Full Text for Messianic Mountaintops, Part III (Text)

Moun 3 $+ + ...- t4ain v tops MARTIN NAUMANN No record in any 1iter;ltnre of tllc ~vorld gives us ns iiluch and as detailed information of the past as the Bible. Yct the I3ible is not writtell to date ~vorld history. It is written to show LIS God's plan of s;tlvation for manltind. All thc events xeportecl in tllc singulal: record of tllc Scriptures have Christocentric impact. For the student to .ivhonl the Scriptures have absolute authority for tloctrillc an0 life, cuer\- individ~iel ;~ppcadng on the scene has some connectio~~ with the history of salvatiol~, with the Messianic message. For example, /\brallanl is portrayed as hcro of faith not for Abraham's salte only or his desccntiants. Ahrahnln is tlic father of all belie~~ers, tIlc nlan chosen from die illass of men to be the founder of tlle nation of Gocl ;tnd to l)c the ancestor of thc 3fessiah. Al~otlier csrtnlple: When R/lel- cliizeclel;, thc king of Salem, appears unexpectedly 011 the sccrle and is ilitr-ocl~rcccl to us as a priest of thc Most High Gocl, wc ~:ealizc tliat there \cc:rc other hclicvers 011 tllc earth I>esicles Abraham. Hc is par- tic~r1arIy inl])ortn~~t bccausc of his relationship to Abrahnnl and thus to the co~i~ing Son ancl Sccci of Abraham. i\s s~~ch Melchi7ctTeIi serves as n t!;jx: of thc: coming 'Priest-King. Cl~ildrcn of! God were act.ivc in other 1)Iaces too-pious peo171c 11ot of tl~c famil.il of: ,211raham. One of them, probably from Edonl, 11 as (01,. Hi. is $sen I~jghcst praise by God Himself as ;I 111;111 stand- ing I;kc a monunicnt of piety in his time iitltl country. I-Ic lilay Ilnvc 1ir.ctl at, thc til11c OF thc j~;ltriarchs. Neither wllerl he livccl no]: \vho i~.sotc this mastcrpiccc of the bool; of Job-it may hnvc been Solomon -----is of inlportnl>cc:. Flis i~nj>ortancc is bascd not only on his personal stor) of sufl'cr.ilig :111d fait.11, but- especially on thc part Ilc played in Cotl's plan of s;llv;ltion. 1Vc get i1n indication of his ilnportancc when \I.(: scc I.l.i~ll 1inl:cd (1 ircctly ~slitl~ tlic Saviol: in James 5 : 1 1 : "Ye ]lave Iieatcl of the j)atiei~cc of Job, and have seen thc eild of the T,ord." Ill one b1:cl;1111 :l:il~lcs ~i~cntions Job ant1 Cllrist.. \Tic (10 r~ot. think that tllc: statcl~lent about the end of tlic Lord Inems to say that thr ~:caclcrs :~ri: f':~mili:~r ~vith the concl~~siol~ to the story of Job; rather tllc suffcl-ings of Job ant1 of Christ arc placed side 11y side. lob is in gl:c;it coi~i]>nny. > 7 Ihough one of tl~c greatcst ~vorks in Ilistorv, thc I~ool; of Job 1i:is IICCII ;I ~LI;/z~c: to man);. 1471~at is thc real meaning of the book of Job? Is it pri111ai:ily an cx:lmplc of grc:it dral11:ltic Is it ;I tllcodii,);. ;I ilcfri~st! of :I God who pernlits rl~c righteo~ls to suffer? Mas it any solution to tllc c~ucstions asked by suffercrs of all times. Most intci-pretcl-s will admit that thc book ends witllout: giving n real ;Illmcr. Thc 131.oblrin of soffering is mucll discussed 1)y the friends OF Job. but tllciu solution is too easy. They s;~); implicitly and csplicitly tlmt Job nus st bc guilty sonletvhe~:c and somehow that God ~l~ould so punish him. Thcrc arc sonic i11ter1)l.ctcr.i rvlio seen1 to hnvc the right an- .;ivc~- to the mystcry of tlie l)ook. Wilhelln Vischer ;~nd I-Ielnlut TJrum- l>,irtc~-, c.2.. scc Jol) as ;I ~vitl~css to Christ. In rvlint way? T,r~inl~artel. IS. Job . .. .. - ~ .. -- 6 7 . - . . - . - - . - . . . . . . . - - ~ calls attctltiol.1 to tllc fact that the real debate is bct.iveea God L~nd Satan. Satan has raised the question: "13ocs Job servc God for ilai~ght," for nothing? Satan implies that, aftcl: all, Job knows