Job 16 and 17 - I NEED A MEDIATOR, NOT THE MAFIA!

Job 16 and 17 - I NEED A MEDIATOR, NOT THE MAFIA!

I have sat at the bed of a friend dying of cancer and given comfort during a time of great need, and we prayed together. I have seen people give their lives to Christ as they face the reality of death. I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT JOB'S FRIENDS WERE THINKING.

Imagine sitting around the bed of your friend who is dying of cancer. His body is emaciated and you can smell the decaying flesh as his open sores ooze poison. You have known him all his life to be a Godly man, BUT YOU START THROWING ACCUSATIONS AT HIM. You say that he must be an ungodly man because of his afflictions. You say he is being judged! Rather than pray for him, you try to EMOTIONALLY SCAR HIM AS WELL.

But from his bed, instead of him lying there and saying "YEAH, WHATEVER!" he lets you have it and gives you both barrels without apology.

That's like Job! Job may be physically laid waste but he is NO PUSHOVER. He says in Job 16:1-6 (NLT) "...I have heard all this before. What MISERABLE COMFORTERS you are! Won't you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking? I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you. BUT IF IT WERE ME, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU. I would try to take away your grief. Instead, I suffer if I defend myself, and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak."

Now that is LAYING IT ON THE LINE! Job is not about to take any of their nonsense. I've got to ask myself, "WHAT KIND OF COMFORTER AM I when I am with a friend in pain? Are my words like a desert wind that shrivels everyone in it's wake and rubs sand into the wounds?

At that point Job breaks into prayer. He doesn't know what God is doing but he THINKS GOD HATES HIM. He tells God about his friends and says that God has thrown him among a GANG OF MOBSTERS, kind of like the Mafia, who have blacklisted him and drive around his house with their tommy guns blazing with him as the target. He's a matador without a red cape, THE BULL IS CHARGING AT HIM! He thinks God is the bull. Everything is in slow motion and he can't get away. OK, so it doesn't speak about God as a bull, but that's the gist of this passage. It is my paraphrase of Job 16:12-14 (NLT) which says "I was living quietly until He shattered me. He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces. Then He set me up as His target, and now His archers surround me. His arrows pierce me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood. Again and again He smashes against me, charging at me like a warrior."

THEN COMES THE CRUNCHER! Job 16:17-20 says, "Yet I have done no wrong, and my prayer is pure.... MY ADVOCATE is there on high. ...I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends. For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return."

Of course this touches me deep in my spirit. He needs an advocate. YEARS BEFORE CHRIST HAS COME, Job speaks about an advocate in heaven, who can mediate earth's point of view to heaven, and heaven's point of view to earth. Everyone of us needs that kind of mediation, and we have it in the person of Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NLT) says "For there is ONLY ONE GOD AND ONE MEDIATOR WHO CAN RECONCILE GOD AND HUMANITY - the man Christ Jesus. He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time." 1 John 2:1-2 (NLT) says "...I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins-and not only our sins but the sins of all the world."

In Job 17:1 Job continues this most beautiful of prayers. He gives voice to the human spirit as he calls upon God and says "You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me. ... My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken. These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light. ...Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?"

Job isn't saying that he hasn't sinned, but he is innocent because he has lived a life as God required of him. He expresses relationship with God and calls upon a heavenly mediator.

God bless you Church as you place your trust in Jesus Christ alone as our mediator. NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE FACING RIGHT NOW, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE. Christ died for us. He paid the penalty for our sin. He mediates for us as our advocate before God. Neither satan or anyone else can bring an accusation against us. There is always hope for every situation we face as we trust in Jesus Christ alone.

Pastor Ross

Created about 2 years ago