Job 42 Verses 6 to 17 Saving the Best for Last September 25, 2022

Job 42 Verses 6 to 17 Saving the Best for Last September 25, 2022

Class Presentation Notes AAAAA

Background Scripture: Philippians 4:11-14 (NASB) 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Main Idea: Suffering can make us bitter or better-it is our choice:

Study Aim: To learn that we can change our attitude easier than we can change our circumstances.

Create Interest:

· Few adults easily and naturally submit themselves to another’s authority. This includes submitting to God. During times of suffering and loss, many adults are more willing to submit to someone who might be able to help them. This includes human authorities, such as the physician, and the divine authority of God. But when the suffering is deep and long, hope grows dim and faith asks for answers, which seldom come in expected ways. Some people of faith are willing to entrust themselves to God even when their prayers were answered in unexpected ways or not answered at all. This is a test of true faith—trusting and honoring God when some questions remain unanswered.

· Job will never know why all the horror happened to him but in our lesson, we see he is finally humbly trusting in God.

· Let’s see what eternal pearls God has hidden for us to see as we complete the book of Job.

Lesson in Historical Context:

· Following Job’s poem about wisdom in chapter 28, Job summed up his testimony in chapters 29–31. He proclaimed his innocence of any kind of sin and concluded by standing on his record and challenging anyone to prove him guilty.

· At this point a young man named Elihu stepped forward. He had been listening to the debates, and he felt the need to respond in chapters 32–37. He was critical of the three friends and of Job. He strongly defended the justice of God, but he did not attribute all suffering to sin. He did share a new thought that proved true….Job had an attitude unacceptable to God.

· Then the Lord spoke in chapters 38–41. He made two speeches (38:1–40:2 and 40:6–41:34), with a brief response from Job in between (40:3–5).

o In His first speech, the Lord did not explain Job’s suffering. He said nothing about Satan. Instead, He asked Job a series of questions.

o In the Lord’s second speech, He asked Job if he still questioned either the Lord’s justice or His power (40:8–9). Chapter 42 records Job’s response to the Lord and tells us the outcome of Job’s story.[1]

· As we concluded last week’s lesson, we saw that Job’s focus now is on what Job “heard” when God spoke. In one of the most famous verses in the book, Job contrasts a previous hearing with a new seeing (vs. 42:5).

o Before the terrible events of this book, Job’s knowledge of God was “by the hearing of the ear” (v. 5). In the context of the book, this must refer to the framework of understanding that he shared with the comforters and with so many morally serious philosophers and theologians throughout history.

o He has heard the traditions of these people; the assured results of their traditional understanding had come into his ears from childhood. He had heard that there was one Almighty God, that this God was righteous and all-powerful, and that therefore certain things might be expected, morally, in the world by way of crime and punishment, virtue and reward.

o All this he had heard “by the hearing of the ear.” “But now my eye sees you” (v. 5). On the face of it this is a strange thing to say after God has given him word-portraits of two terrible creatures, the Behemoth, and the Leviathan.

o He has had no mystical vision of God; a radiant vision has not been granted to him. Rather he has seen in his imagination two terrible beasts or monsters.

o He has not had Isaiah’s later vision of the Lord lifted up in the temple (Isaiah 6) or Ezekiel’s strange vision of the Lord on his chariot throne (e.g., Ezekiel 1).

o He has not literally seen anyone or anything.

o He is still on his rubbish heap licking his wounds, surrounded by unhelpful comforters and the challenging presence of the prophet Elihu.

§ And yet, as he has heard the Lord’s words (by whatever psychological or physical mechanism they might have come), he has seen the Lord with a clarity he has not approached before.

§ And in response to this aural vision (for it is a vision that enters him through his ears) he repents (v. 6), for the first and only time in the book. He not only admits he has spoken what he ought not to have spoken—he turns from these words and repents in deep contrition for his sin.

§ It is an extraordinary and surprising response from the man who has steadfastly refused to repent of the supposed sins of which the comforters have repeatedly accused him. Clearly it signals a climax in the book.[2]

Bible Study:

Job 42:6 (NASB) 6 Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes."

