We now cover the concluding chapters of Job. It is very common for many people to read the beginning chapters of Job, skip over much of the middle, and then read the end. This usually ends up giving the wrong impression of the book of Job and its purpose.
In the very first chapters of Job, we are told that he was good and up-right. God specifically brings up Job to the satan to be tested. We must keep in mind that there are three people who always tells us the truth in Job: the narrator, God, and Job. This is controversial because many people believe Job says wrong things about God. They come to this conclusion because of an old translation of Job 42:6 which has traditionally says that Job repented in dust and ashes. The Hebrew actually says that Job recants being only dust and ashes (https://www.sefaria.org/Job.42.6?lang=bi&with=Translations). I will explain the issues in translating this verse when we get there. Secondly, though, God tells Job’s friends explicitly in 42:7 that Job spoke the truth.
The controversial points of Job’s own words come in his laments which actually are similar to laments in Psalms and Lamentations in which Job says that God has turned against him. Is this really false? Is not a test when a teacher challenges you and comes against you? You see this more when you are in martial arts and a good teacher physically fights you as an enemy to test you. Yet, even in testing, Job glorifies God.
Still, my view of the reliability of Job’s words is contrary to what 90% of what preachers and commentators commonly say about Job.
Even so, in the book of Job we then get a total of nine speeches by Job’s friends who each progressively intensifies their assertions that Job must have done something wrong to deserve is hardship. They all believe in the sovereignty of God and speak many truthful things about how good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people, but they refuse to look at the exceptions. When, Job disagrees, they start with accusing Job of sins of omission – the fact that he did not do good things to the poor and needy when the opportunity came to him. As Job refutes this, his friends accuse him of more severer sins until the last speech in which he is counted among the wicked and accused of blaspheming against God.
At the end, God shows up as the last in the intensification of the debate and the final word on the matter. This is where we begin this last devotional on The book of Job.
Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Most commentaries take this as God coming in a physical whirlwind, which is probably true since God showing up in storms happens in Genesis and in Kings. Still, I know from my own experiences in hardships that the hardship itself feels like you are trapped in a whirlwind. It would be consistent with scripture and this verse to say that God showed up in the midst of the whirlwind of Job’s hardships. God shows up where we are at because we cannot get to him. He shows up in the middle of the storm for the disciples in the gospels to calm the storms multiple times. Yes, as most commentators say, God does show up in his full power which is intimidating, but he didn’t do it to bully Job into humbleness. God showed up in his power to comfort Job in the midst of his pain.
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
This verse is a hotly debated verse, and I ended up looking at least 8 different online commentaries for clarity. The reason I found this verse so baffling is that God addresses himself to Job and asks a question that sounds like he doesn’t know who Job is when he calls Job his servant in chapter 1. Then this verse seems to imply Job has talked ignorantly (darkens again means ignorance like in Elihu’speech), yet says in 42:7 that Job has spoken rightly.
What I discovered is that half the commentaries think that God is referring to Job himself in a bullying sort of way and half of the commentaries think that God is asking Job about Elihu. I am definitely in the Elihu camp even though most ministers I respect seem to take the opposing view. It seems to me odd that God interrupts Elihu’s long rant without Job being able to give an answer. If we follow the progression of intensification happening in the book, Job has already given his long reply and nothing can be more intense than God himself speaking for this final reply in the place of Job’s turn. This then makes the verse fit more with what comes in the rest of the book. God is dismissing Elihi’s argument, and, in the following verse, says to Job that instead of wrestling with his ignorant friends, it’s time to wrestle with God.
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
“Grinding up one’s lions” is a phrase you see over and over again when men were getting ready for war. It can also be used figuratively for getting ready to debate. It really deflates the meaning of this verse when it is translated “dress like a man.” So many people make it sound like God is going to smack Job down into place. Yes, Job is going to be humbled. Everyone is humbled before God, but what God is offering is for Job to have a chance to wrestle directly with him just like how Jacob wrestles with angel in the book of Genesis. Even though this wrestling is very one-sided, like a toddler wrestling with his father, this is often what we really need as we process and deal with suffering.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Oftentimes, we Christians have a “God of the gaps” theology. We will say that what we cannot explain in the universe is where God is. That is nonsense. Does that mean once we learn something that God gets smaller? God is in everything we know and don’t know.
