Sunday, July 16, 2006

More From Job

In the last entry I mentioned that Job seems to believe death to be final, but then again, maybe not.

Here's what he says in Job 19:25ff (NIV):

25 I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;

27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.



"The Message" puts it thusly:
Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—
and eventually he'll take his stand on earth.
And I'll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—
see God myself, with my very own eyes.

Two things about this passage:

1) What's this business of the Redeemer standing on the earth in the end? Is that symbolic? Is it during the First Coming of Jesus to the earth? Or is it indicative that in the Second Coming, Jesus will actually step foot on the earth again? (I only ask this question because in my church background, we've been taught that the New Testament indicates that "we'll meet him in the air, and so shall we ever be", without Jesus ever setting foot on Earth again, whereas many other groups teach that not only will Jesus return to the earth, he'll do so for 1000 years or some variation thereof, depending on who you're talking to.)


2) This sure seems like a clear-cut indication that Job believed in a bodily resurrection; not just some ghostly spiritual body. That's my take on things also -- well, actually, I tend to think that the distinction between physical and spiritual may not exist then as it does now.

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