Chapter 42

The end of Jobs troubles

Job is humble
v1 Then Job answered God. Job said, v2 I know that you can do anything. Your plans always succeed. v3 You said, Job, you have spoken about things that you do not know. I confess that I did not understand these things. These things are wonderful, and I did not know them. v4 Job continued, You said to me, Listen, and I will speak. I have a test for you. And you must answer me. v5 (But I cannot answer you.) I heard what people said about you. But now, I myself see you. v6 So, I must be humble. I am sorry. And I place dust and ashes on my head. These are a sign to show you that I am sorry. Chapter 42 Verses 1-3 Job had heard Gods speech. So Job realised his error. He was not an evil man. But he had spoken unwise words about God. Sometimes Job complained about Gods behaviour. And sometimes Job accused God. Job was humble. He asked God to forgive him. Verses 4-6 Job was a servant of God, even before Job began to suffer. Then, Job trusted God because other people had told him about God. When God spoke, Job had a new experience. Job learned many things from Gods speech. And now Job trusted God even more. Job had become an even better servant of God. We know that God forgave Job because of verses 7-9. In those verses, God emphasised that Job was a servant of God. If we sincerely confess our errors to God, then God will always forgive us. God is not cruel. He wants to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

God speaks to Eliphaz

v7 After God said these words to Job, God spoke to Eliphaz. Eliphaz belonged to the people called Temanites. God said, I am angry with you. And I am also angry with Bildad and Zophar. Job, who is my servant, said the right things about me. But you did not. v8 So take 7 bulls (male cows) and 7 rams (male sheep). Take them to Job, because Job is my servant. Then, kill the animals and burn them as a gift to me. Then Job, who is my servant, will pray for you. I shall answer his prayer. Then I shall not punish you for your foolish words. Job, who is my servant, said the right things about me. But you did not. Verses 7-8 These verses may seem strange to some people. Such people do not know why God was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. Jobs friends were sometimes wrong, but sometimes Job was wrong too. So, you might think that they all deserved the same punishment. The explanation is that Job was a servant of God. In other words, Job had a special task to do. A servant carries out his masters work. And Job had decided to do Gods work on earth (Job 29:14). So Job was acting on behalf of God. Job was already Gods servant when his troubles began (Job 1:8). And Job was still Gods servant during his troubles (Job 2:3). In verses 7-8, God emphasised 4 times that Job was Gods servant.

At the time of the Bible, there was a special relationship between a servant and his master. Someone who insulted a servant was also insulting the servants master. See Mark 12:1-9. A master would try to punish the person who insulted his servant. The master would feel that the person was insulting the masters own honour. In 2 Kings 2:23-24, some youths insulted a servant of God called Elisha. This was a terrible thing to do. It was as if they were insulting God himself. Animals called bears came from the wood and attacked those youths. If those youths had insulted an ordinary man, such a terrible thing would not have happened. But Elisha was acting on behalf of God. Eliphaz said that Job was very evil (Job 22:5). This would be a stupid thing to say about any innocent man. But Job was not merely an ordinary man. He was a servant of God. So Eliphazs stupid words were insulting God. In other words, Eliphaz insulted Gods servant. So Eliphaz was also insulting God. And the three friends were responsible for another wrong thing also. A servant must be loyal to his master. And Job tried hard always to be loyal to God. Job was even loyal to God when he heard his wifes foolish advice (Job 2:9-10). Job did not blame God in chapter 3. But then Jobs friends accused Job. And Job felt that, in order to defend himself, he had to accuse God. Job only blamed God because of the friends arguments. So they were partly responsible for Jobs errors. They had caused Job not to be totally loyal to God. So God was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. The Bible often tells us that God is angry because of our evil deeds (Romans 1:18). But God is not cruel. He is kind. And he wants to forgive us (1 John 1:9). God could have punished Jobs friends. But instead, God wanted to forgive them. So God told them to kill some animals. Then, they should burn the animals as gift to God. In other words, the animals would suffer the punishment that the friends deserved. And God would forgive the friends. God often wanted such gifts before Jesus came. When Jesus died, he suffered our punishment. So, he suffered instead of us. And God forgives us, because of what Jesus did (Hebrews 10:1-10). We must confess our evil deeds to God. And we must invite Jesus into our lives. Job prayed for the friends because he was Gods servant. So Job had a special relationship with God. Job was even able to pray on behalf of his friends. We all can have that special relationship with God. First, we must invite Jesus into our lives. And then we can allow Gods Holy Spirit to pray through us (Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 14:15; John 7:37-39).

Job prays for his friends

v9 The names of Jobs three friends were: Eliphaz, who belonged to the people called Temanites; Bildad, who belonged to the people called Shuhites; Zophar, who belonged to the people called Naamathites. They obeyed God. And God answered Jobs prayer. Verse 9 Jobs friends obeyed God. And God forgave them. Note that God was not angry with Elihu. Elihu said the right things about God.

God makes Job successful again

v10 After Job prayed for his friends, God made Job successful again. God gave Job double what Job had before his troubles.

v11 And many people visited Job. These people included Jobs brothers and sisters. All his former friends came too. They ate with Job, in Jobs house. They sympathised with Job. And they comforted him about his troubles, which God brought about. Each person gave Job some money and a gold ring. v12 God was kind to Job for the rest of his life. Job was even more successful than before. Job had: 14 000 sheep; 6000 camels; 1000 pairs of oxen (large farm animals); 1000 donkeys (small horses). v13 Job also had 7 sons and 3 daughters. Job named his daughters: v14 Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch. v15 Jobs daughters were the most beautiful women in the entire country. And Job ordered that his sons should share the familys wealth with his daughters. Verse 10 Originally, Job thought that he would be wealthy for his whole life (Job 29:18-20). Then Job thought that he would die because of his illness (Job 7:21). In the end, Job was wealthy again. Our lives often change like this. We should learn to be content whatever happens (Philippians 4:11-12). Whether we are rich or poor, we should always trust God (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Verse 11 These people avoided Job when he was suffering (Job 19:13-19). But, at the end of Jobs troubles, God allowed these people to help Job. They comforted him. And they sympathised with him. It seems that they did not know the reason for Jobs troubles. They still thought that God caused Jobs troubles. But chapters 1 and 2 explain that Satan (the devil) really caused these troubles. God permitted Job to suffer. But God did not attack Job. Verse 12 Job had twice the number of animals that he had in Job 1:2. Verses 13-14 And Job had a new family. Verse 15 Job looked after his daughters carefully. At the time of Job, usually only the sons would share the familys wealth. Jobs gift to his daughters also shows that he was very wealthy. He had enough money to provide for his daughters as well as his sons.

Jobs long life

v16 Job lived 140 years after these events. He lived so long that he saw the children of his own grandchildren. v17 Jobs life was long and successful. Job was very old when he died. Verse 16 Jobs life was much longer than people live today. The people in the Book of Genesis also had very long lives (Genesis chapter 5). After the flood, God said that men would not continue to live for more than 120 years (Genesis 6:3). And Psalm 90:10 says that a normal life is 70 or 80 years. Because of verse 16, some people think that Job lived in very ancient times. If so, the Book of Job may be the oldest book that still exists.

Verse 17 Job was a great man. He was wealthy. He had a large family. And he lived a long life. He achieved many things in his life. All these things seemed important to Job before his troubles began. But Job learned something new when he suffered his great troubles. He learned that it is more important to be a servant of God than anything else.