ivllat side his bread is butterecl on. "Takc n.tvay all that lic has," Satan cynically sneers, "i111d lie'll curse you to your face." So then, this pious, Gocl-fearing man is made to suffer. ,Is lob's life unfoltls, \vc discover that hc is not, ;IS freq~lelltl!. picturecl, thc "patient Job," but rnthcr the "steadfast Job." He is not a 11~1rc saint. He is a sinner like ;ill the rest of us. We note that llc tlocs not Ict God go out of his life, nor does 11e curse Him. ){:ither, he cries his heart out to 1-Iim with words that are so like that cry of! the other Scrvr-lxlt of God: "R4y God, my God, why hast thou for- saken me?" 1:Ie SCC~~IS to get 110 ;~nsrver; 11e SCCIIIS to 1)cat in vain at the portals of lieavcn 2nd finally stands before tllc very gate of deatli. But, lo and beholtl, surlx-isc of surj>riscs! Fro111 out of the cleepcst allti clarliest valley of the sl~ndow of death 11.c lool'I\: heart faints nrithin nit! For t.tv~llty-t\vo verses of cl~aptcr 19 lob cries, protests, com- plains bittcrlv of what has I~cfallen hini. No one call hear him without 1tno.tving that. Ilc is as low in spirit as hc has ercr bceli. This is his darkest hour. 'IIc feels that God and man are arrayed against liim. Hc pleads: "Have pity 011 mc, have pitv on me, 0 you nly t'lricl~tls, for thc ]land of God has touclled me!" ' 13ut srrddenly what n surprise from Job! Tirough close to cieslxrir, Iic turns to n liopc that: .is to him ans~vel-. 1-lc rcsolvcs to s]~eal< ~vorcls that sllould nevcr be forgotten. Re~~ienlber, he C~OCS not k1101'(: that in a little while he will again elljoy pence iuld p~osl?e~-it)r hcre on earth. Nothing could 11c farther from his nli~ld. 'That is \v11!' he sees only the grave and tllc mornms that .ivill fin;llly hc his on]!. comlx~~ions. \.Ve :lsl<, \\'hy, thcil, this kind of jntrotl~tction to n:1.1;1t 11c wmt~ to say? Job does something which ilalaanl, Jacob, and David nlso did. M7e recall J3alaam's solemn preface to his 4essinnic propllccy, also Jacob's, wllo sees the future as he faces death, nlso David's, 1~110, as ~vc SL?\\-, fornially ;111c1 officially states who Ile is anc1 ~v11at 11c is say- ing in his 1;lst ~vill :~nd testament is God's TVord. It inay 11c that the very espectancc of' death gives Job an insight illto thc future l~eyond thc grave. Sillcc Job beIievecl that his worcls had Rlessialiic import, ir:e (lo slot spcct~latc nlhcn 1i7e thinl; that Gocl gnvc hi111 this light ill his darlccst: hour. 'Illat this light n11d hope is of great significai~cc to hill1 Ilc ex- jxcssesl~,y wishing out loud: "Oh, that my ivorcls wcrc \\.ritten! Oh, that they were illscribed ill :\ book!" These words were certainly hcnrd by God; and God, 11111o hcn1.s prayers ancl \vishcs and fulfills tllen~ often far 1)c);ontl ~vlsrit 1'c.c hope or ~tnderstand, certninl!, $L-anted this \i.isli. 'T'hcsc \~orcls 11.cl-e 1vi:i.tten in a hook, in Thc Rool;, or wc should not Iino\.i thelil. "011, that wit11 an iron pc'n ilnd Icacl t21cy \\;ci-c graven in thc rock forever!" ijgaill, Job .is 110t thinlpc~is? \I~IIC~CVC~ tli~rc ilrc Christian cemcterics, ~vlicrcvcr be- licvcrs set up licatlstones ancl memorials to the dcpa~tcd, we tvill often finci either t11c \vorcls or sili1~1v tlic 1)assagc e11g1:;11,ecl iri rock. Only onc passage js ~lsed more oftel; than Job 19: 25, and that onc is Ijolilt 1 1 : 25 : "1 am thc ~:csut.rcction ant1 thc lifct." Yes indeed, lob's ~vords ;1rc litcrallv car\:cil on stonc t;~l)lcts. Oftcil thc. Ictters ct~t int-o stonc are li~ieh wit11 metal to liia~c the ~i!ol.ds more pcr- ~.il;~l~cnt- ;l11t1 casier to read. Manv stoncs crv out thc woiads of Job. Now, 1v11;it is this fact that Job rvnr;ts recorde(1 h,r :111 time? ilx~s[ver: "Foi: T la~orv that i1iy S3cdcemcr lives!" [ol)'s siml~lc co~lfessioll has been sabjcctetl to cruel criticism 1)y sonic! .13il)lc jnterprctcrs-r~nd martyred, 1-Iowcilcr, these words Ilrcsent 11o 1.