The Faith of Job

INTRODUCTION: This chapter gives a list of the ills experienced by Job. After considering the afflictions laid on him in Job 1-2, this does not seem to be exaggerated. Yet, in the middle of his list of trials and afflictions, Job bursts out in an outstanding proclamation of faith. He suffered. But he never lost faith. What an example to us!

1. JOBS COMPLAINT OF MISTREATMENT (Job 19:1-7)
1. The Attack of His Friends (Job 19:1-3)
1. They vexed (troubled) his soul (Job 19:2).
2. They broke him in pieces with words (Job 19:2; Psalm 64:3; James 3:6).
3. They had reproached him ten times (Job 19:3). Note: See below for more information on the number ten.
4. They openly made themselves strange to him (Job 19:3).
2. The Placement of Guilt (Job 19:4)
1. The possibility of error
2. The responsibility for error (Galatians 6:5); that is, if all these afflictions were because of sin in his life, then he was already paying for the sin and did not need his friends to heap on more afflictions.
3. The Attack of God (Job 19:5-7)
1. The attack of friends was comparatively small (Job 19:5).
1. Though they magnified themselves against Job
2. Though they pled his reproach against him
2. The attack of God was much greater (Job 19:6).
1. He had overthrown Job.
2. He had taken Job with His net.
3. The cry of Job (Job 19:7)
1. A cry of wrong
2. A loud, but unheard cry
2. JOBS DESTRUCTION BY GOD (Job 19:8-13)
1. His Removal of All Blessings (Job 19:8-10)
1. He fenced up Jobs way (Job 19:8).
2. He made his paths dark (Job 19:8).
3. He stripped him of glory (Job 19:9).
4. He took the crown from his head (Job 19:9).
5. He destroyed him on every side (Job 19:10).
6. He removed his hope like a tree (Job 19:10).
2. His Treatment of Job as an Enemy (Job 19:11-12)
1. He kindled His wrath against Job (Job 19:11).
2. He counted him as an enemy (Job 19:11).
3. He brought His troops against him (Job 19:12).
3. His Turning of Others Against Job (Job 19:13)
1. He put his brethren far from him.
2. He estranged his acquaintance from him.
3. JOBS REJECTION BY OTHERS (Job 19:14-19)
1. By His Kinfolk (Job 19:14)
1. His kinsfolk failed him.
2. His familiar friends forgot him.
2. By His Servants (Job 19:15-16)
1. They counted him as a stranger (Job 19:15).
2. They refused to answer him (Job 19:16).
3. By His Wife (Job 19:17)
1. His breath was strange to his wife.
2. She would not respond for their childrens sake.
4. By Young Children (Job 19:18)
1. They despised him.
2. They spoke against him.
5. By His Inward Friends (Job 19:19)
1. They abhorred him.
2. They turned against him.
4. JOBS CRY FOR PITY (Job 19:20-22)
1. His Physical Suffering (Job 19:20)
1. His bone cleaved to his skin and flesh (Job 30:30; Lamentations 4:8).
2. He escaped with the skin of his teeth.
2. His Touch by the Hand of God (Job 19:21)
1. He should be an object of pity.
2. He had been touched by the hand of God (Job 2:5).
3. His Continued Persecution (Job 19:22)
1. His friends joined with God in persecuting Job.
2. They were not satisfied with the sufferings he had already experienced.
5. JOBS DECLARATION OF FAITH (Job 19:23-29)
1. His Statement of Faith (Job 19:23-24)
1. That they might be written in a book (Job 19:23)
2. That they might be engraved with a pen (Job 19:24; Jeremiah 17:1)
2. His Confidence in God (Job 19:25-27; Job 13:15)
1. Concerning his Redeemer (Job 19:25); to redeem is to buy back.
1. That He now lives (John 14:19; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20)
2. That He shall stand (Acts 1:9-11; Zechariah 14:3-4)
2. Concerning his resurrection (Job 19:26)
1. To come after death (John 12:24; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
2. To come in person (Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:13)
3. Concerning his remains (Job 19:27)
1. To be corrupted (1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-45)
2. To be changed (1 Corinthians 15:49-57)
3. His Testimony to Others (Job 19:28-29)
1. They should be looking to themselves (Job 19:28).
1. No cause to persecute Job
2. The root of the matter was in them.
2. They should be afraid of the sword (Job 19:29).
1. Wrath brings judgment.
2. There is a judgment.

CONCLUSION: No matter what trials we face, we can still look to the Lord and trust in the resurrection to come. Are you looking to the Lord today?