· Job abases himself and recants, confessing himself to be no better than the dust and ashes on which he has been sitting. Job has come to a true assessment of himself before the holy God, as indicated by the similarity of his words to those of Abraham when he interceded for the sparing of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the righteous left in those cities: “Behold, I have been bold to speak, though I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27).

· Job both renounces all false pride and concedes that God has been true to justice in allowing him, the noblest sheikh, to be brought so low that’ he has had to sit outside the city on the ash heap.

o The term recant (niḥam) means to turn from a planned course of action and take up a new course.

§ It implies the strongest resolve to change direction, but not an attitude of remorse.

§ It is affirmative action based on conviction.

§ In recanting Job surrenders to God the last vestige of his self-righteousness, i.e., he withdraws his avowal of innocence.

§ From now on he will locate his self-worth in his relationship with Yahweh, not in his own moral behavior or innocence.

📷 Thus Job commits his fate into God’s hands knowing that he can bear any fate, for he has seen Yahweh.[3]

Thoughts to soak on:

· God extends to us the same gracious invitation He did to Job, that we come to His Holy Word and respond to Him. When we read or listen to God’s Word, we discover what Job did: God is the great Creator and Sustainer of the universe, including all of life.

· But God did not stop there, turning His back on His creation. Rather, He is continuously moving in the affairs of people and working out all things for good, in particular for those who believe in and love Him.

· Furthermore, as we study God’s Word, we learn that God is righteous and just and that He will execute perfect justice throughout the universe. Even more encouraging than this, God’s Holy Word tells us the wonderful truth that Job did not have revealed to him: the fact that God loves the world with a perfect, incomprehensible love.

· God loves the world so much that He sent His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to save the world. In no uncertain terms, God’s Word declares the most glorious news imaginable:

o that Jesus Christ died for our sins

o that whoever believes in Christ will not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16; Ro. 5:8)

· When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He actually took our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty of death for us.

o Therefore, if we will truly trust Christ, God accepts our trust, our faith as righteousness.

o God accepts us in His beloved Son, whom He loves with all of His being.

o Because of God’s love for His son, He will do anything for those who truly believe in and honor His Son by surrendering their lives to Him. God’s Holy Word clearly and repeatedly proclaims this amazing truth:[4]

§ John 3:16 (KJV) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

§ John 1:12 (KJV) 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

§ John 5:24 (KJV) 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Job 42:7 (NASB) 7 It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.

· It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job. Had the matter been left according to the record in vs. 6, a wholly erroneous impression would have been made. Job was overwhelmed with the conviction of his guilt, and had nothing been said to his friends, the impression would have been that he was wholly in the wrong. It was important, therefore, and was indeed essential to the plan of the book, that the divine judgment should be pronounced on the conduct of his three friends.

· The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite. Eliphaz had been uniformly first in the argument with Job, and hence he is particularly addressed here. He seems to have been the most aged and respectable of the three friends, and in fact the speeches of the others are often a mere echo of his.

· My wrath is kindled. Wrath, or anger, is often represented as enkindled, or burning.

· because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.

o This must be understood comparatively. God did not approve of all that Job had said, but the meaning is, that his general views of his government were just.

o The main position which Job had defended in contradistinction from his friends was correct, for his arguments tended to vindicate the divine character, and to uphold the divine government.

o It is to be remembered, also, as Bouiller has remarked, that there was a great difference in the circumstances of Job and the three friends—circumstances modifying the degrees of blameworthiness chargeable to each.

o Job uttered indeed, some improper sentiments about God and his government; he expressed himself with irreverence and impatience.

§ Job used a language of boldness and complaint wholly improper, but this was done in the agony of mental and bodily suffering, and when provoked by the severe and improper charges of hypocrisy brought by his friends.

§ What they said, on the contrary, was unprovoked. It was when they were free from suffering, and when they were urged to it by no severity of trial. It was, moreover, when every consideration required them to express the language of condolence, and to comfort a suffering friend.[5]

Job 42:8-9 (NASB) 8 "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 that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has." 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.

