly devolved into a state of wishing he’d never been born, thinking how much better off he (and the world) would be had he never existed
• This is a picture of desperation brought on by the tragic circumstances of his life

2. Emotionally Destroyed

Job 7:6–7 (CSB) My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. 7Remember that my life is but a breath. My eye will never again see anything good.

• From his despair, he believed all the good in his life was now in his past, nothing good still ahead
• C. Ryle once said, “There are no lessons so useful as those learned in the school of affliction.”[i]

3. Forever Abandoned

Job 16:2 (CSB) I have heard many things like these. You are all miserable comforters.

• After hearing the “encouragement” from his three friends, he quickly realized they were of no help
• When they arrived in chapter 2, the seven days of silence sitting with Job gave him some comfort but then the advice came

4. Divinely Dismissed

Job 16:12–14 (CSB) I was at ease, but he shattered me; he seized me by the scruff of the neck and smashed me to pieces. He set me up as his target; 13his archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and pours my bile on the ground. 14He breaks through my defenses again and again; he charges at me like a warrior.

• Job’s mental state was now at a place of believing God had handed him over, that God was done with him
• David Allen said, “Job describes his predicament as being handed over by God to archers for target practice. As if a warrior had attacked and broken through Job’s defenses, he is helpless before the onslaught.”[ii]

5. His friends’ responses

Eliphaz – Job 4:7 (CSB) Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed?

Job 5:17 (CSB) See how happy is the person whom God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

Bildad –           Job 8:3–4 (CSB) Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? 4Since your children sinned against him, he gave them over to their rebellion.

Zophar – Job 11:2–6 (CSB) Should this abundance of words go unanswered and such a talker be acquitted? 3Should your babbling put others to silence, so that you can keep on ridiculing with no one to humiliate you? 4You have said, “My teaching is sound, and I am pure in your sight.” 5But if only God would speak and open his lips against you! 6He would show you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your iniquity.

1. But, Eternally Assured

Job 19:25–27 (CSB) But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust. 26Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. 27I will see him myself; my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me.

• Job uses a word which appears 44 times in the Old Testament. “Redeemer” (gā’al) which also conveys the idea of an avenger, your closest relative
• Job knew, amidst all his pain and suffering, there was someone who would redeem him, even if only in death

On September 20, I gave you these reminders.

Five important truths for life:

1. Life’s not easy
2. It will break you if you’re not prepared
3. Being prepared has nothing to do with you or your abilities
4. Being prepared comes from our trust in God
5. God will never let you down

[i] J.C. Ryle (as quoted by John Blanchard), The Complete Gathered Gold (Welwyn, Garden City, UK: Evangelical Press, 2006.)

[ii] David L. Allen, Exalting Jesus in Job, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2022), 96.