Sept 10

If only.........
Job continued to feel oppressed. He continued to feel utterly helpless under the hand of a mighty and just God. Job knew he was innocent but felt helpless against a powerful God. How can he even defend himself against the Maker of the Universe....the one Who put the constellations in place. If only there were Someone worthy to plead his case. He yearns for an advocate.

The book of Job is said to be a literary masterpiece in Hebrew. It is a poem, the work of a skilled and brilliant poet. Of course that aspect is lost to us non-Hebrew readers. But there are a few passages that are so beautiful that you can get a sense of it's timeless literary brilliance. Job 9:32-35 is one of those. Speaking of God, Job says:

He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

It sounds so sad and hopeless. Many Christians have suffered in their life but they have never had to suffer this "If only" feeling. Because we DO have an Arbitrator, someone who have laid His hand on us both (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; Heb. 12:24) None of us have ever had to suffer God's wrath without the buffer of grace that Jesus gave His life to provide.