Job Trusts in God

This morning, we come to the final chapter in the book of Job—chapter 42. I want to confess to upfront that while I had never preached through the book before this study, I have preached from Job 42.

So, to make sure I don’t get accused of plagiarism, I will tell you upfront that I stole the underlying structure of today’s sermon from myself from sermons I preached over 10 years ago, before I was on staff here full time. So, if today’s sermon sounds vaguely familiar to you, that might be the reason. Thankfully, God’s truth is eternal, so it applies to us today as much as ever.

The book of Job is synonymous with suffering. That’s the primary theme of the book. And the older we get, the more we realize that life is filled with pain for which we often have no easy answers.

Since joining the staff in 2015 as a pastor, I think I’ve officiated 3 weddings. At least, that’s all I could find in my records. But since that time, I have in my records been part of 37 funerals. That’s a pretty lopsided statistic, isn’t it? But it makes sense logically. Not everyone will get married. But unless Christ returns, everyone will die.

And until our life on this planet ends, there will be pain and difficulty. God knows that. In fact, it’s part of His plan. It’s part of the curse that this world was placed under because of mankind’s rebellion against God.

Surrendering your life to Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that your pain and sorrow will go away, but it does mean that you have a grid through which to view all that has happened. Christ sustains us. Christ offers us a better hope than this world. And with that, Christ calls us to persevere.

James chapter 5, verses 10 and 11, speaking to believers who were facing severe trials, says this—As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

The story of Job is intended to be a reminder of God’s kindness. But how does a story about a man who lost everything lead us to remember the goodness of God? I think the best answer comes to us in the final chapter.

This epic poem, describing a debate between Job and his friends, and then letting us hear directly from God, has finally come to an end. And while Job and his friends found no answers and no comfort through it all, now they are finally going to come.

Job 42 helps reorient the way we evaluate and respond to problems and pains. The default position is to look at things from a worldly perspective and to despair or complain, but God wants us see things from His perspective. As you think about the story of Job, and as you deal with the distinct pains in your own, what should you be focused on?

Let me give you five areas you should turn your attention to, and we’ll see them all in this chapter. Let’s look at the opening verses. Job 42:1-2—Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

The first area we need to focus on is adoration. Adoration. This is where we need to start all the time, even in times of suffering. We need to worship God.

Job is saying here, “God, You are powerful enough to do whatever You want. You are superior over everything. Nothing You ever intend to do will ever be stopped.”

Job has just been bombarded with questions from God, and he has been reminded about something he had forgotten in his pain and in his attempts to defend himself. What was that? It was that God is the only being in the universe whose plans always go as He has planned.

In times of sorrow, part of the pain we experience, and part of Job’s pain too, is that our plans are disrupted. We had plans for a marriage, plans for a career, plans for a family, plans for the future. And in one day, Job’s plans were lost. He lost everything. Some of you know that pain.

But even in that pain, we need to remember that nothing that happens is outside God’s plans.

Job responds with adoration. He’s saying, “God, you’re not like me. Everything is under Your control. In fact, You could fix this if You wanted to. You are all-powerful. You are sovereign.”

Even in worst pain of this life, don’t forget that God is still in control, and we should still worship. That was Job’s initial reaction too. “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Let’s move on to a second area where our focus needs to be. We focus on adoration, and number two, we should also focus on confession. Confession.

Look at verses 3-4. This is Job’s confession—‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. [4] ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’

Job starts and ends his confession by quoting God. The first half of verse 3 is a restatement of chapter 38, verse 2. “Who is this that hides counsel?”

God was saying to Job, “How dare you speak on my behalf! How dare you pretend to have my wisdom!” Even though Job was righteous, once he started facing his friends’ accusations, he started coming up with some answers of his own. He formed his own opinion as to what God was doing.

But now, in confession, Job says in the second half of verse 3, “I have uttered what I did not understand… I gave my side of the story. But really, I never understood.”

Why doesn’t Job understand? Because, he continues, they are, “things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” “These things are so beyond my understanding. I don’t, and I can’t, have the full picture.”

So, the closing bracket of his confession is a second quote from God. Verse 4. “Hear and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” God had said this twice to Job, and it’s wasn’t a request. It was a call for silence. No one else has God’s power or wisdom. God asked Job about all kinds of things in nature that Job could never explain.

Why did God do that? Because in defending his own innocence, Job never stopped to defend the holiness and sovereignty of God. So, there was a subtle casting of blame on God. It’s like Job was saying, “If I’m a righteous man, then maybe God isn’t so fair after all.” In defending his own innocence, Job was casting doubt on God’s right or ability to control the situation.

And that’s why, back in chapter 40, verse 8, God said to him, “Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?”… “Job, you are a righteous man. But that doesn’t mean that I am an unrighteous God or that You can bring me down to your level.” That’s what Job is remembering in his confession.

That’s what’s supposed to happen when you praise God. Adoration should bring us to Confession. “God you are holy. You are perfect. You are mighty. And I am not.”

