September 22, 2018: Day 42 – Job 42

And Job lived happily ever after.  I think I am getting ahead of myself, but that is how vs.17 ends and thus ends the book of Job.  Interesting how we see Job actually repent and say that he was sorry that he did not realize exactly who the Lord was, he had heard of Him, but now that he had seen Him, he repents in dust and ashes.  Now the Lord turns his attention to Job’s friends, and it isn’t with a smile on His face.

God will only take a prayer of salvation for Job’s friends from Job himself.  The person who was harmed the most by their insults and their random fallible wisdom was Job.  As a result they are commanded to offer a sacrifice in Job’s presence and only Job can beseech the Lord for his mercy upon these three people.  They approach Job and ask for his help, he helps them, and then the Lord repays Job back twofold.

There is a large part of me that wishes that Job had not been paid back twofold.  I wish that Job had just continued on with his life so that the point could be proven that God is in control and we can’t ever understand the wisdom of God.  All things work for the purposes of the Lord, but the ending makes us think that justice was served and the righteous Job got what he deserved, a double blessing.  

We are finished with Job, now on to Proverbs.