I know that my Redeemer lives.
Job's confession of hope in the middle of suffering.
The episode in a glance.
- 01Job says this before the resurrection was clearly revealed.
- 02'My Redeemer' — personal, possessive.
- 03'Lives' — present tense, alive now.
- 04Hope of seeing God 'in my flesh' anticipates resurrection.
Read along.
Job 19:25-26: 'For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.'
Job is in the middle of his agony. His friends have accused him. His health is gone. And in this darkness, he makes one of the most stunning confessions in the Old Testament.
'I know that my Redeemer lives.' Not 'I hope.' I know. A Redeemer — one who pays the debt and rescues the captive.
'At the last he will stand upon the earth.' Job sees a day when God himself will set foot on this ground and make things right.
'In my flesh I shall see God.' Job is pointing toward resurrection — before resurrection had been clearly revealed. Even in the dark, he sees the dawn.