Slices
Prepare
‘[Christ] is the head over every power and authority’ (Colossians 2:10), setting us free from everything that held us captive. What does that include?
Bible passage
16 Then Job replied:
2 ‘I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters, all of you!
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?
What ails you that you keep on arguing?
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
6 ‘Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I refrain, it does not go away.
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;
you have devastated my entire household.
8 You have shrivelled me up – and it has become a witness;
my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.
9 God assails me and tears me in his anger
and gnashes his teeth at me;
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.
10 People open their mouths to jeer at me;
they strike my cheek in scorn
and unite together against me.
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
13 his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.
14 Again and again he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.
15 ‘I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.
16 My face is red with weeping,
dark shadows ring my eyes;
17 yet my hands have been free of violence
and my prayer is pure.
18 ‘Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry never be laid to rest!
19 Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as one pleads for a friend.
Explore
Job’s level of distress is harrowing and no one seems to understand, certainly not his friends (v 2), not even God (vs 9, 11–12). Not ‘a mighty fortress … a bulwark never failing’;* God is attacking him. Job has nothing left to give. Sackcloth, clothes for mourning, have become his permanent outfit and he is worn out with crying (vs 15,16). The only thing this comes near to in human experience is Jesus’ cry on the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46). God himself in Christ takes that place of loneliness, enduring the separation that sin imposes. He becomes the abandoned person whose cry seems to go unheard. He stands in our place, rising again to accomplish a victory that shatters all that imprisons and isolates us, bringing us into his family, back home.
Job knew nothing of that cry of Jesus. But he knew what he needed: someone who could act and speak on his behalf (vs 19–21). He was seeking a legal representative to plead his case with God. Little did he know that God himself, in Jesus, would intervene to restore friendship between people and himself.
*Martin Luther (1483–1546), ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God’
Respond
Isolation and loneliness are real issues for many. Jesus brings us fellowship with God, but also expects isolation to be met by the love of God’s people. Who can you reach out to today?
Deeper Bible study
‘Therefore he [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.’1
Job begins his response to Eliphaz with a plea for better support from his ‘miserable comforters’ (v 2). He points out that if he were in their place, he could also choose to lecture and berate someone in his position (v 4) but would prefer to bring encouragement, comfort and relief (v 5). These are key purposes for the exercising of vocal spiritual gifts in the New Testament.2 Today let’s set our hearts to encourage, comfort or relieve others by our words with God’s help.
In verses 6–14 Job summarises his misery. Though innocent of any known transgression, he continues to suffer, possibly including intense abdominal pain (v 13). He has seen his whole household devastated (v 7) through the tragic loss of his children and his wealth and is worn out through grief. If ever someone deserves relief it is this dear man.
Thankfully, in the final paragraph, Job reveals the source of his enduring hope. He continues to pray amid his trials. His face may be red with weeping and dark shadows may ring his eyes, but he has not ceased calling on God. In fact, at the end of the book, God says he will accept Job’s prayer for his friends, so pure and powerful was his life of prayer.3 Job, however, realises that his own praying will not be enough. He longs to have an advocate on high, an intercessor with the Almighty. Amazingly for the period in which the book was written, we get a flash of revelation concerning the coming ministry of Christ. Here, as in 9:33, Job looks for someone to stand between himself and God. Wonderfully, the answer comes in the form of one who is also his friend! This remarkable intercessor sympathises with our weaknesses and loves those for whom he prays.
Read Hebrews 4:14–16 and thank Jesus for being your intercessor. Rejoice that he is your friend and bring him your concerns, approaching his throne with confidence.
1 Heb 7:25 2 1 Cor 14:3 3 Job 42:8
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Job 24–26; Luke 21
Pray for Scripture Union
Following on from a year of online work, the mission team are back in Minnis Bay this week. Pray for them as connections are re-established and for Avtar Hunter-Singh as he leads the team.
