Catechetical sermons preached in PCC Evening Worship Services, Feb 2013 to Dec 2017
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For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job 19:25-27
WSC 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life,1 did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.2
1 Eph 1:4; 2 Rom 3:20-22; Gal 3:21,22.
We are on a series of messages on what we believe as a church. Our approach is to consider biblical passages that may represent the underpinnings of our Shorter Catechism. In this way, we have come now to our third sermon to explicate Question 20:
Q. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life,1 did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
This is a beautiful declaration that brings together a few essential verities. It presents the doctrine of election, which we studied by looking at Ephesians 1. It highlights the covenant of grace, which we surveyed by expounding Genesis 15. It also introduces our Redeemer. The following questions in our catechism will deal with the person and work of our Redeemer more comprehensively. But in our current study, we want to elucidate the idea of a Redeemer.
Our catechism is worded very precisely. When our catechism was translated into Chichewa, the translators thought the word ‘redeemer’ could be translated as ‘saviour.’ Well, our redeemer is indeed our saviour, and both terms are used in the Bible, but I believe our fathers intentionally chose to use the word ‘redeemer’ in this context. And when we have studied the implication of thinking of our Lord as our redeemer, we will understand why they made such a choice.
But now, for our meditation, we want to consider the beautiful words of Job in chapter 19:25-27.
The patriarch Job probably lived during the time of Abraham or even earlier. Many commentators believe Job was the first book of the Bible ever to be written.
Job, you will remember, was suffering immensely. Satan had asked God’s permission to try Job’s faith. Satan wanted to prove that Job was a hypocrite. God permitted Satan to proceed as he desired.
So, Satan sent Job one calamity after another. First, he was robbed of his animals: oxen, donkeys and camels. Then most of his children and servants were killed.
Job remains steadfast. He says:
Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 1:21
Satan is not satisfied, so he asks permission again to afflict Job with a severe illness. God permits him, and he afflicts Job with painful and itchy boils from head to toe.
As Job sits there scratching himself with a piece of pottery, his wife’s faith crumbles. “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die,” she cries (Job 2:9). But Job rebukes her and refuses to sin against God.
When Job’s friends hear of his plight, they come together to comfort him. The bulk of this book records the conversation between Job and his friends. Job speaks; one of his friends replies; Job responds; another retorts; and so on.
Our text is part of Job’s response to a particularly searing speech by his friend Bildad the Shuhite. Bildad has suggested that Job is full of anger and perhaps a wicked man at heart.
Job is deeply grieved. He laments how he has lost everything. His wife found his breath offensive. Children despised him. Friends abhorred him.
He then pleads with his friends to pity him (v. 21). His friends have accused him of hypocrisy. Job knows that their charges are untrue. But there is no way for him to refute their charges. How does one refute a charge of hypocrisy?
Nevertheless, Job is confident that the Lord Himself will vindicate him. This is what he is expressing in our text:
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job 19:25-27
Let’s consider what he is saying by asking four questions: (1) Who is a Redeemer? (2) Why does Job need a redeemer? (3) Who is Job’s Redeemer? (4) Do we need a Redeemer?
1. Who Is a Redeemer?
Job says, “I know that my redeemer liveth.” If Job is the first book to be written, then this is the first time the redeemer is mentioned.
The word used by Job is a participle of the verb gâ’al (גָּאַל). It is usually written as goel (גֹּאֵ֑ל) and translated as ‘redeemer’ (18 times), ‘kinsman’ (i.e. kinsman-redeemer, 13 times), ‘avenger’ (i.e. avenger of blood) and ‘revenger’ (7 times).
The word carries the basic idea of one who redeems something held in bond.
In the Mosaic Law, farmland that is sold may be redeemed by paying back the price. Look at Leviticus 25:25:
If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
Lev 25:25; cf. Ruth 4:4
Similarly, something consecrated to God may also be redeemed by paying its value plus twenty per cent (Lev 27:13).
But most importantly, an enslaved person might be redeemed. Look at Lev 25:48-49:
48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: 49 Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.
Now, a person who redeems someone or something for someone is called a goel or a redeemer. But since the goel or redeemer is usually a kinsman or a relative, the word began to be used to denote a kinsman. Thus, under the Mosaic provision of the cities of refuge, the avenger of blood is also called the goel. Look at Numbers 35:11-12:
11 Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.12 And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger [i.e. goel]; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
Can you see the provision of the law? Someone who kills another person may flee to a city of refuge to hide because otherwise, the kinsman may hunt him down and kill him. Now, this seems to be a very ancient practice. It was already in place when Moses introduced the concept of the Cities of Refuge. Moses did not introduce the concept of the avenger. But he did not do away with it because it was already well-establish in the people’s conscience that if someone is killed, his kinsman-avenger may hunt down the killer for revenge. Moses instituted the Cities of Refuge to allow anyone who killed another person accidentally to hide until he could stand trial. Otherwise, innocent blood could be shed in the heat of passion by the goel or kinsman-avenger of the deceased.
Now, although Job was written before the Pentateuch, it is very likely that the concept of the avenger of blood was already well-established.
Therefore, it is quite likely that Job had in mind the kinsman-redeemer and the avenger of blood when he mentions his redeemer. To Job, a redeemer would be a kinsman who restores freedom and vindicates you.
With this in mind, we can now answer why Job needs a redeemer.
2. Why Does Job Need a Redeemer?
Job, we must remember, is being vilified by his friends. They have come to comfort him. But they are miserable comforters. They end up accusing him of sin and suggesting that his sin has brought about the tragedies afflicting him. God is punishing him, they suggest.
Job, no doubt, knows that he is a sinner. The practice of animal sacrifices that Job engaged in regularly (Job 1:5) was established after the Fall. Abel offered animal sacrifices because he understood he was a sinner and that he needed to have his sins paid for.
