- The 3 friends participate in denouncing Job. The Jews disown Christ. The book of Job offers us a key to what the vocation of Jesus was like. At the end there is no one to comfort, not one to take Job's side; he is completely surrounded by vicious and bloodthirsty men (cf. Ps. 22). I think Girard's suggestion that the three envious friends planned to murder Job is very likely. Job sees it coming (see Job 16:18-22;17:1-2). And Job has reason to fear. Bildad speaks of the justice of wicked men (Job) dying for their concealed sins (18:1ff.).

- The heavenly counsel directed the sufferings of Job and of Jesus. Job’s suffering cannot be fully comprehended just as Jesus himself (as a man) did not fully comprehend the meaning of his sufferings (remember the Garden of Gethsemene).

- God afflicts Job using Satan as his instrument. Jesus is afflicted by God using Satan to bruise his heal. God is in complete control of Satan in both instances.

- Job’s innocence exacerbates the experience of suffering. So too with Jesus.

- Job is a priest, interceding for others (1: 1-5 and 42:8)

- Job suffers vicariously like the Messiah. Job suffered FOR his three friends. Job suffers vicariously, as a substitute. This is the thrust of 42:7-9. Indeed, we might even say that we know something of the reason for Job's suffering after we read chapter 42. He suffered FOR his three friends. Is that not a sufficient answer to Job's plight?

- Job’s life is glorified as a result of his suffering and symbolic death. From dust and ashes (42:6) to life and health in abundance (42:10-17). This is where it gets good. The Exodus theme shows up here at the end. Literally, 42:10 reads: "After Job had prayed for his friends, Yahweh [re]turned the captivity of Job and gave him twice as much as before." Compare this language with Deut. 30:3, Ps. 14:7, and Ps. 53:6, as well as many places in the prophet Jeremiah. Furthermore, remember that gold earrings were the spoils of war after the exodus (Ex. 32:2-3; Judges 8:24-26). Well, at the end, in order to console Job, everybody gives Job "a piece of silver and a gold earring" (42:11).

- Job sees his seed restored and prosper. This is a prophesy of the ultimate triumph of the Suffering Servant's kingdom. It is proto-Isaiah 53 stuff. The Epilogue of Job is prophetic of the resurrection, intercession, and triumph of the Greater Job, Jesus Christ. Remember how that great suffering servant passage, Isaiah 53 ends and compare it to the end of Job: "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:10-12).

- Compare Isaiah 53 with Job 42:

• Isa. 53:13, “Behold, my servant. . .” | Job 42:8, “go to my servant Job” and “My servant Job will pray for you.”

• Isa. 53, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief" | Job 42:11, “consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought upon him.” It was the LORD who afflicted Job. God says to Satan: “Job still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to devour him without cause” (2:3) Satan speaks to God, “Stretch out YOUR hand and strike his flesh and he will surely curse you to your face.” (2:5). Remember, God controls Leviathan and Leviathan’s cosmic image: Satan.

• Isa. 53, "When You make His soul an offering for sin" | Job 42:8, “Go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. . . my servant Job will pray for you. . . and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer”

• Isa. 53, "He shall see his seed" | Job 42:13, “And he also had seven sons and three daughters.” Job 42:16, “Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.”

• Isa. 53, "He shall prolong His days" | Job 42:16, “After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years. . . and he died, old and full of years.”

• Isa. 53, "And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied." | Job 42:12, “Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.”
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. . . .

• Isa. 53, "And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors." | Job is truly numbered with the transgressors. The purpose for Job’s suffering? To deliver his three friends from folly! Job suffers for them. They are restored to God’s favor. There is some kind of substitution here! Job 42:8, “My servant Job will pray for you and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.” The Hebrew of Job 42:9 does not say that the Lord “accepted Job’s prayer.” Line it out. The word "prayer" is an unwarranted addition to the text by the NIV. The text says, “The Lord accepted Job” Job’s priestly intercession for his friends is mentioned at least 4 times in as many verses. “Job prayed for his friends.”

• Isa. 53, "Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death" | Job 42:10, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord brought back the captivity of Job and gave him twice as much as he had before. . . each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold earring.” Spoils of war, according to Ex. 32:2-3 and Judg. 8:24-26.