Jesus in the Old Testament #32

Jesus in the Old Testament

032: Jesus the Resurrection

Job 19:23-27

Thesis: Job realizes that suffering in this life can only be answered by the hope of a redeemer and a resurrection.  This theme is echoed in several passages throughout the OT and culminates in Jesus’ own declaration in John 11:25 to be the resurrection and the life. 

1. Nutshell w/Kids

1. Who has some good news? Let’s hear it!

2. Do you know that sharing the story of Jesus with people is called sharing “good news” with them? 

3. What is the good news?

4. What do you think is the best part of that good news? Would it surprise you to learn that it’s not the forgiveness part?  The best news is that we get to live forever in perfect bodies in a perfect creation!  

1. Eden was the plan. 

2. We messed it up with sin. 

3. Jesus came to fix everything, especially all the ways that the physical creation is messed up!   

5. The resurrection into glorified bodies is the good news, and Job figured that out before any scripture had yet been written down. 

2. Deeper w/Adults  

1. Death is the end of all things in this life (Job 14)

1. Vs 1-6  Job desires to have his day in court with God, but he knows that, in this life of sin, he will never be able to look God in the eye and get his answer. 

2. Vs 7-9, the parable of a dead tree.  Stumps can sprout again.  Can man? 

3. Vs 9-12. As long as the heavens endure, death is final.  Job has never seen anyone resurrected. Yet, he doesn’t say that this is impossible, just that it “doesn’t happen” now. 

4. Vs 13-17.  Job longs for a day to speak to God apart from the presence of sin in his life.  He has a testimony in his spirit that this is somehow possible on the other side of the grave, and he speaks hopefully about this. 

5. Vs 18-22. As much as he can see now, though, denies him this hope.  Entropy.  Absence. The dead don’t know what is going on in the world around them.  

6. Job longs for a resurrection and a recreation, but he has no visible corollary to give him a reason to hope for this at this point. 

2. Job 19: 23-27

1. Vs 23-24. Job knows that he has received revelation, and he calls for it to be written down forever. 

1. Iron pen, a chisel

2. Inscribed on stone. 

3. The letters poured with molten lead. 

4. There have been found such permanent markers in the Saudi desert that have been attributed to the wandering Hebrews.  Also, a tablet in modern Iran carrying a decree of King Darius was likewise fashioned. 

2. Vs 25. 

1. My Redeemer: Go’el.  147 times in the OT.  

1. Sometimes, negatively, as the avenger of blood.  

2. Most frequently, positively as one who restores that which has been lost.  Kinsman Redeemer (Boaz). 

3. 42 times with God as the subject and Israel as the object.  This is a function of God as savior. 

2. Lives. In the physical sense.  Of Course, God exists, but the passage here is very physical and goes out of its way to reference the real physical creation.  God, his “arbitrator” and “witness” exists with him in a physical, living sense. 

3. He will stand upon the earth.  In a real place, not “in the sweet by-and-by”

3. Vs 26. After my flesh has been destroyed, yet in my flesh… 

1. Only possible interpretation is that of resurrection. 

2. He will have flesh again after his flesh has decayed. 

3. Job understands that the sinful barrier that he cannot overcome in this life might be undone in a new creation. 

4. “I will see God.”  Job finally understands that the advocate, witness, and redeemer that he has been calling for is God himself. 

4. Vs 27: 

1. My eyes, not another’s. Job won’t be content with someone else getting his explanation.  He wants his day in court himself. 

2. He will see God with his eyes.  Physically. 

3. My heart faints within me.  

1. After all this time, he has his assurance from the HS that he will behold God in a resurrected state.

2. The relief is too much to bear.

5. Notice that the hope of Ch 14 has grown to confident expectation in Ch 19, and that this confidence peaks in the same passage that Job finally has a sense that he has an arbitrator.  

