With these chapters, the saga of Job reaches a climax of sorts. Eliphaz, the third of the friends, speaks and accuses Job of refusing to listen to God and his wisdom. At this point, Job is just worn out, and he replied, “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation” (17:1-2). And one final word from Bildad: “”How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak” (18:2). That is, Bildad accuses Job of ignorance and advises that if Job will only listen to the “wise” words of his friends, he would understand his predicament. Well, we know what we need to say, along with Job, to all the advice he has heard: “Hogwash!” Job now turns from man’s counsel and looks elsewhere for help: “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (19:23-27). The assurance of a Redeemer! That assurance will carry Job through all his trials and tribulations until he, at last, gets his conversation with God.
I know that my Redeemer lives;
what comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my everlasting Head.
He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears,
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives all blessings to impart. -- Samuel Medley (1775)