Ever since Adam and Eve bit into that shiny apple, people have been estranged from God. Job, speaking some of the oldest words found in the Bible, felt his separation keenly:

God is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Job desperately needed a mediator. He anticipated the coming of a messiah to take the blows of God’s rod upon himself. One to remove terror and bring peace.

A line from a hymn we sing at this time of year reminds us that two thousand years after Job lived, his mediator was born in the little town of Bethlehem:

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

You and I enjoy the view from a different section of history’s timeline. The mediator—Jesus Christ—offers to walk with us before the Lord. As we celebrate his birth, let’s remember to lift a glass to Job, who called for him so long ago.

Job 9 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Chad Madden