Job 42:16 Commentary and Bible Study

God’s love for Job and approval of his servant was shown to all by the length of Job’s life. He lived one hundred and forty years: this may have been the total number of years he lived, or more likely the additional years he lived after the great trial of his life, which marked the most significant event of his life and from which he counted the extra years given to him. These years were precious just because he had not expected to live through the trial at all. They are a testimony to God’s restoring power and the vindication of such an eminent servant of God by the Almighty. The promise of blessing of long life as given to Israel, and the great length of Job’s life is a further indication that he lived early on in the history of the world, contemporary with or even before Abraham. The Bible records the reducing lifespan of man from earliest times to the time of Moses. Job saw four generations of children, a further blessing of God on a family that had seemed to be totally cut off. This may include Job himself or it may refer to the four generations that followed him. The link between his one hundred and forty years and the four generations also suggests that these were additional years and not the total length of Job’s life. He no doubt taught all his descendants to trust in the Lord and to face their own trials with faith and patience, just as he teaches us today.So Job died under the blessing of God and receives the same words of commendation as Abraham (Genesis 25:8), Isaac (Genesis 35:29), David (1 Chronicles 29:28), and Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:15), having the seal of God’s favour. These are the themes of the Book of Job. There are pastoral lessons in abundance to search out and to use for the challenging and nourishing of our needy souls. Overall – we are given a magnificent presentation of the principles of grace, the need for revelation, and a grand proclamation of the caring sovereignty of Almighty God, together with some of the richest, greatest pastoral themes to be found in the entire Bible.