1. In Job 9, I need an arbitrator. 

2. Job 16.  I think I have a witness

3. Job 19.  I have a living Redeemer-God who will stand upon the earth!

3. The Messiah and the Resurrection are linked in the Psalms

1. Psa 9:13-14

1. David is lifted up from the gates of death (resurrection)

2. He rejoices in God’s Yashua (Jesus)

2. Psa 16:10

1. David is confident in his resurrection (my soul)

2. Because of the promised resurrection of Messiah (Your Holy One), 

3. Cf Acts 13:35

3. Psa 17:15

1. David will awake (resurrection)

2. And behold God’s face (Jesus)

4. Psa 21:4-5

1. Length of days forever and ever implies resurrection. 

2. Glory through Yashua (Jesus). 

5. Psa 22:20-29

1. God rescues from death (vs 20-21, 26)

2. Ultimately, this rescuer is the eternal King Jesus (vs 27-28)

3. Even those who have died will worship God (vs 29) in resurrected bodies.

6. Psa 23:6

1. Jesus is the good shepherd (John 10), and it is His house in which we dwell.

2. David will dwell in God’s heavenly house forever (resurrection).  

7. Psa 91:16

1. Long life, Lit. “Multitudes of Days,” implying eternal life.  

2. Show him my Yashua (Jesus). 

8. Psa 103:3-4

1. God forgives and heals (Isa 53), this is Jesus. 

2. Redeems your life from the pit (resurrection). 

4. Dan 12:1-2 Certain details are given here in clearer resolution. 

1. At the end of time (Job agreed). 

2. Everyone will rise, the righteous and the damned. 

3. Resurrection will precede judgment

4. When it is combined with Rev 20, we understand that:

1. There is a gap between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the damned.  

2. Also, we understand that Jesus is the one on the throne. 

5. John 11:17-27

1. Martha knows about the resurrection at the end of time (vs 24)

2. Jesus identifies himself as Messiah, with whom the resurrection is always identified in the Psalms. 

3. “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” 

1. Claim to divinity.  I AM (Ex 3)

2. John is circling back on his introductory themes (Jn 1:4).

3. Jesus is not only one who will be Resurrected.  He is the power of resurrection incarnated. 

4. Belief in Jesus as God carries with it the promise of resurrection. 

6. Of Course, Jesus himself was resurrected (John 20). 

7. 1Cor 15  As the Psalms promised, his resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith and the hope for our own resurrection. 

1. Vs 1-8, narrative chronological testimony of the resurrection appearances of Christ after his resurrection.  This is real!

2. Vs 12-19.  If this is not real history, then all of Christianity is a hoax and we are above all to be pitied (also vs 29-34).. 

3. Vs 20-22: Jesus is the deposit on our resurrection.  Just as he was raised from an earthly, perishing body to an imperishing one, so will we be!  

4. Vs 23-28.  How does this fit in the overarching eschatological framework?  Resurrection of the righteous comes before the destruction of the world order. 

5. Vs 50-55: This resurrection of Christ’s church (which happens first, before the destruction of the world orders) is the rapture.  Those who are resurrected here are those over whom there is no longer any threat of death. 

6. Vs 42-49: What will our resurrection bodies be like? Like Christ’s. Spiritual, eternal, and yet somehow also related to our present, physical bodies (Thomas saw the stigmata, John 20:25). 

8. What to do with all this? 1 Cor 15:56-58

1. Vs 56-57 Another need to check ourselves and make sure that the guarantee of resurrection, upon which Job staked all his hope, applies to us. 

1. We have inherited death because of sin.  All die. 

2. Have we participated in the victory available through Jesus?  This is the only way.  He is the ONLY resurrection and life. 

2. Vs 58: 

1. Be steadfast, immovable: 

1. Don’t let the frustrations or fears of this life ruin your hope.  

2. This world is broken, and it will kill you!

3. Our treasure and hope is not tied to any experience we have here.  It is in the world to come. 

4. Slight counterpoint: eternal life starts now, and the kingdom is “already and not yet,” but certainly the best is yet to come!

2. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, not in vain.

