1Then Job answered Yahweh:
2“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be restrained.
3You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
therefore I have uttered that which I didn’t understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I didn’t know.
4You said, ‘Listen, now, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’
5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you.
6Therefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
7It was so, that after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls 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 I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.”
9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what Yahweh commanded them, and Yahweh accepted Job.
10Yahweh restored Job’s prosperity when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, came to him and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that Yahweh had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.
12So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. 13He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14He called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren Happuch. 15In all the land were no women found so beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16After this Job lived one hundred forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, to four generations. 17So Job died, being old and full of days.
The book of Job ends with Job’s repentance to God and God’s final blessing on Job and the judgement and forgiveness of Job’s friends. I have heard many individuals comment on Job’s “double blessing” and state, “Look! Job got everything back and more!” I understand the sentiment from which this comes, but I think it is important to note that Job didn’t get everything back. Yes, he did get more sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys, but he did not get back his children. He did have more children, but he did not get his first ten children back.
I think this is important to note for a couple reasons. First, tragedy stays with people. Even after years of blessings, some tragedies stay with us. To ignore this fact is to discount the weight of Job’s pain. Second, there is a change in the way he treats his next children, primarily his daughters. Job’s first daughters are not named in the first part of the book, but his second ones are at the end. Job’s daughters are also not mentioned in his will at the beginning, which would not have been uncommon, but are at the end. Maybe this is Job’s way of trying to love his daughters more than before, or maybe Job’s pain has given him even more of a reason to spend time with and care for his children.
Do you still carry scars from a tragedy/painful experience?
How might tragedy impact the way you look at life?
Job teaches us many things and invites us to ask many questions. Some of these questions are answered while others are left unanswered, but Job’s faith in God through all of his misfortune and questioning reminds us to trust in the one that has created us.