Job’s repentance, reconciliation and restoration (Job 42:1-17)
And they all lived happily ever after. Snow White marries Prince Charming. Fiona Marries Shrek. Nemo gets found. ET phones home. Boo get’s back to her room. Voldermort’s spell bounces back and kills himself. Anakin returns to the good side. Frodo destroys the ring. Poirot or Miss Marple or Frost or Holmes solve the murder. Jane Austin’s heroines marry a wealthy gentleman. Either living in a mansion with 10,000 a year or in the parish rectory to a sensible clergyman. And what’s so bad about that, I say! Or the standard 23minute American sitcom. The dilemma is set up at the 4th minute. It is gratifyingly resolved at the 19th minutes. And that allows for a satisfying denoument. So at the 23rd minute, you’re in a good mood to buy the things advertised in the commercial break.
Do you want to pay money to go to the movies and see a sad film, one that will leave you depressed and sad all day? Do you want to watch a movie that will leave you troubled and depressed? Do you not have enough real suffering in the real world that you want to vicariously suffer?
Most people find it hard to tolerate sad endings. I understand that Americans don’t get ‘Galipolli’. And who could blame them? The ending is Rex Hunter blowing the whistle, Mel Gibson screaming at failing to halt the charge, and Mark Lee being machine gunned with the rest of his light horse unit. No meaning to it, nothing achieved, just senseless butchery. In ‘A Beautiful Life’, the happy-go-lucky hero is senselessly shot as WWII closes. Meaningless. Or in Geroge Orwell’s 1984, when Winston Smith betrays Julia who he loves. He comes to love big brother before big brother executes him. Extreme Emo. Any Woody Allan film I’ve seen is always ambiguous. Some evil doer gets away with a murder. Or life seems meaningless or sad or depressing.
In 2006, the UK Guardian did a poll on happy and sad book endings[1]. 41% liked books with happy endings. 2% liked books with sad endings. 2000% more people want happy endings to sad ones. Women are more likely than men to want it to end happy. Under 16s were more likely to want it to end sad. [‘cause they're all emos!]
Something in us wants the Book of Job to end up happy. We want to come to a satisfying resolution. But when we get the satisfying resolution, there are still things that are unsatisfying.
Don’t you find it a little too neat that Job ends so happy? In chapter 42 verses 12-17, Job becomes twice as rich as he was before. He’s got twice as many sheep and camels and ox and donkeys. And Job lives after he suffered twice the normal life span. 70 years times 2. So if Job was the richest man before he suffered, now he is twice as rich, twice as blessed. He’s been given two life spans to replace the life that God took away from him. All Job’s children are beautiful and healthy and rich. And he dies a happy and content man. Don’t you find it a bit ‘fairy tale’?
What about all Job’s complaints during the book? Do we need to conveniently forget about them? Job’s kept saying how the righteous suffered and the evil got away with it. Job 9:22-24:
22 It is all the same; that is why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' 23 When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent. 24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it? (Job 9:22-24 NIV; compare Job 12:7-25)
Was that wrong, when Job said it? Because now Job finishes with the righteous living longer than everyone else, and prospering more than everyone else.
And even more troubling, it now looks like the friends were right after all. Remember, the friends kept telling Job to repent. If Job repents, he will be restored to his former prosperity, the friends said. Remember what Eliphaz said:
21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. (Job 22:21 NIV)
And Elihu said the same thing:
8 But if men are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, 9 he tells them what they have done-- that they have sinned arrogantly. 10 He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. 11 If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. (Job 36:8-12 NIV)
And what do we see. In chapter 42, Job does repent. Chapter 42 verse 6:
‘Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes’.
And lo and behold, Job gets all the stuff back, in fact, twice as much.
So, haven’t the friends been proved right? All Job had to do was repent, and all his stuff would return to him. The friends were right, weren’t they?
No, the friends were always wrong. And Job was always right to oppose them. We shall soon see why.
But we first we must address the issue, ‘What does Job repent of?’
Well, the first thing we must say, is that Job doesn’t repent of any sin he committed that caused his suffering. His suffering was not caused by him being worse than anyone else. It was caused by him being better than everyone else. He was, and remained, a man blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil.
But second, Job did say stupid, ignorant things about God. In the height of his suffering, he said things he now regrets. God rebuked Job for condemning God and justifying himself (Job 40:8) Job made himself the judge of God the Creator. But God said that Job should have instead sought salvation (Job 40:14). The fact is, Job didn’t know why he was suffering. And he still doesn’t know why. In fact, Job never found out why he suffered.
