ch.41 - Yahweh continues to ask Job direct and specific questions.

ch.42 - So Job responds acknowledging that Yahweh has absolute power.

Job 42:3 and responds acknowledging that he is the one who Yahweh questioned Job 38:2 and he repents Job 42:6
So Yahweh rebukes Job's friends and blesses them. Job prays and sacrifices for them.

ch. 41 Having extracted from Job the acknowledgement that God is just God continues to question Job lest he forget his position. He has been allowed to speak with God - presumably through an angel - so lest he think that maybe he can now plead his own cause he is directed again to reflect on creation.

42:3 Whereas some might question who God is speaking of (38:2) whether He is speaking to Elihu or Job 42:3 sows that Job understood that he was the one who by his knowledge had tried to usurp the authority and position of Yahweh.

ch 41 - We may wonder why there is such a detailed comment about Leviathan. A reading of the chapter will highlight that God is saying to Job that Leviathan is untameable and difficult to vanquish. So Job is not being given another description of an aspect of creation. Rather he is being shown how that he had been like Leviathan in that he had been unwilling to change before God.

42:8 So, despite the fact that Job said he would not intercede for his friends (27:5) he does, at the instruction from God. Doubtless his friends turned up having been humbled and Job responds to the humility.

Job 41:1 Reptiles are often used to represent sin; i.e. the serpent; the dragon. We would suggest here, that the Leviathan (crocodile) is SIN. In the opening verses we see that the Leviathan can not be captured or tamed. Like each one of us, Job has very limited equipment to catch or control it, only a hook and a line. The leviathan (sin) could not be captured with this type of equipment. We can not capture sin with the equipment we have been provided with, it is only with God's help that we can destroy it. Job acknowledged that only God could overcome sin.(v.2) Man could not do it on his own.

Job 42:14. Of Job's ten children , only the three daughters are named. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why?

42:11 - Satan from the first two chapters must have been an acquaintance of Job, perhaps he was converted.

42:14 - The names of Job's three new daughters may be of interest: "Jemimah" (3224) means "dove, warm, affectionate";  "Keziah" (7103) means "cassia, peeled, (plural) the bark"; "Keren-Happuch" (7163) means "horn of cosmetic, horn of beauty". Perhaps we have a message here of Christ and God's mercy. We have the dove which was sent out from Noah's ark, a symbolic baptism (1Pet 3:20), and the Spirit of God descended like a dove just after Christ's baptism (Matt 3:16-17). Job's illness and ugliness (sin?), which is the human condition as a result of Adam, was peeled back and he was given a renewal of skin, body and life. According to Smith's Bible Dictionary a "horn" is metaphorically used to signify strength and honor and it is being combined with "beauty" or "cosmetic" so perhaps it refers to the power and beauty that would/will come from Christ's sacrifice and the hope we have of new life and new bodies in Christ. Job 42:10,12,13 - Job was given double what he had before (Job 1:2-3) though only the same number of children which suggests the concept of resurrection additionally hinted at in Job 19:25-26 and perhaps additionally hinted at in that there were three (3 can refer to the resurrection/sacrifice) daughters and seven (7 can refer to the millenial day of rest) sons along with repeats of the numbers seven, three and five (which is thought by many to refer to mercy and grace) in Job 1:2-3.

42:11  That Job’s friends bemoaned him over all that the Lord had done to him indicates that they, like Job, came to an accurate understanding of the reality of Job’s situation.

42:5  There is a difference between knowing what God has said and understanding what He means. This is the point that Job has arrived at. Have we?

42:4   Whereas Job’s comment “I will demand …” might be taken as a challenge to God in reality Job is responding to God’s – Job 38:3, 40:7 – challenge to Job. So Job, in his response, is acknowledging his insignificance in the presence of God.

41:11 God is here advising Job that He is not in any way indebted to Job – a point Paul makes – Rom 11:35 – which highlights the mercy of God. If He is not in debt to us then His offer of salivation is even more amazing.

42:10 In talking of turning the captivity of Job we see language which is used later to speak of the way in which God would save Israel from her captivity. Psa 126:1

3:1 Behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 1:76
3:2 who shall stand Revelation 6:17
3:7 return unto me Zechariah 1:3
3:10 storehouse Deuteronomy 28:8
3:10 pour you out a blessing Deuteronomy 28:8
3:17 I will spare them as a man spareth his own son Psalm 103:13

Similarities with the time of Nehemiah

3:8 tithes and offerings Nehemiah 13:12

3:5 The oppression of 'the widow and the fatherless' draws on the law of Moses Exodus 22:22 And even though Zechariah appeals to the law of Moses as a basis for living and treating such people. Zechariah 7:10 Only a short while later Malachi Malachi 3:5 has to reprove the same people on the same matter.

