Wrestling with Suffering: Is There a Redeemer

Text: Job 19:23–27 ESV

This sermon has two main objectives: to get reacquainted with Job’s despair by revisiting where we’ve been the past four weeks (lots of review), and then to catch a glimpse of the hope that Job still has beneath his despair, illustrated in the text for today. 

It is often in our lowest, scariest, or most helpless points in life that we see each other’s faith most clearly. This is because we are forced more than ever to look outside of ourselves for answers and to unearth our deepest convictions about where our hope really lies. Without throwing ourselves upon those deepest convictions when we feel most bankrupt in life, we will pass completely beyond hope. 

The book of Job has brought us uncomfortably close to the challenging reality of suffering and the often confusing answers to the question “Where is God in this suffering?” Ryan’s first two sermons covered two main difficulties in suffering: 1) feeling alone and 2) knowing that while God is near and in control (sovereign), suffering is still happening anyway.

Feeling alone

Suffering can be the hardest place for us to remember that God will never leave us. It can feel like he has left, like he’s not the protector, defender, or refuge he once was. Job continues to receive devastating losses, one after another, and much of the book details Job’s agonizing wonder at the state of his relationship with God. 

Knowing God is in control

On the other hand, what about when we know God is near, when we remember he has never left us, and we remember that he is in control of all that is coming our way? Although God allowed Satan to afflict Job (1:12; 2:6), God still takes ownership of what happens to Job (2:3); not even Satan can get to us without God allowing it to take place. And this isn’t always a comforting thought. God is in control? All things pass through his hand, and this happened to me? We’re tempted to accuse God of wrong or evil, of abandonment, among other things.

At the end of chapter 1, Job reacts to his losses with a tremendous show of surrender and humility. 

“Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord’” (Job 1:20–21 ESV)

And at the end of chapter 2 Job says to his wife,

“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10 ESV)

This really is beautiful. Job is not responding in an unaffected way, as though he is saying, “Oh well; it was nice while it lasted.” No. Job’s tearing of his robe and shaving of his head represents his torn heart (Joel 2:13) and state of mourning (Jeremiah 7:29; Micah 1:16), and Job is showing that despite the heart devastation that accompanies the loss of his beloved things, most of all his family, he is unwilling to conclude that God has done him wrong. He goes to God recognizing that whatever happens in his life, it passes through Yahweh’s hands in Yahweh’s wisdom, and Yahweh has the right to do these things or allow them to happen. 

The writer of Job makes it crystal clear that Job is innocent as he responds to his suffering, especially early on.

“In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (Job 1:21 ESV)

This is important for the rest of the book because so much of Job’s pain comes from wondering why he receives what he does if he has not sinned against God.

But as the story of Job progresses, the two tensions Ryan brought up in those first two sermons, the feeling of aloneness and the difficulty of God’s sovereign control in the midst of suffering, those get harder and harder for Job to stomach. And we understand this, right? The longer we feel like we don’t see what God is doing, don’t feel like we’re hearing from him, don’t seem to see our prayers being answered, and especially when our suffering continues or gets worse, it gets harder and harder to maintain our trust, to believe with all our hearts that he is for us and has a plan. 

In chapter 7, Job doesn’t know which of these two things, feeling alone or feeling like God is right there, are worse. On the one hand, “all he wants is for God to take notice of him,” (1) to meet him in his suffering, to not feel so alone. He says,

“Remember, God, that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good…while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone” (Job 7:7–8 ESV).

It’s like he’s saying, ”Visit me before I die with only this stuff to remember.” Remember that Job not only lost everything, he is also physically diseased and feels close to death. 

On the other hand, a few verses later, Job shows that “all he wants is for God to leave him alone.” (2)

“Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning, and test him every moment? How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?...Why have you made me your mark?” (Job 7:16–19 ESV).

So while Job wants God to show up and speak understanding, meaning, restoration into his suffering, he also wants God to go away and stop paying so much attention to him. “Go pick on somebody else” or “Could you just take a break from me for a little bit?” Now spoiler alert, Job will eventually confess that God,

“knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10; cf. James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 1–6–7 ESV).

But this is not easy for Job to see in the moment, and it is not easy for us to see. We have to trust and with all our strength, we have to fight to have faith in him when we don’t see the answers. 

