With Friends Like That

Last week when I posted “Mrs. Job – Revisited”, I mentioned that my daily Bible study had had me in the book of Job for a few days.  As I continued on in that study for yet a few more days, I noticed things that I had highlighted & notes I’d made in the margins of my Bible when I had read it in previous years.

I will confess, this book is full of so much perplexity that at times I’m confused.  It also has things that make me raise my eyebrows & think things like: “Did he really just say that?!”  “WOW!”  “Why would you say something like that to your friend?”  “How could you question God like that?!”    (And that’s comments made by both Job as well as his “friends”.)   

I mean seriously – Chapter 1 verse 1 says:  “There once was a man named Job…He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.”  Then following that in verse 8 – God Himself sings his praises:  “Then the Lord asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.’”  Whoa!  Can anyone possibly get a better endorsement than that??

After that, the following 10 verses tell us how God gives Satan permission to test Job to see if he will remain steadfast in his devotion to God.  We read how Job lost most of his servants, all his livestock & worst of all, his 10 children were all killed.  How did he react?  Verses 20, 21b & 22 say:  “Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship…” (Then he said) ‘The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away.  Praise the name of the Lord!’  In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.” 

I don’t know about you, but I find that reaction pretty amazing.  That strong, steadfast faith is pretty much beyond my comprehension.  Losing his servants & all his livestock alone had to be pretty shocking; but, to then lose all 10 of his children – at the same time – and all of this in quick succession?  It blows my mind that there was no overwhelming, paralyzing grief or anger on the part of Job.

So, Satan then goes back to God – I imagine with his tail between his legs after witnessing the allegiance shown by Job & a lot of aggravation that he’d been wrong.  Then God repeats the exact same words to him that he’d said the first time (1:8) – echoing his outstanding qualities.  But He added one more thing to it – “…’And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.’”  (2:3c)  But Satan is not giving up that easily & in verse 4 he said to God:  “‘…A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!’”  So God once again allows him to deal with Job as he wishes but tells him that he must spare his life.  Verse 2:7 says – “So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.” 

I’ve never personally experienced boils, nor to my knowledge, have I been around anyone that did.  So, I had to satisfy my curiosity & investigate what it was that Job experienced.  (I would encourage you to search as I did for “what were the boils like that Job was afflicted with”.  Several commentary explanations came up & the finer details express how horrendous this must’ve been.)  But to try to simplify it – it was a form of leprosy that caused swollen limbs & the skin to turn black.  The sores had such an intolerable itching that the person would scrape them to relieve the itching & remove the discharge.  The body also emits an odor that is intolerable to others.  There are many more symptoms that I won’t go into here – the ones I listed are sickening enough – but needless to say, it resulted in incessant pain day & night inward from his bones outward.  

It’s no wonder that Job slipped in & out of hopelessness, discouragement, bitterness, frustration, etc.  Just imagine – one day you’re an honored, respected leader in your community and in a flash you’ve lost everything.  You lose your health, your dignity, your family, your wealth.  You’re a broken man sitting on a pile of ashes & trash with no one to treat you with kindness.  No wonder he yearned to die.  But through all the questioning of God wondering as to why this had happened to him, he never cursed God or turned his back on Him.  

I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying – “With friends like that, who needs enemies?”  That was probably how Job felt after a time when his 3 “friends” showed up.  Chapter 2 verses 11-13 tells us:  “When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.  Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.”

Okay, this is starting out nicely – they seem to be expressing a great deal of sympathy & empathy for their friend.  They even respected him enough to stay silent for an entire week.  But apparently, after Job finally broke the ice and spoke out (chapter 3) they couldn’t hold it in any longer.  Each of the three of them repeatedly chastised Job, throwing out all kinds of accusations & speaking a number of inaccuracies.  They certainly didn’t help the situation at all & in the end, God condemned them.  “After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.  So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.’ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.”  (Job 42:7-9)  God graciously gave them a way out for their sinfulness & showed them mercy & grace.

In 42:1-6 Job repents to God for things that he’d misspoken.  Then he graciously prayed for his friends as God had directed him to do then all the bad was turned around to good.  “When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!”  “So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.”  (Job 42:10 & 12)

There are many lessons to be learned in this complicated, confusing book called Job.  This is some information I found that I believe would be good for all of us to tuck into our memories:

“Though, in the end, Job erred in overstating his righteousness (Job 42:1–6), he had done nothing to deserve his suffering. The trials Job endured were not related to his behavior. Instead, God used the sufferings as a test and as part of His sovereign plan in Job’s life. Following Job’s time of suffering, God blessed Job with twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10).

Much can be learned from the example of Job and his friends. When we are aware of a friend who is hurting, we can follow the positive example of these men by going to the person, mourning with him, and spending time together. Our physical presence with a hurting friend can be a great comfort in and of itself, even if we have no words to say.

In addition, we can gain wisdom from what Job’s friends did wrong. We should not assume that troubles are the sure sign of God’s judgment (cf. John 9:1–3). Instead of telling a hurting person to admit his wrong and repent (when we do not know the reason for the suffering), we can join together and encourage a friend to endure faithfully, knowing God sees our pain and has a purpose for it.

When we turn our focus to God, we can offer great encouragement and hope to those in need, helping those who suffer to see God at work. This is a great application of Romans 12:15: “Mourn with those who mourn.” When we are willing to enter into the pain of a suffering friend, we follow the example of Jesus, who came to bear our pain and suffer in our place. Our help to those in need is ultimately a way we serve Christ (Matthew 25:40).”*

Written by Karran Martin – September 20, 2024

All quoted scripture from the New Living Translation

[All bold emphasis is mine]

*Quoted from:  https://www.gotquestions.org/Jobs-friends.html