I know that my Redeemer lives

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.”Job 19:25

Reflection

This declaration is even more impressive when we remember where it comes from. Job spoke it at the bottom of the pit — after losing his ten children, his goods and his health, covered in sores, abandoned by his wife and accused by his friends. He was not in a moment of triumphant faith; he was at the height of pain, having just said God had "overthrown" him and hedged him in with darkness. And it is precisely from that ground of suffering that one of the firmest cries of faith in the Bible comes: "I KNOW that my redeemer liveth". In the midst of what he did not understand, Job clung to what he knew.

Notice the verb: "I KNOW". Not "I think", "I hope", "I would like to believe". In the midst of everything Job had lost and all the unanswered questions, one unshakeable certainty remained. There is a difference between a faith that only works when all goes well and a faith that has an "I know" at the bottom, a foundation the storm does not move. Job lost almost everything, except that. And it was that "I know" that sustained him when all the rest collapsed. Every soul needs at least one certainty that pain cannot erase.

And note the word "Redeemer". Job lived centuries before Christ, but the Spirit of God put in his mouth a hope pointing to the redemption that would only come later. A Redeemer, in Job’s culture, was a near relative who had the right and duty to rescue someone in disgrace — to pay their debts, defend their cause, restore what was lost. Job believed that, despite everything, there was Someone committed to rescuing him. And he was right: centuries later, the living Redeemer would stand upon the earth, defeat death and guarantee that no loss of those who trust Him would be the final word.

The sentence continues: "he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth". Job had hope not only in a present Redeemer, but in a final outcome — a day when justice would be done and restoration would be complete. And his story confirms it: God restored Job double (Job 42). But even if restoration had not come in this life, Job’s hope was anchored beyond it. If you are on a "heap of ashes" today, surrounded by unanswered questions, find your "I know" in the midst of what you do not understand. You may not know why you are suffering, but you can know this: your Redeemer lives. He is committed to your rescue, and the last word over your life will not be the word of pain — it will be His.

Bible text: King James Version (public domain).