May 3, 2024
The Difference Between Knowing God in Your Head and Knowing God with Your Heart
Job 41-42
Caelin Bennett
Big Book Idea
God is at work even when we can't see it.
Key Verse | Job 42:2, 5
"I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."
. . .
"I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you . . . ."
Job 41-42
1
1
41:1
Ch 40:25 in Hebrew
Can you draw out Leviathan
2
41:1
A large sea animal, exact identity unknown
with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
2
Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3
Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
4
Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
5
Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6
Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7
Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8
Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9
3
41:9
Ch 41:1 in Hebrew
Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10
No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
11
Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12
I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13
Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
14
Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
15
His back is made of
4
41:15
Or His pride is in his
rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16
One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17
They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18
His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19
Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
20
Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21
His breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22
In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
23
The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
24
His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
25
When he raises himself up, the mighty
5
41:25
Or gods
are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26
Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27
He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28
The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.
29
Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30
His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31
He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32
Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33
On earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
34
He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the sons of pride.”
Job's Confession and Repentance
1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2
“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4
‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6
therefore I despise myself,
and repent
6
42:6
Or and am comforted
in dust and ashes.”
The LORD Rebukes Job's Friends
7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.
The LORD Restores Job's Fortunes
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. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil 7 42:11 Or disaster that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money 8 42:11 Hebrew a qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value and a ring of gold.
12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 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.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Job
Timeline
Author and Date
The unknown Israelite author of this book presents Job as a person living in Uz (see note on 1:1). Job’s godliness (1:1) matches the ideals of Israelite wisdom literature. He clearly knows Yahweh (1:21). The events of the book seem to be set in the times of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
Theological Themes
The book of Job concerns itself with the question of faith in a sovereign God. Can God be trusted? Is he good and just in his rule of the world? The book shows that the reasons for human suffering often remain a secret to human beings.
In the book of Job, God seems both too close and too far away. On the one hand, Job complains that God is watching him every moment so that he cannot even swallow his spit (7:19). On the other hand, Job finds God elusive (9:11). Though God is greatly concerned about humans, he does not always answer their most agonizing questions.
At the same time, Job’s friends offer no real help. They come to “comfort” him (2:11), but Job ends up declaring them “miserable comforters” who would console him “with empty nothings” (21:34). These friends represent an oversimplified view of faith. They think that all human troubles are divine punishments for wrongdoing. Their “comfort” consists largely of urging Job to identify his sin and repent of it. These friends are negative examples of how to comfort those who are suffering.
The book illustrates that one does not need to fully understand God’s will in order to be faithful while suffering. Those who suffer need not be afraid to express to God their confusion and questions.
Purpose
The book of Job was written to those who struggle with the question of how God can be good when the world is filled with suffering.
The author does not provide a formal defense of God’s justice. Rather, as Job’s friends offer their inadequate answers, the author shows how their reasoning fails. Then, in chs. 38–41, the Lord speaks in his own defense, bringing Job to fuller understanding (ch. 42).
Even during his suffering and confusion, before God finally speaks, Job can triumphantly declare, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25).
Outline
- Prologue: Job’s Character and the Circumstances of His Test (1:1–2:13)
- Dialogue: Job, His Suffering, and His Standing before God (3:1–42:6)
- Job: despair for the day of his birth (3:1–26)
- The friends and Job: can Job be right before God? (4:1–25:6)
- First cycle (4:1–14:22)
- Second cycle (15:1–21:34)
- Third cycle (22:1–25:6)
- Job: the power of God, place of wisdom, and path of integrity (26:1–31:40)
- Elihu: suffering as a discipline (32:1–37:24)
- Challenge: the Lord answers Job (38:1–42:6)
- Epilogue: The Vindication, Intercession, and Restoration of Job (42:7–17)
Fact: Wisdom
Wisdom is a key term in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The word can mean “skilled at making sound decisions in life.” Proverbs 9:10 states that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
Fact: Elihu
Elihu is the only character in the book of Job with a Hebrew name.
Job
Job was a wealthy man whom the Bible describes as “blameless and upright” (1:1). When God pointed out Job’s faithfulness, Satan responded that Job feared God only because the Lord had protected and blessed him. To test Job’s integrity, God allowed Satan to take away all of Job’s possessions and his children. In a single day Job lost everything, yet he responded faithfully (1:21). Next God gave Satan permission to attack Job’s health. He struck Job with painful sores (2:7). Job’s wife then urged him to “curse God and die” (2:9). Job’s friends wrongly concluded that his sins caused his suffering, but Job refused to accept this. Instead, Job asked God to explain why he was suffering. God eventually answered Job’s cries, and Job humbly submitted to God’s sovereignty. The Lord then restored Job’s fortune, giving him “twice as much as he had before” (42:10), and blessed him with more children. (Job 19:25)
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
After the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job, three of his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came to comfort him. However, all three wrongly assumed that Job’s suffering was the result of some hidden sin. Each man urged Job to repent so that God would have mercy on him. But Job insisted that he was innocent. Although it is true that some suffering is a result of sin, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar oversimplified this truth. They believed that all troubles are punishments for wrongdoing, which was not the case for Job. The wrong actions of Job’s three friends should remind believers today to be wise and sensitive when dealing with people in distress. The Lord rebuked Job’s three friends and instructed Job to pray for them. (Job 42:7–9)
Job 41:9–11 If people are unable to subdue Leviathan, who is a part of God’s creation, then how much more cautious should Job be about his desire to bring his case and stand before God.
