Job 9

“For He is not merely human like me; there is no answer that I could give Him if we were to come together in court. There is no arbitrator between us who could lay his hand on us both. If He would remove His rod from me and not let His terrors frighten me, then I would speak without fear of Him; for when I’m alone, I’m not afraid.” Job 9:32-35 (CJB)

Job understood that it was impossible to take God to court. He understood that he could never bring forth a case against God’s character because God is flawless and perfect in all His ways. Still, Job could not understand why he was undergoing such hardship. One of Job’s frustrations was focused on the great gulf that separated God from man. If only God were a man! Perhaps mankind could relate to Him. If only He could relate to mankind! Perhaps He would be gracious and merciful towards us. Enter Jesus: God, made flesh, fully God and fully man.  

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.” John 1:1-4 (CJB)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NKJV)

Now that we see how God can relate to us on a human level let’s look at Job’s next frustration: Who could arbitrate between God and man? Arbitration is a legal process used in lieu of taking a case to court. In arbitration, a third party (the Arbitrator) negotiates a settlement between the two “at odds” parties, whereby justice is served. In mankind’s case, God has done nothing wrong! Therefore, arbitration is out of the question. So, how can imperfect man commune with perfect God? Enter Jesus: our advocate.

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2 (NKJV)

With Jesus as our advocate, we have no need for arbitration. Messiah Jesus settled our “sin debt” to God by personally fulfilling our “righteousness obligation” on the cross. Now, turning from our sin and accepting Jesus’ offer of atonement does not stop the efforts of the Accuser (Satan) to persuade God to judge us to the full extent of the Torah. But, at the same time the Accuser is ranting against us, our Advocate (Jesus) simply raises his nail-scarred hands and says something to the effect of, “Their debt is paid in full. The Torah’s requirements have been fulfilled through Me. They are blameless and righteous in Your sight, Father!”