Bible Commentaries
Job 42

Verses 1-17

Chapter 42

Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that you can do everything, and that no thought can be withheld from thee ( Job 42:1-2 ).

Pretty important: "I know God can do everything." Secondly, "I know that you can't hide a single thought from God."

The Bible says concerning Jesus that He didn't need anyone to come and tell Him of other people because He knew man and He knew what was in man. You can't hide any thoughts from God. The Bible tells us that some day our very thoughts are to be judged, for God is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of a man's heart. We are going to be judged not so much by what we do but by what motivated us to do the things that we did. Now you may be doing many right things but with a wrong motivation. Jesus said, "Take heed to yourself that you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of men" ( Matthew 6:1 ) to be looked upon by men as righteous and holy, and therefore you're doing your deeds in order to get this accolade of man is wrong. God's going to judge the motivation. Our works are to be tried by fire and many of them will be burned like wood, hay and stubble. Those that remain will be rewarded for, but much of our works, done out of wrong motivation, will not endure the testing of fire. God is a searcher of the thoughts, the intents of a man's heart.

So Job says, "Lord, I know that I can't hide any thought from You."

Who is he that hides the counsel without knowledge? therefore I have uttered what I ( Job 42:3 )

Now Job is confessing.

I have uttered what I did not understand; things that were too wonderful for me, which I did not know ( Job 42:3 ).

I've been talking, Lord, out of my hat. I don't even know what I was talking about.

Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, declare thou unto me. For I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye seeth thee ( Job 42:4-5 ).

And so Job, the discovery of God. "God, I've heard of You. I've been talking about things that I've heard, but now I see. My eye seeth Thee." It's always a glorious day in our lives when God is moved from our heads to our hearts. From just a knowledge to an experience. "I've heard of Thee, God, with my ears. I've heard people talk about You. I've talked about You. But, God, I was talking about things I didn't really know, I didn't really understand, I didn't really see. I've heard about You with the hearing of my ears, but now I really see You." And what a difference it makes when our eyes are open and we actually begin to see God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God" ( Matthew 5:8 ). And how glorious when our eyes behold, when the spiritual eyes are opened and I really begin to have a real experience with God in my life. And the scriptures are suddenly opened up. A whole new dimension of spiritual life is open to me as I am born again by the Spirit and come into the spiritual dimension. No longer just hearing about God, but now actually seeing, comprehending God. And in the discovery of God there comes the resultant discovery of self.

Wherefore I abhor myself, I repent in dust and ashes ( Job 42:6 ).

Daniel spoke about when God gave to him this revelation when he saw the glory of God in this revelation, he said, "Then was my comeliness turned into ugliness within me" ( Daniel 10:8 ). When Peter saw Jesus, he said, "Depart from me. I am a sinful man" ( Luke 5:8 ). When Isaiah saw the Lord, he said, "Woe is me, I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst people of unclean lips" ( Isaiah 6:5 ). Seeing God gives you the greatest insight on yourself you've ever had. So many times a person is, "Oh, I'm pretty good. I'm, you know... " Once they see God, that's all it takes to bring a man down to his knees begging for mercy, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." When I can see me as God sees me, a sinful, hopeless wretch, no longer looking at myself, deceiving myself, justifying myself, but seeing me as God sees me. But that can't happen until I first see God. "Lord, I've heard of You, now I see You, now I see me. I abhor myself."

And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD turned to his friends, to Eliphaz the Temanite, and he said, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against your two friends: for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has. 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 which ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job ( Job 42:7-8 ).

Now, let me say that God doesn't like you going around saying false things about Him. He doesn't appreciate that at all. Or going around speaking for Him things that He has not said. Now there are many people who are guilty of spreading false concepts about God. God does not look kindly upon that at all. And He told Eliphaz, "You guys haven't been speaking right about Me. Now, you offer, and you ask Job to pray for you. I'm going to listen to him; I won't listen you because you have not spoken things that are true about Me. And so you'd better get Job to pray for you."

So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: and the LORD also accepted Job. 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. Then came there unto him all of his brothers, and all of his sisters ( Job 42:9-11 ),

Where were they, I wonder, when he was in affliction?

and all of they that had been his acquaintance before, and they 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. So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima ( Job 42:11-14 );

Which means "a dove."

and the name of the second was Kezia ( Job 42:14 );

Which is a sort of a spice.

and the name of the third was Kerenhappuch ( Job 42:14 ).