Job 40:6–41:34 Job knew what it was like to be misunderstood and misjudged by his friends. The Lord now shows Job how he had misjudged the Lord’s rule over the world (40:6–9). Job had displayed godly character (see 29:11–17), but in speaking about divine justice Job was going beyond what he could comprehend (40:10–14). The Lord illustrates this point further by describing Behemoth (40:15–24) and Leviathan (ch. 41). If Job is unable to subdue these powerful beasts, who are themselves a part of God’s creation, how much less should he presume to challenge God’s ways in his life (41:9–11).
Job 41:1–34 The Lord describes the power of Leviathan in terms of man’s inability to subdue him. He compares such power to his own (vv. 9–11).
Job 42:3–4 In each of these verses, Job quotes the Lord’s questions (see 38:2–3; also 40:7) before responding to them.
Job 3:1–42:6 Dialogue: Job, His Suffering, and His Standing before God. Between the brief narrative sections of the prologue (1:1–2:13) and epilogue (42:7–17), the large central section of the book is dialogue in poetic form. It focuses on the question of what Job’s suffering reveals both about him and about God’s governing of the world.
38:1–42:6 Challenge: The Lord Answers Job. The Lord responds in two speeches, each followed by a brief response from Job. Aware of God as never before, Job responds by humbly submitting to God’s sovereignty and regretting his earlier words (42:1–6).
Job 42:1–6 In response to the Lord’s rebuke, Job confesses that the Lord’s power and purposes will not fail, and that he has spoken of things beyond his knowledge.
Job 42:6 The Lord has already been merciful to Job. His rebukes and questions have been for Job’s own good. I despise myself. That is, “I recognize the ignorance behind my own words.” God’s mercy is pictured further in Job’s humble posture. In dust and ashes Job finally enjoys the comfort that his friends had withheld from him. Repent translates a form of the same word used of the friends’ intention to “comfort” Job in 2:11 (see ESV footnote).
Job 42:7 not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Job’s words certainly expressed deep anguish and frustration, but God does not count these words as sinful. This is probably because Job never lost his earnest desire to appear before God.
Job 42:8 for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. The friends had been so sure they were defending wisdom against Job’s “folly,” only to find out they were totally mistaken. By interceding for his friends, Job exhibits the character of the Lord (slow to anger, abounding in love and mercy). He embodies the very mercy he himself had received. By doing so, he also continues the intercessory role he had faithfully performed for his family (see 1:5).
Job 42:7–9 In God’s presence, Job finds the righteous judge for whom he had longed.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
After the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job, three of his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came to comfort him. However, all three wrongly assumed that Job’s suffering was the result of some hidden sin. Each man urged Job to repent so that God would have mercy on him. But Job insisted that he was innocent. Although it is true that some suffering is a result of sin, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar oversimplified this truth. They believed that all troubles are punishments for wrongdoing, which was not the case for Job. The wrong actions of Job’s three friends should remind believers today to be wise and sensitive when dealing with people in distress. The Lord rebuked Job’s three friends and instructed Job to pray for them. (Job 42:7–9)
Job
Job was a wealthy man whom the Bible describes as “blameless and upright” (1:1). When God pointed out Job’s faithfulness, Satan responded that Job feared God only because the Lord had protected and blessed him. To test Job’s integrity, God allowed Satan to take away all of Job’s possessions and his children. In a single day Job lost everything, yet he responded faithfully (1:21). Next God gave Satan permission to attack Job’s health. He struck Job with painful sores (2:7). Job’s wife then urged him to “curse God and die” (2:9). Job’s friends wrongly concluded that his sins caused his suffering, but Job refused to accept this. Instead, Job asked God to explain why he was suffering. God eventually answered Job’s cries, and Job humbly submitted to God’s sovereignty. The Lord then restored Job’s fortune, giving him “twice as much as he had before” (42:10), and blessed him with more children. (Job 19:25)
Job 42:11 After he was restored, Job’s siblings and other friends came to him and showed him sympathy and comforted him, which corrected a loss that Job had earlier lamented (see 19:13–19). This was the original intention of the three friends (see 2:11), but Job ends up receiving comfort primarily through his matured relationship with the Lord (see 42:6).
Job 42:14 Jemimah . . . Keziah . . . Keren-happuch. The name of the first daughter means “dove”; the second, “a kind of perfume”; and the third, “a type of eye shadow.”
Job 42:7–17 Epilogue: The Vindication, Intercession, and Restoration of Job. The final section of the book reveals on earth what the prologue had stated: Job’s suffering was not a consequence of sin (see 1:1–2:13).
