Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
God angry with Eliphaz and his two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.
So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer. After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.
V1-6 contains Job's reaction the climax of the book. Job now realizes he had been dabbling涉足 in things beyond his understanding, totally out of his depth. Before, he had gone by hearsay; now he has seen God for himself, as he longed to do.
There is now no question of putting his case; seeing God is enough. His questions remain unanswered, but he is satisfied. It is unthinkable that this God could ever let him down or act inconsistently. He can trust, where he does no understand.
Now he can accept what comes. Self-righteousness melts away. Job regrets the bitter things he has said. As he looks at God and worships, he sees himself and his problem in perspective.
V 1-6 are the high point in the story. Final passage in prose merely rounds things off. Job has been vindicated, and this must be visibly demonstrated. (There is no promise of a fairy-tale ending to every case of suffering.)
God has taken Job to task for his reaction to suffering, but his integrity is beyond question. Job's good name is as clear as his conscience. It is the three friends who have been wrong. Job's was an honest search for truth. They would not allow for truth being bigger than their understanding of it - and so they were guilty of misrepresenting God. They must obtain Job's forgiveness before God will forgive them.
Significantly, it is at the point when Job has accepted his suffering and forgiven his friends, that God reverses his fortunes. Friends, prosperity, family are all restored to him, with a long life in which to enjoy them.
God will forgive us when we forgive others all.
How?
God can do all things and things are too wonderful for me to know. Forgive others more than seventy seven times.
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