Job’s Creed: Or, Confession Of Faith
Job’s Creed: Or, Confession Of Faith
Occasioned by the Death of the Reverend Mr. Edward Wall in
Preached June 18, 1733
For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me—27
THIS chapter contains Job’s answer to Bildad the Shuhite, who, in the preceding chapter, had represented him as a wicked man, and one that knew not God, and had said many severe things concerning him; which shows, that he looked upon him as rejected of God, and devoted to ruin and destruction; all which he concluded from his present afflictions, and conduct under them. Job replies, by granting, that he was under very great and sore afflictions, which he particularly enumerates, and therefore was a proper object of pity and compassion, and ought not to be used in the barbarous and inhuman manner he was by him and his other friends; and, that he ought not to be traduced as a wicked man, and ignorant of the divine Being; since he did know God, as his living Redeemer; was able, in the midst of all his afflictions, to exercise faith and hope in him, and to believe that he should everlastingly enjoy him. And though Bildad had represented destruction (Job 18:12, 13) near at hand, which should devour the strength of his skin; yea, even his whole strength, and bring him to the king of terrors: this gave him no frightful apprehension; he knew in whom he had believed, and to whom he had committed both soul and body: though he saw himself in a wasting consumption, reduced to skin and bones, and had reason to conclude, that he should in a short time be laid in the silent grave, and the remains of his body be the repast of worms; yet he believed he should rise out of his dusty bed, live again, and be forever blessed with uninterrupted communion with his living Redeemer. Bildad had intimated, that his light should be put out; and the spark of his fire should not shine; that the light should be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle should be put out with him. (Job 18:5, 6) Job, on the contrary, was fully assured that his Redeemer would plead his cause, bring him forth to the light, and he should behold his righteousness: That though for a time he should be shut up in the dark and gloomy grave, yet he should rise from thence, and in his flesh see God, whom he should see for himself, and his eyes should behold, and not another.
These words may be considered as containing the substance of what was Job’s support under his present troubles, the unkind treatment of his friends and others, and in the views of death and eternity. His troubles were many and great; he had lost both his children and his substance, his brethren and acquaintance were estranged from him, his kinsfolk failed him, and his familiar friends had forgotten him; his maids counted him a stranger, and his servants refused to obey him; his breath was strange to his wife, young children despised him, and all his inward friends abhorred him; his body was filled with a loathsome disease, and was become a mere skeleton, his bones cleaved to his skin and flesh, and he just escaped with the skin of his teeth; and in this most sorrowful condition had none to pity him, or show any compassion to him. Add to this, that he had received the sentence of death in himself, and judged that he was near his last end, and long home: My face, says he, is foul with weeping, and on my eye-lids is the shadow of death. (Job 16:16) My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, and the graves are ready for me. He was waiting and looking for death and the grave, and endeavored to make them easy and familiar to him: If I wait, says he, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness: I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister. (Job 17:1, 13, 14) Now Job’s support under all this was, his settled and secure interest in a living Redeemer, the delightful prospect he had of his appearance in the latter day, the resurrection of the same body by him, and the glory and happiness which should follow upon that; and indeed, nothing short of this can yield solid relief and comfort, when afflictions press hard, death stares in the face, and an awful eternity is in view. Such were the joy and peace this good man’s soul was filled with, through believing these things, that for the glory of the Redeemer’s grace, and the encouragement of others, he is desirous that the words by which he had expressed them, might be transmitted to the latest posterity. O, says he, that my words were now written; O that they were printed in a book; that they were graven with an iron pen and lead, in the rock for everse (Job 19:23, 24) This refers not to what he had said before, to the apology and defense he had made for himself against the unjust censures of his friends; but to what follows after, to the words of my text, to which these are a preface; and it ought to be observed, that the Hebrew particle Vau, placed at the beginning of my text, is not to be rendered by the adversative but, as it often is, nor by the copulative and, as frequently it is, nor by the illative or causal particle for, as it is here in our translation, but by an explanative, [5290] I such as namely, or to wit; and so the words stand in connection with the former in this manner; O that my words were written; O that they were printed in a book; that they were graven with an iron pen and lead, in the rock forever; namely, (or to wit) I know that my Redeemer liveth, etc. He would have these words written, that they might abide; and not written only by a private person, and for private use, but he would have them printed or engrossed (for printing is not to be taken in a strict sense, it being a late invention) by some public notary, and registered among the public acts, which are most likely to continue; but inasmuch as books and writings may be lost, are liable to corruption and rottenness, to be eaten by moths, or consumed by fire, he would have his words engraven with an iron pen, on sheets of lead; [5291] upon which, as well as on brass, it was usual to engrave public acts for long preservation; and fearing lest this should not be sufficient, he desires they might be cut out on some rock or another, where they might abide foreverse And perhaps he may mean the rock out of which his tomb was made, in which he designed to be interred; since it was customary with the eastern people to make ready their tombs beforehand, and to hew them out of rocks, as appears from the instance of Joseph of Arimathea; and then Job’s request and with is this, that though he desired no stately monument to perpetuate his memory, no pyramid or marble statue to be erected for him; a tomb cut out of a rock was sufficient for him; yet he earnestly begged, that these words might be his λογος ἐπιτάφιος, his “funeral epitaph; ” that these, even these, might be inscribed on his sepulchral monument, his rocky grave, I know that my Redeemer liveth, etc. that so everyone that passed by might read them; and, if it was the will of God, receive some advantage by them. Job had his wishes in some measure answered, though, perhaps, not in his own, yet in a better way. These words of his are written in the most public book in the world, and are among the most authentic records, “the Scriptures “of truth, ” where they stand, and will stand to the latest ages, as a testimony of his faith in Christ, and for the support and encouragement of other saints.
These words may be rightly called Job’s creed, or the confession of his faith, which consists of various articles; some of which respect the living Redeemer, and his interest in him; and others, his state and condition at, by, and after death, and to all eternity; and are as follow:
I. That he had, and he knew that he had, an interest in a living Redeemer.
II. That this living Redeemer should stand upon the earth at the latter day.
III. That as for himself, he should die, return to dust, and be devoured by worms.
IV. That he should rise again from the dead, with true flesh, and the same body. And,
V. That he should enjoy the beatific vision of God to all eternity.