All's well that ends well, we say. And the story of Job does end well. Very well! But we need to be careful how we read it and apply it to ourselves.

The prose conclusion of the book begins with a rebuke (Job 42:7). Eliphaz reappears to represent himself, Bildad, and Zophar. In verse 7, God rebukes them for not speaking the truth about Him. Their message denied undeserved suffering, and therefore (in anticipation) denied the possibility of the cross of Christ. It therefore undermined the gospel. By contrast, Job, for all his mistakes, has fundamentally spoken with the voice of a believer.

So, no doubt to Eliphaz's great surprise, Job is the righteous man who needs to intercede for his friends! Acting as priest, he offers a sacrifice for them, and as intercessor, he prays for them and they are forgiven (vv. 8-9). Job here foreshadows the Lord Jesus, our great High Priest and Intercessor, by whose sacrifice and intercession His people are forgiven.

And then, we have a wonderful catalogue of blessings, far more abundant than even what Job had enjoyed at the start of the story (vv. 10-15). Grace is poured out upon him and the story ends with fullness of joy, love, beauty, and goodness.

It is important for us to understand this in the context of the whole Bible. James 5:7-11 encourages believers to ″be patient . . . until the Lord's coming″ (v. 7)–that is, until Jesus returns. To help them, James gives the example of ″Job's perseverance″ under trial (v. 11). Job persevered to the end of his story and then received blessing. We are to persevere until Jesus returns, on which we, too, will receive the blessings given to us in the new heaven and new earth.

When we read it in the context of the whole Bible, the book of Job does not teach what the prosperity gospel teaches, that is, that we may expect these blessings now. God may and does give us many blessings now, but the great blessings foreshadowed here are for when Jesus returns. In the overall Bible story, Christian believers are still in the middle of the book of Job, learning to persevere under trial and to keep trusting, confident that the blessings will come to us at the end.