Sorry parents. You can’t find “cleanliness is next to godliness” in a verse of the Bible. However, among many of the biblically derived expressions we use today, you can find “by the skin of my teeth.”
“My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth" (Job 19:20, Unless otherwise stated: Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Used by permission. All rights reserved).
After Job had lost everything, as a temptation from the devil to forsake God (Job 1, 2), his friends stayed with him and talked to him. But they were miserable comforters (Job 16:2). They assumed Job’s problem was his wickedness and repeatedly convicted him. He disagreed and maintained that he was righteous.
“Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live" (Job 27:5-6).
Even though he thought God was doing these things to him, and he didn’t understand why, he did not lose his faith. In chapter 19, after explaining that he had lost everything, only escaping by the skin of his teeth, he made a plea.
“Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
That they were engraved on a rock
With an iron pen and lead, forever! " (Job 19:23-24)
Following that, he affirmed a shining statement of hope, made all the more glorious when contrasted with the darkness of his situation.
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27)
We don’t know what Job understood about this claim, but we do know that Jesus stood on this earth (1 Tim 3:6). He died to redeem the wicked from sin and destruction (1 Pet 1:17-21). He was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God, proving that all who live according to His promises will have a bodily resurrection and see God (Rom 8:9-11; 6:1-5; 1 Cor 15:50-58).
We should feel like we are living by the skin of our teeth if we are living without knowing our redeemer. If Job could have such a bright hope in such a dark time, how much more can we have since we live in the days when we see proof that Job’s wishes came true?
I know that my Redeemer lives,
Van
