Conclusion
Tribulation begets perseverance; perseverance begets blessing. Job did not persevere in vain. It is better to persevere out of gratitude to God for grace received, not because we seek a reward. God will distribute treasures in heaven for works done in faith; and the greatest work of faith is to persevere in tribulation. What did it profit Job to persevere? One, his good character was improved, and he grew in his knowledge of the LORD. Two, his request, as unusual as it was notable, was granted: “Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!” (Job 19.23, 24.) Now Job’s words are engraved forever as part of Holy Scripture. We should imitate Job, and ask as uncommonly and stupendously as he did. Three, the LORD accepted Job and set him up as a mediator for his three friends. After they were told to offer sacrifices to God, they were directed to reckon Job’s prayers as their means of mediation: “for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job” (42.8.) It is hard to know whether the LORD was referring, by ‘the thing which is right,’ to Job’s confession, or to his confession and his lines of dialogue. Due to Job’s confession, the LORD might have disregarded Job’s hard words that are found in the dialogue. Regardless, Job’s role as intercessor at the end befits his sacrificial worship at the start. Job was a high priest outside and before, the institution of the Mosaic Law for Israel. He was singled out as blameless by God, chosen to suffer, tempted by the devil directly, obliged to defend his honor, ordained to intercede, and blessed in his latter end; and therefore it is difficult to resist the deduction that he is a type of Christ. Not many men are thus distinguished. And four, not only was Job completely restored, he was given double the measure of his lost fortune and as many children as he had lost. Indeed, “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before…He had also seven sons and three daughters” (42.10, 13.) As if that were not enough, “In all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job” (verse 15.) And Job “saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations” (verse 16.) We may assume that Job was physically restored as well. “So Job died, being old and full of days” (verse 17.) Is this not the happiest close to the story of a man’s life in all of literature? In getting a double portion of what he had lost, Job is a type of each and every saint. To become a good type is the best that a person can do for his fellow man. The ‘hundred and forty years’ (42.16) that were added to Job’s life amounts to a second life, and should remind us of life everlasting for those who persevere in faith until the end. “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2.25.) Job’s devouring insects were the Sabeans, wind and fire from the sky, and the Chaldeans: the army of Satan appointed by God. We all have insects appointed to our hurt, for our own good: an army assigned by God to vex us onward.
Job was separated from his family, his belongings, and his popularity in order to separate him from the worst in himself. And this is the purpose of tribulation. As R. C. Trench points out in his Study of Words, the word ‘tribulation’ is derived from the Latin word, ‘tribulum,’ a thrashing instrument used to separate corn from husks. The book of Job might well be called, The Tribulation of Job or even The Thrashing of Job. “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16.33.) In the world, we must undergo some thrashing.
Like in the trying life of Job, our circumstances are overcome by perseverance in the LORD. Perseverance is never in vain. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15.58.) Our stories are not written into Revelation as a book in the canon. That distinction is Job’s to enjoy. But each Christian is written in the book of life alongside the ‘yokefellows’ and ‘fellowlabourers’ of the Lord (Philippians 4.3) and each one can have an assurance of that by the Holy Ghost on this side of the grave. This assurance happened one time in a Brethren study group that I was in. While we were discussing ‘how wonderful to be one of the persons mentioned in Romans 16’ in the list that is given there, the Spirit came gently down upon us as if to say: “Romans 16 is just a shortlist; I ‘salute’ you with ‘an holy kiss.’”
The life that is gained through Christ is as far above what is mortal as his sacrifice is greater than our death; our death is made stingless by his. While Job may be a type of Christ, Christ is the way of life, for his obedience unto death has merited heaven for appropriators of his blood.
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