Job Forty Two
by Dr. Henry M. Morris
(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)
Job 42:1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 42:2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
Job 42:4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 42:5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
Job 42:6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
abhor myself. Job was the most godly and righteous man in the world at that time, as testified by God Himself (Job 1:8; 2:3). Yet in the presence of the God who had made him, he could only abhor himself and repent of his self-righteousness. Daniel, greatly beloved of God, and John, the beloved disciple, had similar reactions when they came into the presence of God (Daniel 10:8, 11; Revelation 1:17).
thing that is right. God rebuked Eliphaz, as the chief spokesman of the three friends. Elihu had already been indirectly rebuked and was evidently ignored here, since he had merely restated the Eliphaz arguments. What Job had said about God was right; what the others said was wrong. Job had endured the worst tests Satan could devise, yet retained his faith in God; that was the real issue. But even Job had to confess his sin of failing to submit fully to God as Creator. God has every right to do whatever He wills with respect to those He has created, and we do not have to know why! In the scale of eternity, whatever He does is for our ultimate good. “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).
turned the captivity. Job had actually been captive under Satan's control, just as the Lord later allowed Satan to have Peter (Luke 22:31-32), and no doubt others as well. But “through death” Christ has destroyed “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
twice as much. Job only acquired the same number of children as before, but his earlier family still belonged to him, safe in the Lord, awaiting a reunion with their new siblings when all later would be together with the Lord.