Job’s Hope in the Resurrection

This morning we begin a series of sermons in celebration of Easter. We’re going to be considering the subject of resurrection. The Bible teaches that believers will experience a bodily resurrection in the future. The atonement of Jesus has secured that for us.

I don’t think many of you would doubt that Jesus rose from the dead. However, you might doubt when it comes to the idea of your body rising from the dead. But if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead then you should have no problem believing that He will resurrect your body.

He was dead when He resurrected Himself.

He is alive now. Resurrecting you and I is not a difficult thing when you consider that He resurrected Himself. In fact, Jesus linked His own bodily resurrection to ours. He said in John 11:25-26:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

To be clear, when a believer dies he/she goes immediately to heaven. Jesus and the thief on the cross went to heaven when they died. Jesus said to him “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But at the return of Christ every child of God will be given a resurrected body, far more glorious than the one we had on earth. That body will be ours for eternity.

This morning we learn that this not merely a New Testament concept. We’re going to see that Job believed in a bodily resurrection as well. We’re going to consider three things in this text:

1. Job’s life was one of terrible suffering.

2. Job’s desire was to speak to a future generation (23-24).

3. Job’s theology gave him a future hope (25-27).

1. Job’s life was one of terrible suffering.

A. Job was a godly man.

Many believe Job is the oldest book in the Bible. It’s believed that he lived after the flood and before Abraham. That would put Job living sometime around Genesis chapters 10-11.

The priesthood had not been developed yet. But he acted as priest for his own family.

He lived a godly life before them.

He prayed for them.

He offered sacrifices for them.

Job was wealthy as well.

Satan boasted that Job only loved God because God protected him from evil. By Divine permission Satan was given the ability to afflict Job.

All of Jobs livestock were killed.

All of Jobs property was destroyed.

All of Job’s children were killed.

Job fell to the ground. He was broken. But he didn’t forsake God. He said

“Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Satan boasted again. He said the only reason Job served God was because God protected Job himself. If Job’s own body were afflicted, Satan argued, Job would curse God.

The Lord allowed Satan to smite Job with painful boils from his head to his toes. The Bible says job took a piece of broken pottery and scratched himself with it.

That piece of pottery seems to be the only thing in the book up to that point that gives Job any comfort at all. Even his wife tells him to give up, curse God and die.

Yet Job remained faithful.

B. Job had friends who added to his suffering.

Most of the book of Job is dialogue between him and his friends.

They blame Job. They argue he has some hidden sin in his life. They believe God would never allow something like this to happen to a faithful believer.

Through the book Job bounces from being angry with God to trusting in God. In these passages we see great hope. But in other places in the book Job says things like:

I wish I had never been born!

I wish I could just die!

One of the things that seemed to bother Job the most was the apparent silence of God in his suffering. He was hearing many voices, but God was silent.

Look at 19:6-7:

“know then that God has put me in the wrong

and closed his net about me. Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.”

C. Job’s suffering qualifies him to speak to us.

We will all suffer in this world, but few will suffer like Job did.

All ten of his children died on the same day. I don’t even need to speak of his:

Property loss

Marital problems

Physical health

The fact that all his children were killed on the same day is enough. If this man wants to say something to us, we should listen.

We might wonder why in the world the Lord allowed all of this to happen to Job. It seems unfair. It seems almost cruel. But perhaps all of these things happened to job to inspire this text we read today.

Great faith can only be revealed in great trial. Job’s faith shines like a light in the darkness. There is a reason for all of this.

Job was plunged into darkness to give us a wonderful light. If Job can believe in the resurrection, then I can. We have not experienced the heartache of Job.

The death of his children didn’t rob him of faith in the resurrection.

The loss of his property didn’t rob him of faith in the resurrection.

A painful disease didn’t rob him of faith in the resurrection.

When you read the book of Job you can make a list of all the things he suffered from:

Boils head to toe

Itching

Loss of appetite

Insomnia,

Continual oozing of boils

Decaying skin

Severe weight loss

Skin turned black

Severe fever.

Job endured all of this without the aid of a church, Bible, fulfilled prophecy, or the story of Christ in the gospels.

Surely, we can endure!

We have a church.

We have a Bible.