· 42:8–9. To the utter surprise and chagrin of the three critics, God told them to offer a burnt offering of seven bulls and seven rams, a large sacrifice. And they were to have Job pray for them as their mediator (cf. his earlier work as a priest, vs.1:5).

o My servant Job will pray for you. This is, of course, the ultimate irony—the friends’ restoration to God is dependent on the intercession of the one they had condemned as a sinner! I will accept his prayer. Job’s prayer will be efficaciousin removing the friends’ sin and restoring their relationship to God. God designates the friends’ misleading speech as folly. This is not simply thoughtless, uninformed, or frivolous speech.

o “Folly” in the ot always has a willful edge to it, rejecting the purposes of God—thus the fool is culpable for failure to fear God rightly and follow his path.

o It seems here, therefore, that the friends fall under the judgment of sin because they promulgate a distorted worldview and use that view to condemn innocent sufferers as sinful persons.

o This is an instructive warning for us all! You have not spoken … what is right. The rebuke of the friends in verse 7 opened with this same phrase. Its reappearance here emphasizes the failing of the friends, while God reaffirms Job’s words as right and Job as his servant.[6]

· They had defended God’s justice in striking Jobdown. But now they saw that God is concerned with more than justice; He is also known for love and grace.

o Repentance, which they had recommended for Job, was now what they had to do. They too were silenced—and corrected—by God’s direct communication.

o Elihu was excluded from this act of repentance because he, though not having all the truth on Job’s situation, was nearer the truth than the other three.

· Job had longed for a mediator between himself and God (16:19–21) since his three countrymen were not interceding for him; but ironically he himself became a mediator for them, even though they did not ask for one.[7]

Thoughts to Soak On:

· Job is put in the place of intercessor for the three, a profound humiliation for them and an honor for him. They obeyed at once, showing that they have learned their lesson, as well as Job has. An incidental lesson from that final picture of the sufferer become the priest requiting accusations with intercession, is the duty of cherishing kind feelings and doing kind acts to those who say hard things of us. It would be harder for some of us to offer sacrifices for our Eliphaz’s than to argue with them. And yet another is that sorrow has for one of its purposes to make the heart more tender, both for the sorrows and the faults of others.

· Note, too, that it was ‘when Job prayed for his friends’ that the Lord turned his captivity. That is a proverbial expression, bearing witness, probably, to the deep traces left by the Exodus, for reversing calamity. The turning-point was not merely the confession, but the act, of beneficence. So, in ministering to others, one’s own griefs may be soothed.

· The restoration of outward good in double measure is not meant as the statement of a universal law of Providence, and still less as a solution of the problem of the book. But it is putting the truth that sorrows, rightly borne, yield peaceable fruit at the last, in the form appropriate to the stage of revelation which the whole book represents; that is, one in which the doctrine of immortality, though it sometimes rises before Job’s mind as an aspiration of faith, is not set in full light.

· To us, living in the blaze of light which Jesus Christ has let into the darkness of the future, the ‘end of the Lord’ is that heaven should crown the sorrows of His children on earth.

· We can speak of light, transitory affliction working out an eternal weight of glory. The book of Job is expressing substantially the same expectation, when it paints the calm after the storm and the restoration in double portion of vanished blessings.

· Many desolate yet trusting sufferers know how little such an issue is possible for their grief, but if they have more of God in clearer sight of Him, they will find empty places in their hearts and homes filled.[8]

Job 42:10-17 (NASB) 10 The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORDincreased all that Job had twofold. 11 Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

· Vs. 10: Job was able to forgive others. A new forgiving spirit was granted him. ‘And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends’. In forgiving, we are forgiven (Luke 6:38). God said, ‘My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him’ (v. 8).

o Power in prayer returns to Job and to all who forgive others their trespasses against themselves. Job’s prayers for his friends are accepted: ‘the Lord had accepted Job’ (v. 9).

o Intercessory prayer is a Holy Spirit-urged ministry and is seen in those led by the Spirit (Eph. 6:18). Our willingness to forgive is proof that we ourselves have been forgiven (Matt. 6:14–15; 18:21–22), while ‘The effective prayer of a righteous man to turn away God’s anger from the wicked (cf. Gen. 18) adds another meaning to Job’s suffering that no one had thought of.

