It’s easy to misread the ending of Job. After 41 chapters of misery, it can feel like a tidy “and they all lived happily ever after.” Worse yet, people use it as a justification for prosperity theology, the very thing the book has argued against. Surely, the message isn’t that righteous people end up rich. But what is the takeaway?
Through an earth-bound happy ending, Job’s final chapter teaches important lessons about heaven. They’re the very lessons we’re to cling to when trials come. What made Job’s suffering so hard was that he didn’t know how his story would end. Thanks to him, we can know how ours will.
1. In the end, God will vindicate true faith
Job’s misfortunes robbed him of status and influence. People were suspicious of someone who had suffered so greatly. They discounted what he said because they believed his circumstances were his fault. Sadly, I’ve seen the same thing happen in churches. I remember a godly couple I knew sharing how younger parents wanted nothing of their wisdom because their children had turned from the Lord.
Job’s final chapter shows that God will vindicate His servants in the end. Twice God says of Job’s accusers, “You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7, 8). Job thought that his reputation was shot, his dignity destroyed, and his honour defiled. But God lifted him up from the ash heap and recognized his patient faith.
Most Christians know what it’s like to have their beliefs dismissed and their values attacked. Job teaches us that a day is coming when God will commend our faith and confront those who have looked down on us.
2. In the end, God will restore our fellowship
Tragedy is isolating. Suffering is lonely. As Job himself experienced, friends can disappoint, and people can pull away. The final chapter of Job shows us that God sees that and acts to remedy it.
After confronting Job’s friends about their sins, God doesn’t just deal with them separately. Instead, He arranged things so that the friends wouldn’t receive forgiveness until they come to Job with sacrifices and ask him to pray for them (Job 42:8).
Similarly, verse 10 says, “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends.” After all that he had gone through, Job might have been tempted to gloat, but that would have only extended his isolation and loneliness. God is committed to rebuilding the fellowship that sin destroys, not only with Himself but also with others.
While the world caricatures heaven as a place where people are alone on clouds playing harps, the Bible compares it to a wedding reception (Matthew 22:1-14), full of people celebrating together with joy and peace with one another.
God will one day act to restore the fellowship that sin has destroyed.
3. In the end, God will multiply our blessings
The material blessings of Job are probably the easiest to misunderstand. Not only does God restore Job’s fortunes, but we learn that “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10). He amasses a staggering amount of wealth and even has seven more sons and three more daughters born to him (Job 42:13).
The prosperity preacher is likely to say at this point, “If you repent and have enough faith, you’ll be rich, healthy, and successful like him.” But that’s exactly the message of Job’s counsellors. That’s the message that made God burn with anger when He heard it. And it doesn’t make sense of Paul’s beheading, John’s exile, or the crucifixion of the other apostles.
This is God teaching earth-bound people about eternal riches. This is God trying to show people of faith what it’ll be like when we meet Him. Try to imagine any true blessing you’ve tasted on this earth and multiply it again and again and again. We’ll experience a fullness and satisfaction that’s indescribable.
It’s what Paul’s talking about in Romans 8:18 when he says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
When Job went through his test, he didn’t have this promise. He hadn’t read the final chapter. He didn’t know how his story would end, but thanks to him, you do.
In awe of Him,
Paul
