Lesson: Job 42:1-10
Golden Text: “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee” (Job 42:2).
I. INTRODUCTION. One way of refining silver involves the long process of heating it until all the other metals have been skimmed off. After the silver cools, it’s reheated to remove any other impurities. This process is repeated until there are no signs of anything except the silver. The psalmist wrote that God refines us like silver (see Psalms 66:10), but then brings us to a place of abundance. The Lord uses good and bad events in our lives to form us into the persons He wants us to be. Those events, both bad and good refine us so that we more closely conform to His image. In this week’s lesson, we learn about the end of Job’s incredible journey of intense suffering and personal repentance. We will see that by the end of Job’s story, God was the central figure and focus. His sovereign character was confessed and His sovereign abundance was demonstrated
II. BACKGROUND FOR THE LESSON. During all of Job’s troubles, he steadfastly held to being innocent of any sin that caused his suffering (see Job 4:7; 9:22, 28-29; 13:15-18; 26:5-6; 32:1; 33:9). Job was correct, but in all of this, he became arrogant and critical of God. He believed that since he was innocent he had the right to confront God and plead his case (see Job 13:3; 23:3-4). However, since God chose not to reply to him at this time, Job complained that God was silent, inaccessible and appeared not to be concerned (see Job 23:8-9). After all three of Job’s friends had nothing else to say (see Job 32:15), Elihu became the fourth person to speak to Job and his friends (see Job 32:1-14). Apparently he was a bystander who heard their debate and was much younger than Job and his friends (see Job 32:6-7). While Job’s three friends said that he was suffering because of some past sins, Elihu had a different viewpoint and a better understanding of Job’s problem than his three friends had because he had a higher understanding of God (see Job chapters 32-37). Elihu maintained that Job wasn’t suffering because of sin; he was sinning because of suffering. He pointed out that Job had become arrogant as he tried to defend his innocence (see Job 33:8-13). There was much truth in Elihu’s speech. While his words were on a higher spiritual level than Job, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, Elihu still wrongly assumed that responding to suffering correctly always brings healing and restoration (see Job 33:23-30), and that suffering is always in some way connected to sin (see Job 34:11). Following Job’s dialogues with his three friends (see Job chapters 4-31) and the counsel of Elihu (see chapters 32-37), the Lord spoke directly to Job (see Job 38:1-39:30). First He rebuked Job for questioning Him as the Creator of the earth and all its creatures (see Job 38:1-39:30). The Lord then rebuked Job for questioning Him as the Creator of the mightiest of all those creatures, the behemoth which was possibly the hippopotamus, and the leviathan which was a large unidentifiable sea animal (see Job 40:6-41:34). In Job 42:1-10 which is our lesson text, we have Job’s response to the Lord as well as Job’s restoration.
III. A RECOGNITION OF INADEQUACY (Job 42:1-6)
A. God’s sovereignty (Job 42:1-2).
1. (vs. 1). After the Lord spoke to Job out of the whirlwind (see Job 38:1; chapters 39-41), our first verse says “Then Job answered the Lord, and said.” This was Job’s second response to God. In his first response (see Job 40:3-5), Job admitted that he was vile and that he couldn’t answer God’s questions (see Job chapter 38, 39; 40:2).
2. (vs. 2). Job begins to respond to God saying “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” After God had spoken to Job, he now admitted that God could “do every thing.” Throughout Job’s troubles he questioned God’s sovereignty and justice, but now God had challenged Job to tell Him where was he when He created the universe. Job repented of his questioning of God’s wisdom and acknowledged God’s great power. In addition to being able to do everything Job said to God “no thought can be withholden from thee.” The Amplified Bible translates this phrase as “no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.” In other words, God is so powerful that no one or anything can prevent or stop His plans. Job wanted his suffering to end on his own timing, but he failed to realize that his suffering was meant for his good and God’s glory (see Romans 8:28-32). However now Job had to admit that even if we don’t understand God’s plans, they will still be carried out in His own time.
