For the faithful, the best is yet to come.
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| Nathan Kelly |
AT THE RISK of coming off like a smarmy televangelist, one of the primary lessons from the book of Job emerges here in its final verses: God blesses those who persevere in faith.
Job's story is a brutal one–lengthy, depressing, and often confusing. Yet, here in the final verses of the book, Job receives restoration and blessings. In fact, God doubled Job's prior empire and granted him good health and ten more children.
But before you write me off as a sweaty, smiley, prosperity peddler, consider James 5:11, one of only two passages outside of the book that directly references Job (Ezekiel 14 is the other). James, the half brother of Jesus writes, "We consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." The writer compares patient suffering to a farmer awaiting fruit of land while anticipating the rains God will send to the earth.1 (5:7).
Therefore those who continue in faith even when things are crumbling around them will receive blessings. Such a faith can be difficult because we can't see a way out of our suffering. We know the end of Job's story: "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" (42:12). If you recall chapter 1, these figures are exactly double what Job owned before. But knowing the conclusion of Job's story coupled with the fact we are multiple millennia removed from these events can make the story seem less real, something along the lines of a fairy tale.
We don't know how our stories will end. We only see and feel the present. But, in my opinion, this is all the more reason to have faith because God exists outside of time. He is the Alpha and Omega. He exists in eternity past and eternity future, and he knows how our stories end. Therefore our best option is to trust in him–his omniscience, his omnipotence, and his goodness. We must have faith that what Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 is actually true, that "for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." If we really believe these words and trust in the nature of our creator, what other option is there but to persevere in faith?
Here, though, is where I diverge with the prosperity teachers. Job's restoration, as glorious and dramatic as it was, is a metaphor for what is to come. The blessings we receive may not materialize in this lifetime at all even though you may be the most steadfast Christian in the Western Hemisphere. Let's turn again to Romans 8 where Paul wrote, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (8:18). And in James: "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him" (1:12). Or again in 2 Corinthians: "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" (4:17).
Light affliction? Who does Paul think he is? Light? You might be thinking. I'm in anguish over here and this guy from Tarsus has the audacity to call my affliction light? If this is your reaction, let me ask you, have you lost all of your children? Maybe you have. Have you lost every earthly possession? Maybe that's true. Have you contracted a nasty parasite that makes your skin crawl in agony? A condition that causes sores, swelling, and a nonstop cycle of discomfort? Has your entire social circle abandoned you? Have those few who did come to comfort you poured metaphorical salt on your wounds by claiming that, not only do you deserve what you are getting, but actually you deserve worse? I bet you can't say yes to all of these questions. But even if you can, the Scripture still remains true. If such is your reaction, you're missing the point.
Paul is contrasting temporary affliction with eternal glory. He is not claiming pain and anguish aren't real and terrible. In fact, Paul experienced his fair share of suffering as well, being stoned, arrested, scourged, shipwrecked, imprisoned, snakebit, and ultimately executed. Instead, he argues that in comparison to heaven, these trials in our corrupted bodies living in a corrupted world are as nothing.
Jesus compared this phenomenon to a woman giving birth as he prepared his disciples for his death. Labor brings pain and anguish, but the result is something beautiful:
You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
John 16:20-22
Isn't this an apt metaphor? Pain in childbirth was one consequence resulting from the first sin. Yet Jesus's death made forgiveness possible; by believing in him we can be born again. With this rebirth we receive unbreakable joy while God prepares us for an eternal weight of glory. So while sin gives birth to death, Jesus's death made possible new birth from which springs eternal blessings.
Let me back up, however, and make two points. While Job's story serves as a metaphor for us,
1. It is still a real, historical event, and
2. This does not mean you can't or won't be restored in this life.
God's will is perfect. His timing is perfect. Our part is to persevere in faith. As we've learned throughout this study, God knows what is best for us. Whether that entails doubling our possessions or not is up to him. To borrow the farming analogy, we must put in the work to cultivate and sow the land in faith. God will send the rain and cause the sun to shine.
Of all of Job's newfound blessings, it is interesting that the passage focuses on Job's daughters. Most of the Old Testament favors sons because sons meant protection, lineage, strength, and income. Daughters were often considered a luxury. And maybe that is the point. God blessed Job so much that he was affluent even in his offspring.
Job's story inverts that trend, only mentioning he had sons while taking the space to name and describe his three daughters. The first he named Jemimah, which means something like, "fair as the day." This too is a metaphor (as Old Testament names often were). Job had endured the darkest of nights, and now morning had come, and it was beautiful. As the Psalm says, "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (30:5). Jemimah was a representation of the fulfillment of the hope Job had in God. Through his mourning, he persevered in faith, and God transformed his mourning into a beautiful morning.
Although far removed from Job, we have the same promise of blessing and a bright future. Our part is to persist in faith, trusting that through the darkness God will bring about a glorious morning. We know this to be true because of the character and nature of God. I can't guarantee it will happen in this lifetime, but I do know that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory God is preparing for us. The question, then, is simple: Do you believe this to be true?
Persevere in faith my friends. Morning is on the way.
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