Here God asks if Job was there when he created the universe or if he can hang the planets. God describes stars singing and heavenly beings rejoicing over the magnificence of God’s work. So, in other words, God is demonstrating that he is the ultimate creator God over the universe and before there was time. When our problems seem too big and too complex, God is bigger.
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
God now points to the oceans and shows Job that he is stronger than the sea and keeps it in order. This is especially important because in the ancient mind we see both in Genesis 1 and in various mythologies that the sea is often portrayed as chaos in physical form. The fact that God can create order out of chaos can be applied to the chaos in our own lives.
12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
This is a difficult translation, so I have read a few other translations to clarify it. God is talking about his power over the daylight. As the sun comes up, it illuminates the formless-looking earth so that you can see the details of the world just like formless clay suddenly has clear details when you press a metal seal into it. The daylight also has the added affect of making wicked people hide because crimes are more often done at night when the criminal can not be seen. God is showing how he is greater than the daylight in illuminating truth.
16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
God uses the depth of the sea, the realm of the dead, and the size of the earth to illustrate his ability to both know everything and see everywhere.
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Even in ancient times, people knew that light, darkness, snow, and hail were not stored in houses. It is a fun image used in folklore and myths, but the ancient world was very perceptive about how the natural world worked. What God is saying here is that we humans can’t just pull these things out of nothing. We must use what is in nature already to make a place bright or dark. We can’t make it hail or snow (as in real weather) even today. Seeding clouds cannot really make clouds do anything, just try to push a natural process into a certain tendency at some point. So, God is showing how he creates from nothing. He does the impossible.
24 By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
Water is a remarkable substance. Even though we know all about it, we did not give it the properties or the ability to do what it does. God created it to do certain tasks, just like we are made for a specific purpose.
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
God ordered nature and implanted wisdom and virtue into the fabric of it. He is not the clockmaker God who set everything in order and left. No, he continues to keep things in order and has a grand plan in which everything has its purpose.
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
God feeds even the animals. Will he not feed us? Sometimes we think we are the source of our own sustenance, but food for us and the animals just exists on this planet. We didn’t put it here. God is providing for our needs.
Job 39
1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.
4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
Instead of focusing on the grand scale of the universe and natural phenomenon, God now focuses on individual animals. Job has had lots of livestock, so he knows about goats, but God is asking if he knows the wild goats. In other words, God sees everything including every aspect of the wild animal’s lives. If God cares for the wild animals, he certainly cares for us as well.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
God shows Job how he takes care of the wild donkey and gives him all he needs without people or cities. God can take care of us too.
9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?
The name of unicorn in ancient time often referred to a rhinoceros and this is what the KJV points to. The New American Commentary says it is the wild oxen. This makes sense because the focus of its strength and the absurd idea of trying to harness a rhinoceros to a plow or a mill. God is far stronger that a rhino.
13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
God shows how he gives and takes away wisdom from the animals. He is demonstrating that all our wisdom is God-given. We are far more limited in our abilities than we like to think we are to understand all that is happening in the world.
19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Courage is another virtue that comes from God directly and this is demonstrated by the horse. We are incapable of putting strength and courage into the horse. We can only make use of what God has already given them.
26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
God shows Job that by his wisdom, the eagles and hawks know what to do. When we are in a relationship with God, we can ask him for wisdom. This too is a comforting thought because we all go through times in our hardships in which we do not know what to do.
Job 40
1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
God had invited Job to come and debate him and wrestle with him rather that his friends. Now, God has given his first speech and invites Job to respond. Many translations have the sound of anger in God’s words. Perhaps this is the case, but I also see this as an invitation for Job to speak honestly with God. If God intended to bully or intimidate Job, he did not have to speak to Job. Throughout the Bible, God deals harshly to those he is angry with who are not his people and usually speaks to them through prophets. It is only with those who are his servants and prophets that he speaks to directly even when angry, such as Adam, Sarah, Jonah, Jacob, David, and Elijah.
