Chapter 19
Themes, discussion questions, Christ connections, and denomination lenses.
Just read this chapter →Scripture
KJV1Then Job answered and said,
2How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
3These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
4And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
5If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
6Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
7Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
8He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
9He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
10He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
11He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
12His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
13He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
14My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
16I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
17My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.
18Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
19All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
20My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
22Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
24That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
25For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
28But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
29Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”
Overview
Job cries out that his friends have reproached him ten times and feels that God has wronged him, stripped him of his glory, and set him at odds with family and friends. Yet in the midst of this desolation, Job makes the most triumphant declaration of faith in the entire book: 'I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.'
Key Themes
The Living Redeemer
Job's declaration that his Redeemer lives and that he will see God in his flesh is the pinnacle of faith in the book, reaching toward the truth of bodily resurrection.
Total Abandonment
Job catalogues his complete abandonment by friends, family, servants, and even his wife, painting a picture of total social isolation.
Faith Rising from the Ashes
At his lowest point of isolation and pain, Job's faith reaches its highest point, demonstrating that God can produce the strongest faith in the darkest circumstances.
Study Questions
What does Job mean by 'I know that my redeemer liveth' (v. 25), and how does this anticipate Christ?
How does Job's faith declaration arise precisely from his deepest point of suffering?
What does it mean that Job expects to 'see God' in his flesh (v. 26)?
How does the total isolation Job describes (vv. 13-19) intensify the power of his faith statement?
How does Job 19:25-27 shape your own hope for resurrection and meeting God face to face?
Connection to Christ
Job's Redeemer who lives and who will stand upon the earth at the last day is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life. Job's hope to see God 'in my flesh' points to the incarnation and the bodily resurrection, where believers will see their Redeemer with their own eyes.
Personal Reflection
Take time to journal or meditate on what God is teaching you through Job 19. How can these truths transform your thinking and actions today?