God had blessed Job and his wife with a large family; they had ten children in all, seven sons and three daughters (1:2). It appears that Job was somewhat worried about the spiritual state of his children—they seemed to enjoy the “good life” or party life a bit too much (1:4, 18). He would rise early in the morning and offer sacrifices for them (1:5) just in case they might have sinned. Then tragedy struck Job and his family. Satan was allowed by God to bring disaster upon his household—his children all died (1:18–19).

At the end of his trials, God gave Job more children to replace those who had died (42:12–13). Obviously those adult children who died could not really be replaced, for each were individuals who had a unique personality and relationship with Job and their mother. The point, however, is not so much that God replaced them as it is He blessed Job with children once again.

God also restored the livestock that Job had lost—not only restored them, but doubled them, for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys (42:12; cf. 1:3). However, when God restored Job’s children, He did not double them. He replaced them with the same number that Job had in the beginning of the book. Why? This answer is as clear as it is wonderful: Job already had seven sons and three daughters waiting for him in heaven! So God had doubled them after all! God’s voice to Job and his wife essentially was, “Don’t worry, you will see them again.” In these things connected with Job, his trials, and recovery, we see the “end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (Jas. 5:11).