Job 19:25   "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth"

 

This is a statement of amazing faith. Of course most of us will jump to the conclusion that this is a prophetic reference to Jesus – as it may well be – but essentially Job was declaring that he believed there would be someone who would stand on his behalf in his defence. Job's problem was that he had ‘friends' who prodded him to speak in the midst of his misery. Solomon wrote, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Prov 10:19). Up to the point of catastrophe Job had been blameless (Job 1:8) – and he knew it, yet he did not seem to know that it was all by the grace of God. The above verse, notes in your Bible may show you, could read, “I know that my defender lives and that in the end he will stand on my grave.” He envisions one coming to give his epitaph and declare him innocent. That was his measure of security.

 

Today we have a greater awareness of our frailties because of Jesus and yet today we can say, “if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 Jn 2:1) Indeed Jesus is my defender because he is also my Redeemer and has redeemed me by his blood (Col 1:13,14). He steps in when I fail, and because he has already taken my guilt and taken my punishment, he declares me innocent. Unlike Job we don't have to wait until the end for our defender to stand by our grave and speak for us; he does it daily.