Bible Study

Underlying his tragic circumstances rests the adamantine faith of Job. The faith driven by the perseverance of which James speaks (James 5:11). It is that faith which provokes Job’s most famous expression concerning the Redeemer; a comment which almost seems out-of-place, amidst his understandably agonized cries.

"I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes — I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27).

Many scholars have struggled to understand who the "Redeemer" is [Hebrew: Go’el] of whom Job speaks, and I likewise struggle. Rowley denotes this verse "one of the most cryptic passages in the book."¹ The reference to "God" in the following verse suggests that the Redeemer is a different person, since a different title is used. On the other hand it is evidently characteristic in Hebrew to switch between titles, even grammatical persons, mid-speech,² so this does not preclude the Redeemer being God; and indeed many expositors ultimately arrive at that conclusion.^{3, 4, 5,
6}

Some expositors suggest that Job’s words profess, or imply, an understanding of the resurrection.^{7, 8,
9} Job’s belief in seeing God ‘in his flesh,’ yet after his skin has been destroyed, sounds consistent with that belief. But considering the full range of comments Job makes concerning death and the grave, I lean away from this idea. Consider the full range of evidence:

In his first reply to Eliphaz the Temanite, Job speaks with clarity of his belief that the grave [Hebrew: Sheol] is the place of no return.

"As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to the grave does not return.
He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more" (Job 7:9,10).

This is a very matter of fact statement. One does not return from the grave, in Job’s opinion. He speaks further on this same topic in his second reply to Eliphaz:

"Where then is my hope?
Who can see any hope for me?
Will it go down to the gates of death?
Will we descend together into the dust?"
(Job 17:15,16)

Again, the language here suggests Job does not believe that hope can overcome the grave. Furthermore, Job comments in his first reply to Zophar the Naamathite:

"At least there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.
But man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more" (Job 14:7-10).

This is conclusive that he believes there is no hope for a man after death. Yet later in the same speech, when Job speaks of the grave, he says:

"If only you would hide me in the grave
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time
and then remember me!
If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come" (Job 14:13,14).

Here Job speculates on the possibility of surviving the grave, of only being contained there for a temporary period. He uses the intriguing word "renewal" (Hebrew chaliyphah: change, release, renewal¹⁰) which seems indicative of resurrection.

In total we have five passages where Job comments on death and the grave, as shown above. A natural reading of verses 19:25-27, aligned with verses 14:13,14, suggests Job believes in resurrection. But his comments in verses 7:9,10; 14:7-10 and 17:15,16 are best read with the opposite inference. What then should we conclude? Personally, I conclude that Job does not (yet) hold a belief in the hope of resurrection. The three comments where he speaks of death as final yield little room for maneuver in their interpretation, where the other verses, where Job does seem to believe in resurrection, do have latitude to be interpreted either way. The verses in 14:13,14, for example, are spoken in a hypothetical voice. Job speaks with yearning hyperbole: "Could I be merely hidden in the grave?" voicing an ‘if only’ tone. By contrast his comments speaking of the grave as the place of no hope, and from which one cannot return, are very direct and offer no such option for different interpretations.

Thus I conclude Job does not (yet) perceive a hope beyond the grave, and that his comments in chapter 19 refer to his belief that God will restore him in his present lifetime.

By contrast, those who see the resurrection in the Job 19 passage sometimes go further and explicitly suggest Job refers to Jesus of Nazareth as the Redeemer.^{11,
12} This postulate has been circulated as early as the fifth century AD by Jerome,¹³ but this is evidently more than the text is able to support. Furthermore, since Job speaks about his Redeemer being alive in the present tense, yet speaks of his restoration in the future tense, this would most logically necessitate Jesus being alive in heaven at the time Job is speaking. That assertion is consistent with a number of variants of Christian doctrine, again dating back as early as Jerome; but not my own — I am convinced the Scriptural message communicates that Jesus’ life began at his mortal birth (Luke 1:35).

