Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then Job replied to the Lord:
“I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.
“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’
My ears had heard of you
    but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
    and repent in dust and ashes.”
After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

• Job 42:1-17

Job 42:3 ”It’s easy to thank God when he does what we want. But God doesn’t always do what we want. Ask Job.
“His empire collapsed, his children were killed, and what was a healthy body became a rage of boils. From whence came this torrent? From whence will come any help?
“Job goes straight to God and pleads his case. His head hurts. His body hurts. His heart hurts.
“And God answers. Not with answers but with questions. An ocean of questions …
“After several dozen questions … Job has gotten the point. What is it?
“The point is this: God owes no one anything. No reasons. No explanations. Nothing. If he gave them, we couldn’t understand them.
“God is God. He knows what he is doing. When you can’t trace his hand, trust his heart.”

• Max Lucado, The Inspirational Study Bible

The Message

In the first six verses, Job humbles himself.  What Elihu said, for the wrong reasons, was that Job was talking about something that he did not understand.  Seeing God in this storm, talking to him, Job understood that God is not answerable to us.  We do not have the capacity within us to understand.

God is God.  We are not.

But then God says that He is very upset with Job’s friends.  But if the friends give Job seven bulls and seven rams for a burnt offering, Job can pray for them, and then they will not get what they deserved by misrepresenting God to His servant Job.

This is done, and in that Job prayed for his friends, his riches are doubled what he had before.  He has seven sons and three daughters.  Oddly, the three daughters are named and none of the sons.  This shrouds the legacy of Job to a mystery.  Was he an actual person or an allegorical story?  Since genealogies speak of male offspring, we cannot tie this story to any of the genealogies in the Bible.

And what did we learn?

God gives us tests of faith.  Bad things happening to us may only be a test.  We may need to examine whether there is a sin we have not repented of, but we cannot blame God for our troubles.

God is God and we are not.

God is not answerable to us when we think we have gotten the short end of the stick.

And if you are a friend of someone hurting.  Make no unsubstantiated accusations.  In fact, just being there without saying anything can be a comfort.

If there are truths among the accusations that the friends made, the truths are limited and only valid under certain contexts.

And one thing Elihu said was right, we speak without understanding of the ways of God.  Thus, we must be careful with our speech and caring in what we say.

And now let us sing.

The following song is He Will Restore All.  This is by Hearts Praise.

 

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  Lord, You are God, and we are not.  You restored Job’s riches, but only after he prayed for his friends.  It causes me to wonder what friend I have not prayed for.  What person have I not helped?  Lord, I am Yours, whether rich or poor.  I am Yours and in following Your commandments, I am here on earth to love others.  Teach me and forgive me for my lack of understanding.  In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.