Text: Job 42:10-17
The final chapter of this book is something of an epilogue, because it tells us the rest of the story including what happened to the main characters.
It also answers some of the questions raised in the book…like So What? What’s the point? Why did it all happen? And what’s our takeaway?
It’s pretty clear from what God said, that there is more to come. God had a plan, but the fullness of time had not yet come…for God to send his Son.
Now as you read chapter you will notice 3 main divisions. The first is Job’s response to God. God then speaks to Job’s friends before summing up the rest of Job’s life. So let’s see how this all turns out.
In verses 1-6, Job addresses God – and he admits that there is so much that he does not know – especially about God’s divine plan. Early in the story, Job had demanded his day in court before God. He wanted to know what he had done for which God was punishing him. He was tired of waiting and suffering and growing impatient with God.
But now, he thinks back to what God said to Elihu in 38:2 and applied it to himself. And he does this, because to one degree or another, the criticism applies to all of the men in this story.
God had said: “Who is this who darkens the divine plan, By words without knowledge? Every one of them had spoken in ignorance. So in humility, Job applied it to himself saying:
‘Who is this who conceals advice without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.
Job has had a lot to say about things he does not understand – especially God’s divine plan. It’s generally true that the less we know, the more we have to say. And when it comes to God’s plan, Job does not know why God created the world or why He made us in his image. He does not know how God decides what is just and what is not. Nor does he understand how or why God decides to bless one person and withhold blessings from another.
Yet despite what he does not know, there is something that he does. It is that while God can come up with plans that seem impossible, He can carry them through. Nothing that can be done, is impossible for God, and especially not those set by his own eternal purposes.
We are so blessed, for we know about God’s plan. It was hidden for ages past, but has been revealed through Jesus Christ. It goes all the way back to the beginning when He created in his image , to equip us with his own attributes. He intended to bless us providentially with everything that we need and to bless us spiritually with his presence, which is what our souls really need.
But Adam and Eve sinned and sin spread to everyone since no one chose to remain righteous. No one, except Jesus For most of us, living a sinless life seems impossible, but as Job put it, nothing is impossible with God. Job admitted that there was so much that he did not know then and as this story wraps up, he still does not know. But he is willing to leave it to God and he is also willing to forget about making demands of God as he once did.
Job promises to stop talking, to listen and to wait upon the Lord. He is willing to live with God’s verdict, whatever that turns out to be.
Just having seen God and having spoken with Him is enough. It has been amazing and overwhelming. Hearing God is so much greater than hearing about God. And having been put in his place, Job he takes back what he said and repents of presumptuousness.
He did this, still sitting in dust and ashes. Job has not yet been healed and just how things were going to turn out…remained to be seen.
Job did what we all should. We should not judge a thing before it’s time. We should never presume to make final judgments, for only God has that right. And we should trust God.
We should put ourselves in God’s hands and wait.
Turning to Job’s friends, God said:
“My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.”
Several things jump out in these verses. The first is that unjust words stir up God’s wrath. When we falsely accuse others, our accusations are actually directed toward God. This is so, because moral judgment is anchored in the person of God. What we think is right and wrong, says something about who God is. When we get that wrong, we misrepresent God.
Not only that, but God is the only one with the right to pronounce final judgment . He expects us to use moral discernment, but we cross the line when we presume to deliver some into heaven and others into hell.
The bottom line was, that Job’s friends had misrepresented God. What they said about God and his ways, was false. They claimed that He would never allow a godly person to suffer. They implied that if he did, he would not be a good God. They did not understand the difference between what God wills, and what he permits. God does not want us to sin, but he allows us to do it. God does not want Satan to tempt, but he allows it. This is a necessary part of our ‘freedom of choice’. And, in the normal course of our lives, God protects us from power of Satan, but not always and certainly not from people who have chosen to follow Satan
So it was that the influence and activity of the spiritual world in their lives, was out of sight. In the world that Eliphaz and his friends imagined, none of this took place. God was the only spiritual actor, and in their minds, it made Him directly responsible for everything that happened, good or bad. They had created in image of God that was not actually God. The god who they imagined was not real, and what they had said about God who is real, was just not true
We learn in this chapter that this kind of Ignorance is no excuse. They thought that they were doing the right thing. They thought that they were defending God by hammering away at Job, but they were wrong. God called it foolishness, and it was in fact sinfulness, which provoked Him to anger. Unless amends were made, God was going to punish and these three men were going to get what they deserved.
There was one thing, and only one, to keep that from happening. God named it. He said – take sacrifices and offer them on your own behalf and ask Job to pray for you. I will accept Job’s prayer, but not yours.
In other words, the only person who can rescue you from my wrath and that is the man who you have wronged. You accused him of terrible sins and he never once accused you. So now, he is the man who can help and you’d better hope that he will.
