We are all familiar with the term ‘witnesses’. If a serious crime occurs on the streets of our country the police officers responsible for resolving what happened and what conclusions should be drawn from them, at an early stage seek to find any witnesses to the event in question.
An eyewitness who saw what happened is invaluable. Many years ago there was a well-known Harrison Ford film set in the Amish Community in the USA that was entitled ‘The Witness’. In the film, an Amish woman’s young son on a rare visit to a city witnessed the killing of a police officer. The power of the testimony of this frightened young boy was crucial in solving that crime.
Job had become increasingly distressed that his friends were not accepting his claim that he was an innocent man who had lived an upright life. Their worldview contained a foundational conviction that assumed people to whom bad things happened must have done bad things to deserve it. Therefore, Job must be suffering as a punishment for his unknown misconduct. Job as a committed believer wants to believe that there is someone in heaven who will be his witness, who will advocate on his behalf. What did Job believe and what did he say on this subject?
1. There is a witness in heaven
Job 16:19-21 states: Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.
What do we understand Job believes about the One who he believes is his witness in heaven? I know that Job is correct in his belief, because John the apostle writes in I John 2:1: My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
How did Job come to know this was the case given that he lived around two thousand years before the time of Jesus on earth? We may never know the answer, but sometimes we ourselves ‘know’ something is true even if we have no way of proving it.
If Job could take comfort from knowing that someone he cannot name is speaking for him in heaven, how much more we as Christians can be assured by it when we know it is Jesus, who gave His life for us on the cross so that we might be forgiven for all our sins and welcomed into God’s family.
Job speaks of this witness or advocate in this way: My intercessor is my friend … These words remind me of Proverbs 18:24One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. There are quite a variety of English translations of the Hebrew saying behind Proverbs 18:24, but the meaning is clear to those of us used to social media.
We may have many on-line ‘friends’, but how many are people we could turn to in a time of crisis? How many could we trust to share confidential matters and serve as accountability partners? By definition, the answer for us all would be very few of them. However, we can turn with absolute confidence in prayer to the Lord Jesus with all our needs and concerns. Why can we do this?
2. The work of our witness
At the heart of the Christian faith is the sacrifice of Jesus in giving His life for us, taking the punishment for our sins so that we don’t have to do so later. There is a big contrast for us to the example of Job. In Job 1:5 we have a glimpse into Job’s understanding of his faith and his concern for the spiritual wellbeing of his children.
It states: Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom. Why don’t we need to do something like that? Hebrews 10:11-14 explains why –because Jesus in one perfect sacrifice for ever did away with the need for the old sacrificial system. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time He waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice He has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy. Hallelujah! This is so amazing Jesus did it all in our place. Our witness in heaven now has already died in our place on the cross two thousand years ago so that we can be welcomed into God’s family, when we come to Him by faith in Jesus.
What does this mean now when we want to ask God for help and guidance in our lives today? The Bible states very clearly that Jesus understands the problems we face and in His time on earth modelled for us a way of living through the good times and the tough.
Even on earth Jesus was already praying for His first followers, for example, Simon Peter. (See Luke 22:31—32: ‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you [you plural-The first disciples] as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you (singular), Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’
Therefore, we too can be encouraged in our prayers to bring our needs to God the Father through Him with the help of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 7:25 states: Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. This is the focus of the work of our witness in heaven today. Job in his day and we in ours can bring our prayers in the name of Jesus to God the Father with confidence, and know He will hear and will answer them.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Father I place into Your hands’
Brian Talbot