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)

The Foreshadowing - Job Part 12

    Both Job and the Lord Jesus Christ passed the particular tests of their faith and their faithfulness.  

   "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15).   

   "When He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously" (I Peter 2:23).

    Satan boasted to God that he could cause Job to curse the Lord to His face (Job 1:11; 2:5).  The devil failed in the attempt.  Job voiced significant complaint, of course, questioning the very fact of his existence: "Why died I not from the womb?  Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?" (Job 3:11).  The Lord severely rebuked His servant for such audacity: "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38:1-2).  Four chapters of Scripture follow with more of such chastening by the Lord, resulting in great repentance on Job's part: "I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6).  It remains true, however, that Job overcame the primary challenge of his ordeal.  He never cursed God to His face (in a message to come, we will consider the possible meaning of this interesting phrase).  Thus, the Lord triumphed, His word was confirmed, and the devil suffered yet another defeat at the hands of his Creator whom he so frequently, foolishly, and catastrophically challenges.

    We do not know whether the devil ever made a similar boast to God the Father about the Lord Jesus.  We know he tempted Him incessantly, both in the wilderness challenge recorded in Scripture, and in a lifetime wherein the Savior was "tempted in all points life as we are" (Hebrews 4:15).  Over and over again, our Lord trusted God in submission to His will: "I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:29).  This ultimately led to the hour just before the cross when He could have called twelve legions of angels to save Him (Matthew 26:53).  He did not do so, in obedience to God.  Thereafter, He entered Gethsemane, where He experienced temptation so severe as to draw bloody sweat from the Lord's holy pores.  He overcame, in obedience to God.  Finally, on the cross of Calvary when God poured out His wrath and then left His Son to die alone for our sakes, the Savior cried in agony, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).  In agony He cried.  Not in rebellion.  Thus, He overcame every trial and temptation to the resounding degree of obedience that "God raised Him from the dead, and set Him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet" (Ephesians 1:20-22).

   I look forward to meeting Job in the heavenlies in order to thank him for his vivid foreshadowing of Christ, the lessons we learn from his trial, and his overcoming of the devil's challenge.  And, I look forward to seeing the Lord Jesus face to face in the heavenlies, but only for a brief moment before falling at His nail-pierced feet in gratitude, adoration, appreciation, and loving worship.  Our Savior overcame challenges far beyond any degree and magnitude of severity we will ever know, and a long eternity will not suffice to extol Him for the life He lived for us, and the death He died for us.

Over and Over and Over

Sometimes it seems that the enemy of our soul wins

over and over and over again.

But if we could see the truth much more clearly, my friend,

we'd see Christ triumph over death, hell, and sin

over and over and over again.

Over and over and over again.

The tomb is empty, the throne above occupied.

For Christ is risen again, from death glorified.

Oh remember when hot, stinging tears fill your eyes

the triumph He's shown so many times in our lives

over and over and over again.

Over and over and over again.

Forever draws nigh, we will be with Him there soon, my friend.

The trials of this life will be gone when we're with Him in Heaven.

Glories we'll see, majesty without end,

that sing the glad hymn, "Christ is risen again,"

over and over and over again.

Over and over and over again,

Over and over and over again.

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place."

(II Corinthians 2:14)

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)

The Foreshadowing - Job Part 11

    Both Job and the Lord Jesus Christ suffered accusation and rejection at the hands of those who should have been friends.    

    "Who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? (Job 4:7).

    "And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands?  Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends… " (Zechariah 13:6).

    Job's friends, the "miserable comforters" that they were, could not fathom his sufferings apart from the certainty that his sins had found him out.  In no way was this the case.  Job rather suffered because God pointed out His servant's faithfulness to Satan, who took this as a cue to attack the man (Job 1:8).  Elizphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did not know this (anymore than did Job).  They thought Job needed to acknowledge and repent of his sins - "If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles" (Job 21:23).  One can only imagine the sorrow upon sorrow heaped upon Job by these who should have suffered with him rather than stoke the flames of the furnace in which Job's heart suffered.

    The Lord Jesus faced the same misunderstanding and despite from those even nearer to Him - "neither did His brethren believe in Him" (John 7:5).  I find this to be the most shocking verse in the Bible.  How could the Savior, perfect He was, live three decades without his brothers discovering who He was?   Even when His ministry began, the performance of miracles and teaching greater than all others did not convince them that their brother was the Son of God.  Add to this the largely negative response of Israel to the Lord's person and life, and as with Job, we can only imagine the deep pain of rejection our Lord experienced "in the house of My friends."

    We will also not escape being hurt sometimes by those near to us.  Nor will we escape injustice from those who should be friends.  Our loved ones are human beings, subject to the same devilish temptations that caused Job's friends and the Lord's own people to become mouthpieces for "the accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10).  This does not excuse such behavior.  It does, however, explain it.  Thus, when the house of our friends becomes a place of unjust misunderstanding and accusation, we do well to recall the example of Job, who at the end of his trial prayed for those who had attacked him (Job 42:10).  We do even better to "consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself" (Hebrews 12:3).  The Lord Jesus died for those who accused and rejected Him, including those near and dear ones who possessed the most keenly painful sword because of their close proximity of heart.  Prayers and sacrifice will beckon us on similar heart-aching and breaking occasions, as will the love of Christ that calls us to the grace whereby we "walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6).  Yes, when the house of our friends becomes a place of unjust darkness rather than comforting light, the Friend that "sticketh closer than a brother" meets us as we remember that He knows far better than do we the challenge of such times (Proverbs 18:24).

"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." 

(John 1:11)

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)