We have the assurance that fulfilled prophecy and the resurrection of Christ gives us!

2. Job’s desire was to speak to a future generation (23-24).

A. Job wanted everyone who heard of his suffering to hear of his faith.

Job wanted his words printed in a book. The recorded word wasn’t abundant in that day. Job couldn’t just publish his own book. Neither could he depend on anyone else to tell others what he was about to say.

Job wanted his words inscribed in stone. Notice he says he wants them to be graven in stone and lead forever. There was a process of engraving words in a stone and then pouring lead in the engraving to make the words stand out. You could then easily see and read the words.

When I read this, I think about a gravestone. On granite tombstones the words are filled with a contrasting ink. We might say that Job wants these words engraved on his tombstone. Imagine yourself walking through the cemetery and you see Job’s grave. Written on his headstone is:

I know my Redeemer liveth!

I’m convinced we talk more about Job’s suffering than he would if he were here. It was God who chose to record all the low parts of Job’s life. I’m glad He did because we learn so much from it. But the part Job wanted us to remember was his faith in a Redeemer and resurrection.

There is a great lesson for us in this. We should whisper our complaints and shout our faith. Make sure that people hear about more than your suffering. We have a tendency to list all the terrible things that happen to us and add a little Jesus at the end.

We should be listing all the wonderful things Christ has done for us and whisper our sufferings at the end. If we’re not careful people hear more about our sufferings than they do our faith. What do we want people to remember about us? That we suffered or that we had faith in Christ?

B. Job is speaking specifically of His Redeemer and resurrection.

Verse 25 starts with the words “I know”. Job could have listed a lot of things.

He was a wise man. He knew much.

He died as an old man. He had seen much.

He was an experienced man. He had gone through much.

But the one thing he wanted the future generations to know is there is a Redeemer and there is a resurrection. I think it’s safe to say Job thought he might die soon. He was surrounded by death and was horribly sick when he said these words.

Yet these are the words he chooses to say. He’s not denying reality. He’s not saying God is going to deliver him from death. He has hope beyond the grave. He expects to die. But he also expects that His Redeemer will resurrect him.

The closer we get to the grave the more specifically we should speak to others of our hope. Courage in death is a great witness for Christ.

Job speaks to us this morning. He lived likely 4,000 years ago, but he speaks to us this morning. He speaks to us because he has a message that is relevant for every generation.

People still suffer.

People still die.

In the 21st century we need to hear the words of this pitiful man. We need to hear him shout “I know my Redeemer liveth!” despite all the suffering he is experiencing.

3. Job’s theology gave him a future hope.

A. He had a proper understanding of death.

Job is vivid in his description of death. Look at verse 26. He knows what will happen when his body is put in the ground. He says worms will devour him.

Job gives us a glimpse into his grave. He doesn’t expect something magical to happen when he dies.

He will die.

He will be buried.

Worms will devour his body.

The wages of sin is death. You can’t sugar coat that.

We can embalm the body.

We can seal it in a coffin.

We can place it in a vault.

We can’t keep it from decaying. This past November I shot a buck. I wanted a European mount. I dug a hole in the backyard and buried it. I dug the head up the other day and all that is left is bone now. It’s only been a matter of months and the worms have had their way.

I know we don’t like to think of these things. It breaks my heart to think of my dear mother’s body lying underneath the ground decaying. But it’s true. It does us no good to deny the reality of death.

Job knew that he was more than his body. When he died he didn’t cease to exist. His body was dead, but he was not. This is the Christian understanding of death.

When I visit the grave of my mother I’m not visiting her. I’m visiting the memories I have of her. There is a monument in her honor. There is a place I can go and think of her. That’s a good thing. But I am not visiting her. She is not there. She is in heaven.

Job was able to think honestly about what would happen to his body when he died because he knew he would be in heaven. If you dig up a Christians grave you will see the same thing you would see if dug up an unbeliever’s grave. There would be a body decomposing. This is what the Bible teaches, and Job understood that truth.

B. He had a proper view of resurrection.

Even though worms would eat his body Job says in his flesh he would see God. Job expected to live again in bodily form.

Why is this important? What does it matter if we live in a spiritual form or in a bodily form?

