Q: Job's enduring trials
resulted in God's blessing him double in everything but his family. Why
was his family omitted from this tally?
A: This includes an
interesting observation which reveals a special blessing to each of us.
Background
Job was a wealthy person, and an inventory of his holdings is provided at the
beginning of the book:
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His
substance also was 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she asses,
and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of
the east. - Job 1:2, 3
The drama of the book derives from a challenge by Satan of Job's faithfulness
(a series of conversations that Job was not privy to!). The bulk of the
narrative deals with the extensive dialogs with Job's advisors. (With friends
like these, you don't need enemies!)
God Himself finally intervenes with His science quiz and declarations of
Chapters 38-41. After Job endured the loss of his wealth, his family, and his
health - and the dubious counsels of his three "friends" - God ultimately
restored to him double:
So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he
[then] had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 she asses.
He had also seven sons and three daughters. -Job
42:12, 13
We can't help but notice that while God doubled his inventory of goods, He
only restored seven sons and three daughters, equivalent to what he had at the
beginning.
A Comforting Insight
I believe the lesson here is that he hadn't really lost the original
children in the first place! The first seven sons and three daughters
are waiting for him in heaven. We have a tendency to overlook this.
This insight has been a great comfort to Nan and me since we lost our
firstborn son a couple of years ago.
(Chip was 39 years old and had a stroke while jogging one Saturday
afternoon. With no prior medical history, it came as quite a shock to the
family.)
Donald Grey Barnhouse described believers as:
A group of displaced persons, uprooted from their natural home, and on
their way to an extraterrestrial destination, not of this planet, neither in its
roots nor in its ideals.
We all suffer from a myopia regarding this present life: it is but a prelude
to the larger reality we enjoy in Christ. We are simply foreigners just
passing through.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
-Romans 8:18
Our ultimate inheritance will be full of pleasant surprises!
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