We can be pretty sure that Job understands the same. However, Job is also sure that he is not living so wickedly as to incur God’s chastisement, as his friends suggest.
So, on the one hand, Job needs a goel to pay for his sin, for he stands condemned before God. On the other hand, he also needs a goel to avenge him of the character- assassination by his friends.
Can you see the point?
Without his goel or redeemer, Job will be stuck at a dead-end. He will be guilty before God. God will condemn him. And he will have no one to vindicate him of the false charges that his friends are levelling against him. He will stand condemned in the eyes of God, in the eyes of his friends, and the eyes of the devil.
Thankfully, Job knows his redeemer!
3. Who Is Job’s Redeemer?
If we ask a covenant child who is Job’s redeemer, I am sure the child will answer, “The Lord Jesus Christ.” And I believe this answer is correct. Indeed, it appears to me to be quite apparent to anyone familiar with the scriptures that Christ is the redeemer of the saints. This is a truth taught everywhere in the scriptures.
However, it is good for us to see how this verity is consistent with the words of Job.
First, consider how Job testifies that His redeemer lives. The Lord Jesus says: “Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8:58). Christ existed before His incarnation. He was there at creation. He was involved in the act of creation. The apostle John says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
Jn 1:1-3
Job’s redeemer lives, for Christ, his redeemer lives.
Secondly, notice how Job equates his redeemer with God, just as John does. He says:
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
Job’s redeemer is God. As a sinner, Job had offended God. He owed a debt to God. It is an infinite debt. Who but God alone could pay the debt for him? This is why the apostle Paul speaks of how God purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28).
Job understands that his redeemer must be God.
Thirdly, notice how Job says his redeemer “shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” The word translated “earth” is not the usual word for earth, i.e., erets (אֶרֶץ). The word is, instead, âphâr ( עָפָר), which is usually translated as ‘dust.’ It appears that Job is speaking about the incarnation. In Genesis 2:7, we read that “the LORD God formed man of the dust (aphar) of the ground …”
Christ, the eternal son of God, is in very nature God, but He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Instead, He took on a body of dust in identity with man.
The redeemer of Job will be his kinsman-redeemer and his kinsman-avenger. As his kinsman-redeemer, he will pay for Job’s sin to free him from the eternal wrath of God. As his kinsman-avenger, he will vindicate and take vengeance for Job. Is this not what Christ does for the redeemed too? Paul says, Romans 8:34:
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Fourthly, notice how Job implies that because his redeemer lives, he, himself, will rise from the dead. Verse 26:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
Job understands that he will die. But he also understands that he will rise again. And he understands that his resurrection is connected to the work of his redeemer. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus means when He says: “I am the resurrection, and the life” (Jn 11:25).
Can you see how Job’s redeemer is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ?
But with this in mind, let us as whether we need a redeemer.
4. Do We Need a Redeemer?
Job needs a redeemer, a goel. He needs a kinsman-redeemer to pay what he owes God. He owes the wages of sin, which is death. His redeemer must die for Him. He needs also a kinsman-avenger to vindicate him from the false charges levelled against him not only by the devil but by his friends.
What about us?
Well, are we not in the same situation as Job? Job falls short of the glory of God. All his righteousnesses are but filthy rags in the sight of God. This is because Job is a child of Adam. Adam’s guilt was imputed to him. And he inherited Adam’s sin nature.
As the children of Adam, we too are imputed with Adam’s guilt. We too inherited Adam’s sin nature.
Therefore, like Job, we need a kinsman-redeemer to redeem us from sin.
What about kinsman-avenger? Well, we may not have miserable comforters as friends like Job, but is not Satan also trying to discredit us? He is known as the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). Therefore, like Job, we need a kinsman-avenger.
Job’s redeemer-avenger is none other than Christ. So too, God has appointed Christ to be our only redeemer-avenger.
Christ would redeem us by laying down his life for us. He promised to do this when He passed between the pieces in the enactment of the covenant of grace recorded in Genesis 15. The Fall brought us into the bondage of sin and Satan. We were slaves of the spiritual Pharaoh, which is Satan. We were in bondage in spiritual Egypt.
Christ, in passing through the pieces, covenanted to redeem us from bondage and slavery. This act of redemption was typified by the redemption of Israel from Egypt and slavery under Pharaoh after 400 years. Remember how that was the promise given to Abraham when God passed between the pieces?
The fullness of the promise in Genesis 15 is our redemption from sin and from the world by our redeemer. So, our catechism teaches us that…
God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
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Christ, our kinsman-redeemer, redeems us by shedding His blood for us on the cross of Calvary. Christ, our Redeemer, is also our kinsman-avenger. He avenges us both by sending His Spirit to make us righteous, contrary to Satan’s accusation, and also by standing up for us in the day of judgement.
This was what Stephen, the first martyr, saw on the day he was stoned by the Sanhedrin. The earthly court was condemning him. But we are told in Acts 7:55:
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
Why was Jesus standing at the right hand of God? He was standing at the right hand of the throne of God as the advocate of Stephen!
If you believe in Him, Jesus will also stand for you to defend you and vouch for you as your kinsman-avenger.
Conclusion
Job lived a long time ago. During his days, some of the dinosaurs were still roaming the earth. But Job knew his redeemer. By grace, through faith, he was saved by His redeemer. And Job persevered in his severe trial because he could cling to the blessed hope that he would see—with his eyes of flesh—his redeemer, the God-Man, at the last day.
What about you? Do you recognise your need for a redeemer? Do you know the redeemer? Do you live as one who knows your redeemer?
Can you own with confidence the words of Job:
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job 19:25-27
Amen.
—JJ Lim