Job 42:7-9 "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. 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. 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."
When most people discuss the story of Job, there are a lot of nuances to speak of, and those details come up frequently. The discussion goes from why Job is going through this to how could Job handle this, why didn't Job turn his back on the LORD, to what horrible friends he had. Job even said his friends were pretty horrible, or "miserable comforters" (16:2) were his exact words. In the passage above, we see how God saw these three men. He says, "My anger burns against you." A reason to fear the LORD. God could have easily destroyed these three men, but he did not. He also did not give them a pass. He allowed them to see that Job was righteous, as God had determined at the beginning of this book (1:1; 2:3). He also revealed mercy, a characteristic of our great God. Compassion offered by God allows repentance.
Let's take that in for a moment. I don't hear about this small section of this long book from many pulpits. I've listened to how these friends had to go to Job for him to pray for them. God was so angry with them, but the beautiful part of this is God did not want to destroy them. They were there to hear God correct Job; now, he fully understood and knew God. (42:4-6) "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Job was questioned by God and corrected in some of his thinking. Job did not need to be told to repent. His encounter with God brought repentance. The three men did not repent on their own, and many people don't. But God did not give up on them and directed them to what was needed to defuse his anger. He required their repentance. We cannot see it as a small thing that they did what God commanded. That took humility. A humility they did not come to Job with; but they left Job and God's presence appropriating.
Many Christians have a wrong idea of God. They believe he looks for reasons to destroy people. Maybe it's because the Old Testament is read and misunderstood. It could be because this lie is believed, "the Old Testament God was mean and angry, but Jesus is nice in the New Testament." Perhaps because we project our bitterness and hatred for people on God, I'm sure there are many inaccurate reasons why so many think God wants to destroy people. That says more about us than it does God.
God looks for reasons to call people to repentance, not condemnation. Genesis 16:16-33 gives us more insight into God's heart. While we look at this passage and eventually see the destruction of two Countries, do we stop and see how God was willing to hold back his judgment for the righteous. "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous..." Abraham and the LORD were having a conversation, and Abraham interceded and asked, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city?" He goes on and asks the LORD to spare the place for the righteous. That conversation went on til The LORD would look for ten righteous. The Scripture says (Romans 2:4), "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" Sparing a place because a representation of His kindness, through his righteous children, offers the unrighteous an opportunity to repent. That is God's heart. We cannot neglect to speak and share with others these vase opportunities for the Grace and Mercy of God to capture the heart of the unrighteous. That is one reason God leaves us on Earth. It would not have been too late for those in Sodom and Gomorrah to repent. There were not even ten righteous, but there had been years of God's grace present among the people in one man, Lot. Years and years that it would not have been too late to repent.
Here's the end of the story, while you live, God's grace is present for your repenting. The Scripture does warn that eventually, God judges. He may judge in time; Romans 1:28, he may turn us over to our continual sin and rejection of Him. He absolutely judges after we leave this earth, Romans 2:6-11. God will not be mocked. Job's three friends tried that in all their self-righteousness. God called them to account. It is a humiliating place to be called to account before God, especially if he does it publically. In other words, your sin finds you out while you live, like Job's three friends.
As I've studied Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, I've discovered that the God of the Universe is not looking to humiliate us but to bring us to humility. He wants his goodness in our lives to get us to repentance, Nineveh, The Samaritans, John 4. Yet, he loves mankind enough that he will use humiliation to bring us to repentance, Nebuchadnezzar, Manasseh. No matter the work, the purpose is to help us see; that it is not too late to repent. If and when you agree with him, like Job's friends, you will go and do what the LORD tells you, Repent, for the Kingdom of God is in your midst.
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