Job 42:10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 Then 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.
Job had previously taunted his contentious friends:
You are all miserable comforters!
Shall vain words have an end? Job 16:2-3,
But now, while still in the midst of great pain and suffering, Job humbled himself before God and prayed for Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. After obediently praying for his friends our English translation reads, the Lord restored his fortunes, however the literal translation of fortunes is the Hebrew word sebut meaning captivity. Yahweh turned the captivity of Job. In other words after seeking atonement for his friends God freed Job from the captivity of his alienation and suffering.
Prior to this Job had been an outcast. He complained:
He has put my brothers far from me.
My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
My relatives have gone away.
My familiar friends have forgotten me.
Those who dwell in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am an alien in their sight.
I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer.
I beg him with my mouth.
My breath is offensive to my wife.
I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.
Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me. All my familiar friends abhor me.
They whom I loved have turned against me. Job 19:13-19
Once considered an outcast by even his closest friends and family, Job experienced the restoration of his broken relationships. Job was “returned from exile.”
Job 42:12 So 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. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 He called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren Happuch. 15 In all the land were no women found so beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, to four generations. 17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
In the end Satan’s plans were defeated. Through his faithfulness Job brought glory to God. God’s purposes were accomplished. Job was restored and blessed. The Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. v.10
Our sorrows shall have an end when God has gotten his end in them. The ends in the case of Job were these, that Satan might be defeated, foiled with his own weapons, blasted in his hopes when he had everything his own way.” (Charles Spurgeon, Gleanings Among the Sheaves)
Through the testing of Job we should all come to understand that God’s ways are higher than human ways and God’s thoughts are higher than human thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 This understanding becomes the foundation for a mature and courageous faith that is able to trust in God though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:3
Scripture tells us that Job is given as an example to teach all believers how to persevere through suffering.
Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5:10-11
We may not understand why we are suffering illness, experiencing loss, being persecuted, or being tempted by false teaching, but we can be sure of this, our Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
If you understand that God is using all the difficulties you face to perfect you, you will be at peace. (John McArthur, gty.org)
Come rejoice now, O my soul
For His love is my reward
Fear is gone and hope is sure
Christ is mine forevermore
(Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson, Cityalight music)