Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
2/10 Reading Portions: Genesis 43; Mark 13; Job 9; Romans 13
Listen to the audio devotional above, and/or read the written devotional below.
“There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.” Job 9:33
MEDIATOR
One of Job’s wonderful statements as the suffering prophet was that there was no arbiter between him and God. The Hebrew word for arbiter, מוֹכִיחַ (mō-KHEEY-ach), can also be translated “daysman” (KJV) or “mediator” (NKJV). It comes from a Hebrew root which means “argue, convince, dispute, judge, plead, reason, rebuke, reprove.” The whole of Job’s sentence presents its context, as well as his case, quite well. Who was he, a mere man, to question God? Yet, how can Almighty God communicate successfully to sinful man’s plight? Job needed an arbiter, a mediator who was able to stand boldly before God as equal, yet also stand humbly with man as a true, sympathetic representative. In Job’s day, there was none. Nevertheless, Job’s statement becomes the fabric behind the whole reason for the Lord Jesus Christ’s incarnation.
The Lord Jesus was, is, and evermore shall be holy God (John 1:1; Phil 2:6: Col 2:9). God cannot stop being God just because He became a Man, else He would be something less than God. He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. Yet, Jesus Christ was fully and truly Man. Although sinless and perfect, being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Jesus possessed no advantage over any other man, before Adam’s fall or since (John 1:14).
The Lord Jesus Christ, by His blessed person, solves Job’s dilemma. Christ, as perfect Man, stands before a holy God on the sinner’s behalf; while at the same time, stands before sinners as Almighty God else we would be consumed like a wax figure hurled into a blast-furnace. Truly,
there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5
…and we thank God for His infinite wisdom in making it so! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Arbiter and Mediator
Is Christ Jesus, our Lord,
Who intercedes on our behalf
With perfect, precious words.