~~1 dificult\l. 'Chc following ones clo, 13robabl~r ca~rsed by Job's al~rtlpt ;111cl ecstatic w:iv of spealting ns wc fintl it in otller j~~~)ld~ctic. oracles nnc3, by the way, practicecl h\: pocts great and s111;111, ill 0111. o'iv11 Englisli literaturc even today. But this statemcnj: consists of siinple I-Icbreiv \vords: "For 1, T I;no\v." In tl~c saiile man- ncr Christ.'~ "I Ahl" statements call bc trn~lslnted "I, I RRI." This is a wry j~c~.sonnl statenlent. Job says, "No liiatter ~~liat you think, no matter \\iI~;lt: has l7appcncci to ~ilc, no niattcr that I nln only skin and I~oncs (verse: 20), I know sol.i~clhing. T knon. it ~vitli ~olir'ictioll.'~ Thc ~i:ol.tl "lino~r-" in t11c 01~1 Testament ils ~vell as in the Nc~v takes 011 n much grcilter sense than cogniticc knon~ledgc; it is nl.1 intinlatc ai~d .inner convict ion. TYl~rtt is Job's kno~r:lcdge ancl inner conviction? "hly Eetlcenlcr 7) I' 7 lives. ].his \vorcl goel occurs rtbor~t fifty tin~es in the Old Testa- ment, thc verb "I-cdccm" about as Inany tinles. 'The concept is that of a next of Itin, a brother, that is rcsponsiblc for lllc ~rllen I ca1111ot ilct in 111y o~vn 1)ehalf. He is the one ivllo avenges rile ivhen I all1 gone. Kc is the onc who must 11uy nit: fro111 bondage. X-Ie is my sub- stitute. He helps 111e o~it of illv trouble. Jacob says: '"The angel that recleenled mc." Isaiah 59: 20': "And the I'ledeemer shall come to Zion." Job speaks of: his I'ledeenier. Hc insists that 11c One who will be on his side against all cncmies. hlore, he has the conr~iction that this 13edcemer liz~es. The Retlcelncr is real, living, csisti~lg helper. Hoii~ strongly li.1:c.s can bc emphasi~.ccl can I)? dcduced froni the subscq~~ent tnllc of his friend's concluest of deatli. 'The foi~r Hebrew ~vorcls say too luuch for thosc who lneasrrrc the din~ensions of faith with their c\~olution-of-re1igion yi~rdsticl;. That Job belie~~cs he has a Iicdceincr, c\.en in deatll, is to tlie111 inconcciv- aI~lc, licjectil~g tl~c c\!olutionistic al~l~roac21-that is, an c\:cr e\-olvir~g. never tised character of rccordcd Eiblici~l truth, \vhicll nlrrst ncccs- sarily force one into tllc position of accepting nothi~ig ;is cternall!. true-this ~vritcr bclic\-cs that ivha~ js said in Job herc speaks of thc Lord in n.holn Job trusts nncl that by thc Spirit of God Jol) 112s been given this knorvledgc. Job's ~\.orclicvetl that God forgave in mercy. job shoivs in ;111 his tall\s that he is 110 superficial drea~ilcr or religio~~s ld~ilosopher. The dej~tll of: his theology ant1 i~~sight into God's ~vill a~id ivajls is probnbl!, g~.ci~tcc tha~i ~vc.ltno~v. As ;I nlnn in n ilccl, ],it can see :1 star :1bovc lli~it, so Tob sees thc light tllnt ga.c.c hope cvcn to Tob's first parents. Xot to be overloolclitzscl-i c:llls these two passages and tl~c one wc are con- sidering "three pearls of ivhich the third is most precious." 13c corn- pares this passage to Isaiah 53 .cvhich is, naturally ,711~1 spiritually 1, 1.)0t11 tllc center ancl clin~actic highl>oint of 1s;liah's ~)l:ol,hccics. fob's ~i~lpi~rallclecI confession is, f.irst of all, 'his confident asser- tioil th;it hot11 thc rvrong done to him by his accusillg and unjust "frieiids" ni~d thc terrible hurts inflictect on him by his "archenemy" will bc: nvcnged. That hc IZIIO\VS it is not God who p~~nishes him and destroys hinl "rvithout cause" is eviclent from 11is appeals to God. T-Ic lalows 11c 112s a real, living Redeelner. He describes the Redeemer as "stnnc7ing as tl~e last One over the clust." Tl~e .ivord dust, as used Ilerc, cnu 11artlIy bc equated with the worlcl as a whole. It can, of course, I>c included, Eve11 in 17 : 16 this dust is the grave or that dust to rvhicll Illan This idea of dust as a nletnyllor for death is the more lllausiblr since Job spcah of the Redeemer that lives. The dying sinner can f)c comforted only by a living Redeemer. The word latter used in somo tl-ailslations Illcans fz~tzu'e, ns thc word is used in 18: 20: I?