Job 19:23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
25 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.
28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
Job began this section with a plea that his words would be written. Job’s words were written in a more permanent manner than just with ink and pen. They were written in God’s book and under His authority. Little did he know that his words were recorded according to God’s will. There is an entire book in the Bible with the title: “The Book of Job”. Job was not aware of what God was doing. However, he was willing to stick his neck out and blame God for being unjust. God would soon address this with Job.
God shows us in this book that His children need to remain humble. We cannot raise our heads and our fists and think we are going to tell God how to do things. He is the Everlasting God. He does not need to take any lessons from man. We need to take lessons from Him.
Job continued his plea by wanting his words to be preserved for ever. David was directed to write these words:
Psalm 119:89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
The words of Job are settled in heaven for ever. They are secure. No one can tamper with them. Sadly, there are over 100 perversions of God’s Word on this earth. However, God still has the originals and they will never be changed. Beyond that, God has seen to it that there is a complete and accurate copy of His Word on this earth. That copy is found in the King James Bible for the English speaking people.
There are many doctrinal statements that use a phrase like: we believe that God’s Words are inspired and preserved in the originals. That statement is very subtle. There are no originals of the Bible on this earth. During the time of Jeremiah, God told him to:
Jeremiah 36:28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
The original words were burned by a wicked king of Judah. God told Jeremiah to write them again. The fact we need to remember is that God promised to preserve His Word from this generation and for ever. That is a promise of God. God chose forty different holy men that were trustworthy and they recorded all His Words for mankind. God also saw to it that those who copied His Words would do so with complete accuracy. When the King James Bible was translated, God had prepared men to work on the translation so that they were careful to bring every word over from the original languages in such a way that we have an accurate and trustworthy text in the King James Version. We do not follow the Ruckman position that the King James Version corrects the Hebrew and the Greek. We do not believe that translation work to another language should be done from the King James Version. It should be done from the Masoretic Hebrew text and the Textus Receptus Greek text. We understand that it would be very difficult to do such translation work today because there are very few men who have the fear of God in their hearts and the knowledge of the original languages to be able to bring them out accurately in some other language. We also believe that if God wanted that to happen, He could make it happen just as He did for the English speaking world in the days of King James. God is bigger than any problem man will ever face. He cares more about His Truth than any human being ever will.
In verse 25 Job made a very important declaration. In spite of all his doubts and his false accusations, he was assured that he had a redeemer and that this redeemer would stand at the latter day upon the earth. God obviously gave Job insight into the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, not just as a babe in a manger, or as a suffering Saviour, but as a ruling king upon this earth. Job did not have the details, but he knew that Jesus Christ would rule supreme on this earth during the Millennium, and that He would be the eternal king to rule in the new heavens and the new earth.
In verses 26-27, Job also understood that he would be raised up one day to see the Lord Jesus Christ, in person. Job had some good insight into the future. It is amazing that he would be so arrogant at this present time, knowing what he knew about the future.
Job knew that he would die one day. He also knew he would rise again one day. He knew he would stand before his redeemer one day. That should have been a very humbling thought for him. It should also be a very humbling thought for any true born again Christian today.
In the closing verses Job again addressed his persecutors. He again reminded them that the problem was found in him. They were not appointed as the judges over him. They were certainly not judging righteous judgment. They were guilty of pre-judging something they had no knowledge of.
Job warned them that they were in grave danger. They would not get away with what they were doing. They would come to understand that there was a true judgment coming. That judgment would not look anything like what they were talking about.
We need to be mindful of the fact that there is a true judgment coming for all. We can help people if we use righteous judgment. Righteous judgment takes the Word of God and uses It carefully and accurately. It does not twist the Word of God for our own benefit. It does not pre-judge people without knowing the facts. If we do not know the facts, we can remind people of what God’s Word says and leave it there. If we know the facts, then we need to address them in humility and in the fear of the Lord. We do not want to step into the path of God and muddy the waters with our arrogance and self-will.
Pastor Bartel
