My Friend, the Attorney

Let’s look at Job 9:32-35. Of course, Job is in the throes of having had everything stripped away from him and his friends are telling him it’s probably because he is a sinner and God is punishing him. Job is making a defense for himself but realizes that going mano a mano with God isn’t a great strategy.  Our passage below picks up the story.  The key verse I’d like to highlight is 33, “If only there was someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together”.

“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
    that we might confront each other in court.
³³ If only there were someone to mediate between us,
    someone to bring us together,
³⁴ someone to remove God’s rod from me,
    so that his terror would frighten me no more.
³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him,
    but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Things to think about:

·       When things aren’t going our way, a very natural tendency is to try and figure out, “What did I do to deserve this?” 

o   Sometimes this may be true, as bad decisions generally reap bad consequences.

o   We may have others encouraging this line of thinking

o   Other times though, we don’t really have the capacity to see the bigger picture. See John 9:2

o   Can you think of a particularly trying time when faith in God gave way to self-doubt?

·       While he was once a very rich and powerful man, Job realizes here that he isn’t dealing with just another man, but God Himself

o   As a result, he is not up to the task to confront God directly

o   In a court of law, we do not rely on our own skills to obtain a favorable verdict, but rather we enlist the help of a trained and experienced intercessor

§  When we do act as our own lawyer with God, what evidence do we typically bring forward?

o   See Job 16:19-21. Twice his advocate is called “friend”

·       The obvious parallel is Jesus as our mediator, see 1 Timothy 2:5

o   Bringing together two thoughts, Jesus as our mediator, and from the verse above, He is our friend, then we realize that we are not just another case on the docket for the public defender, but a dear and precious friend who is in desperate straits

o   Moreover, not only does He intercede for us, but He goes way beyond that and does what no attorney would do: He says “Free my friend, I will take his punishment Myself.”

·       Job closes by saying that if there was such a Mediator, he would speak up without fear

o   Romans 8:15 says, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

o   Are we living in the reality that of our standing as sons, no longer slaves to fear?