What is the meaning of Job 9:33? Nor - Job begins with a negative—“Nor”—showing a painful awareness that something essential is missing. - He has just admitted, “He is not a man like me, that I might answer Him, that we might confront each other” (Job 9:32). The lack of a common ground leaves Job feeling isolated. - Cross references remind us this gap is real: “Our iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2). is there a mediator - A mediator is one who intervenes to reconcile two estranged parties. Job longs for such a go-between to negotiate peace. - Later revelation answers his cry: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). - Hebrews 9:15 echoes the same hope, calling Jesus “the mediator of a new covenant.” What Job desired, God ultimately supplied. between us - “Us” draws attention to two distinct sides: holy God and sinful humanity. - Romans 3:23 describes our side: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” while Habakkuk 1:13 describes God’s: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.” - The distance is not imaginary; it is moral and relational. to lay his hand - In Scripture a hand laid on someone conveys identification, blessing, or substitution (Genesis 48:14; Leviticus 16:21). - Job pictures a mediator placing one hand on God and one on man, joining the two. - Jesus fulfilled this image: fully God, fully man, He “took the children in His arms, laid His hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:16), showing divine and human touch in one person. upon us both - The phrase points to shared access—God is not approached by man alone, nor man by God alone, but both meet in the mediator. - John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” demonstrating divine presence in human form. - Hebrews 4:15 adds that our Mediator “has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin,” empowering Him to represent us to God and God to us. summary Job’s lament in Job 9:33 exposes humanity’s desperate need for someone qualified to bridge the chasm between a righteous God and fallen people. Scripture later reveals Jesus Christ as that long-awaited Mediator, laying His hand on both parties, satisfying divine justice, and offering reconciliation to all who trust Him. |
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