Consider Job's End

I write this little blog today for the purposes of offering some comfort to those of you have lost loved ones, specifically children, before their God appointed time.

Many of us are familiar with the story of Job. Job suffered through some tremendous trials, yet never once turned his heart away from the Lord. It is so easy for us to relate our lives, the trials and afflictions, to those that Job so faithfully endured. However, as we think upon the many hardships which did in fact come upon him, the scripture encourages us to not think only of the beginning or the middle of Job's life, but to consider above all those things, Job's end.


"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
James 5:11

We see that through all of the painful losses that Job endured, the Lord to him remained faithful.

"And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. "
Job 42:10

For the purposes of this discussion, I ask that you pay particular attention to that last statement. "the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before."

Let's take a look at some of the possessions Job held prior to this testing period he endured.


"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

His substance also was seven thousand sheep,

and three thousand camels,

and five hundred yoke of oxen,

and five hundred she asses,

and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. "
Job 1:1-3


As the story goes, Job, because of the trials brought unto him from the devil, lost everything you see in the above list, and suffered much, much more. But as we can see in verse 10 above, most of these things were restored at Job's end to the extent that they now doubled what they once were.

Verse 12 speaks of this as such:


"So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:

for he had fourteen thousand sheep,

and six thousand camels,

and a thousand yoke of oxen,

and a thousand she asses. "
Job 42:12


As you can see, Job's possessions were indeed double what they they had originally been. But notice how above I said that most of what Job had was restored to twice as much as he originally had. Let's not forget that Job also lost his children.

The truth, and the point that I am trying to make here today, can be revealed by what follows in verse 13:

"He had also seven sons and three daughters. "
Job 42:13


But didn't the Lord promise Job that he would have twice as much as he did before? Didn't Job originally have seven sons and three daughters?

The answer to to both of those questions is a resounding, yes! You see, Job didn't lose his first set of children forever, only on a temporal basis. Scripturally speaking they were not dead, but merely sleepeth. So therefore, the addition of seven more sons and three daughters as depicted in verse 13, only leads to confirm that Job's children were in fact doubled. Job would be spending eternity, the timeless and wonderful eternity, with all of his children. All fourteen sons and all six daughters. Family restoration is one of God's forte's!

My friends, I offer these truths from the word of God today so that you may be comforted during those times when loved ones in Christ, that have gone on to be with the Lord, seem to be forever absent from your life. In the twinkling of an eye, like the wisp of the wind, you shall be with them again. God's promises are as true to you as they were long ago to our brother Job. Remain faithful in Him because He is a faithful God!


"For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.

First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.

Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Then we will be with the Lord forever.

So encourage each other with these words."

1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 NLT



In love,

Michael

*** See the original version here: http://www.mychurch.org/blog/371441/Consider-Jobs-End

Good post

Thank you for posting.

Thank you for sharing this with us...

Please visit here often...


I have often heard it said... "If you would read, and could understand the Book of Job, you wouldn't need the rest of The Bible."

A good introduction to The Book of JOB:

http://www.cresourcei.org/books/job.html


(Just don't let this take the place of Christ!)





Bro Clark