Job 42:10-17 | KingComments | STEP | When Job is free in his heart from the accusations of his friends, and he has prayed for them and thereby proved his forgiveness to them, God starts to bless him ( ). God gives him twice as much as he has lost (cf. ; ). Are the friends then proven right that prosperity is the result of piety? Or even worse, is satan proven right in asserting that serving God is very rewarding? The answer to these questions is that none of them are proven right. Job did not expect this and certainly did not strive for it. He does not get his prosperity because of a God-fearing life, but because of an unexpected goodness from God. Satan is certainly not right, because Job did not say goodbye to God when He took away from him everything, which satan had suggested. God is sovereign to take away blessing, but can give it again with the same sovereignty. James writes of the blessing that Job receives: “You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and [is] merciful” ( ). The end of the Lord is the blessing He gives Job. God humbles us and puts us to the test in order “to do good for you at the end” ( ). He wants us to say: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” ( ). When the LORD has brought a turn in Job’s life fate “all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before” come to him ( ). There appears to be no resentment with Job; there are no bitter feelings that they abandoned him during his trial ( ), for “they ate bread with him in his house”. When he suffered deeply, they gave him a wide berth, but now they are coming to see him again. And Job receives them with the same hospitality as before ( ). As they sit with him at the table, they express their deepest sympathy to him and comfort him “for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him”. They also know that the adversities that had afflicted him had been brought on him by the LORD. The piece of money and the ring of gold that each of them brought may simply have been gifts as proofs of compassion. They may also have served as ‘starting capital’ for his new fortune. Job receives from the LORD more abundance than he had before everything was taken away from him ( ; cf. ). Thus God always works. If He takes something away from us, it is to give us more in return. Grace always gives us much more than we have lost through sin. We have lost paradise because of our sin. Grace gives us back the whole of creation over which we may reign together with the Lord Jesus. That is all because of His sacrifice. We have a part in it because by grace we were allowed to accept His sacrifice. When we see in what Job used to own in cattle, we see that he is now blessed by the LORD with the double. He also gets double in children ( ). He had seven sons and three daughters ( ). They died, but he did not lose them. He lost his cattle, not his children. They went ahead of him. He gets seven more sons and three more daughters. Of his children only the names of his three daughters are mentioned which Job has given them ( ). That means we can learn something from these names. The first daughter he gives the name “Jemimah”. It is a name with different meanings, such as ‘the [bright] day’, ‘dove’, ‘happy’. It speaks of the bright day after the dark days of trial, the new peace, the new happiness. He gives the second daughter the name “Keziah”. That name is derived from the fragrant spice cassia. A fragrant scent emanates from Job’s life. The third daughter he calls “Keren-happuch”, which means “horn of the beautiful colors”. That horn contained the colors with which the women dressed up. Not only did a good smell of Job go out through his daughters, but everything was pleasant to look at as well. It is said of the daughters of Job that such fair women as they were, could not be found in all the land ( ). We see here that what emerges from the trial surpasses everything else in beauty and loveliness. Job can say that the old is over and everything has become new, and that the new completely outshines the old. This also applies to us in our new nature. Job is a good father to his daughters. He not only gives them names, but also “inheritance among their brothers”. There is no question of women being disadvantaged compared to men. The very fact that only their names are mentioned, and only of them is mentioned that they also get inheritance among their brothers, shows the high place they have in the thoughts of Job and of God. Peter mentions in his first letter that women are “a fellow heir of the grace of life” with their husbands ( ). Job lives for 140 years after the turning point in his life’s fate ( ). If the same is true here as for his possessions, it means that he was 70 when the disasters struck him and that he lived to be 210 years old. He sees his offspring into the fourth generation. That is a great blessing and must have been a great pleasure for him. Then follows the news of Job’s death ( ). He has grown old. He can look back on an eventful life in which he has seen the hand of the LORD both in his suffering and in his prosperity. He has become old and full of days. The fact that he is full of days does not mean that he is tired of life, but that he has enjoyed all that God had given him on earth. He can die in peace and go to the place of complete peace and happiness. But his history does not die …

‏ Job 42:10-17

The Blessed End of Job

When Job is free in his heart from the accusations of his friends, and he has prayed for them and thereby proved his forgiveness to them, God starts to bless him (Job 42:10). God gives him twice as much as he has lost (cf. Isa 40:2 ; Isa 61:7; Zec 9:12).