B. Job’s admission (Job 42:3-4).
1. (vs. 3). In this verse, Job continued to say to God “Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” In Job 38:2, God had asked Job this same question. Now Job repeated it back to God actually saying “(Lord) You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge (NIV)?’” By referring back to this question Job was admitting that he was guilty of trying to understand God’s plans without having any real knowledge of Him. So Job also admitted “therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” The Living Bible translates Job’s words as “I was talking about things I knew nothing about and did not understand things far too wonderful for me.” The word “wonderful” refers to things beyond one’s understanding and also causes astonishment. Job had claimed a higher knowledge of God when debating with his friends, especially when he inferred that God allowed the wicked to prosper without being judged (see Job chapter 24). Elihu, the young man who stood by listening to the discussion between Job and his three friends had earlier rebuked Job for saying things he didn’t understand or had knowledge of (see Job 34:35; 35:16). However, nothing except hearing directly from God could cause Job to realize how ignorant he was when it came to understanding the Lord. So, now after hearing from the Lord, he realized that the entire conversation with his friends was foolishness.
2. (vs. 4). In this verse Job said to God “Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.” Job here again quoted what the Lord had stated earlier in Job 38:3; 40:7. When God spoke those words to Job, He was demanding that Job answer the questions He posed to him (see Job chapters 38, 39; 40:1-2, 6-24). But when Job repeated these same words he was asking God to speak to him and “declare thou unto me.” The word “declare” means to instruct. The word “demand” as used here means to “ask.” Earlier, Job had asked for the chance to bring his case before God (see Job 13:18) and he would hear God’s response (see Job 13:22; 23:3-5). However, the Lord didn’t honor Job’s request at that time. But now having been chastised by the Lord for his lack of understanding, Job wanted the Lord to instruct him more.
C. Job’s humility (Job 42:5-6).
1. (vs. 5). Job continued to say to the Lord “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.” The phrase “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear” is an indication of Job’s humbleness. He admitted that what he knew about God was second hand knowledge. He had heard about the Lord from other people. This included what Job knew about the Creation, because he wasn’t there to see it (see Job 38:4-11). But now after a divine revelation of God, Job could say “but now mine eye seeth thee.” Of course this doesn’t mean that Job actually saw God, for no one can see Him and live (Exodus 33:20). Job likened God’s personal revelation to him (see Job 38:1) as seeing Him. He had experienced God’s presence.
2. (vs. 6). The divine revelation of God caused Job to say “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” This speaks of Job’s humility. It was God’s revelation of Himself that humbled Job. The word “myself” is italicized in the KJV indicating that it was added by the translators for better understanding. The original text simply says “Wherefore I abhor.” This would mean that Job completely despised himself, and was especially ashamed of the statements he had made accusing God of not judging the wicked. As a result of his humility, Job added “(I) repent in dust and ashes.” Job repented, or had a change of mind because he had a self-righteous attitude toward God when he received no answers from Him concerning why he was suffering. The ash heap on which Job had been sitting (see Job 2:8) had now changed from a refuge for an outcast to an altar for a repentant sinner. Note: God may not choose to appear to us in spectacular ways today. However, we have many vivid meetings with Him through His written Word, and we would do well to take these meetings seriously. We must remember that because of our sin, we deserve only condemnation and eternal separation from Him. But only through His grace and the imputed righteousness of Christ are we able to come before Him.
