I’d never noticed this little phrase in Job 42 before, but it is vital–not only Job’s restoration but to the entire book of Job. And it’s an incredibly hard word to swallow. Job’s restoration is tied to his forgiveness of the friends who multiplied his pain. Job had to become a comforter to those who were miserable comforters to him.
Do you realize how difficult of an ask this is?
Think about the words of Bildad in Job 8. The stench of death has barely left his home and Bildad’s counsel is essentially, “Your kid is dead because of his rebellion (v4). You are lucky this hasn’t happened to you yet. God mercifully not striking you dead should motivate you to repentance and you’d better do it now or you’re going to be in the grave with your sons”. That’s messed up.
Do you think Job isn’t going to carry that around for awhile?
It’s here that Job cries out hoping that someone could be a faithful arbiter between him and God. It’s a role that Bildad should have played. He should have listened to his friend. He should have looked more into the suffering of Job and not jumped to conclusions. He should have been on his friends side. It would have required a shakeup of his theology, though. It would have been uncomfortable to stand with Job. So Bildad hid behind the theology and tradition of his fathers and offered Job lousy comfort.
But here, a few chapters later, and Bildad is walking up to Job, hands tethered to a few sacrificial animals, asking him if he’ll be an arbiter for him. “Job, we were wrong. Will you ask God to give us grace? Will you be an arbiter for us?”
This isn’t just asking for forgiveness, shaking hands, walking away, burying it in the past. This is asking to be an active participant in the redemption and restoration of the person who caused you an extreme amount of pain. This is lavishing grace upon someone who refused to give you an ounce.
Wouldn’t justice have tasted so sweet in this moment? Job was vindicated. His friends were shown to be idiots. Now the ball is in his court. God has said that he won’t listen to their prayer but that he will listen to the prayer of Job. It’s as if God is saying, “I’ll forgive them if you will, Job.” (That makes me uncomfortable. I’m not sure I like the implications of that—but this is where the text leads us). You can pour out justice upon the people that hurt you, Job. Or you can pray for them and I’ll cover every bit of their iniquity.
Job—after seeing the majesty of God in the whirlwind—understood that mercy always tastes sweeter than bitter justice. So he prayed for them. And it was then…and the text leads us to say only then…Job’s fortunes are restored.
Job is many things, but one component of the story is about a man whose authentic suffering leads to the redemption of those who caused much of his suffering. It’s a story which will centuries later be magnified by a much greater Suffering Servant whose “Father, forgive them” opened up redemption for all those who would be redeemed. And it is this forgiveness which is the impetus for our own call, as well as our ability, to choose the sweet taste of mercy over bitter justice.
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