Job 19: I Know My Redeemer Lives
Abandoned by everyone and feeling crushed by God, Job rises to the soaring confidence that his living Redeemer will stand for him.
Job 19 (WEB)
1 Then Job answered,
2 “How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?
3 You have reproached me ten times. You aren’t ashamed that you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.
5 If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;
6 know now that God has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net.
7 “Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.
11 He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries.
12 His troops come on together, build a siege ramp against me, and encamp around my tent.
13 “He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger. I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
18 Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
26 After my skin is destroyed, then in my flesh shall I see God,
27 Whom I, even I, shall see on my side. My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger. “My heart is consumed within me.
28 If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ because the root of the matter is found in me,
29 be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”
Job 19 (KJV)
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.
18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
Job 19 (ASV)
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
4 And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach;
6 Know now that God hath subverted me in my cause, And hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice.
8 He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.
11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.
12 His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, ThoughI entreat him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.
18 Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever!
25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:
26 And after my skin, eventhisbody, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;
27 Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.
28 If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me;
29 Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrathbringeththe punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment.
Summary
Job pleads with his friends to stop tormenting and crushing him with words, saying they have reproached him ten times without shame. He insists that even if he has erred, his error remains his own affair, and he charges that it is God who has wronged him by surrounding him with a net. He cries out that he calls for help and finds no justice, that God has walled up his way, stripped him of glory, broken him on every side, and counts him an enemy. Most painfully, Job describes utter abandonment: his brothers are far off, his acquaintances estranged, his relatives and friends have forgotten him, his servants ignore him, his own wife recoils from his breath, and even young children despise him. He has escaped, he says, by the skin of his teeth, and begs his friends for pity since the hand of God has touched him. Then, against all this darkness, Job rises to the highest peak of the book: he longs for his words to be engraved in rock forever, and declares with stunning confidence that he knows his Redeemer lives and will at last stand upon the earth, and that after his skin is destroyed, in his flesh he will see God for himself. This breathtaking hope, born in the depths of loss, reaches across the centuries toward the living Redeemer revealed in Jesus Christ.
Voices
- Job — The forsaken sufferer who laments his total abandonment and God's seeming hostility, yet bursts into the confident hope that his living Redeemer will vindicate him.
- The friends — The companions who have reproached Job ten times, whom he begs for pity instead of further torment.
- The Redeemer — The living one Job is certain stands for him and will appear upon the earth, a hope that points ahead to Christ, the true and living Redeemer.
Key Verse
Job 19:25 (WEB)
But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
Lessons Learned
- Faith's brightest confessions are sometimes born in the darkest valleys of loss.
- Even when family, friends, and comfort all fall away, the believer's hope rests on a living Redeemer.
- Job's certainty that he will see God in his flesh points beyond the grave to resurrection hope.
- We are meant to read Job's cry for a Redeemer in light of Jesus, who lives to vindicate and save his people.
- Relentless words can crush a soul. Job pleads, “How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?” (Job 19:2, WEB), naming the wounding power of harsh speech.
- Abandonment is one of suffering's sharpest pains. Job grieves that “my familiar friends have forgotten me” (Job 19:14, WEB), feeling forsaken by everyone he loved.
- Our Redeemer lives. “I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25, WEB). Hope rests not on circumstances but on a living, vindicating God.
- We shall see God. “in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:26, WEB) reaches past death toward a face-to-face vindication, a hope sealed in Christ's resurrection.
- How does Job describe the loss of every human relationship, and why does abandonment cut so deeply?
- Job feels that God himself has wronged and besieged him. How does that make his confession in verse 25 so remarkable?
- What does Job mean by his “Redeemer,” and how does the cry point forward to Jesus?
- Job expects to see God in his flesh (19:26). How does this anticipate resurrection hope?
- Where do you most need to say, “I know that my Redeemer lives,” even before your circumstances change?
- Job lists brothers, acquaintances, relatives, friends, servants, his wife, and even children, all estranged or repulsed (19:13-19). Abandonment isolates us precisely when we most need support, layering loneliness over loss. It makes Job's coming confession all the more striking.
- Job has just charged that God has walled up his way and counts him an enemy (19:8-11), and yet from that very darkness he declares his Redeemer lives. The confession is astonishing because it clings to God against his own feelings, trusting that God will at last be his vindicator.
- The Redeemer (go'el) is a kinsman who buys back, defends, and avenges his own. Job is sure such a living defender will stand for him. Christians rightly hear in this a foreshadowing of Jesus, the living Redeemer who vindicates and saves his people.
- Job expects that even after his body is destroyed, he will see God in his flesh and not as a stranger (19:26-27). This longing reaches beyond death toward bodily resurrection, fulfilled and guaranteed in Christ, the firstfruits of those who rise.
- This is a personal-application question. Invite members to name a circumstance where hope must rest on the living Redeemer rather than on change they can see. As leader, let the group rest together in the certainty that Christ lives.