Slices
Prepare
‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (Romans 8:28).
Bible passage
42 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 ‘I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 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.
4 ‘You said, “Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.”
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.’
Epilogue
7 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. 8 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.’ 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 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.
12 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. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 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.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
Explore
God’s majesty drives Job to repentance and humility (vs 5,6). Satan’s wager is lost; the kingdom will not be his. One frail man who will not curse his creator wins the day for the Lord. Satan’s only way back is to do what Job did; repent utterly. Instead, Satan will try again, this time against Jesus. The stakes will include God’s own self, and death, Satan’s last stronghold. But Satan will again be defeated – utterly (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Job’s story is also God’s story. It was never so at the beginning, but since the Fall (Genesis 3) suffering has been an abnormality in our world. But still ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ (John 1:5). God is merciful to those who repent and are put right with him (see vs 7–9). Job’s fortunes are restored to him and indeed doubled in measure for family, wealth and lifespan (vs 12–15).
What is revealed here is the sovereign might, majesty and glory of God seen in the just, generous and steadfast love of the Lord toward those who love him. Such is the reward for saints.
Respond
‘He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8). Now all we need is to do it.
Deeper Bible study
‘I hope for hope, Lord. The seeds of light sown in the darkness around your cross … fruit in the fallow fields of my small life.’1 Thank God there is hope.
In long seasons of pain and suffering I have sometimes used verse 2 as a prayer, reminding myself that no purpose of God’s can be thwarted. Job’s season of great distress is about to end. Among his last recorded words are ‘Therefore I … repent’ (v 6). This shows him to be the man that God declared him to be in the opening chapters.2 He repents, not of the evil of which his friends accused him, but of the mistake of thinking that he understood things about God that were too wonderful for him to know (v 3). The word ‘know’ is important. Job’s previous knowledge of the universe was inadequate, but following the remarkable revelation given him, he now knows the Lord of the universe and realises that he can be trusted. He bows the knee before the one who is in sovereign control of all things. Nothing has yet changed in his condition, but his heart has yielded.
God reveals to the friends that, following their sacrifices, Job will pray for them. His prayers will be accepted on their behalf despite their folly and attacks upon him. It can be extremely hard to pray for those who have really hurt us. Yet, Jesus teaches us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.3 It is only after Job prays for his friends that he himself is healed and restored in both fortune and well-being. He receives from the Lord double his losses (v 12).4 Job had craved justice, but what he receives instead is grace. God’s blessings far outweigh what we deserve. Grace means an abundance of amazing favour to Job and, at last, his real friends gather to comfort, console and be with him. Party time in the end!
Read verse 2 again and Romans 8:28 and consider the implications for your life. Thank God that he is still in charge and working his purposes out.
1 Taken from No Strange Land by Eddie Askew, published by The Leprosy Mission, used with permission (www.tlmtrading.com) 2 Job 1:8; 2:3 3 Matt 5:44 4 Job 1:3
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 23,24; Romans 5
Pray for Scripture Union
Zoraida Ali Smith, PA to the Director of Mobilisation, asks us to pray that God will guide the development of strategies for reaching out to supporters so that we can share the good news of Jesus with the 95% of children and young people who have no contact with church.