3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
The word “vile” is such an odd choice here. The Hebrew literally means “of light weight” and my commentaries all replace it with words like “small” or “unworthy”. The ESV says, “I am of small account.” Job’s reply is in humbleness that he has nothing else to say. God has completely awed Job by his wisdom, provision, power, divine plan, and attentiveness revealed in the way God has made the world that Job is satisfied. This is not God intimidating Job into silence. It is more like when we are hurting and we receive comfort in watching a sunrise or sunset. Many people feel awed and small as the see mountains for the first time because of the awesome beauty of them. Other people may feel hope as they walk along an abandoned beach. I have met many artists who have been struck by the complexity of a single leaf or a blade of grass and realized that no human could create something so intricate and beautiful.
Yet, even though Job has been comforted and satisfied in ways his friends never could comfort him, God doesn’t stop. Just like at the end of the book in which Job is blessed with double, God gives Job even more comfort that what he thinks he needs.
6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
This is a repetition of God’s invitation to Job to prepare for battle to debate him. Again, many people take this invitation as God being sarcastic as though he wants Job to be silenced. I believe it is again a sincere invitation to Job to speak honestly from his heart to God. God is not afraid of anything we would say to him. He wants us to bring our complaints directly to him. This is what a relationship is about.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.
I really love this passage. Again, I do not take this as sarcastic or passive aggressiveness in which God is trying to intimidation Job. No, God is saying to Job that he can try to be a god, but what he will find as that he cannot do it. We often try to take ownership of everything around us and control it, but find that we just fail. We are not gods. We cannot save ourselves. No matter how powerful we get, how much money we have, or how much influence we exert over other people, we cannot save ourselves in the end. When we finally let God be God, and we take refuge in his power, strength, wisdom, and love, we find peace. It is a good thing not be a god. I certainly would hate to have a god as prone to making a mess of things I can do for myself.
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
Some people say this is the hippopotamus and others say the elephant. I grew up hearing people say that this was a dinosaur. The problem with saying it is a hippopotamus is the description of the tail. Those who support the idea of it being an elephant translate the word for tail as trunk. My commentaries continually went back and forth on what animal this was, but they seemed to lean more towards it being an elephant as chief among God’s creation in verse 19. The reason for this is the use of the elephant as a war animal. The next part of verse 19 can also say “he that made him gave him sword to approach with” which could describe his tusks used in war. The mountains bringing forth food is seen as describing the Nile River flowing from between hills to the place where farm animals such as oxen could benefit from it. Verse 24 is also baffling in this translation, but my commentaries explain that it is say that you cannot capture an elephant when it sees you and cannot lead it away with a ring in its nose like a farm animal.
None of my commentaries talk about why God has mentioned any of his creation. All of that is my observations. Here, I had to ponder why God would bring up a war elephant since we don’t have the question to point to what God is trying to emphasise. Looking at all of God’s second speech together including the next very long passage on the Leviathan, God started out by telling us his point by telling Job he is not a god. If even an elephant is mightier than us, how much greater is God? Also, how limited are we?
Job 41
1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.
31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
This entire chapter is about one animal. The New American Commentary and The Pulpit Commentary lean towards this being a crocodile with hyperbolic imagery of it breathing fire (v 19-21). Ugaritic literature describes a dragon-like beast called Lotan that may be similar to the leviathan. Mathew Henry’s Commentary believes it is a whale, which was my first impression too. The problem is that this beast has scales, so it would have to be a large fish like in the book of Jonah. In popular culture, the leviathan is used for sea monsters, sea serpents, or water demons. The leviathan is also mentioned in Psalm 104:26, Psalm 74:14, Isaiah 27:1, Ezekiel 29:3-4, and Ezekiel 32:3. Bochart says the Hebrew for Leviathan literally means, “the coupled dragon/serpent). Some people like the romantic notion of it being a dragon while others recoil at the idea of it being a mythological creature in the Bible.
No matter what it is, it is clear that it is a created beast of the earth and not some kind of spiritual being. It is a beast that humanity could not kill, capture, nor domesticate. God is saying that if a created beast cannot be controlled by humanity, what makes us think we can control God? Today, we use far more machines and guns to bring down large animals and dominate all the creatures of the earth, but we still do not know for certain all the creatures of the sea and some live too deep for us to discover. Even if humanity were able to dominate every animal on this planet (I still think the cockroach will out wit us in the end), we cannot dominate God. We cannot make God submit to our will, and we cannot trick him like people do to Satan in fairy tales. This is actually a good thing, again. When I am in a hardship and cannot fix it, I want to know that God is bigger and more powerful than me and my problems.