1. Look back at 15:10-11. 

1. Because Paul was saved from such a hostile posture, he understands the value of his salvation all the more, and he works very hard!

2. His hard work is Christ working through him. 

3. The result of which is the salvation of the Corinthians, which is eternal!

4. Their eternal life and resurrection impart infinite magnitude to Paul’s labors. 

2. 15:58b: We are called to this work as well.  We have been saved from hostility to eternal life and should be about bringing others along with us!

3. Don’t despair when it’s hard (vs 30-32).  This isn't supposed to be easy or fun.  This is massively important and massively hard. 

Discussion Questions: 

1. How does it change your view of the gospel to think that the resurrection is the goal, and forgiveness is a necessary step toward resurrection? 

2. Describe what you thought the “afterlife” was before tonight.  Did it change at all? 

3. Paul encouraged us to remain unshakable because of our faith in the resurrection.  How does understanding the resurrection give you endurance in these crazy times? 

4. We are also told to keep working hard at the work of ministry because of the resurrection.  What work has God given you to do in this season of your life? 

Discussion Questions: 

1. How does it change your view of the gospel to think that the resurrection is the goal, and forgiveness is a necessary step toward resurrection? 

2. Describe what you thought the “afterlife” was before tonight.  Did it change at all? 

3. Paul encouraged us to remain unshakable because of our faith in the resurrection.  How does understanding the resurrection give you endurance in these crazy times? 

4. We are also told to keep working hard at the work of ministry because of the resurrection.  What work has God given you to do in this season of your life? 

Discussion Questions: 

1. How does it change your view of the gospel to think that the resurrection is the goal, and forgiveness is a necessary step toward resurrection? 

2. Describe what you thought the “afterlife” was before tonight.  Did it change at all? 

3. Paul encouraged us to remain unshakable because of our faith in the resurrection.  How does understanding the resurrection give you endurance in these crazy times? 

4. We are also told to keep working hard at the work of ministry because of the resurrection.  What work has God given you to do in this season of your life? 

Discussion Questions: 

1. How does it change your view of the gospel to think that the resurrection is the goal, and forgiveness is a necessary step toward resurrection? 

2. Describe what you thought the “afterlife” was before tonight.  Did it change at all? 

3. Paul encouraged us to remain unshakable because of our faith in the resurrection.  How does understanding the resurrection give you endurance in these crazy times? 

4. We are also told to keep working hard at the work of ministry because of the resurrection.  What work has God given you to do in this season of your life? 

Jesus in the Old Testament #31: Job's Mediator

 Jesus in the Old Testament 031:

Job’s Mediator

Job 9:1-35

Thesis: Job rightly understands that he has no right or expectation of a “day in court” with God.  His might and his righteousness are inscrutable and incomparable to Job’s.  He cries out for a mediator and bemoans the absence of one.  Jesus is this mediator for us. 

1. Nutshell w/ Kids  

1. Imagine if you felt like your brother did something to make you mad.  Would you tell him about it?  Who would you go to for justice? 

1. What if your Dad was the problem? Where would you go? 

2. What if a police officer was the problem? 

3. What if the governor of Indiana was the problem? 

4. What if the President of the United States was the problem? 

5. What if God were the problem? 

2. Job felt like he needed to take God to court.  But there’s nobody to judge that case. 

3. What should we do if we are mad at God? 

1. Be honest.  That’s okay. 

2. Know who he is and who you are. 

4. Because of our sin, we are “in trouble” with God, and it is a huge problem. 

1. Jesus is the only one who can bring our problems to God and represent us to Him. 

2. Because of Jesus, we can be at peace with God. 

2. Deeper w/ Adults 

1. Problem #1 The insurmountable gap between God and Job. 

1. God’s righteousness is far superior to Job’s

1. Vs 1-3

1. Eliphaz had challenged Job that all his sufferings were indicative of someone who was guilty before God. (4:17).  

2. Job responds by saying that we’re all guilty in comparison with God!  Nobody can measure up to the righteousness of God (Rom 3:23, etc.). 

