Highlights:
Man needs a Daysman (Mediator) (Job. 9:33). Jesus is ours (I Tim. 2:5). Learn the truth — both the wicked and the righteous suffer (chap. 10). Zophar says misfortune is sent by God to punish sin (chap. 11). When innocent, Job's defense is our defense (12:4,9-10,13).
All of us will benefit by listening carefully to the spiritual discernment of Job, whom God said was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil (Job 1:1).
This man of spiritual insight proclaimed with confidence: Are not his (man's) days also like the days of a hireling (hired worker)? . . . So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me (7:1,3). His friend Bildad incorrectly believed that God had appointed wearisome nights of suffering only for sinners, and his response to Job was critical and cynical: How long wilt thou speak these things? . . . If thou wert pure and upright; surely now He would awake (rouse Himself) for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous (8:2,6).
Bildad concluded that those who enjoy good things in this life are righteous, and all suffering is the result of sin. But, in a parable given by Jesus, the rich man who built bigger barns for "greater blessings" was not one who pleased the Lord (Luke 12:18,20). Another time, Jesus revealed that the man was not born blind because of sin (John 9:2-3).
Job's suffering led him to experience deep, spiritual maturity as he recognized God as far superior to himself and he spoke with confidence, saying: Remember . . . that Thou hast made me as the clay. . . . Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit (Job 10:9,12). However, Job knew that he and God could not meet on the same level; For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in judgment (court). Neither is there any daysman (arbitrator) betwixt us (9:32-33). Job expressed the desperate need for a mediator, someone who would stand in the gap between the Holy God and sinful man.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Mediator who can restore man's broken fellowship with God (Rom. 5:8-10). For there is One . . . Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5). We now have access to the Father through our Mediator Jesus Christ, who has entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:24).
Thought for Today:
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful (Luke 6:36).
Christ Portrayed:
Through the daysman (mediator) that Job longs for (Job 9:33). Christ is the only Mediator between God and (sinful) men (I Tim. 2:5).
Word Studies:
9:9 chambers =constellations; 9:34 rod =chastisement; 10:11 fenced =knit me together; 11:6 exacteth =demands; 11:14 tabernacles =dwellings; 11:19 make suit unto thee =seek your favor; 12:19 spoiled =stripped and plundered.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for International Broadcasts in memory of Henry Rogers • Staff: Jennifer Cunningham • Government Officials: Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH) and Rep. John Murtha (PA) • Country: Nauru (11,000) in the central Pacific • Major languages: Nauruan and English • Religious freedom • 57% Protestant; 24% Roman Catholic; 10% Buddhist and Chinese folk-religionist • Prayer Suggestion: If we ask anything agreeing with His will, He both hears and answers (I John 5:14-15).
Optional Reading: Galatians 6
Memory Verse for the Week: 2 Corinthians 1:9