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…. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days. -Job 42:10; 16-17
On Easter, we finished our sermon series on the book of Job, and we ended on … Job 19. Why did we end there when the book ends at chapter 42? I will answer your question with a question: can a pastor really not preach on one of the best resurrection passages in Scripture on Easter morning? The answer is “no.”
On Easter morning, with Job, we say, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Again, could a sermon series on Job that ends on Easter morning not have this as the sermon text??? I thought so.
So how does the book of Job end? In chapters 38-41, we see God speaking to Job. In 42:1-6, we see Job repenting into dust and ashes after his encounter with God. On Good Friday, we talked about 42:7-9, Job praying for his friends, but the book doesn’t end there. It continues on with verses 10-17.
These verses tell us that Job’s fortunes were restored (v.10) and they give us the details. His family, whom he felt cut-off from, returned, and brought with them comfort and gifts (v.11). He acquired more animals and was blessed with ten more children (v.12-15). The last two verses cover a significant amount of time, 140 years, and he was able to see four generations of children (v.16). Then “Job died, an old man, and full of days.”
What got Job through this whole ordeal was not himself but rather His Savior, whom He looked to. If Job depended on and looked to himself, the book would have turned out completely different! Instead, He looked to His faithful God Who raised his (and your!) Redeemer from the dead. While Job suffered great and horrible afflictions, Jesus suffered much more, and He did it for you and me so that we may live eternally. When we endure trials and hardships like Job, let us look our Savior Who has conquered sin and death, and with Job say, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” Indeed He does!
-Pastor Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XIX, Number 9, April 2018)