Charles Ellicott Commentary Job 42

Who is he that hideth counsel? It is quite obvious that the right way of understanding these verses is, as in Isaiah 63:1-6, in the manner of a dialogue, in which Job and the Lord alternately reply. Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? were the words with which God Himself joined the debate in Job 38:2; and therefore, unless we assign them to Him here also, we must regard them as quoted by Job and applied reflectively to himself; but it is far better to consider them as part of a dialogue.

Hear, I beseech you. —This cannot similarly be appropriately assigned to Job but, as in Job 38:3 and Job 40:7, must be referred to God. Then the confession of Job 42:5-6 follows very impressively.

How much of our knowledge of God is merely hearsay? It is not until the experiential teaching of the Holy Spirit has revealed God to our consciences that we truly see Him with the inward eye.

The confession of Job, therefore, is the confession of every converted person. Compare, in a much later and very different yet analogous sphere, the confession of St. Paul (Galatians 1:16).

And it was so. —The verdict that is spoken against the friends of Job is based more on the tone and spirit of what they have said than on any of their actual words, for many of these are conspicuous for their wisdom, truth, and beauty. But throughout they had been on the wrong side, and seemed to think that the cause of God needed to be upheld at all risks, and that it might even be required to tell lies for God (Job 13:7); and it was this that provoked the Divine indignation.

Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams.—It is remarkable that the sacrifices prescribed for Job’s friends were similar to those which Balaam prescribed for Balak (Numbers 23:2–29). This is probably one indication out of many that the age of Job was that of Moses, or before it. My servant Job shall pray for you. This, strange to say, was the very promise with which Eliphaz himself had closed his third and last speech. His words therefore received a striking fulfillment in the case of himself and his friends.

The intercession of Job seems to show us that his character is a typical one, representing to us the character of Christ as the sufferer and the mediator on behalf of humanity. Furthermore, since Job shows no acquaintance with the Divine covenant, the book presents a sort of anticipation of the Gospel to the Gentile world. This, in turn, indicates that God's mercies are not limited, as some have thought, to the chosen race, but that the principles of God’s action are the same universally. He deals with people based on a principle of mediation: whether the mediator is Moses, as the mediator of the first covenant; or Job, who was the accepted mediator for his friends beyond the boundary of the covenant; or whether the mediator is Jesus Christ, as the one Mediator between God and humanity.

When he prayed for his friends. —Job’s personal discipline was not complete until he passed from the sphere of his own sorrows to the work of intercession for his friends, and it was through the very act of this self-oblivion and self-sacrifice that his own deliverance was brought about. When he prayed for his friends, we are told, the Lord turned his own captivity: that is, restored and reinstated him in prosperity even greater than before.

This is the true moral of all human history, which is to be accomplished in the world of the regeneration, if not here. All sorrow is fraught with the promise and the hope of future blessedness, and to know that is to rob sorrow of its pain. It is impossible to reap the full gain of it when the burden presses, but, as far as it can be done, sorrow is mitigated. Had Job been able to look forward with confidence to his actual deliverance, he would have been able to bear his affliction; it was because he could not that all was dark.

And after all, there are sorrows and afflictions for which there is no deliverance like Job’s. There is a captivity that can never be turned in this life. For this, the only hope is the sure hope of the Gospel and the promise which, in its degree, is afforded by the history of Job. For if Job’s is a representative history, as we are bound to believe it must be, then its lesson must be that what is not explained or mended here will be explained and mended hereafter. It is God alone who can enlighten the darkness that surrounds His counsels; but at the same time, we must remember that with Him is the well of life, and in His light we shall see light.