IV. A REVERSAL OF POSITIONS (Job 42:7-10)
A. God rebukes Job’s friends (Job 42:7-9).
1. (vs. 7). This verse says “And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” God now turns his attention to the three friends who had given Job some erroneous advice during their discussion. The Lord directed His statements to “Eliphaz the Temanite.” Eliphaz was from Teman which was thought to be in the land of Edom. He was the first of Job’s friends to criticize him. Gods said to Eliphaz “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” Job had advised his friends not to try to speak for God while judging him because the Lord would judge them (see Job 13:7-10). That advice was now coming to pass. Job’s friends correctly tried to defend God’s justice, but they incorrectly applied it to why Job was suffering. They spoke as if they knew God’s mind. The Lord said that He was angry with them because “ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” They saw God as a judge and failed to see Him as a God of grace, love, and mercy who, in His sovereignty could use suffering for teaching purposes as well as punishment. On the other hand, Job had spoken of God “the thing that is right” meaning that Job had said what was right concerning the Lord. Job had correctly argued that God would not punish the innocent unjustly. Job’s friends had made the error of assuming that his suffering was caused by some great sin. They were judging Job without knowing what God was doing. We must avoid making judgments about a person because God may be working in ways we know nothing about. The Lord referred to Job as “my servant.” Before Job’s trials, the Lord introduced him to Satan as His servant (see Job 1:8; 2:3) and nothing had happened since that time to change God’s high esteem for Job. The Hebrew word for “servant” is slave, but when used by God it’s a description of great position and honor. In Scripture, in addition to Job, God has referred to only a few people as “my servant”---Abraham (see Genesis 26:24), Moses (see Numbers 12:7-8; Joshua 1:2, 7), Caleb (see Numbers 14:24) David (see II Samuel 3:18; 7:5, 8), Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3), and Eliakim (see Isaiah 22:20).
2. (vs. 8). Now God said to Job’s three friends “Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.” Since Job’s friends had not spoken accurately about the Lord, He instructed them to “go to my servant Job” and bring seven bullocks or bulls, and seven rams and “offer up for yourselves a burnt offering.” During this time which was before the Law, the “burnt offering” was a sacrifice to symbolize total surrender to God, because the sacrifice was completely burned up. But after the Law was given, it also served as a substitute for the sinner for sins in general (see Leviticus 1:3-4). The same Job whom these three men accused of being a great sinner now would serve as priest for them. They believed that Job had sinned and was in need of restoration, but God declared that they were the ones who needed to be restored, and Job would be the mediator between them and God. Once they brought the offering to Job, the Lord said “my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept.” Job was the proper mediator, meaning the right one to pray or intercede for them, because God accepted him and his prayer for His friends. In the last phrase of this verse we see that it was necessary for them to obey God for He said “lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.” In other words, if Job’s friends failed to obey God by not bringing the demanded sacrifice, he would deal with them because they didn’t speak correctly about Him when they debated with Job. If Job hadn’t performed this service as an intercessor, his friends would have been condemned by God. Job’s friends would only be accepted by the Lord because He accepted Job. In this, Job was a type of Christ (see II Corinthians 5:21; I Timothy 2:5).
3. (vs. 9). This verse says “So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.” Job’s three friends obeyed the Lord’s command to bring the proper offering to Job, and God accepted Job’s intercession or prayer for them. Interceding for his friends who had falsely accused him of some great sin demonstrated Job’s love and forgiving spirit. This is the type of love that believers should show all the time.
B. God’s exaltation of Job (Job 42:10). Our final verse says “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” The phrase “turned the captivity” means to restore one’s fortunes. In other words, after Job prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again by giving him “twice as much as he had before.” Notice that this happened only after Job prayed for his friends. Up to the moment Job prayed, he was still afflicted. Job’s prayer demonstrated godliness and a pure heart which removed all obstacles that would hinder his restoration. Not only did God restore Job physically and materially, his family members who had deserted him (see Job 19:13) came and comforted him and even showed amazing generosity (see Job 42:11). The remainder of chapter 42 gives the details of Job’s restoration. Note: Job’s restoration may give the impression that when God ends every experience of suffering He will always give back everything that has been taken away, both physically and materially. However, we know that this is not always the case. The book of Job teaches us that our sovereign God does what He wants, to whomever He wants, and for as long as He wants. When we learn to appreciate that lesson, it will hardly matter to us what God gives or takes away. We will still worship Him just because He’s God.
V. Conclusion. Gossiping behind a person’s back as well as offering false advice can do much damage. We must be careful about assuming we know what God is doing in another person’s life. We may try to help people in their walk with the Lord with good intentions, but it’s very easy to give our opinions about why this or that happened. We must recognize that we cannot understand the ways of God in our own lives, much less in the lives of others. God revealed Himself to Job in a life-changing way. He demonstrated to Job that He is sovereign and not subject to the judgment of man. Job responded to God’s revelation with humility. He repented of his accusations of God and was able to gain a new perspective about himself, and his problems. Many people like Job, struggle with life’s problems and need to catch a mental glimpse of the sovereign God. When we see Him as He is, we are better able to cope with the trials that we face.
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