Amazing Discovery in Job!

I don't know why I am always surprised when I find one more pointer to Christ or to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. After all, when Jesus taught the two disciples on the road to Emmaus all about himself, he went straight through Moses and the prophets. And the more I read the history, genealogy, and poetry of the Hebrew Scriptures, the more I see him there.

I was still surprised to find him this morning, however, staring up at me from the pages of Job in his role as heavenly Mediator. In Job 16:19-21 we find Job longing for something that only Christ can accomplish. He says that "even now my witness is in heaven...my eye pours out tears to God, that he would argue the case of a man with God." That strikes me as a very strange and very wise statement.

Job understands that the only judge that matters sits enthroned in heaven. To Job, it appears as though that judge has already found him guilty, because he seems to be in the throes of condemnation. Job also knows that the only person who can bear perfect witness to his life is that same judge - his friends certainly don't seem to have a good grasp of his blamelessness up until this point. So, what Job desires with tears is for God to mediate his case with God.

That idea would sound loony to anyone not familiar with the New Testament and Christ's revealed role as Mediator on behalf of his people (Romans 8:34). All Job understands, though, is that this is his only hope of acquittal. As if to confirm our suspicion that this amounts to Job prophesying of one of the roles of the Son, he actually invokes the phrase 'son of man' in the latter half of verse 21: "...that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor."

What an amazingly complex tapestry we hold in our hands as we read God's Word! The strands weave together like a web, all shouting the same consistent message of God's holiness, man's sinfulness, Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice, and the mind-blowing promise of mercy and forgiveness through faith, given as a gift to those God delights to save. And like any good mystery, the end explains the whole, but there are enough clues throughout to solve the puzzle if you have eyes to see.