· Job had been ridiculed, called a liar and rejected, nevertheless he prays for all his detractors now: ‘My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him’ (v. 8). He is assured of God’s vindication before his friends.

o Job was bankrupt, but now he will work again for a living. Job was able to forgive those who opposed him and to hold no bitterness or bear any grudges towards them (v. 10).

o Job stands as a mediator—something he had thought about, but he never imagined this role for himself. Here we see Job’s priestly office, and we are reminded of the Protestant doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.

§ His desire was for someone to mediate between him and God (Jehovah).

§ Now he is the priest, and his accusers are the recipients of God’s grace: ‘he prayed for his friends’ (v. 10).

§ This is a clear picture of the gospel: of Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man, who ever lives to make intercession for the sins of his people by continuously presenting the blood of his sacrifice to the Father for propitiation (Rom. 8:34). God granting double blessings (vv. 8, 10, 12) speaks of his joy in Job and his rejoicing over his restoration.

· Vs. 11: Brothers, sisters and close friends consoled and comforted Job. They helped him by bringing gifts. This is God at work, and a minor miracle. Where were these relatives when he was very ill? Perhaps they were afraid to help, thinking that Job was under God’s judgement. Thus, they kept their distance and withheld their support until it was clear that he was innocent of the charges his three friends were making.

o Some friends are fair-weather friends like these. These brothers, sisters and other close acquaintances had a change of heart when it became clear that God had not abandoned Job or rejected him.

o When trouble hits, it is always good to get support from friends who will console, understand, and provide comfort. Job’s vertical relationship was renewed and restored, and good horizontal relations followed as a result.[9]

Job 42:12-15 (NASB) 12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found so fair as Job's daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.

· 42:12 A comparison with 1:3 shows that the numbers of sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys is exactly double.

· 42:13 These seven (additional) sons and three daughters “replaced” the ones who perished in the collapse of the oldest brother’s house. One might ask why he did not have fourteen sons and six daughters to correspond with the doubling of his other assets. The answer is that he did: the first set, to be reunited with him when he died, and the second set, born after his tragedies and trials (cf. 2 Sam 12:23; 1 Thess. 4:13; 1 Cor 15:54).

· 42:14 The first of two unusual features about Job’s daughters appears here—their names are given, while the names of the sons are not.

o The disclosure (vs.14) of the names of the daughters, which have meanings that seem strange to us but for which no hidden symbolism has been found, while the sons remain anonymous, is probably intended to go with the remarkable fact that they shared the inheritance with their brothers (vs.15). No explanation is given for this arrangement, which was not required by law, but lay in the father’s discretion. (According to Num. 27, daughters inherited only when there were no male heirs; this need did not arise here.) Job’s gesture might have been an additional expression of gratitude for his replaced family, or a further proof of his restored wealth which provided plenty for all.[10]

o The names of his daughters are here registered (v. 14), because, in the significations of them, they seemed designed to perpetuate the remembrance of God’s great goodness to him in the surprising change of his condition.

§ He called the first Jemimah—The day (whence perhaps Diana had her name), because of the shining forth of his prosperity after a dark night of affliction.

§ The next Keziah, a spice of a very fragrant smell, because (says bishop Patrick) God had healed his ulcers, the smell of which was offensive.

§ The third Keren-happuch (that is Plenty restored, or A horn of paint), because (says he) God had wiped away the tears which fouled his face, Ch. 16:16.[11]

· 42:15 The second unusual feature about Job’s daughters, not counting their outstanding beauty, is that they received “an inheritance along with their brothers.” Ordinarily, as we have previously noted, only sons shared in the father’s wealth, and daughters inherited it only if they had no living brothers (Num 27:8). This is another indication that Job did not come from mainstream Israel after the time of Moses.[12]

Job 42:16-17 (NASB) 16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man and full of days.

