ヨブ記42:1-16 Job 42:1-16

Today is the fourth time the Old Testament story of Job is told. Due to the trials inflicted by Satan, Job lost his children, a lot of livestock property and had a skin disease from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Despite these hardships, Job never cursed God, saying, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” However, as time went on, he became so distressed that he began to lament, saying that he would have preferred to die in his mother’s womb before he was born, or else he would have preferred to die as soon as he was born. Job was in so much pain that he honestly confessed his pain before God.

Then three friends came to visit him. The three friends said to him, “You have sinned in some way, which is why you are suffering like this. So repent and become a man to obey to God’s will.” It must have been very hard for Job to hear that. Job said to his three friends, “How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words? These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?” Not only that, but he also said, “You are like worthless physicians. I want to talk to God, not you.” He then appealed to God, saying how he had believed in God and lived by God’s teachings, and how he had helped those in need and been kind to them. Then he pressed God, saying, “Please answer me.”

Then God told him about the earth, the sea, the celestial bodies in the sky and various living creatures. Then he asked, “Job, do you know and rule over all the things of this world? Do you know how the wild creatures live? Do you know how the weather changes? How can you judge the wicked by yourself if you do not know anything about this world?” Job, who had always insisted on his own righteousness, was taken aback and thought deeply. Then Job realised that he was just another creature created by God, but he had thought he was just like God. Job said to God, “I have uttered what I did not understand. But now I look up to you. I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job honestly confessed his pain to God and asked for God’s answer. When he heard God’s answer, he repented. Job is a man with an upright heart! God then rebuked Job’s three friends, saying to them, “You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” The three friends who said to the afflicted Job, “You have sinned in some way, which is why you are suffering like this,” were not right in God’s eyes. It was not Job who sinned, but the three friends. When the three friends brought the sacrificial animals to be offered for the forgiveness of their sins, Job prayed an intercessory prayer for the forgiveness of the sins of his three friends. Then, mysteriously, Job had children again and was given twice as much wealth as before.

Job’s story teaches us many things. One is that when we are in pain, we can honestly confess our pain to God. And that when we are suffering, we should not only look at ourselves, but also at this world, the universe and all the different creatures that God has created. Then you will understand that you, too, were created by God and are being kept alive.