But I know that my Goel liveth,
And as Afterman on my dust He will stand as Witness before me,
And lift up His voice in my cause.
Then God shall I see in spirit,
Mine own eyes will look on His face ;
No more estranged shall I see Him.
My reins are consumed at the thought.^
\ It has been wisely said that " there is a Gethsemane in every noble life." Sometimes our path seems like a lane full of windings, where steep banks shut out light and air. But if we look up, we can never fail to see the fair blue hills of our Land of Promise rising high against the sky. The thorny wreath is sharp, but we shall exchange it by and by for that crown of glory which fadeth not away. . . . Christ's crown of thorns broke into blossom long ago, and its sweet odours of healing float through our daily lives, and are wafted over the earth by every wind that blows. So shall our sorrows burst into bloom, if only we are patient, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. . . . The sweetness and sanctity of the Christian life lie in the firm conviction that a gentle, unfaltering, though in- visible hand is weaving for us that crown of thorns which we are bidden to wear.^
^ We reach here the Mont Blanc of this poem of poems ; the
highest range tracked by this inspired and victorious hero. There
in his Gethsemane he triumphs. From that moment " the prince
of this world comes, and finds nothing in him " out of wliich he
» A. R. Gordon, The Poets of the Old Testament, 2a4. » Henry White.
76 I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH
can extract a ray of hope for his attacks. When the cup, charged to the full with bitterness, is in the sufferer's hand, and he is ready to say, " If possible let it pass on to another," an access of power arrives, enabling him to hold it with a firm grasp, and say, " Not my will, but Thine, 0 living Eedeemer, shall be done. I am convinced of the blessedness of the final issue. I am content. I am victorious." ^
^ An interesting analogue to Job's solution of the problem may be found in Sophocles' ripest tragedies, -^schylus had regarded misfortune as the penalty paid for wrong-doing, with the view of working out the sinner's moral discipline. On the other hand, Sophocles views suffering suh specie aeternitatis, in the light of the eternal harmony of things. Thus the grievous sorrows Philoctetes had to bear are conceived to have been laid upon him " by the care of one of the gods," that he might be held in reserve, and braced in character, for his appointed task in the overthrow of Troy ; and when Heracles at length reveals the purpose of the gods, he accepts his destiny with courage and joy. The tragedy of (Ddipus ends in the same atmosphere of peace. The sorely-afflicted hero finds himself now reconciled to heaven, surrounded by the love of devoted children, and honoured by the friendship of kindly Athens and its chivalrous kin^--, and gently yields his life to the touch of the gods, his destiny thus finding *' a perfect end." In both these dramas, then, Sophocles " views the problem of human suffering with the eye of faith, and in proportion as he sets before him an ideal of an all-powerful Divinity, who is merciful, loving, and gracious, so does it become easy for him to bear patiently with the evil and suffering in the world, in the serene belief that, were man's vision wide enough, he would see joy and sorrow to be parts of one harmonious whole." ^
In considering this great declaration, let us note — I. The Meaning of Job's Words. II. The Faith that they enshrine. III. The Ground of Job's Conviction.
I.
Job's Wokds.
In interpreting this passage we must distinguish between what it meant to Job and what it means to us who are able to
* J. Clifford, Daily Strength for Daily Living, 308. 2 Mrs. Adam, in Harly Ideals of llifjhkcmsness, 42.
JOB XIX. 25-27 *]"]
turn upon it the blaze of the light of New Testament revelation, where life and immortality are brought to light in the Gospel. In thinking of Job, we must bear in mind the gloomy, hopeless doctrine of Sheol in which he had been nurtured, and which he had expressed so often. Even after the previous outburst of xiv. 13, we find him still speaking of Sheol in xvi. 22 as the place whence he shall not return. He could hardly pass suddenly from such views into the/w/Z meaning of xix. 25 as w& interpret it. And the subsequent discourses render it evident that he did not. If Job had realized all that we do in this text, the discourse would have ceased here ; for this is the last word that even the New Testa- ment can say. But we do not find any change in Job's gloomy outlook. In fact, the third cycle is, in some respects, most pessimistic of all. Probably Job intended little more in this verse than he did in xiv. 13, that is, to express a firm conviction that God would vindicate him, and even if it should be delayed until his spirit had gone to Sheol and the flesh rotted from his bones, yet the vindication must come. God would call up his spirit from its abode of gloom, and he would answer, and would witness his vindication on the earth. But this is a germinal truth. It was intended by the Spirit of God to be so. The Old Testament prophets and sages often wrote far more profoundly than they knew. And this text was one of those which, pondered over by the saints of later days, opened up with new meaning, until it led to the brighter hopes of later Judaism, many of which received the sign-manual and royal imprimatur of the Great Master, whose life and Eesurrection are here faintly foreshadowed.