· Ver. 16. —After this lived Job 140 years. It has been concluded from this statement, combined with that at the close of ver. 10, that Job was exactly seventy years of age when his calamities fell upon him (‘Dict. of the Bible,’ vol. i. p. 1087, note); but this is really only a conjecture, since the statement that “God added to all that had been Job’s to the double,” does not naturally apply to anything but his property. We may, however, fairly allow that (as Professor Lee says) he “could scarcely have been less than seventy” when his afflictions came, having then a family of ten children, who were all grown up (Ch. 1:4). In this case, the whole duration of his life would have been 210 years, or a little more, which cannot be regarded as incredible by those who accept the ages of the patriarchs, from Peleg to Jacob, as respectively 239, 230, 148, 205, 175, 180, and 147 years. And saw his sons, and his sons’sons; i.e. his descendants—grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Even four generations. According to the Hebrew inclusive practice of reckoning, we may regard his own generation as included.

· Ver. 17.—So Job died, being old and full of days. The lowest estimate places the occurrence of the afflictions of Job at the time when he was a little more than fifty (“Supponitur quinquagenario haud multo majorem fuisse Nostrum, quum conflictari cœpit,” Schultens). Thus, his age at his death would be at leasta hundred and ninety.[13]

POSTLUDE

· We must not misinterpret this final chapter and conclude that every trial will end with all problems solved, all hard feelings forgiven, and everybody “living happily ever after.” It just doesn’t always happen that way! This chapter assures us that, no matter what happens to us, God always writes the last chapter.

o Therefore, we don’t have to be afraid. We can trust God to do what is right, no matter how painful our situation might be.

· But Job’s greatest blessing was not the regaining of his health and wealth or the rebuilding of his family and circle of friends. His greatest blessing was knowing God better and understanding His working in a deeper way. As James wrote, “You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the purpose of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11, NKJV). And Hebrews 12:11reminds us: “Now, no chastening seems to be joyous for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (NKJV).

· “In the whole story of Job,” wrote G. Campbell Morgan, “we see the patience of God and endurance of man. When these act in fellowship, the issue is certain. It is that of the coming forth from the fire as gold, that of receiving the crown of life” (The Answers of Jesus to Job, Baker, p. 117).

· No matter what God permits to come into our lives, He always has His “afterward.” He writes the last chapter—and that makes it worth it all.

o Therefore, BE PATIENT![14]

Theological Significance.

· What is the answer to Satan’s challenge?

o Did Job fear God for nothing? The answer, remarkably, is no. Job did not serve God for nothing. Job learned that the real benefit of his piety was not his health and wealth and children; it was God Himself. God, the Creator and Judge of all, is bringing about the triumph of righteousness. And Job now knew he could trust God to do all things right, even if it cost Job all he had. For he still had God

Questions for Reflection

1. Why do we assume that we are being punished for sin whenever calamity strikes?

2. In what ways did the strict religion of the three friends make them less than human?

3. Do we sometimes wonder why God waits so long and seems to allow sinners to go unpunished? How does Job help us to solve this problem?

4. What is the difference between serving God for God Himself and serving Him in order to be safe from trouble and hardship? How does Job help us to see the difference?

5. How did Job come to see his need for resurrection and for a Mediator? How did God meet those needs for us?[15]

[1]Robert J. Dean, Family Bible Study, Fall 2005, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, 2005), 128–129. [2]Christopher Ash, Job: The Wisdom of the Cross, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 416–417. [3] John E. Hartley, The Book of Job, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 537. [4]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Job, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2010), 283. [5]Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Job, vol. 2 (London: Blackie & Son, 1847), 270–271. [6]Gerald H. Wilson, Job, ed. W. Ward Gasque, Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Robert K. Johnston, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 472–473. [7] Roy B. Zuck, “Job,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 775. [8]Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Esther-Ecclesiastes (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 69–70. [9] Ian S. McNaughton, Opening up Job, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster, England: Day One, 2014), 148–150. [10]Francis I. Andersen, Job: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 14, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1976), 317. [11]Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 742. [12]Robert L. Alden, Job, vol. 11, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 413–414. [13] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Job, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 664. [14]Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Patient, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 155. [15]Duane A. Garrett, “The Poetic and Wisdom Books,” in Holman Concise Bible Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 212.