Job 42:17

The plan or structure is very distinct. There is a prologue in Job 1 and 2, with a matching conclusion or epilogue in the last chapter (Job 42:7-17). God and Satan raise the question in heaven. The man on earth most concerned knows nothing about it, until grace won out and the word revealed it all.

So the Supreme Judge of all moral relationships decided in Job's favour. It was not because of his patience, famous as that was. It was because Job had at last submitted completely to God, despite the harshest and most searching trial, and had vindicated Him by owning his own worthlessness.

God blessed Job richly. He restored what Job had lost and gave him twice as much as he had before. He did this when Job had prayed for his friends — and not before. Yet God held back that tide of blessing until Job was deeply changed in spirit and character. When he was at last brought near to God and acted as a priest in a way that reflected God's own goodness, then everything external changed. The boils disappeared. Health returned. He left the ashes behind. Those who had misjudged or abandoned him now poured kindness back into him. And God prospered him, so that he ended with twice as much as he had before.

And so the dear man passes from view, "an old man, and full of days." He would once have said "full of nights." But the light has shone on him, and he walks in it until the "perfect day."

"After this Job lived 140 years." I do not think this means Job lived 140 years after his trial was over. I think his whole life was 140 years — a very respectable age. It was not as long as Abraham's or Isaac's. But it was about as long as Jacob's, and longer than Moses'... But if you suppose he lived 80 years before the 140, that would make him far older than any of the patriarchs.

After this experience of Job he lived 140 years (v. 16), so that perhaps his age at death was similar to Abraham's (175 years).

Verses 16-17. We have reached the end. It is an end of peace, a perfect day. He sees four generations, and at the ripe old age of 140 he is gathered to his fathers. The Septuagint, the ancient Greek version of the Old Testament, adds a long ending to the last verse. It begins: "and it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up." ... That line comes from a writing outside Scripture. But it shows that people in ancient days believed in the hope of the resurrection of the body. Job will surely be there "in that day." His great statement, "I know that my Redeemer lives," and his hope of seeing Him, will come true.

Today the blessings given are spiritual and not material, as we have seen. But many an aged believer would testify to this: God used their very trials and sorrows to lead them into an enjoyment of His spiritual gifts twice as great as the one they started with.