JUNE 3
At this point in Job’s experience of suffering, it would
seem that he had faced all he possibly could. But there is more
opposition and criticism to come. In chapter 18 Bildad begins
another indictment against him. He also attempts to frighten Job by
describing the doom of the wicked.
In chapter 19 Job replies to Bildad. He is discouraged. His
heart is crushed. His friends have falsely accused him. His wife has
told him to curse God and die. He is standing alone, with a broken
heart. Beyond that, because of his physical condition, he feels he
is dying. He is ready to quit. But God still has a purpose for Job.
There is a flash of faith and light in verses 25-27, as the Spirit
of God enlightens him and lifts him out of his despair. In these
verses Job utters one of the most superlative statements of faith
found in the Old Testament. “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and
that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see
God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and
not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Those words
express the deepest and most radiant conviction of believing hearts.
What a witness to the blessed hope of the Lord’s coming, the
resurrection of the body, and the glorification of the saints.
Zophar’s second speech is recorded in chapter 20. In these
verses he mistakenly places Job in the same category with the
wicked, and he argues that their seeming prosperity is only brief.