Suffering helps you see how different you are from God. Rather than self-exaltation which says, “I don’t deserve this,” we need to go to confession of our sin and of our inadequacy. Suffering helps us see that.

As we’ve seen already in the book, suffering is not always the direct result of sin, but suffering is used by God to remind us that we are far from perfect. John Piper has used the analogy of a jar of water with a little bit of dirt in it. If you let it sit long enough, the dirt settles, and it looks like the water is clean. But shake the jar, and the it gets cloudy. You realize that there is impurity there.

In the grace of God, suffering shows us our need for Him and our dependency on Him. So, in painful times, focus on adoration and focus on confession.

Number three, we should focus on revelation. Revelation. Look with me at verse 5. Job continues—I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

There is some poetry here, so I don’t think this means that Job has physically seen God with his own eyes. But he’s making a distinction between hearing a rumor about a man and talking with him yourself. It’s a different level of knowledge.

Through all that has happened in Job’s life—in the pain, in the debate, and in God’s challenge—God has revealed Himself to Job in a new way. Through the eyes of faith, Job can now better see God’s greatness and majesty and sovereignty, and faithfulness.

That’s an amazing gift of God! That God would ever let anyone know Him more is an expression of His compassion and mercy. First Timothy 6 says no man can see God fully. But in a distinct way, God revealed himself to Job, and He wants you to know Him more, even through our sorrows. He wants us to focus on Him.

Up until this point, what had Job seen? He had seen his riches vanish. He had seen his family die. He had seen wicked men prosper and righteous men suffer. He had seen his reputation come to nothing. And focusing his attention on those things, he lost the joy of relating to God. He had stopped focusing on who God is and what God has done.

The lesson here for us is that when we suffer, we shouldn’t move away from God. We need to move toward Him. We need to seek Him. And where is it that God reveals Himself? What is His revelation for us? It’s His word.

I’m sure you will be helped by fellow Christians or by a sermon online or a podcast or whatever. But don’t ignore the firsthand knowledge you get for yourself by going to the Scriptures.

And if you’re helping others in suffering, take them to the Bible for themselves. Let them know it’s not your word that you’re sharing with the; it’s God’s.

We have an opportunity beyond Job to see God because God has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and in His written Word. And we can go to Him at any time.

When deep sorrow strikes, you may not even have the desire to eat. That’s okay. That’s going to happen. But do not neglect the spiritual food that you need. Don’t neglect personal time with God through prayer and the Scriptures. That’s how He reveals Himself to you in new ways.

There’s a fourth area of life that we should focus on suffering. And it shows up in Job 42:6. The fourth area is transformation. Adoration, confession, revelation, and now transformation.

Look at verse 6—Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. The word “despise” means to reject. So, Job is saying to God, “I take it all back. I was wrong to question You or demand answers from You.”

And then, this is the conclusion to the poetry of book. Job says, “I repent in dust and ashes.” Those are his final words in the book.

And I think it’s so critical not to miss what’s happening here. God has brought a transformation in Job’s life. The ESV says that Job repented, but it also includes a footnote with an alternate translation. The alternate translation is that Job says “I am comforted." Why are there two possible translations?

The Hebrew word here means “to have a change of heart.” Most often, it means that someone changed their mind and turned away from some course of action. That’s repentance. But the word is also used sometimes to refer to being comforted. Both ideas convey a change of heart.

Up to this point, Job’s heart was broken and confused and in despair. But now, that’s been changed, which means he has found comfort. I think that’s the better translation. I think that’s the proper conclusion to Job’s story.

In our own self-righteousness, it’s easy to judge Job. Once God starts correcting him, we probably want him to repent more than we want him to be comforted. But I don’t think that’s God’s desire, and it ignores the fact that comfort has been a recurring theme in the book. And so, now, it’s a fitting conclusion.

You and I should be grateful that God’s intention is to ultimately comfort Job and to glorify Himself as the Supreme Comforter. God revealed Himself to Israel as a mighty God, a Prince of Peace, and as a wonderful counselor.

The Hebrew word for “repent” here is used 10 times in the book of Job. And every other time it’s used, it’s translated as comfort. So, I don’t think this verse should be any different.

I’d like to run through that list very quickly in case you want to write these verses down, but also to remind ourselves about how this theme has been unfolding in the story.

When Job’s friends first came to see him, they wanted to comfort him. That’s in Job 2:11. Later, in chapter 6, verse 10, Job says that death would be a comfort for him. In chapter 7, verse 13, he says that sleep wasn’t comforting him.

In chapter 15, verse 11, Eliphaz refers to his own words as a message of comfort, but he was wrong about that. In chapter 16, verse 2, Job says his friends are “miserable comforters.” They aren’t helping him at all. In chapter 21, verse 2, Job says that if they really want to comfort him, they should listen to what he has to say. And then, in verse 34, he says they cannot comfort him with empty words.

And then, in Job 29:25, the last verse in the chapter, Job remembers that before his suffering came he was a man who comforted mourners. And this has been part of the irony and tragedy of Job’s story. He served others. He lifted others up. But now that Job is down, there’s no one to help him.

