The Bible Says
Job 42:7-9 Meaning

In Job 42:7-9, God dispenses the judgment Job had requested. But in what might be seen as a surprising plot twist, God pronounces His verdict by holding that Eliphaz and his two friends have spoken wrongly about God while Job has spoken rightly, and declares He will forgive them if Job intercedes on their behalf.

Because of the stern tone of Job 38-41, we might have presumed that God was angry with Job. But God was training and refining Job, who is His favorite, as He asserted in Job 1:8. Further, Job 1:22 tells us that in all this, Job did not sin. God is dealing with Job as a “son,” one who is being trained to “run the family business” (Hebrews 12:5-6).

God is giving Job knowledge of Himself, which is the path to the greatest experience of life (John 17:3). He is speaking to Job in a manner that is for his best interest. And Job embraced it fully, saying “I will ask You, and You instruct me’” (Job 42:4).

God is angry, but not at Job. He is angry at Eliphaz and his two friends: It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has (v. 7).

God speaks to Eliphaz as the leader of the trio of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (Job 3:11). He tells Eliphaz that His wrath is kindled against him and his two friends. God’s reason for His wrath burning against them is because they have not spoken of God what is right. The context indicates that what is right means what is true, what is accurate concerning God.

God contrasts what Eliphaz and his two friends said with what Job said and declares that what Job stated about God was right while what Eliphaz and his two friends said was wrong.

If we examine the dialogue between Job and the three friends in Job 3-31 to see what they said about God, what emerges is that Job presented God as someone who can’t be manipulated by the actions of men, while Eliphaz and his friends maintained that God’s actions were a direct result of Job’s actions. The picture painted by Eliphaz and his friends infers that humans determine God’s actions through their own, which is false.

Job had perspectives about God that were not true. He thought he could present an argument to God that would cause Him to change His decisions regarding Job. But in doing so, he continued to honor God as the final judge, the One who determines all things, apart from the dealings of men (Job 23:12-17). Job’s issue was one of perspective and trust, while Eliphaz and his friends did not honor God as being above all; their view of God was that He could be manipulated, so essentially was controllable by men. Job believed he could convince God, but recognized that God is in control, not him.

This Book of Job began with Satan’s accusation that paints God in the same light as Eliphaz and his two friends. Satan asserted that God had bribed Job to gain his worship (Job 1:9-11). Thus, an overarching question in the story of Job is whether humans can actually choose to live righteously.

God created humanity to silence Satan, as we see in Psalm 8:2. Since Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31), it follows that he gained his rule due to Adam’s fall. The word “Satan” is more of a job title than a name; it means “adversary.” It is not so much a name as a description of his role; he is God’s enemy. He, and presumably his followers, are who God intends to silence by elevating the weaker humans above the stronger angels (Psalm 8:2).

Eliphaz and his two friends held steadfastly that a) Job had to have done something wrong or all these bad things would not have occurred to him and b) if he would confess and repent, God would restore him (Job 4:7-8, 22:23). In saying this, the inference is that God can be controlled by human actions, which is untrue. God’s “sentence” for Job’s friends is to tell them to confess to Job that they were wrong by making a burnt offering while Job prays for them:

“Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (v. 8).

We see in verse 8 that God is asking Eliphaz and his friends to also repent. The inference is that God will protect them from harm if they do, and implies that He will remove their hedge of protection from Satan if they don’t, in that God says they should do as He says so that I may not do with you according to your folly (Job 1:9-10).

It is interesting that God does not say “I will ask Job and perhaps he will pray for you.” God just says My servant Job will pray for you. God knows Job so well that He has no doubt that Job will do as God asks. Job could be bitter. He could be sore at God for not judging the three who opposed him, as was Jonah (Jonah 4:1-3). But God has no reservation; He has full confidence in Job.

In requiring them to go through Job (I will accept him), God is giving the trio the opportunity to repent, both to Job as well as to God. He is also validating His servant Job and confirming that what Job said of Him is the correct view, that God is not manipulated by human actions; for His servant Job spoke what was right about God.

Job requested a hearing, and he got it. Job continually rejected the notion that humans can dictate God’s behavior with their own actions, as propounded by Eliphaz and his two friends. Satan accused God of being transactional (Job 1:9-10). Eliphaz’s trio echoed the same basic idea. Clearly this is something that God greatly dislikes.

In calling Job My servant, God elevate’s Job’s character and behavior as being an example for all to follow. God further validates Job in scriptures written long after Job’s time. In Ezekiel 14:14, God gives a list of righteous men and includes Job along with Daniel and Noah. In the New Testament book of James, Job is elevated as an example that blessing comes through perseverance in doing good (James 5:11).

Eliphaz and his two friends are told to sacrifice seven bulls and seven rams. In scripture the number seven indicates completion, as in the creation of the world spanning seven days. That these friends are asked to bring seven bulls and seven rams seems extraordinary. King Hezekiah offered seven bulls and seven rams (along with other sacrifices) when he was sacrificing on behalf of the sin of the entire nation (2 Chronicles 29:21).

The Levitical sacrifice to atone for sin was typically an individual animal, if from livestock, and a pair, if birds (Leviticus 4:13-14, 22-23, 27-28, 5:7). Perhaps Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were leaders of their people and God asked them to sacrifice on behalf not only of themselves but of those they led. To their credit, the three did as God directed: So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job (v. 9).

The phrase and the LORD accepted Job infers that God accepted Job’s intercessory prayer, and thus Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were forgiven for speaking wrongly about Job and God. What a turn of events! When the three went and did as the LORD told them, Job prayed for them and God relented from judgment.

It is pretty rare for biblical characters to listen to God and do as He bids. We can think of all the northern kings of Israel and most of the kings of Judah. We can think of the people of Israel, who did not heed the prophets (Matthew 23:30-31). We can think of all the people of the earth who did not heed God when He spoke through Noah (1 Peter 3:20). We can think of Jonah, who ran from God, and Pharaoh who hardened his heart (Jonah 1:1-3, Exodus 7:13).

And the characters who heeded God are elevated as spiritual heroes. This includes towering figures like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, Samuel, David, and Daniel. Though Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar spoke wrongly about God, they did sit for seven days waiting for Job to speak, showing great mercy (Job 2:13). And when confronted, they repented and humbled themselves before God and Job. So, they deserve our respect and are themselves a worthy example of those willing to repent and learn.

Finally, we can note that God chastises Eliphaz and his two friends but does not chastise Elihu, the fourth person to speak. Elihu was the youngest among the group so he spoke last. It would seem either that his words were discounted as the youngest, or that he also spoke rightly. In examining Elihu’s statements in Job 32-37, it seems that he spoke rightly of God. An example is from Chapter 33, where Elihu says:

"Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this,
For God is greater than man.
"Why do you complain against Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?”
(Job 33:12-13)

This is similar to the statement God makes to Job in Job 40:

"Will you really annul My judgment?
Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?”
(Job 40:8)

We can take that Elihu’s statements are a sort of prelude to God’s interaction with Job.

It seems that God prepared Elihu to allow Job the opportunity to begin his shift in perspective. It might be that Job was already considering positively the sayings of Elihu which is why there is no recorded answer by Job after his speech. We can speculate that Job’s openness is what led to God speaking to him directly.