Friday, August 8, 2014

Job - The Foreshadowing Part 13


    Both Job and the Lord Jesus Christ experienced vindication, as affirmed by God.

   "The LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job" (Job 42:7-8).  "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it" (Acts 2:23-24).

    As Job's challenge nears its end, the Lord thrice references "My servant Job."  Conversely, Job's friends find themselves in the line of fire concerning the wrath of God.  Having savagely attacked Job's character and relationship with God, Elizphaz, Bildad, and Zophar now find themselves in dire need of their friends intercessory access to the Lord.  Their "folly" has drawn them near to judgment.  Only the prayers of the one they condemned as "the wicked man" can now save them (Job 15:20).

    The men who concluded that the Lord Jesus deserved condemnation subsequently required His intercession.  "This man is a sinner" they cried out in despite and rejection (John 9:24).  Even more, they acted in conjunction with their verdict by nailing the Lord Jesus to His cross where He suffered both Divine and human wrath.  "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13).  God, however, accounted His Son's sacrifice as completely adequate for the fulfillment of His purposes, accounting our Savior as the redeemer of the very ones whose sins led to His sufferings at Calvary.  "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ… To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts's 2:36; 10:43).  The very One rejected by humanity becomes humanity's sole hope for salvation.

    We look back on Job as a godly man who overcame his challenges through the Lord's grace and power, experiencing the vindication that led to far greater blessing after his sufferings than before.  "So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12).  We look presently on the Lord Jesus, trusting Him as the Holy One of God who saves us from our sins, and who leads and enables us in this moment and forevermore to live in the reality of God's living presence.  The Crucified is now the Crowned.  This is the great Vindication of the ages, foreshadowed by Job, but glorified in the risen and reigning Christ.

"God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
(Philippians 2:9-11)

Weekly Memory Verse
    And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
(II Thessalonians 3:5)

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