4:1 Stubble Obadiah 18
4:3 tread down the wicked Zechariah 10:5
4:6 turn the hearts of the fathers to the children Luke 1:17

4:5 John Baptist was not 'Elijah' John 1:21 Elias will come and cause repentance Matthew 17:10 Mark 9:11 Jesus says 'Elias will come ...' Matthew 17:11 Mark 9:12 John came only in 'spirit of Elijah' Luke 1:17 The 'day of the LORD' which is to come in Zechariah 14:1 is associated with the return of Christ in the contemporary prophet. Malachi 4:5

3:7 In saying 'return unto me' to the priests there may well have been some confusion. As they were so complacent they may well have responded 'we have returned from Babylon, what do you mean return?' It is easy to forget that we have been bought with a price and therefore have to change our lifestyle

4:3 'Tread down your enemies' quotes the earlier prophet after the exile - Zechariah 10:5. So despite having fallen from the high point at the time of the return there is still time and opportunity for repentance.

3:3 In speaking of the purifying of 'the sons of Levi' Malachi is continuing his reproof of the priesthood. Whilst these words speak prophetically of the work of Jesus they had an application in the days of Nehemiah when he sought to rid the nation of a corrupt priesthood.

4:4 The exhortation to 'remember the law of Moses …' Malachi is directing the priests to whom he is speaking to the true source of wisdom and knowledge. At this time they were more interested in sealing political alliances with the people in the land as Nehemiah describes. E.g. Nehemiah 6:18 13:28

Mal 3:16. Them that feared the LORD and that thought upon His name

We are also exhorted to think upon the name of God.

To LOVE:         Psa 119:132.
To EXALT:       Psa 68:4.
To KNOW:       Isa 52:6.
To REMEMBER: Psa 20:7.
To BLESS:          Psa 96:2
To FEAR:            Psa 6:10.
To TRUST:         1Cor 1:9.
To PRAY UNTO:   Psa 140:13

3:12 "delightsome land" alludes to Isa 62:4 "Hephzibah"  - so Malachi is looking to the time of restoration of the Jews in a time of peace and safety. Remember he is saying this in the days of Nehemiah.

4:5 In saying Elijah will be sent "before <06440> the coming ..." we should be ware that the word speaks of location not time. It is the word elsewhere typically translated "presence" (Gen 3:8) or "face" (Exo 34:35) 

3:1       The first fulfilment of ‘the messenger of the covenant’ was Nehemiah who returned to Jerusalem after being absent for some years only to find that the good that he had started had decayed into godlessness.

4:6 ‘He shall turn … children’ is quoted by the angel of John the Baptist in Luke 1:17 showing that John was a fulfilment of this promise.

3:1    In speaking of the “messenger of the covenant” Malachi is speaking of the covenant that the people made in Neh 10:29

3:1 is reflecting Isa 40:3-5 and is talking about John the Baptist (Matt 3:3; 11:10).  John was the friend of the bridegroom, responsible for preparing the wedding.  When the bridegroom (Jesus) came to claim His bride (the ecclesia), the job of the friend of the bridegroom was done (John 3:28-30).

21:2 In speaking of 'The holy city' Revelation is drawing the way that Jerusalem is spoken of in the Old Testament. Nehemiah 11:1 Isaiah 48:2 52:1 Daniel 9:24 And also in the New. Matthew 4:5 27:53 Revelation 11:2

22:2-3 The presence of the 'tree of life' when there will be 'no more curse' takes us back to the garden of Eden. The state that existed before Adam's transgression will be restored. So there will be perfect fellowship with God - they will 'see His face' Revelation 22:4. If we get 'the father's name' in our foreheads Revelation 22:4 now we will be there on that wonderful day.

Taking the use of tabernacle language along with, as we saw in July, Ezekiel's temple shows that these Old Testament structures were visual aids to help Israel to 'see' that God desired to dwell with men. This He will do when the 'house of David' is truly built.

And yet again the temple of Ezekiel's prophecy forms the basis for the miraculous work in the kingdom.

The 'foursquare' city is based on the breastplate - a place of memorial (Exodus 28:29)

The quotation from Zechariah 14 - which reads as a straight literal happening demonstrates that Revelation does not only deal with signs and symbols but also with real events.

21:3 So the shadow of God walking and dwelling with man that took place in the wilderness now is completely fulfilled. No more shadows. Just the reality!

22:14 In speaking of having "right to the tree of life" we are reminded of the promise Jesus made earlier (Rev 2:7) And so we see Eden restored.

21:4 In saying ‘God shall wipe away all tears’ quoting Isa 25:8 we are being directed to see the resurrection as the means whereby this will all happen for that is the theme and focus of Isa 25.

22:6  The sayings were ‘faithful and true’ because they were spoken by the one who is a ‘faithful and true witness’ Rev 3:14, 19:11. Jesus is as good as his word. This rises the question. Are we?

22:11  The one who is going to continue to be unjust – the one who is rejected – has it’s origins in Dan 12:10 – a passage which looks to the establishment of the kingdom, as does this chapter.

22:12   “my reward is with me” quotes Isa 40:10 – a passage which speaks extensively of the coming kingdom of God.