Are the friends then proven right that prosperity is the result of piety? Or even worse, is satan proven right in asserting that serving God is very rewarding? The answer to these questions is that none of them are proven right. Job did not expect this and certainly did not strive for it. He does not get his prosperity because of a God-fearing life, but because of an unexpected goodness from God. Satan is certainly not right, because Job did not say goodbye to God when He took away from him everything, which satan had suggested.

God is sovereign to take away blessing, but can give it again with the same sovereignty. James writes of the blessing that Job receives: “You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and [is] merciful” (Jam 5:11). The end of the Lord is the blessing He gives Job. God humbles us and puts us to the test in order “to do good for you at the end” (Deu 8:16). He wants us to say: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Psa 119:71).

When the LORD has brought a turn in Job’s life fate “all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before” come to him (Job 42:11). There appears to be no resentment with Job; there are no bitter feelings that they abandoned him during his trial (Job 19:14-19), for “they ate bread with him in his house”. When he suffered deeply, they gave him a wide berth, but now they are coming to see him again. And Job receives them with the same hospitality as before (Job 31:31-32).

As they sit with him at the table, they express their deepest sympathy to him and comfort him “for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him”. They also know that the adversities that had afflicted him had been brought on him by the LORD. The piece of money and the ring of gold that each of them brought may simply have been gifts as proofs of compassion. They may also have served as ‘starting capital’ for his new fortune.

Job receives from the LORD more abundance than he had before everything was taken away from him (Job 42:12; cf. Job 8:6-7). Thus God always works. If He takes something away from us, it is to give us more in return. Grace always gives us much more than we have lost through sin. We have lost paradise because of our sin. Grace gives us back the whole of creation over which we may reign together with the Lord Jesus. That is all because of His sacrifice. We have a part in it because by grace we were allowed to accept His sacrifice.

When we see in Job 1:3 what Job used to own in cattle, we see that he is now blessed by the LORD with the double. He also gets double in children (Job 42:13). He had seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2). They died, but he did not lose them. He lost his cattle, not his children. They went ahead of him. He gets seven more sons and three more daughters.

Of his children only the names of his three daughters are mentioned which Job has given them (Job 42:14). That means we can learn something from these names. The first daughter he gives the name “Jemimah”. It is a name with different meanings, such as ‘the [bright] day’, ‘dove’, ‘happy’. It speaks of the bright day after the dark days of trial, the new peace, the new happiness. He gives the second daughter the name “Keziah”. That name is derived from the fragrant spice cassia. A fragrant scent emanates from Job’s life. The third daughter he calls “Keren-happuch”, which means “horn of the beautiful colors”. That horn contained the colors with which the women dressed up. Not only did a good smell of Job go out through his daughters, but everything was pleasant to look at as well.

It is said of the daughters of Job that such fair women as they were, could not be found in all the land (Job 42:15). We see here that what emerges from the trial surpasses everything else in beauty and loveliness. Job can say that the old is over and everything has become new, and that the new completely outshines the old. This also applies to us in our new nature.

Job is a good father to his daughters. He not only gives them names, but also “inheritance among their brothers”. There is no question of women being disadvantaged compared to men. The very fact that only their names are mentioned, and only of them is mentioned that they also get inheritance among their brothers, shows the high place they have in the thoughts of Job and of God. Peter mentions in his first letter that women are “a fellow heir of the grace of life” with their husbands (1Pet 3:7).

Job lives for 140 years after the turning point in his life’s fate (Job 42:16). If the same is true here as for his possessions, it means that he was 70 when the disasters struck him and that he lived to be 210 years old. He sees his offspring into the fourth generation. That is a great blessing and must have been a great pleasure for him.

Then follows the news of Job’s death (Job 42:17). He has grown old. He can look back on an eventful life in which he has seen the hand of the LORD both in his suffering and in his prosperity. He has become old and full of days. The fact that he is full of days does not mean that he is tired of life, but that he has enjoyed all that God had given him on earth. He can die in peace and go to the place of complete peace and happiness. But his history does not die …