Some expositors suggest that Job refers to God in the first mention in the sentence, but Jesus in the second. For the Trinitarian expositor,¹⁴ who believes God and Jesus are the same being, this is no great issue, but for the non-Trinitarian,¹⁵ the verse is required to be read as: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end someone else will stand upon the earth," which to me is unconvincing. I conclude the Redeemer of whom Job speaks cannot be Jesus of Nazareth.

Who then is this Redeemer? The Hebrew word we are focusing on — Go’el, a participle of the primary root Ga’al¹⁶, is usually understood to mean ‘redeemer’ and it is translated that way here in the book of Job and in a host of other Scriptural occurrences (e.g., Lev 25:25, Isa 63:16). Interestingly, however, it can also mean ‘avenger’ (e.g., 2Sam 14:11). So Go’el is one who sets the record straight, whether performing an upbuilding act of redemption or a destructive act of vengeance. Which does Job seek? It is not clear. On the one hand he evidently seeks what he understands to be justice in release from his suffering. Does he seek vengeance against God? Likely not, considering the verses that follow, but we cannot dismiss the possibility as quickly as we may wish, since he seeks deliverance from the assaults he weathers and Job correctly deduces that, with the exception of the hapless moralizing of his friends, these assaults are coming from the LORD.

Job had made reference to an advocate in an earlier speech. Here the language suggests more clearly that the advocate is a person distinct from God, appealing to God on Job’s behalf.

"O earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry never be laid to rest!
Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.
My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
on behalf of a man he pleads with God
as a man pleads for his friend" (Job 16:18-21).

The Hebrew words for ‘witness,’ ‘advocate’ and ‘intercessor’ are all different from ‘Go’el’ which appears in the Redeemer passage. But they are clearly presented as synonyms with each other and therefore logically synonymous with ‘Go’el’ too, since Job is speaking on the same topic of pleading for one to represent, defend and vindicate him.

I suggest that Job references God’s knowledge of his life, which is ‘hid with God’ (cf Col 3:3). Paul’s quote in his letter to the Colossian Christians teaches us that God’s omniscience in heaven incorporates a total awareness and memory of everyone’s life and being: their true character. I suggest Job is saying that God’s unerring knowledge of his own blameless life will appeal to God. Job also firmly believes in God’s goodness, so Job believes God cannot disregard the appeal of his blameless life forever and thereby He will choose to restore him. This suggestion is similar to that of Clines,¹⁷ with whom Balchin tentatively agrees,¹⁸ although the latter comments that more justification is needed. I attempt that in the following.

There is Scriptural evidence for the idea of someone’s life appealing directly to God irrespective of the conscious words or actions of the person himself. The precedential case is Abel. God reveals to Cain that Abel’s own life, even in death, was the witness, the advocate, that ‘cried out’ to God to avenge the earthly injustice before Him.

"Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ The LORD said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand’ " (Gen 4:9-11).

‘Blood’ is introduced as a metaphor for ‘life’ very early in the Bible (Gen 9:4,5) and that Scriptural symbolism is maintained throughout both Testaments, (e.g., Lev 17:11, John 6:53). This strongly supports the proposal that Abel’s life (i.e., blood) is the Go’el whom God hears.

One of John’s apocalyptic visions strengthens this suggestion of the lives of the saints in God’s consciousness acting as Go’el. John looks into heaven and sees this vision:

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ " (Rev 6:9,10).

In what way are the saints in heaven? Some Christian doctrine supposes that the immortal souls of the dead saints physically travel to heaven and are literally appealing to God. It is not our place here to digress into a discussion of fundamental doctrine, but suffice to say I have long been persuaded that the Bible teaches that man is a soul, not that he has a soul. I believe that the word and concept of the "soul" is essentially a synonym for "life" and is extinguished upon the collapse of the mortal consciousness (cf Gen 2:7 and Psa 104:29,30). Nevertheless the Scripture certainly does reveal that the saints are in heaven in some way, because John is shown them there in a vision from God. I utilize the previously cited case of Abel, whose blood (life) cries out to God after he was dead, to understand this apocalyptic scene. The lives (souls) of the saints, i.e., all their thoughts, deeds, hopes and expectations, are clearly laid out before, and accessible to, the mind of the Almighty in heaven, whether the saints themselves are living, dead, or yet unborn. What is especially fascinating, and directly applicable to our case in Job, is that the "souls in heaven" in the Revelation passage are also acting as "Go’el". They are petitioning God to take note of their martyrdom, and avenge and redeem them.

