Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Job Chapter 42
Metaphysically Interpreting Job 42:1-17
42:1Then Job answered Jehovah, and said, 42:2I know that thou canst do all things, And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. 42:3Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not, Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. 42:4Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 42:5I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; But now mine eye seeth thee: 42:6Wherefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.
42:7And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 42:8Now therefore, take unto you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept, that I deal not with you after your folly; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 42:9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as Jehovah commanded them: and Jehovah accepted Job.
42:10And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before. 42:11Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one a ring of gold. 42:12So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. 42:13He had also seven sons and three daughters. 42:14And he called the name of the first, Jemimah: and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. 42:15And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. 42:16And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. 42:17So Job died, being old and full of days.
July 20, 1947: Job 42:1-5
How do we align ourselves with the Infinite? By acknowledging it as greater than we, while realizing nevertheless that we are a part of it.
Of whom is Job a type? Of all who renounce the attempt to reach an intellectual solution to life's problems and trust to the higher wisdom, love, and power for daily guidance.
What is our greatest need today? Unshakable faith in God and His purposes in our life.
How do we gain a quickened vision of God? By meeting experiences that call forth all our power of endurance.
Why do we invoke divine power in suffering? Because suffering quickly exhausts our human resources so that we awaken to the need of a higher help than our own. Because we need divine power more urgently we look to God more often in suffering than in joy.
July 21, 1940: Job 42:1-13
INTERPRETATION
WHAT DID JOB LEARN FROM HIS PERIOD OP TESTING AND THE DEBATE THAT FOLLOWED?
He learned to give up his attempts to rationalize his problems, and to trust in God, whose wisdom, love, and power is above all.
"I know that thou canst do ail things,
And that no purpose of thine can be restrained."
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MAN TRIES TO REACH A PURELY INTELLECTUAL SOLUTION OF HIS PROBLEMS?
He who trusts the Intellect to resolve all his perplexities finds it unequal to the task of discerning the reason for "undeserved" suffering and misfortune.
WHAT CAUSED JOB'S CHANGE OF HEART FROM SELF-RIGHTEOUS ASSURANCE TO COMPLETE HUMILITY?
Job realized the limitations of intellectual reasoning and the universal nature of divine wisdom and power. This realization humbled him.
"Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not,
Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not."
JOB QUOTED, THE WORDS OF JEHOVAH, "I WILL DEMAND OF THEE, AND DECLARE THOU UNTO ME," TO WHAT PURPOSE?
These words prefaced Job's confession of a change of consciousness from the personal and limited to the universal and limitless. Instead of accepting his faith by hearsay he had at last proof of God through his intuitive faculty. "Now mine eye seeth thee," This was the inner eye of the mind.
WHAT WAS THE RESULT OF JOB'S NEW AND ENLARGED PERCEPTION OF JEHOVAH?
Job "repented" or underwent a complete revolution in his attitude toward life and God.
WHY WERE THE THERE FRIENDS OP JOB COMPELLED TO MAKE A SEVENFOLD SACRIFICE TO JEHOVAH?
The number seven denotes wholeness, completeness. The friends were completely mistaken In their views and had to recast their faith. They represent attitudes of mind that are less than spiritual.
HOW DID JEHOVAH "ACCEPT" JOB?
Job's prayer for his friends was an expression of his new-found humility and quickened spiritual perception. Through these avenues to Truth he made contact with the universal power, which made his words effectual. Thus Jehovah accepted him.
WHEN DID JOB OVERCOME HIS TROUBLES?
When he prayed for his friends Job forgot himself and his limitations. Divine power, entering his life through the channel of self-forgetfulness, effected his release from physical ill-being, and he was healed.
WHY IS JOB REPRESENTED AS HAVING TWICE AS MUCH SUBSTANCE AFTER HIS RESTORATION AS HE HAD HAD BEFORE?
When Job's eyes were opened to the true nature of life and of God, his external possessions revealed to him their inner substance, and he was double enriched in them.
Transcribed by Tom Schulte on 9-12-2013
