Read Job 9 -- 12
In Today's Reading:
Job acknowledges God's justice; his weariness of life; Zophar's accusation; Job's affirmation of faith in God's wisdom and omnipotence.
Verses for Today:
He (God) is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him. . . . Neither is there any daysman (mediator) betwixt (between) us (9:32-33). Thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt Thou bring me into dust again? . . . Thou hast granted me life and favor, and . . . hath preserved my spirit (10:9,12).
All of us will benefit by listening carefully to the spiritual insight of Job, who God said was perfect (blameless) and upright (a man of integrity), and one that feared God, and eschewed (abstained from) evil (Job 1:1).
This man of spiritual insight proclaimed with confidence: Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? . . . I am made to possess months of . . . wearisome nights (7:1,3). His friend Bildad believed that God had appointed . . . wearisome nights of suffering only for sinners, and his response was critical: So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish (8:13).
Bildad exposed his lack of compassion for Job by applying the worst possible meaning to his pitiful, suffering friend. Bildad concluded that those who enjoy good things in this life are reaping the reward of good conduct and that all suffering is the result of sin. But, in the parable given by Jesus, the rich man who prospered and built bigger barns for "great blessings" was not the result of pleasing the Lord (Luke 12:18; 13:1-5; 16:25). Jesus also pointed out that it was not the result of sin that a man was born blind. His blindness gave an opportunity for the works of God (to) be made manifest in him (John 9:2-3).
Although Job was suffering intense agony, it led him to experience deeper spiritual insight. He recognized God as far superior to himself, even as the heavens are above the earth. He spoke to the Creator of all things with confidence and great insight. However, Job knew that there was no possible way that he and God could meet on the same level, and he expressed the desperate need for a mediator, someone who is able to represent both a Holy God and a sinful man.
As both God and Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, through His virgin birth, became a Man who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). By His sinless life, His death on the cross for our sins, and His physical resurrection, conquering death and hell (Revelation 1:18), Christ became the Mediator who can restore man's broken fellowship with God (Romans 5:8-10). Jesus is the Daysman (Mediator) that Job desired, Who stands betwixt us and lays His hand upon us both (Job 9:33). Our Lord Jesus Christ not only speaks with Divine Authority as the Creator God, but also reaches us at our own human level; for, while fully God, Jesus also was fully Man. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). We now have access to the Father through our Mediator Jesus Christ, Who has entered . . . into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24).
Christ Portrayed:
Through the daysman (mediator) (Job 9:33). Christ is the one Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).
Word Studies:
9:9 chambers = constellations; 9:34 rod = chastisement; 10:11 fenced = knit; 11:6 exacteth = demands; 11:14 tabernacles = tents; 11:19 make suit unto thee = seek your favor; 12:19 spoiled means stripped.
Prayer Needs:
Government Officials: Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH) and Rep. John Murtha (PA) · Pray for the missionary ministries · Country: Italy (58 million) in southern Europe · Major languages: Italian and German · Religious freedom · 81% Roman Catholic; .4% Protestant; .1% Eastern Orthodox · Prayer Suggestion: Ask for your daily needs (Matthew 6:11).
Optional Reading: Galatians 6
Memory Verse for the Week: 2 Timothy 3:17