3. If a man were to argue righteousness with God, he wouldn’t be able to answer one question in a thousand (Job 38-41). 

2. Vs 14-16

1. God is so severely “other” that we cannot hope to have words with Him. 

2. Even though Job is righteous (and God agrees! Job 1:1, 8; 2:3), his righteousness does got give him the right to speak to God. 

3. Vs 16: Even if Job summoned God to court and He showed up, there wouldn’t be any expectation of a “fair hearing.” Job and God are just too different in nature and righteousness. 

4. Vs 15: All He can do is throw himself on the mercy of the court, but the judge (Job feels) is also his accuser. 

5. If the defense attorney is “in on it” with the prosecutor, the defendant has no hope: Pastor in Eritrea. 

3. Vs 19-21

1. If Job were to argue for his righteousness, even this action would demonstrate that he is not equal to God.  

2. “Whatever you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”  

3. Vs 21: Job declares that he is blameless, but he is still nothing compared with God, so he despairs of life. 

4. He has to be more than righteous.  In order to be able to argue with God, he’d need to be like Him. 

2. God’s power is far superior to Job’s

1. Vs 4-13

1. Vs 4 is a general thesis statement that fighting against God is pointless.  

1. God is wiser and stronger than any adversary. 

2. “Hardened himself” is the same underlying phrase as “stiff-necked” which is used as an accusatory phrase against Israel so many times. 

3. Nobody has squared up with God and survived!

2. Vs 5-14 are written in a Hebrew Poetic style called a “participle poem,” where the actions of God are presented as a hymn of praise, frequently focusing on creation (See Isa 44; Psa 87, and others). 

3. Here, though, most of the actions are “anti-creative” or “overriding creation.” Job sees God as walking over and trampling his creation. 

1. Job 38:31 

2. Isa 44:24

4. Vs 11: The actions of his anger can be felt, but He cannot!  His is transcendent but still shakes creation (c.f. Jn 3:8). 

5. Vs 12:  Because God can’t be directly interacted with, nobody can stop His action.  Neither is anyone in a place to reverse them (Rom 9:20). 

6. Vs 13: Rahab: A Mesopotamian Pagan water dragon deity of chaos, the conquering of which was the fist step of the creation of the world according to area creation myths (Gen 1:2?). 

2. Vs 17-19

1. The results: Job is instantly defeated by comparison with God. 

2. Job’s attacks from Satan came so swiftly and simultaneously, that Job “can’t catch his breath” between them. 

3. God’s judgments (for so Job perceives them) have robbed him of happiness and have filled his heart with bitterness.  Not sinful, just honest emotion. 

3. God’s purposes are far superior to Job’s.  (vs 22-26)

1. Vs 22: All people die.  All people suffer.  This is an argument against the accusation of Eliphaz that only the wicked suffer. Not the case! (Ecc 9:2)

2. Vs 23 “Disaster” is literally the whip, the scourge. 

3. When righteous people are suddenly and horribly punished, as Job has been, it does not actually lampoon God’s nature.  His righteousness does not suffer because of his otherness. 

4. “Mocks the calamity” sounds heartless.  Perhaps that’s where Job’s heart was.  The point is that God does not feel the need to intervene or overturn every suffering righteous person. 

5.       Against the just th’ Almighty’s arrows fly,

For he delights the innocent to try,

To show their constant and their Godlike mind,

Not by afflictions broken, but refined.

—Sir R. Blackmore

6. Vs 24: Two interpretations based on the premise that the wicked have overrun the Earth.  The source of evil does not lie in the nature of God. 

1. He has sovereignly blinded the eyes of the Judges so that their justice is perverted, furthering the reign of injustice in the land even under the exercise of his will. 

2. He has “covered their faces” with a sack as men condemned to die are lead to their execution.  God’s judgment on the lack of righteous justice is forthcoming. 

