Job and His Children

And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10

Once as I was finishing up the Book of Job, I came to the above verse and decided to check the numbers. With my finger stuck between the pages at the end of the book, I flipped back to the beginning.

"Let's see...seven thousand sheep at the beginning; fourteen thousand at the end...three thousand camels; six thousand camels...What does one do with six thousand camels?...five hundred yoke of oxen; one thousand yoke of oxen at the end...five hundred female donkeys; one thousand female donkeys...He must have had some male donkeys, too. At least a few. Must've been happy, those male donkeys...Seven sons and three daughters; What's this? Only seven sons and three daughters at the end?"

I was puzzled. Verse 42:10 said all his losses were restored and he was given double-fold. Why didn't God give Job fourteen sons and six daughters? Why weren't his children counted among his losses and restored double? Why bother to double the stupid camels and not the precious children?

Then it hit me. They weren't lost. Those camels were lost and gone forever, but not those children. Those children would be with him forever feasting at the Lord's table. The children born to Job after his losses were an additional blessing, not a replacement blessing.

As tears ran down my face, I thanked God for this wonderful revelation. For I had just lost a son; and God had just given me comfort.

Comments

[Linda]

That's beautiful Dory. Very timely for me. Thank you.

[Dory]

I was thinking of you, Linda, when I wrote it. God bless you.

[Robert Sutherland]

You might be interested in this website and online commentary http://www.bookofjob.org Putting God on Trial- The Biblical Book of Job is a moral and legal defense of God's goodness in the face of undeserved evil. It is written by a Canadian criminal defense lawyer (a former colleague of Mortimer J. Adler) and highly praised by Job scholars. Their reviews are on the website.

Robert Sutherland
[email protected]

[Kirby L. Wallace]

I love it when beautiful and comforting insights like that present themselves in unexpected places and at unexpected times. Thanks for that one.