My Lonely City

I’m afraid that even though this is such a terrific dénouement, and there are so many great things to say about this passage and the book as a whole, that I don’t really have a neat, cohesive, and powerful way to conclude my journey through it. So I’ll just give my scattered thoughts and call it good. First, it’s nice to have a happy ending once in a while. Especially in the Bible, eh? ¶ Isn’t there a touch of irony in Job’s relatives returning to him (once he was again prosperous) and consoling him over the trouble God had brought him? I mean, Job GOT TO SEE GOD! He got to talk with God! And God said he was pleased with Job! Wow! Not only that, but where the heck were they when he was actually going through it? ¶ I love that God specifically says that he is displeased with the way in which the Termite and his cronies represented him (God). I like the implication that God cares about the way we see and know him, and the way others see and know him through us. ¶ On the female front, this ending is fascinating. First of all, Job and his wife apparently made up (unless children really do come from a stork). But what really intrigues me is the fact that it is Job’s daughters, not his sons, who are named. And further, they are granted an inheritance along with his sons. Maybe it’s just to show how rich Job was; he could afford TEN heirs instead of seven. However, I think there’s a nice symmetry here between the way Job had earlier discussed caring for the fatherless, the widows, the lame, etc., and the way he provides for and honors his daughters against the grain of a society that perhaps considers daughters to be worth less than sons. It seems that Job’s views of his responsibility to those around him increased, rather than decreased, through his ordeal. ¶ Finally, it was only after Job had prayed for his three friends (what about Elihu?) that God blessed him. Perhaps this was also a lesson in forgiveness, and a demonstration of the way forgiveness releases God’s blessings, from financial prosperity to eternal salvation.