Job 19:23    I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth

We're going to jump back many centuries to some very early words spoken by a man in the midst of his troubles. In fact life couldn't get much worse. His farm has been pillaged by raiders, he's lost most of his stock, most of his family have been killed and now he's suffering from the most agonizing form of infection possible. He's in the pits! To make it worse, three friends have turned up to ‘encourage' him, but you know what that's like so often! He's in a bad way, but in the darkness of the soul he reaches out and finds something of faith. Somehow in the darkness a truth touches his soul.

 

This man is a believer and in the midst of his darkness The Truth reaches out to him and he knows there is one who is there for him, one who will come and redeem him from the Pit that faces him. This man potentially has no future but, as he faces the possible end, there is a spark of hope that comes to him from heaven – his Redeemer lives and one day he too will walk the earth and experience the agonies of human life. This is possibly one of the oldest prophetic words in the Bible and it reaches down through the centuries to a time when a little baby is born in Bethlehem, when the Redeemer of the world will walk upon the face of the earth, experience the things we experience and then die in our place to redeem us – to buy us back from Satan's accusations – just like Job knew – and to be restored to the loving arms of God. He HAS come!