The Salvation of Job The Wisdom of Job The God of Job

Our God is a God of restoration. Many of His plans, purposes, and great works deal with the process of restoring. Restoring what? Restoring His creation, His people back to Himself. The whole purpose of the life of Jesus Christ here on earth, and especially His death and resurrection, was one of restoration.

We can see this in what Jesus did while He was ministering here on earth. There are countless examples of restoration in the three years of Jesus' ministry, such as:

• Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-44). In doing so, not only did Jesus restore Lazarus' life, but restored him to his sisters.

• Cleansing of lepers (Mt 8:2-4; Mk 1:40-42; Lk 17:12-19). Since lepers weren't allowed to live in the city, healing them was actually a restoration of their normal life.

• Healing lame and crippled people (Mt 12:13; Mk 3:5; Lk 6:10) which restored them to a useful life, instead of having to beg for sustenance.

• Freeing demon possessed people (Mk 5:2-15) who were in slavery to Satan, and were restored to freedom.

But, Jesus didn't just restore us to relationship with God, While the restoration of relationship with God was in and of itself a great work, His work of restoration was much more profound than that; it reached every area of every life of those who have accepted Him as Lord.

The Greek word that is translated in our Bibles as "salvation" is "sozo." It doesn't just mean salvation from our sins, in its most literal form it means "soundness," as in healthy, strong, secure, without fault, or problem, without preoccupation. That one word's quite a mouthful. Looking at that definition, we can see that Jesus not only saved us from sin, but also from pain, sickness, poverty, oppression, sadness, worry, and our own weaknesses. It was a complete work of salvation.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Is 53:4-5

We can see this mentioned in some detail in Isaiah, chapter 53, verses 4 to 5. Look at the parts I've underlined in the verse. They deal with just about every negative aspect of life that comes our way.

• We don't need to grieve, because He "bore our grief." Even things that normally cause grief need not bother us, because "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28).

• We don't need to be sorrowful, or sad, because He carried that as well. He has given us "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Is 61:3).

• God will not smite us, because He smote Jesus on our behalf. For "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3).

• We shall not be afflicted by anything the enemy might bring against us. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been made "more than conquerors" (Rom 8:37) and are assured with the promise that "the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet" (Rom 16:20).

• Even though we are imperfect, and sin, we do not need to be concerned that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23), because Jesus was "wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities." He as already paid the price of our sin for us.

• We can live in "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:7), because "the chastisement of our peace was upon Him." That means we have no need to worry, or be concerned about the cares of this life, for we can "cast all our care upon him; for he careth for us" (1 Pet 5:7).

• We don't need to be sick, for "by His stripes we are healed." He has "come that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly" (Jn 10:10). Since sickness and disease isn't part of an abundant life, we can be assured that it doesn't come from the Lord, and thank Him for healing us.

That's quite a lot of promises contained in two verses, but each and every one of them is part of the work of restoration which Christ Jesus wrought for us on the cross.

One of the greatest stories of restoration, which serves as an example of hope to us, is the restoration which God brought about in the life of Job. Even though God permitted Satan to attack Job, taking away his health, his wealth, and his children, God didn't allow Job to stay in that condition! From the beginning, God intended to restore to Job everything that He allowed Satan to steal from Him.

According to the dictionary, the word "restore" means "return to its original condition." For synonyms we find the words, "reinstate, re-establish, bring back, and return." So, if God is going to restore something, I think we can safely expect Him to follow our dictionary definition, and bring it back to its original condition. Let's check this out:

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job… ² And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. ³ His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Job 1:1-3

Okay, here we see Job at the beginning of the book. Let's check out his bank balance per se. He has 10 children, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she asses. That looks like a lot to me. No wonder he was "the greatest of all the men of the east."

Now, let's look at his bank balance at the end of the story:

So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. ¹³ He had also seven sons and three daughters.

Job 42:12-13

Okay, it looks here like Job had 10 children again, along with 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 she asses. Wait a minute! That isn't just restoring to the original condition, that's double. Obviously, God has a different dictionary than we do. When He restores something, He doesn't just return it to its original condition He makes it better.

This isn't a one-time occurrence, either. We can see throughout the Bible that God's plan of restoration always includes making things better. Before Jesus was crucified, He promised His disciples:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Jn 14:26

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Jn 15:26

As part of God's plan of restoration, which He wrought through Jesus Christ, we now have the Holy Spirit to be our teacher, comforter, and guide. It is commonly understood that the Holy Spirit didn't work through people in Old Testament times like He does in New Testament times. Not only that, but there is no Biblical evidence to suggest that Adam had the help of the Holy Spirit before the fall in Genesis, chapter 3.

That's a part of the restoration work of Jesus which normally is overlooked. It's not overlooked that we have the Holy Spirit available to us, but that it's part of the restoration work of Christ.

Okay, so we know that the work of restoration which God performed in Job's life was a divine work. How do we know? Because God was very specific in letting us know.

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:10

But, did Job have anything to do with this process of restoration? Were there any actions on his part which helped bring about the restoration which God performed in his life? To answer these questions, let's return to Job's prayer at the beginning of chapter 42.

