Job 42:10 (NASBStr)
The Lord restored the fortunes of Job "when" he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.
The parenthesis around the word WHEN in the above is added by me. Of all the things we read in this story of Job, this one word might go unnoticed if we are not careful. To say that Job has been through a fire-storm would be an understatement. Job has had life at its worth for 35 chapters. He has been attacked by Satan, deserted and humiliated by his wife, condemned by three of his closets friends, and, just recently in the last chapter, corrected by God. This is not a good place to be in when you are trying to recover. Job has been corrected by God and repented (42:1-6). Now it is time for him to be restored. His three friends have been told to go to Job and make sacrifice because of the way they treated him. They are to "submit" to Job, even though they condemned him. Joh has listened to their ridicule for quite some time as he scrapped the scabs off his body. Now they have come to him, by God's commands, not necessarily in truth and repentance ... out of pure obedience. Now Job must forgive them and pray for them. What? Yes, when God has the three of them come to him to offer sacrifice, God puts Job in His place. Job has to forgive them and then pray for them. Because he does, God blesses Job more than he was blessed before the struggle. This is a good example of Romans 12 living. Job's response to his enemies determines both how God will correct the enemies and how He will bless Job. This is what our Savior taught in the Lord's Prayer about "forgive others as you have been forgiven." Many times the blessings we are wishing and praying for are being held up by our lack of forgiveness of those around us who have wounded or hurt us. God heals us and blesses us in accordance with our forgiving others. Job had been healed of the physical problem but still needed to do some spiritual work in his life before God could bless him.
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