\'. fob "future generations." ~i ~noclern J civisll comnlentator, 'l'ur Sinai, translates this: "t11ey that come nftcl- him." 'Tile snnie scholar trans- 'I , latcs verse 25 : "I-Ie that conlcs later. rllc sensc is tll;\t of futurc One 1v11o n~ill stand o\.er Job's dust or grave. 'T'hc next statement sho~ild Iuvc never caused exegetes nrlti translators as iuuc11 trouble as it has. Tf one simply aclheres to thc words and forgets all the rationalized l>rejudices against anv state- ment speaking of the res~irrection of t11c body :IS all ;~ssuued hct, he can rentl: "hereafter will this bc s~~rrouizclecl ~vith my skin." Says 31. Rlocllcr in Sinr~ 7~1zrE Aufbnzi ties 13z,~chcs Miob (page 39): "This is the si~nplcst and smoothest trallslatiorl of this text." The word SILI~Y~~II.EL~ is f0~117~1 in some translations. Hcrc thc Ilebren: svorcl I.ias that meaning ill several uses of the 1rer11. 'The statcmcnt, "surrouncTetT with tlie flcsh," afflicted unto dcath, is followed by a parallel sentence that cntpllasizes the concept. of restoration of thc flesh: "ant1 out of 111y flesh sl131I I sce God ." 'The 13SV :it iirst gave precedence 1-0 "~vithout" 111); flesh, I~ut in Iatcr editions restored it to "out of" niy flesh. Thc F1cbre1.i; preposi- tion is uscd in vai-ious ways, 1)ut tlic first ~nc;~nit~g is the local. "Fl:oni out of my fcsh" means: being in 111): I~ody I shall sec God. The ideas of rcsurt-cction and of life e~rcrl;lstincr ;Ire joined in ;I very natural ? .rvaI1. 'I'lint this is a pcrson:~) secing is strongly stressed by Job in continuing: "\I1honl 1, 1 shall scc for nlyself, 2nd 11iy eyes shall l~c- hold Mini, and not ;1 stranger." ITc COLI~C~ hartlly say it nlorc cnl- ha tic ally. IIc is going to see his Rcdccn~cr wit11 liis OIV~ C!,CS, clad in his oivn f csh, and not sonic strange]:, so that no onc 111ight mistaltc his fiopc of thc l~cdcemel- to be :I \laguc liopc t11;tt sorlleda); sonleonc might st;~nd at his gr;tvcsidc ant1 hear or sec job justilictl against tIic [~c~usittiol~ of his eneniics. Now, what is this seeing of God? It cannot be, as some sriggest, that Ilc hopes for r~ day on this siclc of tlic grave ivhc11 Job shall have tllc satisfaction of seeing God's hand with him. Jol) espected to tl ie. Just Ioolc at 7 6 : 18-22 or 1'7 : 1 and 16. The grave is ready for him, this he ltno~r~s. But. Iie does not li1101v Gotl's nltimate plan for hi111 11cl-c on earth. IIc Elas not henrcl God's contract clause to Satan: "o111!. spar(> his life.!" Yol- docs Job cspcct to scc Gotl af'tcr his cle:~tli only as :I iliscniboclictl soul. That he tfocs not ~nc311 this is C'ICYI~ fro111 ~vllat Ilc has i~~st saicl about his sccing his 13ccieelne~: wit11 his o11-n cycs ancl in his oivn botl~~. Nor (lo tllc Old Tcstanlcbnt. Scsij7tut-cs ter.1~11 a 1x1-mancint sc17;~r"ioli of bodv ilntl soul. The int-ent of his wish that Iiis TT?OI.C~S ~Jio~ilcl 11e \vl-itte~.i doiv~~ is that 'cv11;lt IIC will see ;ll~d 1<11orv of liis l3ectcc111er will occur nftet his dcath, not before. ,1 g~l, rctlccw~cr, usually acts for onc that has tlictl or has heen ~ilurclercd. It 111ust: be tliat hc is thinlting of the i.ts~~rrection of the 1.10dy. 'To I)c surc, Job has spol