Job 42

Overview

The end of the book of Job is a beautiful ending.

1. God had victory over Satan. Satan challenged God that if Job lost everything that he has, he would surely curse God (1:11). Although Job had questioned God why he suffered, Job never curse God. At the end, Job came to a greater understanding and experience of the greatness and sovereignty of God. Job no longer wanted to know the reason of his suffering, and he no longer ask God for clearing his name (42:1-6). This happened before God blessed Job with double portion of blessings. This proved that Job was fearful to God because of who God is, not because of the blessings he received from God.
2. Job was vindicated. God finally did vindicate Job by telling his friend Eliphaz that God’s wrath was against them. God did not approve the speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. On top of that, God approved Job’s speeches in front of his friends (42:7). Job must have felt with joy when his name was finally cleared. God even called Job His servant twice in front of his friends (42:7,8).
3. Job’s friendship with his friends restored. God asked Job’s friends to offer burn offering and asked Job to pray for them (42:8). God wanted Job to learn the lesson of forgiveness.
4. Job has grown spiritually. After Job had gone through all the sufferings, he now has first hand experience with God. He had a greater understanding of the characters of God. “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;” (Job 42:5).
5. Job received double portion of earthly blessings. Because of Job’s endurance, God blessed him with double portions of all that he lost. This shows that our God is full of compassion and is merciful (James 5:11).
6. Job forgave his wife. Although this is not explicitly mentioned, just the fact that God had blessed Job with ten more children hints that Job has forgiven his wife and continue to be the spiritual leader for his family.

Life’s Lesson

When we are in sufferings, we need to ask the question: “what does God want me to learn?”. Time of suffering is the greatest time for us to have first hand experience with the almighty God. We need to trust that the Lord is compassion and merciful (James 5:11). He is a faithful God, that means He would keep all His promises.

“… but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Rom 5:3)

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)

It is God’s greatest desire to have all his children to be mold into the image of His Son Jesus Christ (Rom 8:28-29). I pray that it is my greatest desire as well to be more like my Lord Jesus Christ every time I experienced suffering.