Job 42
1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
The JPS translation mostly used by Jews says, “Therefore, I recant and relent,
Being but dust and ashes.”
After looking at tons of Christian translations, commentaries, the original Hebrew, and scholarly articles, I am convinced JPS is the correct translation of this verse. According to one article, the only reason most Bibles still have that Job repents is because that was the way it was translated in the Septuagint and no one has bothered to correct it. A Bible scholar told me that these sorts of translation issues do happen. Most of the time it does not change the significance of a verse much, but sometimes, like here, it does. The term “dust and ashes” only happens in the Bible three times. Many people get it mixed up with the idiom “sackcloth and ashes” which is use a lot as a sign of morning or repentance. “Dust and ashes” indicates human mortality because we were made from dust in Genesis. Then we have the word “repent” or “recant/relent” is by itself. The translators added either “of my life” or “of my words” to “repent” assuming that is what he means. This translation just rephrased that.
The main reason I feel this is important is that Job humbly rests his case and is satisfied by God’s answer. He is not sorry for questioning God, but he does see how much bigger God’s plans and purposes are than he can understand. Entire sermons have been based on this verse to say we should not question God, but if that was true, we would have to remove half of the Psalms and many words from various heroes of the Bible, including Jesus himself. Jesus said on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” As we know, though, God did not forsake anyone. He had a cosmic plan for our ultimate and eternal good. Unlike the sermons that say God never really answers Job, this verse says that yes, God did answer, and Job is satisfied by it.
So what was God’s answer? He didn’t give a flat straight forward simplistic answer the way Job’s friends did. Much of what they said was true generally about how the world tended to work ideally, but it was very narrow and not true about Job’s specific situation. Instead, God demonstrated the complexity of his relationship with nature, the universe, and time. The point was that God has a plan in which everything large and small plays a part. God is bigger than the universe, sets time into motion, controls the seasons and passing of time, cares for each individual animal’s needs, imparts wisdom and takes it away, and is not controlled by mankind. Rather than being an algorithm in which good actions bring good things and bad actions bring bad things, God is instead in a relationship with the world in which sometimes things happen we don’t understand. Still, we can know for certain that God is a good God who is in control. He will bring about good in the end.
So why did these bad things have to happen to Job? It is very clear that it isn’t always for the very same purpose for everyone, but in verse 7 Job says that he had heard God. but now he sees him. Many people are transformed by hardships to see the world in a completely different way. It is only through the hard times that the stuff we are made of, both virtue and vice, is most clearly seen. It is also through the hard times in which we can more clearly see the power of God rather than our own efforts or the illusions of the world’s narratives. When things become about life and death, it is hard to be content with the shallow rat race of materialism. It is easier to see what is most important in life. Hardships and trials brings about new vision.
Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz has some good point in his lecture here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/e9LB47o4Q9M?si=FQ087XGByTkEvLnp
Dr. Wright also has some good thoughts on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/GLOzo7pct9Y?si=lt6wJQbiKT1EGY7U
7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
As I have researched Job through this whole series of devotionals, I have come across countless sermons that have declared that Job’s speeches are full of errors and that Job’s friends are right. It baffles me to no end. God in the Bible is always telling us, the reader, the complete truth. If God says Job spoke correctly about him and his friends were wrong, then that is the truth. If we cannot believe the truth of these words, the book of Job makes no sense at all. If both Job and his friends are wrong, then nothing in the conversations between Job and his friends can be useful. We need to know what to believe for the book of Jo to make sense.
We are told by God that Job spoke right and so all the conversation in Job must be seen in this light. The great error that Job’s friends were saying about God is that God is a static formula. God is fair and just, but he is also interested in our growth and development. His world is complex, not simple. We might go through trials and hardships for many reasons other than our sinfulness and self-inflicted foolishness.