So while Job is wrestling through all of this, some friends have gathered around him. Don preached the third sermon on giving counsel during suffering, and Job’s friends give a lot of it. And it’s bad. In the end they are tormenting him more than helping him, and they increase Job’s desire all the more to hear from God, not from the best theological estimations of his friends. As one commentator put it, “The friends are detached; Job is involved; they are on the balcony, he is in the street.”(3) They are speculating at a distance with little information and with little nuance. Job’s friends get some things right about how God deals with some sin and some suffering, but in the end they put God in a box. And they put Job in a box. 

Now though each of Job’s friends have a different flavor to their counsel, all of them preach a similar refrain. Here’s a quick sample. 

Eliphaz

“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed” (Job 4:7–9 ESV).

Paraphrase: Those who sin reap destruction. You’re being destroyed, so you must have sinned to deserve this. What did you expect?

Bildad

“Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation” (Job 8:3–6 ESV)

Paraphrase: Your children must have died because they sinned. You should plead for mercy for yourself. And don’t worry, if you really are pure and upright, it will end up going well for you. 

Zophar

“You say, ‘my doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves” (Job 11:4–6 ESV)

Paraphrase: “Well, you’re doing better than you deserve.”   

Helpful silver lining from Zophar.

Don helpfully reminded us that all three of Job’s friends are operating from a worldview where the innocent never perish but are continually blessed and those who are wicked always meet a bitter end and are continually cursed. This is retribution theology, the idea that all suffering is the direct result of wrongdoing. Therefore, there really is no other explanation for your personal suffering than that you or somebody close to you screwed up.  

But Job for the life of him can’t figure out what could have warranted an angry response from God this severe. And we already know from chapters 1 and 2 that there isn’t anything Job did that caused God to unleash his anger. God himself admits this to Satan. He says to Satan, “you incited me against Job for no reason” (Job 2:3 ESV). What Job received was not connected to his transgression. Again, the friends put God in a box. Now, it’s important to see that Job likely has a similar worldview as his friends, which is why he is so conflicted. He can’t reconcile this worldview with his present suffering; he can’t trace the severity of his suffering back to any particularly flagrant behavior against God. And so many times over, Job just wants to hear God. He saying, “Please, explain this to me. I’m innocent, am I not? God? What is all of this?”

Andrew’s sermon last week dealt with the limits of this retribution worldview and how as Christians we have the smile of God. Since God has laid upon Christ the sins of the world and exacted the punishment for them upon his son, no wrath remains for us. For those of us who put our trust in Christ, we have the same smile upon us that the Father has upon his one and only son. We are now his beloved sons and daughters along with Jesus Christ, the Son. This doesn’t mean that God is no longer angry when we sin. Sin is by nature an offense against God. And it doesn’t mean that sin doesn’t by nature break things within you and around you, whether you see it or not. But it does mean that in Christ, God will not finally treat you “according to your sin,” unleashing upon us the punishment we deserve for every sin. And he is not sitting in heaven waiting to punish you when you mess up. 

Though Christ had not yet come to do his decisive work on the cross, Job knows he needs something like this mediating work and alludes to it in Job 9:33. 

“There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.” (Job 9:33 ESV)

Job wishes there was someone who could mediate between him and God, because God does seem to be angry at him. He sees this even though he still believes he is innocent. 

Job’s Lowest Point

Okay. We are ready for chapter 19. Job is at a very complex state emotionally. 

• Job lost all of his servants and all of his livestock.

• All of his sons and daughters are dead.

• He has acquired terrible sores all over his body.

• He has three “friends” who have been trying to convince him that he brought all of this on himself while he is sure he has done nothing wrong, at least nothing purposeful or high-handed.

• And worst of all for Job, God seems to be silent on the matter leaving him guessing left and right about what could be going on between him and God.

