Job Lesson 10

Adult Class

Job

Lesson 10

Job 42:7-17

The poetic section of Job is at an end and we revert to prose to finish the book. This final prose section tells us the actual ending of the story of Job. God spoke to Job, but did not answer him. Neither did God strike Job with the punishments Job called for in his oath. Job's innocence is vindicated but his complaint is unanswered. Significantly, Job is called upon to intercede for his friends, who failed to uphold the dignity of God.

God spoke to Eliphaz and required him to make an elaborate and costly sacrifice to make atonement for his failure. Eliphaz was specifically required to enlist the help of Job, the man he had accused of wickedness, to pray for him and the others. God noted that He would accept Job's prayer (saying nothing of Eliphaz' sacrifices!) and spare Eliphaz and the others from the results of their folly. The friends are reconciled to Job. They humbled themselves to come to him and he interceded for them. The bonds of fellowship are restored and God accepts the faithful prayer.

God then gave Job twice his former possessions. This is subject to misinterpretation and must not be understood as Job's payoff. He did not gain a reward for his faithfulness-that would be exactly the lesson the book disproves! The abundance of possessions only indicates that God again greatly blessed Job. The doubling of his goods showed God's full acceptance of Job. His relatives and friends finally come to him and brought him a valuable gift to restore his fortunes. The coin he received was a "kesitah." This is an unknown coin of fairly high value, probably of silver. Jacob paid 100 kesitah for the land he bought from Hamor of Shechem (Genesis 33:19).

It is fascinating to compare the inventory of Job's goods in 1:3 against the inventory in 42:12. At the end, Job had 14,000 sheep (7,000 in the beginning), 6,000 camels (against 3,000 at first), 1,000 yoke of oxen (compared to 500) and 1,000 donkeys (formerly 500). And he had ten children-seven sons and three daughters-just as he had at the first. Yet God says he had twice as much as before. It seems clear that in some very real way, his first children were not lost to him. They lived on, and Job would see them again, as he would his other children when life was past. He had twice as many children as before, too.

The praises of his daughters and the notation that they, too, received inheritance from their father is further evidence of Job's great riches. He lived an additional 140 years, twice the expected life span (Psalm 90:10). Job's reconciliation with his friends affected all his other relationships, giving him a very comfortable and enjoyable life. His epitaph was the ideal outcome for any man in the ancient world.

Themes of the book:

The over-arching theme of Job is that a person can serve God faithfully, trusting His ultimate goodwill, even when the circumstances of life don't look promising. God actually loves us and has our good at heart and will work out our ultimate good in His eternity. For our part, we must trust Him and continue to be faithful.

Apart from this main theme, though, there are at least five other themes in the book:

The truth about suffering and calamity.
            It is not always true that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Sometimes, the wicked do seem to prevail and the righteous suffer. However, bad circumstances do not prove that a person is an evil-doer, just as great blessings do not prove God's favor.
            We should be very careful to pronounce judgment on the circumstances of a person's distress. We rarely know enough about a situation to pronounce "it is God's will" that things be the way they are. To declare, "this is a test of your faith," or, "God is teaching you something in this," is to claim to know God's mind. Certainly, "you deserve this tragedy" is beyond our authority to declare.
            In the end, we do not know why God allows bad things to happen to good people or why the wicked sometimes prosper. And He may or may not choose to explain His actions to us "farther along."
Job teaches a holistic view of humanity.
Job shows us that human beings are complex creatures. His suffering touched him physically, emotionally and spiritually. He lashed out in his pain and the agony of his spirit was very clear. People are really like this, and Job is very true to life.
We should recognize that in suffering, people suffer at every part. Those who are suddenly disabled often suffer spiritual doubts and fears that offer to cripple them spiritually. People in grief are often physically ill as well. The human being interacts in all realms at the same time.
Job's innocence and integrity are unshaken.
In the face of terrible losses and great personal pain, confronted by misguided and ham-handed friends, Job refused to budge from his assertion that he had done nothing to deserve this punishment. He placed his faith and trust in God even though he believed that God wronged him without cause. Urged by his friends to accept a convenient and reassuring unreality, Job took his stand on truth and refused to give way.
We must be careful never to adopt a comforting lie in the place of the difficult truth.
God's justice is maintained.
God declared that He would punish the guilty and they would not forever be exempt from the consequences of their deeds. Although Job did not see justice infallibly executed in life, God assured him, and us, that justice does prevail and the wicked do not enjoy their own ways forever.
In our world, we can take some comfort in the knowledge that God is not mocked and He will care for the distressed and bring oppressors to account.
We must surrender our "rights" because God is God.
In the face of extreme suffering, Job demanded the right to confront God. However, he learned that his "rights" do not obligate God to answer him. We, too, must remember that God is not subject to our demands.