As a mother of special needs children, I know beyond any doubt that my children were born with their disabilities from causes that had nothing to do with my actions nor theirs. It was genetic and God-given. Exodus 4:11-12 says, “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?” God made them with their disabilities, not Satan and not by accident. It was not a punishment for anyone’s sin. Those who preach incorrectly about God do not have these children in mind. What the book of Job say is that God has a plan for my children that will bring about good for them in their lives. This does not mean their lives or my life will be easy, but it does mean that God will provide, sustain, bless, and guide us. In the end, whether in this world or the next, there will be a reward beyond what can be imagined.
8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
Again, God is emphasizing who spoke right about God. Job’s friends are instructed to humble themselves to Job and ask for him to speak to God for them. I am amazed at how this section gets ignored. God is not just a little irritated at Job’s friends, but angry enough that he demands a sacrifice, and not by them who are guilty, but by a righteous advocate. Also, we see that even though Job’s friends said also sorts of harsh and untrue things, Job has forgiven them. These are not Job’s enemies as some claim. They are his friends, and friends can make mistakes. Job doesn’t just throw them out or allow them to reap God’s anger. Jesus tell his followers to pray for those who hurt you. Even in the midst of our pain and hardship, we are called on to do the even harder thing of praying for those who who say and think the worst of us.
10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
I find the term “captivity” remarkable here. As Job has gone through his difficulties, everyone had turned against him. Apparently, this was also part of his testing and trial. When God has decided that Job’s time was testing was done, suddenly everyone’s hearts were changed to compassion. I have often been angry during difficult times at how everyone seems heartless and cold, but this too is part of God’s plan. It is hard not to get bitter at family, friends, and the church for not being there for you. Yet, it isn’t by their hands that we are helped or comforted. It is only when God allows it to come. Does this mean everything is God’s fault? Yes! But also remember that we need to go directly to God in prayer and wrestle with him and his purposes. There is a reason. There is a plan. It is not easy or simple or fun. Pain is not a good thing that we are suppose to enjoy in some twisted version of piety. Just like Job, David, and Christ, pain will bring about a good for those who put their trust in God.
12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
God doubles all of Job’s possessions, but he does not give him double more children. Why? Because even though his previous children died, they still have an eternal existence in heaven. Job had been very concerned for their spiritual lives and sacrificed regularly for them. It is clear in the book of Hebrews that Paul believed that those in the Old Testament were saved by faith in that which was to come just as much as those after Christ are saved in the work of God’s forgiveness which was revealed to us. Job’s first children still existed in eternity and were not replaced by new children. Job’s new children doubled Job’s blessedness.
14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
Names are very important in the Bible. It is interesting that the daughters’ names are given and not the sons. Jemima means “fair as the day”, Kezia is the name of a spice similar to cinnamon, and Kerenhappuch means “the horn of stibium” with stibium being a beautifying ointment to give luster to women’s eyes. All three of these names have to do with beauty. Not only were they given beautiful names, they were beautiful, and Job was rich enough to give them the very rare inheritance for women. This also shows Job being a good father to his daughters even though he had sons to carry on his name.
16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
My husband, Dr. Kerry Lee, wrote his PhD thesis on the importance of the death narratives in Genesis. It was extremely important to the ancient world to live a long life and see your descendants. In Greek and Roman times, dying a heroic death death in battle was highly prized, but this was not the way the Old Testament Bible felt. Job had the ideal death.
This study of the book of Job has been very personal, but also long and difficult. I have defended Job’s position from 90% of church resources that criticize him because I have felt Job words myself as I have gone through very dark days. Close to the beginning of this study I have said many times that we are often Job’s friends to ourselves. The dialogue between Job and his friends are some times the same debate we have with ourselves as the world seems to crumble around us. Did I do something wrong? Did I cause this? Does God hate me? Am I more evil than those around me who are doing great? Why me? All these questions and struggles are normal. The book of Job should be a book of comfort to those who are wrestling with hardship and not a book of condemnation. It should give us hope in a powerful God who has a plan. It should let us know that God will answer us when we call on him. It should show us that God is not afraid or angered by our true feelings. Last of all, it should remind us that God will make things right in the end.
I hope that if you are struggling, hurting, or going through a trial that this devotional gives you hope. You are not alone. God sees you and hears you. My prayer is that you may you be blessed in the end like Job.
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