No Arbiter Between Us

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 149, No Arbiter Between Us.

"There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both." Job 9:33.

This is one of the most moving lines in the entire book of Job — and, at the same time, one of the most prophetic in all of Scripture, even though Job had no idea of that as he spoke. Let's set the scene. Job has just finished describing God's greatness — the power that moves mountains, shakes the earth, commands the sun. And as he takes in that overwhelming greatness, he feels his own size. He is small. God is vast. And between the two lies a gulf Job doesn't know how to cross.

He isn't doubting God here. He is feeling the distance. How can a man, so small and so fragile, draw near to a God so immense in order to plead his case, to ask for answers, to simply be heard? Job senses that he needs someone in the middle — someone able to touch both sides at once. Notice the image: "who might lay his hand on us both." Not a distant judge sitting on a high bench, deciding from far away. Someone close enough to place one hand on God and the other on Job. Someone who belongs to both worlds.

And Job didn't have that person. He cries out for one, but he doesn't know the name. He only knows someone is missing.

And here, my friend, is where the whole story of the Bible connects in a way that gives me chills. Because centuries later, the apostle Paul would write, almost as a direct answer to Job's cry: "There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." One mediator. Someone who is fully God and fully man at the same time — the only person who has ever existed able to place one hand on God and the other on us, truly, without pretending, without distance.

The arbiter Job longed for, without knowing his name, has a face. Has a name. His name is Jesus.

And that changes everything about how you can approach God today. Job felt terror before God's greatness — and understandably so, because he was right about the size of the gulf. But you don't have to feel that same terror. Because the bridge has already been built. You don't approach God alone, trying to calculate whether you're worthy enough. You approach through Christ, who has already placed His hand on both sides.

So today, before breakfast, I want you to pray a different kind of prayer. Don't start by asking. Start by thanking. Thank Jesus for being exactly what Job longed for and never saw in his lifetime — the mediator, the bridge, the one who touched both sides. And then bring Him something you've avoided saying to God directly — a doubt, a hurt, an unanswered question. Because you have a mediator. You don't have to cross that gulf alone.

Stay close to God. Draw near — then trust the Mediator. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.