I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. ³ Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. ⁴ Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. ⁵ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. ⁶ Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:2-6

The first thing we find that Job did which paved the way for God to restore him was a spiritual restoration. We know that the whole purpose of what God allowed to happen in the book of Job was to bring about a spiritual restoration. But, even though God allowed it, He did so by faith, believing it would have a positive effect on Job. By becoming part of the work that God was doing in him, and repenting, Job put himself in a position where God was interested in, and able to do other works on his behalf.

Repentance, in and of itself, is a work of spiritual restoration. The only way that we can be and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, without repenting, we've left out a very important part of what we need to do. Because, without repentance, there is no salvation.

Quite literally, repentance means "to turn around and return to God." All of us, if left alone, will walk away from God. That's what it means to be a sinner. A sinner is one who has walked away from God by his own free will. The message of the gospel is a call of restoration to those who have taken that walk to turn around (repent) and come back into relationship with Father God, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

When Job repented in chapter 42, he reestablished relationship with God. By his own words we see that although he knew of God, he didn't know God. He said, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:5). There's a great big difference between hearing about God, and having a personal encounter with Him. There's a lot of people walking around, calling themselves Christians, because they've heard about God. That doesn't make them Christians. Those people need to have an encounter with Him.

Although Job thought himself a believer before the experiences that are written in the book of Job, he wasn't in relationship with God. Yes, he believed, but it was a belief from a distance. When he repented, he came into right relationship with God.

Let me clarify something here. God lives outside of time. Time, as we know it, is regulated by the rotation of the earth, moon, and the orbit the earth takes around the sun. God doesn't live here on the earth, he lives in heaven. Therefore, time doesn't affect Him.

Because time doesn't affect God, it doesn't affect when someone receives Christ as their Lord and Savor. The Jews of the Old Testament times were saved the same way we are saved today, by faith in Jesus Christ. The only difference is that they didn't know His name. All they knew what that there was a God, and He provided a Savior. We know that Job knew of this Savior, even though he didn't know His name, because he said so.

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

Job 19:25

Abraham was saved in the same way. He "believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen 15:6). If Abraham could be saved that way, and God is no respecter of persons (Rom 2:11); then we can safely say that this same faith applied to Job is the reason that Job was saved.

But, that's not really our point here, our point is that Job by a conscious act of his will, and a confession of his mouth, repented before the Lord for his unbelief, and his pride. That is what allowed his spiritual restoration.

Even though Job's repentance brought about his spiritual restoration, I don't see anything in the Bible that indicates that this did, or should bring about his physical restoration. Job was restored to relationship with God through his repentance, but was still poor, sick, and sitting in that pile of ashes. Something else needed to be done.

Okay, so the repentance brought about Job's spiritual restoration, but it didn't bring about his physical and material restoration. So, what did bring about his complete restoration? For the answer, lets look a little farther into chapter 42.

And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. ⁸ Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job. ¹⁰ And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:7-10

Strangely enough, the first thing that God did after Job repented wasn't dealing with Job, but his three friends. God was angry with them, because they had not spoken right of Him. Actually, they didn't say anything about Him, only about Job. On the other hand, as we've already seen, of Job's friends, only Elihu spoke of God, and glorified Him.

To forestall God dealing with their folly, He commanded them to bring seven bulls, and seven rams to Job, not as a gift to Job, but to be used by Job as an offering to God. Job was to pray for his friends, so that God would forgive them of their sin.

From the perspective of Job's life, there are three important elements of what is going on here. First of all, there is the aspect of worship, secondly there is the need for a seed, in the form of an offering, which God can multiply back to Job, and the third is prayer. All three of these had a part in the restoration of the natural part of Job's life.

As New Testament believers, we naturally enough have little understanding of the act of offering a burnt sacrifice to God on the altar. We have no need of burnt offerings, because Jesus fulfilled this part of the law for us. He is our one and only sacrifice for sin, and for fellowship with God the Father. Our offerings, instead of being animals, are financial offerings, offerings of time for the service of the Lord, and offerings of worship.

The Old Testament act of sacrificing an animal on the altar wasn't a cold, unemotional act. It was an act of worship. When King David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he did so with many sacrificial offerings to God. But, at the same time, the Word of God tells us that He was dancing and worshipping as he was bringing up the ark.

And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. ¹⁴ And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

2 Sam 6:13-14

Even though we know King David was a worshipper, and can naturally enough expect him to take this opportunity to worship God, that doesn't mean that other offerings made to God weren't done as an act of worship. No, it shows us that they were worship.

Everyone knows that "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7). We use that verse all the time when we are taking up an offering in a church service. Well, where did Paul, who wrote that verse, learn about being a cheerful giver? Did he learn it from the New Testament church? No! He learned it from the Old Testament church. The act of offering up a sacrifice to God was an act of worship, accompanied by music, singing, and dancing.

After bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, and placing it in the place he had prepared for it, David commanded the Levites and Priests to make all the offerings required in the Torah (the Law). But, he also commanded them to assign Levites, by divisions, to worship God twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

I am quite sure that when Job offered those seven bulls, and seven rams to the Lord on his friends' behalf, he also did it as an act of worship. We know from the first chapter, that Job was a worshipper; even though he wasn't saved, he continually made offerings to God.

