Tag: Job 42:8
The Best is Yet to Come!
Scripture reading for August 24: Job 42:8, 10-12 “Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And My servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken what is right, as My servant Job has.” . . .”And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece money and a ring of gold. And the Lord blessed the later days of Job more than his beginning.”
For me, a good story has an interesting beginning and a happy ending. The story of Job is one of the oldest recorded in the Bible, set before the time of Abraham. Job was a man of faith and prosperous and known for his righteousness and generosity. Satan, the villain, comes before God and accuses Job of serving God for what benefits God blessed him with. God allows Satan to afflict Job, taking first his family and possessions, and then his health. His wife becomes bitter and his friends turn against him by accusing him of harboring sin or wickedness as the cause of his sickness and trials.
But God did not fail Job, even in these trials He had allowed Satan to bring. God gave Job faith to stay true. He revealed to Job answers to his deepest needs for a Redeemer and an Advocate. He showed him that even after death, resurrection would occur and he would behold His Redeemer with his own eyes on the earth. (Job 19:25-26) In the end, He answered Job’s prayer to meet with God by coming near and questioning him. The questions were to reveal to Job God’s greatness, power, and eternal plans and to bring Job to new levels of faith and prayer. After repentance and praying for his friends, Job was restored double all that he lost! Even in this, we see God’s amazing mercy. Job had more children–the same amount as he lost. This implied that he would see his children he lost again in heaven! The best is yet to come! Amen!