At his worst, Job’s only answer to his suffering was that God was unjust. God had wronged him. And this Job repented of. Job was speaking from his pain about things he didn’t understand. And so he confesses his folly. Verse 3:
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know’.
At his best, at chapter 28, Job had already realized he didn’t understand. In fact, because God had not spoken to him, Job knew it was impossible for him to understand why he was suffering. But that was OK for Job in chapter 28. Job didn’t need to know why, because Job knew God. And when you know God, you don’t need to know what God knows. When Job remembered that God knew everything, Job was content to fear God and shun evil.
And so, once again in chapter 42, Job is brought to that clear headed, elevated knowledge of God that he had earlier experienced in Chapter 28. This time, it comes through a direct personal experience of God in the storm. Job 42 verse 5:
My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.
Job didn’t see God’s form, because no one can see God and live. But Job did see God’s power through the effects. The awesome impression Job must have had as he witnessed the whirlwind. And Job did hear God’s word directly. And God’s clear revelation of himself means that Job no longer seeks answers. He is satisfied once again with knowing God. And he repents of his earlier demands for more.
Job realized he spoke from ignorance. So Job’s confesses in Chapter 42 verse 1.
I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
This is not just a confession that God is all powerful. Job has again and again confessed that God is all powerful and omnipotent. The thing about this confession is that it is an acknowledgment that God is both all wise as well as all powerful. At his worst, Job had challenged God’s wisdom in sending the suffering. Now, Job is confessing the justice and wisdom of God’s arrangement of the world. God understands and cares intimately about all his creatures. He knows all his creatures better than they know themselves. How much more does he know Job?
It’s as if Job says to God. ‘God I now see you can do all this suffering to me, and that you are still just and wise in the way you run the cosmos. Even if I don’t understand it, you understand it, and you are wise. You can send this suffering, and your good purposes to me will still be fulfilled.
Have you ever demanded from God an explanation? 'To God…Please Explain. Thanks. Matt.' Why have I received this particular variety and intensity of suffering? Why have you wronged me and treated me so unfairly?
Then we need to learn from Job. We need to agree with Job’s confession Chapter 42 verse 1. I know that you can do all things. God, everything you do in your world is permissible for you. Everything you do is just and wise. And you have decreed it for good. No plan of yours can be thwarted. Even though the devil has evil designs, even though you allow the devil to act, and even though the devil seems to be winning, it is your plans, not his, that will come to pass. The devil will fade away into oblivion, as he does in the book of Job, as an irrelevance, a footnote, a pimple on the backside of world history, a mere tool in the hand of the all wise, all powerful Triune God. And in spite of and even through the evil the devil suggests, God will bring untold good to an untold many.
Dear friends, we need to say with Job: ‘He meant it for evil, but you, all wise and powerful God, meant it for good. We acknowledge, God, that your good purpose will triumph in the end.
The Christian response in our world is this: ‘All things work for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purposes’. (Romans 8:28) God’s ultimate purpose is only and always good. But he uses bad and evil things in the meantime to bring them about. And faith looks beyond the present suffering to the end purpose. God is moulding and squeezing me into the mould of Christ. God is putting me through this so that I will be more like Jesus my Saviour. One day, because of this, I will thank God all the more. So I will endure and persevere and keep going, trusting in his goodness and love.
With Job’s repentance, his relationship with God is now completely restored. He has dropped his case against God, and confesses his ignorance and God’s wisdom.
But what about the three friends? They were like most of us when we try and counsel people in suffering. Well meaning, but utter disasters.
We see that God takes their foolish words very seriously. His anger has been kindled. Job’s accusations didn’t arouse God’s anger. Job doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his accusations against God. But Job’s friends have made God angry. They must offer sacrifices for their accusations against Job (Job 42:7-9).
In doing this, God is vindicating Job before the world. Job has no need for sacrifice. He is and always has been blameless and upright before God. That’s why God keeps calling Job, ‘my servant’. God is emphasizing Job’s blamelessness.
Further, Job’s friends will only be forgiven through Job. They must go to Job to offer the sacrifices. Job must intercede for them and pray for them. Job is their priest, their mediator, standing between his friends and God, pleading for their forgiveness. This teaches everyone that Job is so righteous that he is the one who brings forgiveness to his friends. Just like Jesus is so righteous that he brings forgiveness to us.
Friends, we are like Job’s friends. We are only accepted to God by Jesus’ intercession for us. And just as God accepts Job’s prayer for his friends, so God also accepts Jesus’ prayer for us. He is our permanent priest, who unlike Job, always lives to intercede for us, and plead for us at the right hand of the father (Hebrews 7:24-25)
We also notice that Job is reconciled to his extended family, his brothers and sisters. Indeed everyone who knew him before comes to him and befriends him again. Maybe that also includes his wife? I hope so, but we don’t know.
