I know that my Redeemer lives
Devotional for October 2 · Job 19:25 · 14-minute read
13He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me. 14My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me. 15My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight. 16I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth. 17My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family. 18Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me. 19All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me. 20My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 21Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me. 22Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh? 23I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book, 24by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever. 25But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. 26Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. 27I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!
Context
The book of Job tells the story of a man of integrity who loses his possessions, his children and his health. The date and author of the book are uncertain; the story is set in an ancient world similar to that of the patriarchs. Most of the book is a long poetic dialogue between Job and three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. The friends keep pressing one idea: anyone who suffers like this must have sinned. Job denies it and takes his complaint straight to God.
Chapter 19 is Job's reply to Bildad's second speech (ch. 18), which described in detail the terrible fate of the wicked, in a clear allusion to Job. Here Job is at his lowest point: he feels hemmed in by God, abandoned by his family and scorned even by children. It is precisely at this point, and not after things are resolved, that he makes one of the best-known declarations of hope in the Old Testament.
What the text says
- vv. 13-15: Job lists those who have abandoned him: brothers, relatives, close friends, even his own household, who “count me as a stranger.”
- v. 23: He wishes his words could be kept: “I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book.” In a way, that request was granted.
- v. 27: Job hopes to see God: “my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger.” The same man treated as a stranger by his own hopes not to be a stranger to God.
Reflection
Before reaching verse 25, you have to walk through the verses before it. Job does not speak with the calm of someone who has figured everything out. He says God has walled up his way and uprooted his hope like a tree (vv. 8, 10). He does not know what the reader has known since chapter 1. The book keeps these words on record without erasing them. That teaches something precious to anyone who is suffering: the Bible has room for honest complaint addressed to God. Job does not abandon God; he wrestles with God, which is very different.
The word translated Redeemer, in Hebrew go'el, comes from the world of family. The go'el was the close relative responsible for rescuing a family member: buying back lost land, freeing a relative sold into slavery, defending someone who could not defend himself (Lev 25:25; it is Boaz's role in Ruth). Now look at the contrast: in verses 13 to 19, Job's family has abandoned him. When his relatives fail, Job appeals to a Kinsman who does not fail.
The Hebrew text of verses 26 and 27 is difficult, and translations vary in the details. But some things are clear: Job expects a living redeemer who “in the end He will stand upon the earth,” and he expects to see God personally, with his own eyes, “and not as a stranger.” His hope is not a self-help slogan. It is the certainty that someone will defend his cause, even if that comes after death, and that God will not treat him the way his own household treated him.
Job wanted his words carved in rock. They were kept in something more lasting: in the Scriptures, read by generation after generation of people who suffer. He never knew that. There may be pain you carry today whose meaning you will not see in this life. The text does not promise an explanation or a cure. It promises something different: that there is a Redeemer, and that He lives.
The New Testament does not quote Job 19:25 directly. But traditional Christian reading, from very early on, heard in this verse the voice of someone waiting for Jesus, the Kinsman who became flesh, died and rose again. Christ's resurrection gives a concrete face to what Job only glimpsed (1 Cor 15:20). If you have no answers today, you can have what Job had: a sentence to hold on to, spoken in the dark, without denying the pain.
Connections
- Leviticus 25:25 (cross-reference): Describes the role of the kinsman-redeemer, which gives meaning to the word Redeemer in Job 19:25.
- Job 42:5 (cross-reference): At the end of the book, Job says that now his eyes have seen God, echoing the hope of chapter 19.
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 (editorial reading): Christ's resurrection as the firstfruits gives concrete form to Job's hope in a living Redeemer.
To apply
- Heart: do you allow yourself, before God, to speak your pain honestly, without pretending everything is fine?
- Relationships: to someone who is suffering, have you been a friend like Job's friends, or someone who walks alongside without accusing?
- Today: write by hand the sentence “I know that my Redeemer lives” and leave it somewhere you will see throughout the day.
Prayer
Living God, You are my Redeemer. When those close to me pull away, You are not ashamed to be my Kinsman. I confess there are days when I don't understand what is happening and my faith feels small. I will not hide my pain or my questions from You. I hand over to You what I cannot explain. Hold me up until the day my eyes behold You, and not as a stranger. Through Jesus, who rose again. Amen.
To memorize: Job 19:25
Today's step: In the next 24 hours, reach out to someone who is suffering and simply listen, without explaining their pain or giving hasty advice.
To go deeper: read Job 19; Job 42 and get to know Job.