Thus I understand the Go’el of whom Job speaks in the same way, as a personification of Job’s life within God’s awareness — another saint in heaven, if you will.

By analogy, imagine an occasion where someone has spread a slanderous story about you to a close friend. You are desperate to contact that friend and correct the impression they may have. But you are unable to reach them; they’re simply not picking up the phone, for example. Your failure to establish contact continues for what seems an interminable period. This is the position Job feels he has got to with God: God’s not picking up the phone. Eventually, one might get to the point where one says: "My good friend knows who I am. Their knowledge of the real me has to convince them I’ve done no wrong, no matter what they’ve heard." I think that’s where Job is with God.

This interpretation allows us to understand how Go’el is alive in heaven at the time Job speaks and also how he both is — and isn’t — God. It allows us to understand how Job can have some relief, for even though he feels God will not speak to him, Go’el allows him an indirect line to the ear of the Almighty. It also does not deprive God of ultimate control, for this Go’el is God’s knowledge of the life Job has lived. It is not a sentient creature which can enact anything. It can only advocate in the presence of the One who always hears, and the choice to bring redemption, or not, remains with God alone. It also explains who will stand upon the earth in the last day (19:25) — righteous Job, the life restored by God.

The stage is now set. The Joban tale has led us into the wilderness. In fact many wildernesses converge here — the literal wilderness of Uz, the spiritual homelessness of a people whose faith is waning, and the desolate wasteland of a stricken man’s soul. We have met the participants of the drama and realize they are only three: God, the Satan, and the Righteous Man. And now we will see the natural dynamics of these characters unfold into one of the most poignant dramas recorded in literature. By the organization of the Spirit, the righteous man will be tempted in the wilderness by the Satan.

Maybe we’re tested too, if only by proxy. Tested simply by what we read happening in this wilderness: a God of whom we desire to speak well, yet whom we see afflicting His own disciple. And tested by a thousand subsequent Satans who will slander Him, and any man who speaks well of Him, precisely because of what will follow here.

In all these senses then, the field is set, so we must be ready. Battle is about to commence.

1. H.H.Rowley,"From Moses to Qumran: Studies in the Old Testament", 1963, in N.N.Glatzer, Ibid,126.

2. A multitude of examples exists for the shift of grammatical persons in Hebraic Scriptures when talking to/about the same character. I note one from Jonah’s prayer to make the point. Observe in the prayer how the person of God is shifted from second to third person even in the same sentence:

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said:
"In my distress I called to the LORD, [third person]
and he [third person] answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you [second person] listened to my cry" (Jonah 2:1,2).

3. G. Gutierrez, "On Job: God-talk and the Suffering of the Innocent",1987, Orbis, New York,NY,USA,65.

4. D. Atkinson, "The Message of Job", 1991, Inter-VarsityPress, Leicester, UK, 93.

6. L.G. Sargent, "Ecclesiastes and Other Studies", 1965, The Christadelphian, Birmingham, UK, 116.

8. D. Baird, "The Education of Job", 2002, Stallard & Potter, Torrensville, Australia, 155.

9. J.V. McGee, "Thru the Bible Commentary Series: Job", 1991, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, USA, 109.

10. J. Strong, "A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Hebrew Bible with their Renderings in the Authorized English Version", in "Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance", 1997, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 39.

13. Jerome, "To Pammachus against John of Jerusalem", in "A Select Library of Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church", 1893, Ed. P. Schaff & H.Wace, Kessinger, Kila, MT, USA, 424-447.

17. D. J. A.Clines, "Job", 1989,Word Biblical Commentary, VolI, Dallas, TX, USA, 390.

To Speak Well of God (7): I Know that My Redeemer Lives

To Speak Well of God (7):
I Know that My Redeemer Lives