This was God’s call to repentance. They could not ask for forgiveness without admitting sin. They were going to have to humble themselves before Job and admit to Job that he had been right, that he was innocent and falsely accused. And that he was their only salvation. God had said, I am putting your fate in Job’s hands.
To their credit, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar did what God commanded. It could not have been easy. They might have said – no way. I don’t care what God said – I’m not changing my mind. Or, yes… I was wrong, but I am not going to Job, hat in hand. I’ll take God’s punishment instead.
Do you know, that people are still making that exact decision? Deciding to hang onto their pride, all the way to hell. But that’s not what they did, and it is even more to Job’s credit, that he did not disappoint God or his friends
It’s fair to ask…what would you do if you were Job? Or, a bit closer to home, what have I done, when wronged by a friend? Did you try to ‘get even’ or pray for them? It is clear what God wants us to do. In fact, what God asked Job to do, was exactly what Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount when he said:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same?
Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
When He was on the cross, Jesus prayed “Father forgive them”. When Stephen was being stoned to death, the last thing that he said was: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”
We talked earlier about the concept of being “worthy in the eyes of God…to suffer”. God chose Job for this test…because he was blameless and upright. He was better by far and more righteous than all the rest. What God now asked Job to do was an extension of that. Forgiveness is at the very heart of godliness and a final proof that Job was everything that God said he was.
It occurs to me that a person who has spent a lifetime forgiving others will spend his final breath on more of the same. Job was that man. As a Biblical type, he epitomized and anticipated what Jesus would become to the whole world.
- A man who forgave and prayed for his enemies
- And a man who interceded on their behalf with God
- A man who protected the souls of those who had put his own at risk.
The good news is that it worked. God accepted Job and forgave Job’s friends. As James the brother of Jesus would write: “
- Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about (granted by God), can accomplish much”
That is why the story of Job ends as it does. His life turned out as it did, when and only when, he prayed for his friends. Job was the friend that we each need to be. The test of forgiveness was the final one and it came from God.
When Satan tempts, he always asks us to do something wrong, like curse God and die. But when God tests and we pass that test, it is because we do the right thing for which he has asked. We do it despite what we might prefer. We do it, even when it may not seem fair. And we do it, because we have faith in God.
That is what Job did. His friends said…we are here because this is what God has commanded. Now it is up to you. Job believed what God had said and softening his heart, he put them first. Because he did, his life turned around completely. God turned it around for all to see. He restored Job’s wealth and then doubled it. He wanted to make it abundantly clear, that Job was His servant and that he was well pleased with him.
Going back to the start of the book, Job had been wealthy. God had blessed him with possessions and a large family. With this reversal of fortune at the end of Job’s trials God was just giving back – what Satan had taken away.
Satan had said that Job did not love God and only served him for what he could get out of it. But Job proven that Satan was wrong and God was right. It never was God’s will for Job to suffer in the first place. It was only fair, that having proved faithful, God would put things back the way that they had been.
When Satan first struck, Job’s family and friends all abandoned him. They cut and ran and stayed away. They kept him at arm’s length and left him without family and friends. Through it all, we rather suspect that they agreed with Job’s critics. It was not his family who stepped in or his next door neighbours, but men who came from afar.
We don’t really know who we can count on when times are tough. We just have to wait and see. But now, now his family came back along with his neighbours. They are almost tripping over each other to curry favour. Perhaps they heard how Job had prayed for his friends and may have recognized their need for the same.
But let’s be clear, it was not the coins and rings that they gave – that make Job rich. God made him rich. What they gave were tokens, symbols of respect. They were admissions of guilt – confessions that they had misjudged Job. They were asking Job to forgive them and perhaps they were a promise not to ever behave that way again. And Job being Job, rebuilt the bridges that his family had burned.
At the end of the day, there was no mistaking…where Job stood with God. It was where he always had, as a blameless and upright man. He was now stronger and wiser – tried by fire and fresh from the presence of God.
When God restored Job, it was with the implicit promise that Satan would not again be allowed to have his way. Not only did God restore Job’s wealth, but also the respect of the community.
God also gave him a new family – 7 sons and 3 daughters, all of whom are named. The fact that they are named while the sons are not, is significant. In his wisdom, Job elevated his daughters to an inheritance equal to his sons. And perhaps in this way, he looked forward to the day when Jesus would grant equal inheritance to all who are a part of his divine household
You will notice that God blessed Job with a long life. After all of the events in the book, God added another 140 years to Job’s life. He lived to see the fourth generation of his descendants.
In the Bible, a long life is a blessing from God. Abraham died at the age of 175, Isaac at 180 and Jacob at 147. The Law of Moses, promised long life to those who obeyed God. And lest we forget, life eternal is what God promises us, if like Job, we remain faithful as his servants, resisting evil and doing good.
God has called us to himself in Christ Jesus our saviour. And no matter how many days God grant us on earth, our citizenship is in heaven where our lives will never end.
Barrie ON