As we begin reading the second act of Job’s story (Job 2:11-Job 32:1), we find that three of Job’s friends–Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar–made an appointment together to go to Job to mourn with him and to comfort him. They did okay with the mourning part which involved weeping and sitting in silence for seven days, but when Job began talking with words that cursed the day he was born, their quiet sympathy quickly turned into stern rebuke.  Job began with the statement that he had been afraid of destruction coming upon him and tried everything he could to stop it, but to no avail. He said God was the One who had hedged him in with evil (Job 3:23, 25-26). (Now, before we go any farther, let’s remember God did not bring the destruction on Job–Satan did. And, keep in mind that in Job’s story, like many others, the reader knows more than the characters know.) Eliphaz was the first one to respond to Job, and he immediately insinuated the reason Job had been afflicted was because he had sowed iniquity (Job 4:7-8). When Job strongly defended himself, the great debate was on. As the argument escalated, Job’s three friends became quite sadistic–let’s face it, the man was in intense pain and they were intent on goading him into confessing “his great sin.”

     I’m not going to go through the different spiels each character spoke, but if you decide to read through them, keep this in mind–not one of the four men knew what he was talking about. They all misunderstood God. As I said above, Job misunderstood the “why” of his circumstances and was wrong to blame God for his destruction. But, his friends were also wrong because Job had not sinned and did not deserve what he was suffering. Over the years, I have heard people quote either what Job said during  this exchange or what his friends said, and I have cringed every time. Even if what any one of them said sounds good–it was not truth. How do I know that? Remember what Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). Neither what Job said nor what his three friends said set Job free. The whole argument ended up in a stalemate, and Job was still in pain.

     Even though no one in this discussion spoke truth, some of what Job said is important for two reasons:  a couple things he said provide insight into his most basic  misconception about his relationship with God, and he made some requests of God during his season of complaining that God did answer. First, in Job 29 , the beleagured man talked about the glory of his earlier days–read it and then read Job 31:24-34 where he listed all the sins he had not committed. Now, let me ask you a question–in these passages, what did Job base his relationship with God on? All the man talked about was what he had or had not done. Where was God in all of this? Job didn’t understand that the character of God is the foundation of a believer’s faith, not what the believer does or does not do. In fact, Job didn’t understand God’s character at all as is evidenced by the way he alternated between praising God and cursing Him.

     Finally, let’s look at several requests that Job made and that God answered. In Job 13:20-22, the man asked God not to withdraw His hand from him and not to let His dread make him afraid. Then, listen to what Job said next–”Then call and I will answer; or let me speak, then reply to me” (NASB). As we will see in an upcoming post, God answered that prayer big time. Job also made two other requests that have directly affected us. Job 19:23 records some more of Job’s words, “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!” (NASB). Then, at the very end of his raucous debate with his friends, Job cried out “Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, that my Prosecutor had written a book!” (NKJV) Let’s see now, Job is believed to be the earliest book of the Bible written, and Job desired to have his words written in a book and to have God write a book. Do you think  the existence of our Bible might be the direct answer to Job’s prayers?

     In my next post, we are going to see the preliminary climax of Job’s story as a young man named Elihu takes the stage. Let me leave you with a tidbit to think about–the name “Elihu” means God Himself.

     Please feel free to comment, but please remember that any disrespectful comments will be deleted.

 

     ©2009 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.