Future Hope of the Old Testament Saint

Job 19:25-26 25 "And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Of course we know that in the Old Testament, we do not have the fullest revelation (that we have now with both OT and NT) regarding the afterlife. Yet we do see a glimpse into the hope that Job of old had in his Deliverer. What is amazing to me is that this man, Job, being a godly man and a God-fearer was so certain that he would see his God, that this was really the only thing he could cling to during his time of horrific suffering.

Job said: "As for me." This phrase is clearly emphasized in the Hebrew. It says, "As for me myself, I know." Job knows with absolute certainty. There is no wavering. There is no possibility. There is no mere wishing. This is the certainty that the believer in God has.

Job further clarifies his certainty. He notes that his hope is that "his Redeemer lives." The word for "Redeemer" is the Hebrew goel from which we get our commonly-known phrase (from Ruth) "kinsman-redeemer." One who redeems is one who purchases and buys back to oneself for personal possession. It is the commercial term often found in the ancient marketplace (or city-square).

Job knows that his Redeemer lives. He continues in the very next verse by saying that after he dies, "yet from my flesh I shall see God." Job has the confidence that when his physical life is completed, that he shall with his eyes see his redeemer.

Oftentimes we struggle in perplexity at how much revelation the Old Testament saints understood regarding the afterlife, but here we have clear evidence that Job (clearly an early time from the Patriarchal period; c. 2000 BC) had the hope that when his physical and earthly life was over, that that was not the end of his existence. He knew with all confidence that for those who are "redeemed" they shall see God face to face in glory!

May all of us re-acquaint ourselves with this future hope of seeing our Redeemer face to face!