Job 42:10–17 Now that he has surrendered to God and has been reconciled with his friends, Job experiences restoration. He is still broken and bereaved, but as the restoration proceeds, his previous possessions of livestock are doubled (v. 12; compare 1:3), and 10 more children are born to him (42:13; compare 1:2).
Introduction to Job
Timeline
Author and Date
The unknown Israelite author of this book presents Job as a person living in Uz (see note on 1:1). Job’s godliness (1:1) matches the ideals of Israelite wisdom literature. He clearly knows Yahweh (1:21). The events of the book seem to be set in the times of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
Theological Themes
The book of Job concerns itself with the question of faith in a sovereign God. Can God be trusted? Is he good and just in his rule of the world? The book shows that the reasons for human suffering often remain a secret to human beings.
In the book of Job, God seems both too close and too far away. On the one hand, Job complains that God is watching him every moment so that he cannot even swallow his spit (7:19). On the other hand, Job finds God elusive (9:11). Though God is greatly concerned about humans, he does not always answer their most agonizing questions.
At the same time, Job’s friends offer no real help. They come to “comfort” him (2:11), but Job ends up declaring them “miserable comforters” who would console him “with empty nothings” (21:34). These friends represent an oversimplified view of faith. They think that all human troubles are divine punishments for wrongdoing. Their “comfort” consists largely of urging Job to identify his sin and repent of it. These friends are negative examples of how to comfort those who are suffering.
The book illustrates that one does not need to fully understand God’s will in order to be faithful while suffering. Those who suffer need not be afraid to express to God their confusion and questions.
Purpose
The book of Job was written to those who struggle with the question of how God can be good when the world is filled with suffering.
The author does not provide a formal defense of God’s justice. Rather, as Job’s friends offer their inadequate answers, the author shows how their reasoning fails. Then, in chs. 38–41, the Lord speaks in his own defense, bringing Job to fuller understanding (ch. 42).
Even during his suffering and confusion, before God finally speaks, Job can triumphantly declare, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25).
Outline
- Prologue: Job’s Character and the Circumstances of His Test (1:1–2:13)
- Dialogue: Job, His Suffering, and His Standing before God (3:1–42:6)
- Job: despair for the day of his birth (3:1–26)
- The friends and Job: can Job be right before God? (4:1–25:6)
- First cycle (4:1–14:22)
- Second cycle (15:1–21:34)
- Third cycle (22:1–25:6)
- Job: the power of God, place of wisdom, and path of integrity (26:1–31:40)
- Elihu: suffering as a discipline (32:1–37:24)
- Challenge: the Lord answers Job (38:1–42:6)
- Epilogue: The Vindication, Intercession, and Restoration of Job (42:7–17)
Fact: Elihu
Elihu is the only character in the book of Job with a Hebrew name.
Fact: Wisdom
Wisdom is a key term in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The word can mean “skilled at making sound decisions in life.” Proverbs 9:10 states that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
Listen to the Podcast
Listen NowDive Deeper | Job 41-42
Have you ever known people solely through social media or communicating with them by text? Then, once you meet them in person, you see the people fully for who they are, and your perception of them changes. You see their mannerisms, you hear their tone of voice, and you experience them on a deeper level. This change is what is happening to Job in chapters 41 and 42. Job knew who God was in his head, but his perception changed when he experienced God as He addressed Job starting in chapter 38.
We're all like Job. When we suffer, we want to know why. What is God up to? Why is He putting me through this? What did I do to merit suffering? God's response doesn't address any of these questions. But if we know anything about God, it's that He always answers us in the best way according to His will and what we really need.
The intention of God's questions in the previous chapters was to refocus Job, not to answer him. What may have seemed frustrating turned out to be the most satisfying. It's in Job's response when we realize that knowing answers does not satisfy. God's presence satisfies because His grace and mercy are completely sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). We don't need to know why things happen. That's God's job. Our job is to have total trust and dependence on Him.
Until we meet God on His terms, we must remember not to mistake His silence for absence. The good news for us now is the gospel: God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins; and Jesus now reigns in the hearts of those who have received Him. We always have His presence (Matthew 28:20). What amazing news!
Lastly, we can deeply connect with Jesus in our suffering because He suffered, too. James teaches us to respond to trials with joy because the testing of our faith produces perseverance, making us mature and complete (James 1:2-4). When we endure, we become mature; we become more like Jesus, with Jesus. That truth is something to be joyful about!
This month's memory verse
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
– John 14:15
Discussion Questions
1. Are you afraid of suffering? As a Christ-follower, what can you learn through Job's suffering?
2. How does the beginning of the book of Job compare to the end? Why do you think Satan is not mentioned again?
3. Assess your heart. Do you know God more in your head, or do you know Him on a heart level? If you don't, are you willing to submit your heart to Him today?
4. Reflection: we are curious people, and curious people are always looking for answers. In the midst of suffering, do you look for answers from God, or do you seek God Himself? Are you willing to let God be your satisfaction?
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