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Job 42:5-17

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After God’s line of questioning caused Job to realize how small and insignificant he was when it came to God’s activities in the world, he now responds in humility and repents of speaking things about which he was unqualified to speak. God restores Job, blessing him with twice the wealth that he had before and then continues to bless him through the remainder of his life.

Verses 1-4: Job begins his response to the LORD by acknowledging that nothing is beyond God’s strength or ability and that God knows his every thought. He then confesses that he had spoken about things that he could not possibly understand and is totally unqualified to offer an opinion upon.

⁵ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. ⁶ Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee” – Job’s faith in God had been based on what he had heard and been taught about God. Seeing the whirlwind (storm) of God’s presence, Job now has first-hand experience with the presence of God and is overwhelmed by this glimpse of His glory. It’s one thing to hear about God’s power and glory and another to experience it firsthand.

“Wherefore I abhor [reject; despise] myself, and repent in dust and ashes” – Catching a glimpse of God’s glory reveals to Job how insignificant he is in comparison. He had been the “greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3) but now he realizes that he is nothing and so he humbles himself in repentance in order to give the glory to God instead.

⁷ 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.

“And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite” – The LORD had been focused on Job from chapters 38-41 but now the LORD turns His attention to Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.

“My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends” – Job was not the only one who has been speaking about things of which they know nothing. The LORD now expresses His anger toward these three men.

“for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath” – While Job had said some things that were wrong, he was more correct in the things he was saying than the three friends. These three had misrepresented the LORD by saying that He never allows the righteous to suffer or the wicked to prosper. However, Job had refuted their position by offering himself as an example of someone suffering while being righteous. The LORD is vindicating Job before his friends as well as condemning the basis of the prosperity gospel being preached today. This false gospel associates prosperity to the blessings of God in the same way that Job’s three friends did, a view that God says is not right.

⁸ 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.

“Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams...and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering” – They are to seek forgiveness for their sin of misrepresenting the nature of the LORD by offering the traditional number of offerings (Num. 23:1).

“and go to my servant Job...and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept” – They are to make these offerings with Job serving as their priest (their intercessor with God). They had accused Job of wickedness as an explanation for his suffering, but the LORD instructs them to go to Job for prayer. The LORD declares that Job is more right with Him than they are when He says of Job: “him will I accept.” The LORD will accept Job’s prayers but not the prayers of the three friends until after their sacrifices have been completed.

“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” – The LORD warns them that they should not fail to do as He’s instructed or else He will have to punish them for what they have done. They had concluded that Job had sinned and yet they were the sinners in need of forgiveness in this narrative.

⁹ 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 instructions and made the offerings and the LORD accepted Job’s prayers in their behalf.

¹⁰ 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.

“And the LORD turned [return; turn back] the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends” – After everything had been settled, the LORD “turned the captivity” of Job. He returned Job to his former prosperity before he had become a captive to his circumstances. Likely praying was not a condition of being restored but merely a reference to when the LORD started restoring Job’s fortunes.

“also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” – The LORD doubled the blessings he had before the adversity came, not as a reward for Job’s faithfulness but because He is a gracious God. The LORD was not trying to make amends for what Job had been through since the whole point of this book has been that God can do as He pleases and owes us no explanation. We have no evidence that Job ever understood why he suffered as he did. He had to trust that God knew what He was doing, just as we do today.

¹¹ Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

“Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters” – Job’s family came to support Job after all his hardship. We are not told if there was a reason that they did not come to his side before this. Perhaps Satan had had something to do with this in order to prevent Job from experiencing any relief in his distress, or perhaps it was due to the distance his family had to come. Without cell phones and vehicles it would have taken time for news to reach his family and for them to travel to Job’s home if they lived a significant distance away. Perhaps now the LORD touched their hearts with compassion as part of His blessings on Job.

“and all they that had been of his acquaintance before” – All those who knew Job before his hardships also come to see him now.

“and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned [to show sympathy] him” – Eating a meal with someone in that day was an expression of friendship and affection. They also showed him sympathy for what he had been through.

“and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him” – Job’s family and friends now comfort Job in his distress. No excuse is made for the LORD; it states here that the LORD had brought the “evil” (adversity) upon Job. Sometimes we think we have to make excuses for the LORD in order to make Him more palatable to a lost world but He does not need our help. Just as Job discovered, the LORD does as He pleases and owes us no explanation or justification.

“every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold” – The LORD moves the heart of each family member and friend to give Job money and earrings of gold to help him recover from his hardship.

¹² So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

“So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning” – The LORD, in His graciousness, blesses Job even more than before.

“for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses” – The livestock counts are double what they were before. It probably took time for Job’s livestock to reach these numbers. He probably didn’t reach the original livestock numbers overnight either.

¹³ He had also seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

“He had also seven sons and three daughters” – These are the same number of sons and daughters that Job had before since his original seven sons and three daughters were waiting for him in heaven.

“And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch” – The names of the sons are not given but the names of the daughters are: Jemima (meaning “daylight”), Kezia (meaning “sweet smelling”), and Keren-happuch (meaning “horn of stibium” which is a color used to paint a woman’s eyelids).

“And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job” – Not only did the LORD replace Job’s children but his daughters were the most beautiful women around. No doubt this made Job popular and enhanced his standing in the region.

“and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren” – In Job’s day it was not customary to give daughters a portion of the inheritance but the fact that Job did so speaks of his character and generosity. It may also be that losing his first sons and daughters caused him to appreciate these children that much more.

¹⁶ After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. ¹⁷ So Job died, being old and full of days.

“After this lived Job an hundred and forty years” – The text does not tell us how old Job was at the beginning of the book, so we don’t know how old he was when he died. All we know is that Job lived another 140 years after the events described in the preceding chapters.

“and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations” – During those 140 years Job was blessed to be able to see four generations of children and grandchildren.

“So Job died, being old and full of days” – After the days of his calamity Job was able to enjoy a full life in the blessings of God.

Many people look at the book of Job as a lesson on why God’s people suffer but this view misses the point of the book. We do see the reason for Job’s suffering but this reason does not cover every instance of suffering among God’s people. God never explains to Job the reason for his suffering but instead informs him that he would not understand nor does He owe Job an explanation. Today, we may suffer ourselves or see others suffering but we do not have sufficient understanding or information to explain each individual instance and so we must trust that God is allowing or even causing the suffering for a reason. Thus the lesson of the book of Job is that God is sovereign over our lives and owes us no explanation for what He does.