One wonders where all these brothers and sisters have been until now? At first glance, they look like fair-weather friends. Slow to respond to Job’s suffering, but quick to feast on Job’s restored wealth. We might feel this is all a bit unfair when we consider the three friends. After all, at least they went and fasted with Job in the ash heap.
But if we criticize these later comforters, we misunderstand what is happening here. The family are shown in a positive light, but the friends in a negative light. The friends kindled God’s anger with their words. So in verse 7, God says to Eliphaz, 'I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.' Yes, the three friends did well with their mouths shut. But their words were the problem. They kept blaming Job for the suffering. You are suffering because of YOU, because of your sin.
But Job’s brothers and sisters bring the comforting, true words that the friends should have spoken, even meant and fully intended to say, but failed to speak. Verse 11, 'They comforted and consoled him over all of the trouble the Lord had brought upon him.' Job, the Lord has done this to you. The family does not accuse Job of sin, as the friends did. Even the devil doesn’t rate a mention. They say, ‘Job, it is the LORD, Yahweh, that brought this suffering on you’. He and he alone is ultimately responsible. Real comfort is found in calling a spade a spade. It is God who has done this and sent this suffering to you.
I get angry when Christian ministers try to comfort suffering people by saying: 'No, God didn’t send this suffering. The God I believe in doesn’t allow Tsunamis or disasters or car accidents. It was the devil. It’s just the way life is. No one made it happen.'
And I say, NO! That is not the way to comfort or console people. Take heed of the successful comfortors, the brothers and sisters, the relatives. Verse 11 again. ‘They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him’ With his brothers and sisters, Job at last has comforters who attribute God with responsibility. It is God that has done it. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be his name. And if the three friends had laid the responsibility for Job’s suffering with God, they would have been much more successful comforters.
Not only this, but Job’s brothers and sisters offer practical help. They give Job money. Verse 11 speaks of substantial gifts. A coin corresponding to the value of a lamb. And a ring. They pass the hat around for a brother in need. And each contributes a generous amount to alleviate Job’s suffering.
We must remember that Job lost everything. And so Job’s family are helping restore what Job had lost.
God doesn’t just appoint ends, but means. God doesn’t just restore, but restores through the relatives. We must remember James’ words. What good is it if one of us says to a suffering person "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs? (James 2:18) Nothing. And if the three friends had brought some money to restore Job, perhaps they’re mission would not have ended in disaster.
Here are the two ways of consoling and comforting the suffering. Speaking the truth about God, not softening the blow, but saying God has done it. But softening the blow of the suffering by showing practical love. We are tempted to soften the blow about God and save money on the practical love. Talk is cheap. But we speak the truth about God ‘I know you can do all things and no purpose of yours can be thwarted’. And soften the blow of suffering with our practical love. May we instead be like Job’s brothers and sisters. Then we might have more success in comforting people.
Still, let’s return to Job’s restoration. How do we apply the happy ending? After we suffer, will God restore us to double prosperity and long-life?
My answer is, No and Yes, in that order. James helps us out here. Let me read James chapter 5, verses 7 to 11.
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about [literally, you have seen the ‘end’ of the Lord]. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:7-11 NIV)
The time until the Lord Jesus Christ’s return requires patience. Now is the time requiring perseverance in the face of suffering. We need to be patient with people who wrong us and increase our suffering. Until Jesus returns, we must endure suffering.
So I say we should not expect double prosperity until Jesus returns. That is James’ teaching. Until the Lord’s coming, we need to persevere in suffering.
But ultimately there is a double restoration for us, too. God will provide us the ultimate, double prosperity we long for. When? When the Lord comes. When he returns.
Look at what the end of the Lord was in Job’s case. The result and goal of all of Job’s suffering was, in the end, abundant comfort and prosperity[2]. So our present suffering is not the ‘end’ of our story. We must wait until Jesus returns. The coming of the Lord Jesus for us will be like God speaking to Job out of the storm. That will be our moment of revelation from God. Then we will see God the Son face to face. Then we will be content in knowing Christ, and the power of his resurrection. And then we will see what God has prepared for those who love him. Compassion and mercy.
So Job’s restoration points us not to now, but to the future, to the new heaven and the new earth, to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where we will receive our consolation and comfort for all our suffering. But for now, we need to patiently endure.
Let’s pray.
[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/mar/02/books.booksnews
[2] Compare for all this, Moo, James, 229-30