Which means "a horn of paint." Now I don't know why they would call a girl "a horn of paint."

And in all of the land there were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. And after this Job lived for a hundred and forty years ( Job 42:15-16 ),

Now if Job indeed was a contemporary to Abraham as is thought, 180 years is not unusual. Abraham lived to be 180 years old. This was actually just about two generations after the flood. And so longevity was still common in those days. And so after this experience, Job lived for another 140 years.

and he saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even to four generations. ( Job 42:16 )

So he had his great great grandkids all around him.

So Job died, being old and full of days ( Job 42:17 ).

The interesting story of Job. A story that deals with the problems of pain, the problems of suffering. Why do the righteous suffer? Why are the ungodly oftentimes prosperous? And yet, though it deals with the issues, it doesn't come up with any firm answers. Righteous people often suffer, and what we know is we don't know the reason. Good people often experience pain; we don't know the reason. Godly people sometimes die young; we don't know the reason. Righteous people are often sick; we don't know the reason. Sinners are many times prosperous; we don't know the reason. Now because we don't know the reasons, we should not draw false conclusions as Job did. "It doesn't pay to try to live right. It doesn't pay to try to be good, because you're going to get afflicted anyhow." Those were wrong conclusions that Job drew from his experiences.

What we need to realize is that this present suffering is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is going to be revealed in us when Jesus comes for us. So if we do experience hardship or suffering or disappointment, you can't compare it with the glory that God is going to bestow upon us eternally. "For this present suffering, which is but for a moment, worketh an exceeding eternal weight of glory" ( 2 Corinthians 4:17 ). Now, it is important that we remember that as God deals with us He always has eternity in mind. I always have today and tomorrow in mind. And I am oftentimes concerned with my present comfort, with my present ease, with my present prosperity. God is interested in my eternal comfort, in my eternal prosperity and He's dealing with me over the eternal things, where I am so often only thinking in the time things. But when God is working in your life, He's always got eternity in mind, for He wants you to enjoy the blessings of His kingdom forever.

Now, there may be things right now that are stumbling you and could drag you into the pit. And so God, because He loves you and wants you to be with Him eternally, will oftentimes take away something that could deter you or turn your mind from Him or to deter you from the path that He wants you to walk. And it isn't that God doesn't love you, it isn't that God is angry with you, it isn't that God is actually punishing you. God is looking out for your welfare because He knows so much better than you know about your life and about the world around you and about your weaknesses, and God is trying to shield you and protect you.

I can remember when my boys were small. They were fascinated with my shaving. And I would lather up my face and say, "Ho, ho, ho." You know. And they used to love to watch me shave. And as I would change the blades in the razor, they tried to grab the blade and I slapped their hands. And I said, "No, you can't play with that." "Oh, we want to play with it, Daddy." "No, you can't." "Ohhhhhh, mean Daddy." No, I wasn't mean. I love them. I knew the dangers of their playing with the razorblade; they didn't. It looked like it would be fun to take that and cut things with it. That would be a lot of fun. What they didn't realize is that they would be cutting their fingers, their hands. I knew that. I restrained them.

I think that many times we're yelling at God and angry with God, "Oh, God, I wanted that. Oh, Lord, You know I wanted that." You know, "Why don't You let me play with that?" And God knows that it could hurt you. God knows that it could destroy you. And God is always, always looking at you with the eternity in mind. And He deals with us with eternity in mind and thereby we do not always understand the present inconveniences or deprivations. But God, looking at the eternal, is working in you His eternal purposes. And if you keep that in mind, then you won't be troubled when you see the ungodly prospering, because you know they're going to be cut down in a moment. Then you won't be troubled when you may be going through a hard experience, because you know that God is working in your life in more exceeding, abundant reward in the kingdom. That is why we are told, "Count it all joy when you have these tribulations" ( James 1:2 ). "Oh, praise the Lord, I had the worst tribulation this week!" God's working; He must love me, putting me through the fire. Better that I go through the fire now, better that I be purified now that I might have remaining works rather than to watch all of my works go up in a puff of smoke and enter into heaven by the skin of my teeth. God loves you and God has eternity in His mind and He's dealing with you in light of eternity.

Father, we thank You for Your dealings with us. Forgive us, Lord, for our complaints, for our folly, for the foolish charges that we make against Thee. God, they are done out of the rashness of our own immaturity, our own lack of understanding. Help us to know Thy ways. Lead us in Thy paths. Lord, may we also have eternity in mind. In Jesus' name. Amen. "