Truth is progressively revealed, but that doesn’t deny that seeds of future full-grown truths are found early on.
It would be hard to overstate Job’s distress. One day he believed that God had blessed him in every sphere of life—physically, emotionally, domestically, financially, socially, and spiritually. Then, in a matter of hours, his blessings turned to blight. As he sits this day on the ash heap, he’s overwhelmed by the loneliness of it all. He believes this is the Lord’s doing. “He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are completely estranged” ( Job 19:13). His relatives and close friends? Gone (v 14). His servants, both male and female, ignore him (vv 15-16). His wife and the neighborhood children don’t want to be around him (vv 17-18). In fact, “All my close friends abhor me, and those whom I love have turned against me” (v 19). Do you know the only clinging going on in Job’s life? Others’ arms around him? No, “My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth” (v 20). How pathetic! But suddenly everything changes. Thinking about his skin deterioration and life’s brevity (vv 20-22) brings to mind eternal verity. First, whatever truth he’s discovered is permanent. Would we edit our words if we knew “that they were inscribed in a book” and would last “forever” (vv 23-24)? Then, like a beam of golden light breaking through dark clouds, he declares, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth” (v 25). And there’s more. “After my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God” (v 26). Redemption! Return! Resurrection! Revelation! Reunion! Recognition! Whatever he knew of these truths, Job confessed, “How my heart yearns within me!” (v 27). Does yours? What a day when we “shall see God”!