If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
The words stand in Elihu's speeches, the portion that extends from Job 32 through Job 37. If people obey and listen to God and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasure and pleasantness. That promised blessing is for those who respond to His correcting discipline by turning away from wrongdoing and iniquity to obedience and service. By contrast, rejecting His correction and refusing to obey leads to destruction, described in the following verse as perishing by the sword and dying without knowledge.
The promise does not mean that suffering proves a person is under God's displeasure, for good is ultimately rewarded yet God may allow affliction as loving correction and for His glory, and those who trust Him can rejoice even in hardship knowing He works for their good. Disease is one form of that correcting hand, meant to discipline and instruct people and lead them to repentance, obedience, and service. Obedience and service to God are a time-tested path to success, in contrast with occult and psychic practices. Faithful service to God is a path marked by blessing and joy, not by unrelieved hardship.
The verse therefore calls people to accept reproof and to faithfully obey God's warnings. It is illustrated in Job's restored prosperity, when after he prayed for the friends who had misjudged him God turned his captivity and returned his prosperity, Satan was defeated and God was vindicated.
The words stand in Elihu's speeches, the portion that extends from Job 32 through Job 37. If people obey and listen to God and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasure and pleasantness. That promised blessing is for those who respond to His correcting discipline by turning away from wrongdoing and iniquity to obedience and service. By contrast, rejecting His correction and refusing to obey leads to destruction, described in the following verse as perishing by the sword and dying without knowledge.
The promise does not mean that suffering proves a person is under God's displeasure, for good is ultimately rewarded yet God may allow affliction as loving correction and for His glory, and those who trust Him can rejoice even in hardship knowing He works for their good. Disease is one form of that correcting hand, meant to discipline and instruct people and lead them to repentance, obedience, and service. Obedience and service to God are a time-tested path to success, in contrast with occult and psychic practices. Faithful service to God is a path marked by blessing and joy, not by unrelieved hardship.
The verse therefore calls people to accept reproof and to faithfully obey God's warnings. It is illustrated in Job's restored prosperity, when after he prayed for the friends who had misjudged him God turned his captivity and returned his prosperity, Satan was defeated and God was vindicated.