Session 35 | Job 42:1-17

Job 42:1-17 | The Restoration of Job

• Job 42:1-6 - Job Answers

  • Verse 2 - Job responds to the Lord, verbalizing his belief that God is omnipotent and omniscient (all-powerful and all-knowing).

  • Verse 3 - In the first part of verse 3, Job is quoting the question the Lord posed to Job in Job 38:2. Job answers in humility, saying he had uttered things he understood not and knew not.

  • Verse 4- Again, Job quotes the statement of the Lord in a paraphrased manner (compare Job 33:3, 38:3, 40:7).

  • In verses 5 Job says, significantly, I have heard of thee...But now mine eye seeth thee. In connection to Job's type as the righteous remnant, we see this remnant standing before God in judgment, at the Second Coming.

  • Verse 6 - Because he has seen God, Wherefore I abhor myself.

    • The verb is in the imperfect form, thus could be "I have abhorred my life from the day of my trouble until today."

    • The Hebrew word for repent is (like the corresponding Greek word), a change of mind and also has the meaning of comfort as in Psalm 77:3 and Jeremiah 31:15.

      • Because Job is a righteous man (Job 1:8), there was no sin of which he needed to repent, therefore I propose the following: I have been abhorring myself and found comfort in dust and ashes.

      • Note to the reader: Though the verb forms and word definitions are fully valid and verified, I have found no corroborator in this translation/interpretation so the reader should investigate further to verify.

        
        

  • These verses conclude the poetry of Job. Verses 7-17 are prose.

    
    

• Job 42:7-9 - God Speaks to Job's Three Friends

  • Verse 7 is strong and clear: God's wrath is kindled against Eliphaz (given by name) and against thy two friends (not named). The reason is that these three have not spoken of me the thing that is right, unlike Job, who had done so. The student of the book of Job is forced to use Job 1:8 and Job 42:7 to give parameters of the interpretation of the book. Any interpretation that ignores these two verses is necessarily wrong (and interpretations abound which ignore these two boundaries).

  • Verse 8 is phenomenally important in the typology.

    • If we are correct that Job represents the righteous remnant...

    • If we are correct that the age of grace ends with the rapture...

    • If we are correct that the Tribulation is the final seven years of the age of the Law (a period included sacrifices and which has been put on hold with the arrival of the mystery dispensation of grace)...

    • If we are correct that the three friends are representative of unrighteous Israel...

    • If we are correct that all Israel shall be saved (Rom. 11:26)...

    • ...Then it makes perfect sense that unrighteous Israel is given a chance to be saved and that they do so with a sin offering.

    • ...Then it makes sense that righteous Job would be the intercessor for his extended Jewish family (in spite of the harsh treatment), much like the Apostle Paul longed for Israel to be saved (Rom. 9:1-3).

      
      

  • A side-note: the word burnt offering is עֹלָה [olah] from which the English word holocaust comes.

  • Verse 9 - The three friends are obedient, and thus all Israel shall be saved (Rom. 11:26).

    
    

• Job 42:10-17 - The Restoration of Job

  • Having prayed for his friends the Lord turned the captivity of Job and Job had twice as much as he had before (v. 10). The verses following describe the abundance and the happiness of Job.

  • Job's daughter's names:

    • Jemima - beautiful as the day

    • Kezia - fragrant like cassia (see Ps. 45:8)

    • Keren-happuch - horn of plenty - The word cornucopia is likely derived from this name.

    • Job lived an hundred and forty years in his time of blessing. Bullinger surmises that he lived 70 years in the first portion of his life and that the double blessing of verse 10 applied to years also. If so, his total life was 210 years, which is "three seventies of years" (Companion Bible, page 666). The number three is a number of fullness, and the number 70 is a number of seven (spiritual perfection) multiplied by 10 (orderly perfection). Note that Israel was guaranteed 70 weeks and Job lived 70x3 - the fullness of the promise.

    
    
    
    
    The conclusion of the matter:
    
    
    
    
    Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
    
    James 5:11
    
    
    
    
    
    Pitiful = full of pity, compassionate.