Job 42

The Explanation

For a long time, Job has been sitting in ashes. He lost his children, his animals, his health. His three friends came to comfort him, but instead they kept saying: "Job, you must have done something wrong. God is punishing you." Job kept saying: "No, that is not true. I want to talk to God myself." And then, in the chapters before this one, God actually answered. Not with a neat explanation, but with big questions about the stars, the sea, wild animals, and things Job could never understand.

And now, in chapter 42, Job speaks. Listen to what he says: "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you." That is the heart of everything. Before, Job knew about God the way you know about a country you have never visited. Now he has really met Him. Job says: "I have uttered that which I didn't understand, things too wonderful for me." He is not saying he was a terrible sinner. He is saying: I talked too big about God. I am small, and He is God.

Then something surprising happens. God turns to the friends and says He is angry with them. They said things about Him that were not right. Job, who complained and cried and argued, spoke better of God than they did, because Job spoke honestly. The friends must bring an offering, and Job, the one they scolded, has to pray for them. And God listens to Job's prayer.

After that, God gives Job a new beginning. His family comes to eat with him. He gets twice as many sheep, camels, and oxen as before. He gets seven sons and three daughters again. The daughters even get names: Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren Happuch. And they get an inheritance, just like the sons, which was very unusual back then. Job lives another one hundred and forty years and dies old and full of days.

What Does This Mean?

The book of Job does not end with a neat answer to the question: "Why did all this happen?" God never tells Job why. That is honest. Sometimes we do not get an answer either. But Job gets something better than an answer. He gets God Himself. He sees Him.

And notice this: God is not angry that Job asked hard questions. God is angry with the friends who gave quick, cheap answers about Him. Apparently God would rather have honest wrestling than tidy religious talk.

The Common Thread

Job prays for his friends, and because of that prayer, God forgives them. That is a small picture of something much bigger. Later, Jesus would come, and He would pray for the people who hurt Him: "Father, forgive them." Job is like a shadow of Jesus here. Job suffered without deserving it, and then he prayed for others so they could be forgiven.

The whole Bible tells one big story: God comes close to people who suffer. In Job, God speaks out of a storm. In Jesus, God becomes a human being and walks straight into our storms. Job saw God with his eyes and was changed. When we meet Jesus, the same thing happens.

For You

You will meet things in your life that you do not understand. A grandma who gets sick. A friend who moves away. A prayer that seems to get no answer. People might give you quick answers like Job's friends did: "It must be because…" You do not have to accept those answers. You may say honestly to God: "I do not get this."

And here is something else. When someone has hurt you, praying for that person is one of the hardest things there is. Job did it. Try it sometime, even if it is only one sentence. Something inside you begins to change when you do.

Talk About It

Why do you think God never told Job the reason for his suffering? Would you have wanted to know?

Job had to pray for the friends who had hurt him. Is there someone you find hard to pray for?

Praying Together

Lord God, You are bigger than I can understand. Thank You that I may ask You anything, even the hard questions. Help me to trust You when I do not see the answer. And teach me to pray for people I find difficult. Amen.