No matter what Job or anyone else tries, Job cannot be comforted, until now, until after God reveals Himself to Him and reminds Him that He is in still in charge, and Job is just one small piece in God’s eternal, wise, and good plan.

This is where the poetry finishes. A man named Job, who couldn’t find any comfort in his sufferings, finally says, “I am comforted in dust and ashes. Here amidst my troubles. sitting on a pile of rubble, finally, I find comfort.” Job is finally at peace.

Nothing in the situation around Job has changed, but Job is comforted. God ministers to Him during the affliction, not simply after. He was comforted in dust and ashes.

Dust and ashes were symbols of grief and mortality. Putting ashes on your head was a symbol of sadness. But Psalm 113 tells us that God raises the poor from the dust, and He lifts the needy from the ash heap. There is nothing that can comfort your troubled hearts in suffering like the power and presence of God. And God wants to do that for us. The pain might not go away, but comfort can. Transformation is possible if we learn to trust in God and seek Him.

Job never got an answer for why he was suffering. There’s no indication that he knew anything about Satan’s interaction with God. But God discloses Himself and reminds him that everything is under control. And rather than losing his faith, Job’s faith grows stronger because He rests in God’s power and wisdom.

You need to understand this: Job found comfort, not in a divine explanation, but in a divine revelation. Again, Job found comfort, Job found a transformation, not in a divine explanation, but in a divine revelation. And seeing God more clearly than ever before, and seeing his own humanity, his heart is transformed. He finds comfort.

You may not fully understand your suffering. You may never get a detailed answer from God. But you don’t have to have all the answers to experience the peace of God. Nothing is outside of His control, and if you belong to Him, by faith in and surrender to His Son Jesus Christ, you know that all things will work out for your eternal good.

That’s the point of the book of Job. Trust in God. Trust in God.

The greatest evil in the world was the murder of the spotless, sinless Son of God. And yet, even that was part of God’s eternal plan for His own glory and the good of His people. The death of Christ was the payment for the sins of God’s people, and it led to a glorious resurrection, which is a preview of the life to come.

God is always working. God is not detached from anything. And God will work everything out in His perfect timing.

And this leads me to a final area to focus on in painful times. The final word for today is restoration. Restoration.

God doesn’t expect or want us to have a blind hope. He wants our faith in something concrete. Something tangible and specific. For us, that hope is the return of Jesus Christ and the undoing of the curse on this planet. God will make all things new.

And the end of Job’s story reminds us, and points us to, the restoration that God brings to His people. I won’t spend too much time here, but it’s important to understand.

In verses 7-9, God rebukes Job’s three friends and upholds Job’s righteousness. Job is proven right, and his friends go to him for prayer.

And then what happens? Look at verse 10—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. [11] 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 [ruin] that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

Job reconciles with his friends, and he reconciles with his family. And after being comforted by God, he is also comforted by his family. On top of that, God gives Job double what he had before.

Verse 12 lists how many animals he owned in the latter part of his life. Verse 13 says he had 10 more children, which matches the number of children he had lost. He gets seven new sons and three new daughters.

Verse 14 gives us the daughter’s names. And the names he gives them symbolize Job’s joy. The first daughter was named “Jemimah” which means “little dove.” The second daughter’s name is a type of fragrant perfume. And the third daughter’s name is a type of eye shadow or mascara women would use.

These are names that point to how beautiful they were. And verse 15 says: And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

In that culture, it was typically only the sons that got a portion of the inheritance, but Job has been blessed with so much that he wants to continue blessing others.

The final two verses of the book say: ¹⁶And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. ¹⁷And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

Because Job was blessed with double after all this, some believe that he might have been about 70 when the story starts, and so 140 more years would be double that. That would be a lifespan of 210 years, which isn’t difficult to imagine because Abraham died at 175, and his father died at 205. Job probably lived around that time before human lifespans had levelled off after the Flood, but that’s for another sermon. The point is that God richly blessed Job. His story is filled with tragedy and pain and frustration, but it ends with joy and peace and prosperity. Job dies “full of days.” He is restored. He is satisfied.

What a beautiful picture of the end of our stories. This is the end for everyone who has trusted in God through Jesus Christ.

This life is filled with pain. This life is marked by sacrifice. But speaking of the pain that it means to deny yourself and follow the Son of God, Jesus said that everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for His sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Serving Christ is costly, but there will be an eternal reward. God will bring an eternal restoration. Focus on that.

That’s why the Apostle Paul could say in Romans 8:18—For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

To the Thessalonian Christians, Paul said we shouldn’t grieve without hope. We need to focus on the glorious resurrection and restoration which God will bring. Every tear will be wiped away. Every pain will be seen through the perfect lens of the glory and wisdom and beauty of our loving heavenly Father.

And it won’t happen because we deserve it. It will be ours because the perfect Son of God died in our place and bore God’s judgment. The eternal God, who feels no pain, felt all pain for His people, and He resurrected in victory over sin and death. And when He comes again, He will bring an eternal restoration. And we will live happily ever after.