Job's act of worship, just like our acts of worship, opened the door to come into the presence of God. Everyone knows the verse which says, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name" (Ps 100:4), but even though they know it, not everyone worships. It says quite clearly that the key to entering into God's presence, where all of His blessings and provision are, is by praise and worship.

Job had to get into God's presence so that God could restore those things which Satan had stole from him. God used Job's friends to provide that which was needed to enter into God's presence.

Let's go back to our three elements which were needed for the restoration of Job's physical well being. They were:

• Worship

• Seed

• Prayer

We've already talked about how worship was a part of his restoration, now let's look at the seed part of Job's restoration.

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.

2 Cor 9:10

One of the most basic spiritual laws that exists is the law of the seed. There are many parables in which Jesus taught about the seed, the need for sowing it, and the harvest which good seed brings forth. That's because, according to Jesus, all of the Kingdom of God works through the act of sowing and reaping.

If we want a harvest in our lives, we need to plant a seed. This applies to whatever area of our lives we can think of, not just money. Anything can be a seed. If we have need of time, by sowing time to the work of the Lord, He will multiply our time. If we need wisdom, by sharing the wisdom we have with someone else, we open the door for God to give us more wisdom. If we need revelation and understanding of the Word of God, the best way to receive it is by giving others the wisdom and revelation that we have. If we need comfort, we can receive it by comforting someone else when they are sad, or mourning.

God will always multiply whatever seed we give Him in faith. On the other hand, if we never sow, we cannot receive. When the widow came to Elisha because a creditor wanted to take away her two sons, he asked her, "What do you have in the house?" (2 Ki 4:2). Elijah wasn't expecting her to have enough in the house to pay the debt, he was looking for a seed. He knew that if God was going to work a miracle of provision for this widow, they had to find a seed.

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead… the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. ² And Elisha said unto her… tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil… ⁴ pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.… ⁵ So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. ⁶ And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

2 Ki 4:1-6

Or, how about the time when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.

When it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying… send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. ¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. ¹⁷ And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. ¹⁸ He said, Bring them hither to me. ¹⁹ And he… took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. ²⁰ And they did all eat, and were filled…

Mt 14:15-20

Once again, we see the Lord taking something, as a seed, and multiplying it. Had there not been the five loaves and two fish, I am sure He would have told his disciples to go out into the crowd, and seek someone who had something to use as a seed, as we often see this story taught in Sunday School classes.

Since all of Job's possessions had been destroyed at the beginning of the book of Job (Job 1:14-17) he had nothing with which to make an offering unto God. I don't know if he had an understanding of his need to make an offering, so that God could multiply it, but obviously God understood. He provided that seed, through commanding Job's friends to bring him seven bulls and seven rams. God provides the seed, and He also causes it to be multiplied.

Finally, the third element of Job's restoration was prayer. Not prayer for himself, not prayer for his needs, not prayer for his wish list; but prayer for others. Our God doesn't want us to be self-focused, He wants us to be others-focused. He told Abraham, "I will bless you, so that you can be a blessing" (Gen 12:2).

When all of our prayer time is spent in asking God for things for ourselves, that means that we are preoccupied with our own lives and needs. Instead of giving those things to God, so that He can work in our lives, we have them tightly in our own hands. Because of that, God is unable to work on our behalf.

If we want God to move on our behalf, we must let go of those things which we hold in our hands, and give them to the Lord. We must be willing to take the step of leaving them in God's hands, instead of trying to tell God what to do with them. And, we must trust that His will is to do us good.

There is no place mentioned in this final chapter of the book of Job where Job is praying for himself, and his needs. However, he does pray for his three friends. That prayer, along with the worship and the seed which he offered, was the final key to open the door to God's blessing.

We already read, in verse nine, that God accepted Job when he prayed for his friends. But, let's take a closer look at verse ten:

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:10

This was the turning point for Job, when he prayed for his friends. Even though God used his worship and his seed to bring about the multiplication of blessing, it was at this point, the point of prayer, that God actually moved, "turning the captivity of Job."

God is much more likely to move on the behalf of someone who is doing His will, and His work than someone who is only sitting in the church, warming the pews. I have said it before, and I'll say it again, God's blessings are prepared for us before the foundations of the world. He has placed them in the path prepared for us. If we want to receive those blessings, we need to get to where they are, not wait for them to come to us.

Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

Job 42:11

Here we see the beginning of Job's financial restoration. Once Job had prayed for his friends, and God "turned his captivity," God commanded all of his relatives, friends, and acquaintances to visit him, bringing with them gold and money. Why didn't they come before this? Because, God needed to work in Job's heart, and bring him to the cross, before God could allow his blessings to come to him.

Our God is a God of restoration. If something has been taken from you, ask the question, "Why?" What is God trying to accomplish in your life, that has necessitated something being taken from you?

Once you encounter the answer to that question, you can begin to become an active part of the process of restoration which God wants to bring about in your life. But, if you continue to walk about with your eyes closed, you may never be restored to the fullness which God desires to bring about in your life.