Daily Devotions

Daily Devotions

Job, a Type of Christ

Title:  Job, a Type of Christ

Reading for June 5:  Job 40-42


And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer...
Job 42:8

There are three ways God speaks to Job's righteousness in this last chapter.

  1. God tells Job's friends that they have not spoken what is right. They had said throughout that Job was suffering because of sin. God tells them they were wrong. 
  2. God tells the friends that they should bring sacrifices to Job for him to offer up burnt offerings for them.
  3. Finally, God tells the friends that Job will pray for them. 

So, Job is vindicated. He was righteous and yet he suffered unjustly. He offered sacrifice for his friends (who unjustly attacked him as being a sinner), and he prayed for them (which is remarkable when you consider how they worsened his suffering!).

Does this sound familiar?

It should. Job is a type of Christ. In fact, there are few stories in the Bible which more closely resemble the sufferings of our Savior.

Perhaps this is the answer to suffering. God doesn't answer the question as to why bad things happen to good people. What he does is better. He gives us a picture of what his own Son would do. 

Father, we don't understand why the righteous suffer, but we do know that you understand. You sent your Son to suffer for us, the just for the unjust! We praise your name!