So Job starts chapter 19 with three major frustrations:

1. The three friends’ treatment of him

2. God’s treatment of him

3. The complete alienation of those around him 

Frustration with the Three Friends 

In verses 1–6, Job acknowledges that his friends’ words are not only painful and tormenting (v. 1) but wrongful (v. 3), suggesting they are sinning against him with their words. This accusation mainly has to do with their exalted demeanor towards Job, accusing him of grave sin all while not knowing any of the facts except that Job is experiencing extreme suffering (vv. 4–5). This is another reminder for us to not let our best attempt at a theological answer be a replacement for careful assessment of someone’s situation through time spent with them, gathering the facts, and acknowledging complexity. He closes this part about his friends by saying that if they are going to use his current predicament as evidence against him, they should instead direct their questions to God because clearly God is pursuing him for something unknown to him. What Job at least knows is there has been no heavy-handed sin against God, nothing intentional that he knows of. He wants his friends to at least grant this as a possibility, but they won’t.

Frustration with God’s Treatment

In verses 7–12, Job is frustrated that God hasn’t answered him yet. 

“Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help but there is no justice” (Job 19:7 ESV) 

No help is coming. There’s been no reprieve. These verses are a list of metaphors that accuse God of ensnaring him and treating him like his enemy. He feels like he is under siege and God is the commander of the attack. And if this is so, what can he do to escape it? 

Frustration with the Complete Alienation Around Him 

Verses 13–22 address Job’s frustration that God has caused everyone around him to desert him. 

“He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. The guests in my house and my and maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me” (Job 19:13–19 ESV)

In other words, “I am utterly alone; no one wants anything to do with me.” 

Nobody wants to associate with Job. No one wants to risk getting a piece of what Job is receiving. No one is willing to get close enough to Job to bring him any real comfort. 

Job ends these three frustrations in verses 21–22 asking for mercy from his friends, begging them not to add to what he is already receiving from God. One commentator says it well: “Job’s dignity and self-composure are lost. He lies broken under the blows of God and the words of men. To men he appeals for pity (verse 21), to God for justice. But both alike hound (pursue) him.” (4)

My Redeemer Lives

And here we are at the central text for this morning. As I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, it is here, at one of Job’s lowest points, that we see the bedrock of his faith. 

Verse 23: 

“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 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, who I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:23–27 ESV)

Job is longing that his words, his declaration of innocence, would be preserved forever, and this is most likely because he thinks he is going to die fairly soon. Why does Job care about that? Why would it matter if his words stick around even after he dies? This is vindication talk. See, right now it feels like Job’s words are just coming out of his mouth and passing away, with no one there to give them credibility. His situation looks bad and looks like a big strike against him. But Job is saying, “I know it looks bad, but if there were just more time, you would see. You would see that things will work out in the end for me.” You can picture his friends looking at each other and saying, “Kinda bold coming from a guy who’s losing everything left and right.” 

How can Job be so sure of this redemption he speaks of? Because despite his devastation, Job still knows at the core of his being that Yahweh is committed to his good, that they are family, and that Yahweh will never abandon his family. Why do we know this? Because this is what Job means when he chooses the word Redeemer to describe the one who lives forever and that he will eventually be face to face with. 

 A redeemer, in the Old Testament, was “someone tied to you by covenant, usually a relative, whose calling was to stand for you when you were wronged,” (5) who stands for you when you cannot stand for yourself, or who buys back or restores what has been lost (a protector of the family). 

This is the main theme of the book of Ruth. Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi, marries Ruth in order to protect them and restore them from the vulnerable position they are in due to losing husbands, sons, land, and much more. We also see earlier in the old testament that if an Israelite was murdered, their next of kin (redeemer) was to avenge his brother’s blood and pursue justice on his behalf (Numbers 35:19; Deuteronomy 19:6–12). If someone was captured or sold into slavery, their nearest relative was to redeem them, seeking their release (Leviticus 25); if someone was forced to sell their property to pay off a debt, their nearest kin would pay off the debt (redeem them) so the land would be preserved with the family. You get the picture.

But this word is most often used to describe Yahweh himself and his relationship to his people. It is one of Yahweh’s titles. “Yahweh brought Israel into existence as a nation…and he recognizes his obligation to deliver them from all hostile foes.” (6) This is the word used to describe Yahweh’s act of delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6; Exodus 15:13; Psalm 74:2; Psalm 77:16). 

Job is claiming that this God will display his redeeming character in his own situation. One of the most powerful words in Job’s exclamation of faith here is the word “my.” My Redeemer lives. Not the redeemer lives. My redeemer lives. He is my God. I’ve put my trust in him; I’ve given myself to him. I am one of his people. He will come through for me. Whatever God is doing, this is not the end. I will see him. 