7. Vs 25-26. Job uses the fastest things he can think of on land, water, and air to describe the fleetingness of his life in comparison with God’s eternal nature and perspective (Psalm 89:47; Ecc 6:12; Jas 4:14). 

2. Problem #2: Job cannot build the bridge on his own. 

1. Vs 27-28: He can’t just smile and pretend he’s not angry and suffering

1. He can look good and happy on the outside, but God knows his heart. 

2. He will still be guilty of being angry with God, even if he’s smiling on the outside. 

2. Vs 29-31: He cannot actually make himself clean before God and stand on a level playing field with Him. 

1. Vs 29: Nobody can be good enough on their own.  It’s a bankrupt prospect. 

2. Remember that he is sitting in dust and ashes, scrapping himself with pot shards. 

3. He can clean himself up on the outside with soap and spring water, but that won’t affect his heart. 

4. God’s judgment wouldn’t be fooled by a clean body.  He will be plunged back into a cesspool.  

5. Afterward, even clothes plunged into a septic tank would find his heart more repulsive than their outward filth and would be offended by the person they’re covering more than the foulness of their own septic-bath. 

6. Self-righteousness is always insufficient. Isa 64:6

3. Job’s cry for a mediator Vs 32-35

1. Vs 32: God’s otherness is summarized in massive understatement: He is not a man. 

2. There is no hope for a level playing field to serve as the basis for a conversation, much less Job’s day in court. 

3. Vs 33: Job needs a mediator an arbitrator who is both God and man. 

4. Jesus is the only hope for reconciliation between a Holy God and sinful men. 

1. 1 Tim 2:5-6

2. Heb 9:15

5. Vs 34: The mediator would need to take away God’s rod of punishment.  Nobody can wrestle that out of God’s hand.  God would have to take it away from himself, so the mediator needs to be God himself. 

6. Vs 35: If God’s rod of wrath were taken away, Job could speak without fear.  

1. Job declares that this isn’t his situation. 

2. It is ours, however.  Heb 4:16

4. Job’s growing confidence

1. After several more exchanges with his horrible comforters and bad counselors, Job is convinced that God is the source of his suffering and also that God’s righteousness has not changed. 

2. He believes that God loves him still and that, while he has not had his day in court, there must be someone in heaven that is standing for him. 

3. 16:18-22

1. His protestations are not in vain. 

2. Job is hopeful that there is in fact an arbitrator. 

3. Vs 21: this arbitrator is distinct from the Father (yet 9:35 says that it has to be God). 

4. Vs 22: Job will know the outcome of His case when he is dead and his flesh is done (also 17:1). 

4. 19:23-27

1. Still calling for his day in court, he finally embraces the goodness of God toward him even in his travail and declares in faith that He has an arbitrator, a mediator. 

2. Vs 25: His Redeemer is alive and present in his trial. 

3. Vs 26: Job will not be recompensed in some vague future ethereal reality.  His answer will be presented in a physical setting (resurrection in the renewed creation, Messianic kingdom?). 

4. Job’s body, which has been utterly decimated by his experiences, will be restored in the presence of his God. 

5. Post-script.  Eventually, Job does get his “day in court,” and he is undone, as he knew he would be.  God’s answer to him goes on for 3 chapters.  

1. In the end, he declares that he has seen God “face to face,” 42:1-6. 

2. Job couldn’t have seen God the Father (Ex 33:20). 

3. Quite likely, Job encountered his arbitrator, Jesus Christ, and it leads to repentance.  

4. “When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you'll not talk about the joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?”

― C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

5. This fantastical example is a manifestation of the experience of every sinner who comes to encounter the reality of their God and the depth of their sin. 

Discussion Questions

1. Is there anything in your life story that made you mad at God?  What was it? 

2. What have you done with it?  Do you still need to deal with it? 

3. How would you counsel your own heart in light of what you’ve learned about God’s justice from Job? 

4. How does the existence of Christ as a mediator affect the way we talk about the gospel?