God created us uniquely. We’re not like the angels. We are not merely spirits. God gave us a body and a soul. These bodies die because sin entered the world. Satan’s attack on humanity resulted in death.

If we lose the bodies God has given us, then Satan has won a battle. He has rid us of our humanity. When Christ came, He came in bodily form. When He rose, He rose in bodily form. Jesus work on the cross restores us to the proper place in God’s creation. Therefore, even our bodies are restored. They are even greatly improved. We will have spiritual bodies, bodies that are suited to live in heaven with a holy God.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just be a spirit. I’ve never known that. I don’t want to be robbed of my humanity. I enjoy the physical aspect of being a human.

In our resurrected bodies we will be able to experience:

Feeling- the warmth of a loved ones cheek pressed against ours.

Taste- The sweetness of food at the Lord’s table.

Touch- The firm embrace of a hug.

Job is in heaven right now. His spirit is there. What Job was speaking of here is the return of Christ. Notice verse 25,

“He shall stand at the latter day on the earth.”

At the return of Christ every believer will receive a gloried body. All things will be restored. Job will be there when Christ returns. He won’t have a body covered with pus filled boils. He’ll have a glorified body. He looked forward to that day.

C. He had a proper view of the Redeemer (25).

1. The Redeemer is eternal. Job said He was alive then and He would be alive at the end of days. This speaks of Christ.

Jesus has always been alive!

He was alive before He was born!

He was alive after He died!

If there is an eternal Redeemer, there must be those who are redeemed. How can you have a Redeemer if no one is redeemed? So, we see here a look into the plan of God. It’s clear that the Redeemer is God when we read verse 26. God is identified as a Redeemer therefore He’s going to redeem a people. That ought to get us excited!

It got Fanny Crosby so excited she said:

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!

Redeemed through His infinite mercy

His child, and forever, I am

Redeemed, redeemed

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

Redeemed, redeemed

His child, and forever, I am

2. The Redeemer is an Avenger.

The Hebrew word for Redeemer is Goel. Literally it’s a kinsman redeemer. It has several different uses in the Bible, all of which relate to the salvation we have in Christ.

If you were killed a close relative known as a kinsman avenger had the responsibility of making sure justice was served (Numbers 35:19). He would avenge the blood of his family member.

God told the people of Israel that He was their Avenger’s.

“Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people” Deut. 32:43

Ultimately this vengeance is taken out on Satan and his demons. Christ has hunted down Satan and crushed him. There is nowhere for Satan to hide. There is no City of Refuge for him. He has been defeated and will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

3. The Redeemer is a Restorer.

This is outlined in Leviticus 25:25-34. If an Israelite fell on hard times, they would often sell their belongings. A Kinsman redeemer was a family member who came and purchased back the property for the individual.

4. The Redeemer is a Rescuer.

OT Law allowed an Israelite to sale himself into slavery in order to pay off a debt. A kinsman redeemer would come and pay the price the man owed n order to release him from slavery.

Job had lost virtually everything. He needed a kinsman redeemer. He needed someone who could avenge him, restore him, and rescue him. All his children were dead. His friends were no help either. Job saw God as his kinsman redeemer.

Thank God we have a Kinsman redeemer in Christ! He has come to our rescue!

He will defeat our enemies!

He will restore all that which sin has taken from us!

He will delver us from the bondage of sin and death!

Look at verse 27. Job said he would see this Redeemer with his own eyes. Notice he doubles down on that. He says, “and not another.”

When Job is resurrected, he will still be Job. There’s something at the end of verse 27 I want you to notice. Job says his heart can hardly contain the joy he is experiencing as he thinks about seeing his Redeemer. He is so excited it’s though his heart is about to burst.

This is a great encouragement for the suffering saint. Think of heaven. Think of the Lord. What a joy we have waiting on us! When we think of it our hearts should skip a beat!

Your theology should give you a future hope. If it does not it is not good theology. Can you say with Job “I know my Redeemer lives”?

I know He will resurrect my dead body.

I know I will see Him face to face.

If you cannot, come to Christ. Through His life, death and resurrection He has:

Paid the price for your sin

Restored all that sin has stolen

Given justice to your enemies

Call on Him in faith and repentance and you will have the hope Job had.