Yahweh is Job’s hope for vindication against his friends’ blasting of his integrity. He is Job’s hope for a lasting sense of peace with God. He is Job’s hope for restoration of community. He is Job’s hope for the redemption of everything sin, death, the curse, and Satan has broken, stolen, and destroyed in his life. Job’s only comfort in life and in death is that he is not his own, but that he is God’s, and God will never abandon him, even when he knows that God is in control of what comes his way.

That’s what Job is saying here. “I’ve got someone. I can’t make sense of what he’s doing, and gosh it feels like he is angry with me, against me, but I know him. He’s for me, and he’ll fix all of this somehow. He’s made a promise to his people, and I am one of them.”

Conclusion: Christ our Redeemer

Now you might be sitting here this morning thinking, “that’s a good story. That’s good for Job who was innocent. What about me? I know I’m not innocent. In fact, I’ve done some pretty dark things, on purpose, not really caring what God thinks about them. Not sure I sit in the same boat as Job. I mean if this is what happens with Job, who was blameless, what hope do I have? Pretty sure I have it coming.” 

Well, in one sense we’re right to think about it that way. If God is a perfect and just God, he can’t just ignore our blatant disregard for his ways. He must punish our wickedness. He wouldn’t be good or perfect if he didn’t. But the words that come out of Job’s mouth aren’t just a hope for the innocent; they are a hope for the guilty as well. Though God’s redemptive plan for his people includes provision and protection to those who seek him, it also includes propitiation for those who sin against him, provoking and deserving his wrath. Propitiation means appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to them. How did God appease his own wrath? Out of his great love for us, he poured it out on his perfect son, who gave himself up for us so that we could have fellowship with God again. God’s plan of redemption for his people finds its full meaning and full power in the sacrifice of Christ. 1 John says:  

“If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1 ESV)

Many of us have seen the way our personal sin can leave our life in shambles and put us through intense suffering. In Christ, never again will we have to ask the question, “Has God finally had it with me?” No. Our redeemer lives. Though he, Jesus, died to bring us to God, he rose again and lives to intercede for us continually before the Father. For those who have put their trust in the son, God has promised full redemption.  

One last note as we close, speaking of full redemption. Whether you’re suffering as a result of your own sin, the sins of others, or in ways that feel impossible to pinpoint the source, remember the full redemption coming for us when our redeemer returns. After Job says he knows his redeemer lives, he claims that after he passes away he will see him. In 1 Peter, after Peter reminds us that we will go through various trials that in the end test the genuineness of our faith, he says, 

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9 ESV). 

I think Job is tapping into this here. He knows there is something better coming.

Maybe you’ve felt like your world is crashing down. Maybe you’ve felt like your friends are deserting you. Maybe you’ve felt like your friends won’t enter into your pain but have been content to lob truth grenades into your corner hoping to spark some new life but it leaves you more wounded and lonely than before. Maybe you’ve been undergoing physical pain, bodily injury. Maybe you’ve experienced this much of your life.  

Some of the brokenness in your life may be healed this side of heaven. Some of it may not. But Job’s confession of faith here reminds us to look forward to the character of God and the promises he has made to those he has called his own, those who have put their faith in Jesus, the Son. Christian, listen closely. Your king promises you something: All your pain; all your tears; all that brings you sorrow in this life will one day be no more, and that won’t be because your story concludes. You will have forever in front of you to experience full and lasting renewal, full and lasting joy. That’s real hope, friends. And he’s guarding it for you. 

If you are not a believer this morning, you can get in on this! Jesus the savior of the world came and did the work necessary so that ALL who will put their trust in him will be saved. All who put their trust in him will become sons and daughters of the Father in heaven and he will commit to you like Job knew God would commit to him.  

1–Francis Andersen, Job: An Introduction and Commentary, 146.

2–Ibid.

3–Francis Andersen, Job: An Introduction and Commentary, 206.

 4–Francis Andersen, Job: An Introduction and Commentary, 208.

5–Christopher Ash, Job: The Wisdom of the Cross, 215.

6–John E. Hartley, The Book of Job, 292.