Year 8, Day 136: Job 42

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I really love the end of the book of Job.  It is one of my favorite moments of forgiveness recorded in the Bible.  Some of my other moments are the washing of Jesus’ feet and the man healed from the possession of a legion of demons.  Why do I love the book of Job’s ending so much?  It’s simple.  The right thing happens.

First of all, look at Job.  Job gets the message.  He was righteous.  He spoke righteous words.  God affirms how Job spoke, even!  However, Job also is not innocent.  He hears the critique and accepts the rebuke.  He humbles himself before God.  That’s what should happen when people who do wrong are corrected.  Job is vindicated; but, he accepts it humbly.

Second, I love that Job’s friends are rebuked.  Actually, to be correct, I love how the rebuking of Job’s friends is handled.  God chastises them and affirms that they are wrong. He specifically says that they spoke poorly on His behalf.  God doesn’t appreciate when we say the wrong thing, call it truth, and attribute it to Him.  God is not the God of things that sound right or things that feel true.  God is the God of truth.  When we attribute something to God, it should be truth, not just logical.

Perhaps even more importantly, I love that God tells them to sacrifice and then hope that He will listen to Job’s prayer.  It’s a very not-so-subtle acknowledgement that God doesn’t particularly want to consider their own prayers.  Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that God would accept and listen to their genuine prayer.  There’s a difference between sending a message and actually doing something.  God is righteous, He hears a righteous prayer.  But God would rather hear Job’s prayer.  I love that thought.

Lastly, God gives us a promise through action.  God reminds us that He will make things right in the end. Job’s wealth is restored.  His family gathers around him once more.  His public reputation is reinstated.  This doesn’t mean that God will always do it in our lifetime.  But just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God will raise us into eternal life and make it right in the end.  In the end, we will live with Him in life and peace eternal.

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