Job 19 Devotional

The Redeemer Who Stands Last

“But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.”Job 19:25 (BSB)

Job's sense of abandonment reaches its depth in this chapter. God has blocked his way and counts him as an enemy (19:8-11). His brothers, relatives, guests, servants, and even his wife have turned from him, and little boys mock him (19:13-19). He begs his friends for pity, since God's hand has struck him (19:21).

Then, from the bottom of that pit, comes the most confident statement in the book. Job is certain that the one who will redeem him is alive, and that in the end he will take his stand on the earth (19:25). Even after Job's skin has been destroyed, he will see God with his own eyes, and not as a stranger (19:26-27). Job does not explain how this will happen. He simply knows it. Paul says that Christ gave his own life to set his people free (Titus 2:14). The hope Job clung to when everyone else had turned away is the same hope that holds now: a living Redeemer, and a face-to-face meeting with God.

To think about: What would it look like to hold on to your living Redeemer in the place where you feel most alone?