My Redeemer Lives: Job’s Journey from Despair to Faith
October 3, 2024 - Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Job 19:21-27
In his second speech, Bildad suggests that Job is making himself too important and taking his suffering too seriously (see Job 18:1-4). However, these words do nothing to comfort Job. In his response, Job reveals that he is despised by his friends, relatives, and family members (Job 19:1-19). He then pleads with his friends to pity him: "Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!" (Job 19:21). In the biblical author's view, both good and bad, life and death, come from God. Although the tragedies that befell Job were the work of the accuser, Satan could only act because God allowed it: "And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life" (Job 2:6; see also Job 1:12).
Job's cry for compassion is followed by a wish that his plight be recorded for posterity. He wants it to be written in a book and "engraved in the rock forever" (Job 19:23-24). His wish came true. The fact that the Book of Job made it into the Bible assures that Job will never be forgotten. But the purpose of Job's wish is to be vindicated in the future. He did not have to wait long, for at the end of the book, he is vindicated by God and restored to health and prosperity. However, what Job could not have imagined is the impact of his story and his debate with his friends on the problem of suffering for later readers.
The book not only tackles the issue of why good people suffer but also challenges the traditional view that all suffering is related to sin and moral failure. Job’s journey through suffering, despair, and his final encounter with God has helped many to navigate their suffering, grief, and crisis of faith. Finally, his plea for mercy highlights the need for compassion, empathy, and the pursuit of justice in a world where innocent people often suffer unjustly.
Then, Job utters the words that became the title of a worship song by Reuben Morgan from Hillsong Church: "My Redeemer Lives" (Job 19:25). The Hebrew term “Go’el” can also be translated as Vindicator or Avenger. Biblical scholars inform us that it is a legal term for the person in the family responsible for avenging the murder of another member (see Num 35:19; Deut 19:6). It also refers to a relative who is obligated to take care of an impoverished family member. We see such an example in the Book of Ruth, where Boaz becomes the "Go'el," the redeemer of Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi (see Ruth 3:9).
Reuben Morgan rightly applied this verse to Jesus Christ, turning it into a springboard for the proclamation of the Gospel. In the song, we hear that Jesus "rescued" our souls, that "His blood has covered" our sins, that our "shame" is taken away, and our "pain is healed in" Jesus' name. All this, and much more, is possible because Jesus conquered the grave and lives. Our "Go'el," Jesus Christ, has taken care of us and "avenged" the wrong done to us by the spiritual forces of evil (see Eph. 6:12) and death (see 1 Cor 15:26).
Job believes that he shall see God in his flesh (see Job 19:26-27). This faith could be one of the earliest references to the hope of resurrection. Job's belief in seeing God, whom no one can see and live (see Exodus 33:20), expresses our deepest desire, which is promised to us in the New Testament: to see God and live in communion with Him. The author of the Book of Revelation tells us that we shall see God's face and "His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever" (Rev. 22:4-5).