Monday: The Son of Man
In the earliest chapters of Job, we were given a glimpse into the reality of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. As we know, it was a battle that started in heaven but eventually came to the earth (see Rev. 12:7–12). In the book of Job we saw that same dynamic: a conflict in heaven that comes to earth. Unfortunately for Job, that particular conflict on earth centered on him.
Read Job 10:4-5. What was Job’s complaint, and did he not have a point?
Job’s point was simple. You are God, the Sovereign of the universe, the Creator. How can you know what it is like to be a human, to suffer the things that we suffer?
How do the following texts answer Job’s complaint? Luke 2:11, John 1:14, Luke 19:10, Matt. 4:2, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 4:15.
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
Job’s complaint, that God wasn’t a human and therefore couldn’t know human woe, was answered fully and completely by the coming of Jesus into humanity. Though never losing His divinity, Jesus was also fully human, and in that humanity He knew what it was like to suffer and struggle, just as Job and all humans do. In fact, all through the Gospels, we see the reality of Christ’s humanity and the sufferings that He went through in our humanity. Jesus answered Job’s complaint.
“It was not a make-believe humanity that Christ took upon Himself. He took human nature and lived human nature. . . . He was not only made flesh, but He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.” — Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1124.
| Think what it means that Jesus took humanity. What should this tell you about how closely He can relate to you in any of the struggles that you are facing right now? |
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job 10:4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
job 10:5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,
now my question is; was job wrong to say these words since Jesus by then had not yet been took the human form?
I think that like you said, Kemchau Salary Alvarez Garcia, God is omniscient, all knowing, but like Jesus on the cross said,"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34. God did not love Jesus any less on Calvary-that was still His only begotten Son-Jesus was just expressing the anguish His sacrifice was causing Him to feel, I think Job too was expressing the anguish he felt.
I am still in awe at how strong Job was. God is all knowing so He must have known how it feels for us to suffer. I am not sure if Job was wrong or right in saying what he did?
Job's complaint was a valid one. He didn't have the advantage of the New Testament as we do.
No Auditor! Job was not wrong. In our sufferings we sometimes wonder, in our many ways of expressions, if God can understand or feel what we are going through. Even Jesus, in the garden, asked, realizing what Salvation for us would cost Him, THE CROSS, asked "...if this cup could be passed..." Matt. 26 36-46.
Even, as we believe, that the book of Job was the first book written by Moses, Job had from the beginning of time, the knowledge by word- of- mouth, that there was sin and a need of reconciliation to God. Job1 5-6.
I believe that God allows sufferings so that we will turn to Him for deliverance. In our storms, temptations, in our sufferings God is "always near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need Him most."
Then Job knew nothing about Jesus, that's why he could make those comments, but events in his time should have given him some idea that God knows what he was going through.
In Job 1:8 Christ Himself stated, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? "(KJV). Job did know God and remained faithful to Him, but like the rest of us, he had questions while encountering intense pain and suffering. Even Jesus Himself, on the cross, cried out "...my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matt 27:46. It's a very human thing to do.
Does anyone think as I do in regard to Jesus' life as an example for man?
There are some sins my friends may be tempted with I'm not troubled with because I'm not interested in that particular thing. However, Heb.4:15 says Jesus was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin, which says to me that His temptations were far greater then any thing we will ever be faced with. This thought leads me to think what a loving and mighty God we serve.
Correct me if I'm thinking wrong.
jk
MONDAY: THE SON OF MAN
Revelation 12:7-12 describes a battle in heaven that resulted in Satan, previously Lucifer, being cast down to earth. The beginning of the book of Job saw this battle continued with Satan’s accusatory arguments about the way God had blessed Job, one of His loyal followers.
One of the questions Job posed about why God had seemingly deserted him involved whether God can indeed understand the sufferings Job endured, since God doesn’t appear to suffer as man does.
The answer to that troubling question can only be found by considering the way God suffered when the Messiah lived and then died a cruel death at Calvary. Even Jesus, as He neared death on the cross, felt that God had forsaken Him.
Jesus, the Son of God, is also referred to as the Son of Man. Those two titles used to puzzle me when I first became a Christian, until I learned that our Savior was indeed both human and divine. So, God does know what we humans go through. He identifies with our human struggles.
Jesus went through the whole gamut of human existence in a major way by coming to our world:
Born a tiny Babe in a stable with animals,
He had to flee as a refugee to Egypt at a young age,
was raised in an ordinary carpenter’s home,
lived a homeless existence as He later ministered to multitudes,
grieved over the loss of loved ones,
was betrayed and misunderstood by His friends, and
suffered physical agony on the cross.
There is little of human pain and suffering that He did not endure while here on earth those few short years.
It means that we can trust Jesus, because Jesus went through what we are going through. Because he was exposed to temptation while he was in human form. Therefore he is more than qualified! And we can trust that he will never give us more than we can bear.
JESUS AS SON MAN:
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Thank God! We have one like us in Heaven. Jesus is not only acquainted with the sufferings that we go through here on earth but is in Heaven now so we can breathe the atmosphere of Holiness, love, peace and joy in this side of the sun amidst the sorrows similar to those job went through. Praise be to God we are heavily represented in Heaven!
We don't know what Job knew about God through the passing down of truth from one generation to the next, until Moses began to write by the Holy Spirit. Since Job is not accused by God of being wrong, we must conclude Job had an honest question. We see also Habakkuk questioning God, who kindly revealed the answer which led Habakkuk to praise God. If we are willfully ignorant, then we are not innocent but found to be in unbelief.
All those verses cited did not help Job, since they did not exist, yet they help us today if we exercise faith in the Word of God. God knew of Job's faith, but also knew what following generation would face, and through this account, all can find comfort and assurance in the worst of trials.