Half-Truths And Restoration

Here we are again early in a new year and I have once again started my journey of reading through the Bible from beginning to end.  Yesterday I finished the book of Job – a book that for me is one that never fails to shock me and elicit a real mish-mash of emotions.  Each time I read it, I seem to take away something new to ponder and then I determine there can’t possibly be anything new for me to see or learn the next year; but, it seems that every year I’m proven wrong about that.  I’ve shared a lot of “Job thoughts” over the years and this year is no exception.

Job 1 through 2:10 is a brief account of Job and then the story about the tragedies that befall Job – a man that God had spoken of saying:  “…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.” (Job 1:8)  

Then starting in 2:11 his “friends” enter the picture and at first seem to be very empathetic and sympathetic.  Then Job, out of his anguish began to speak of his grief and pain; and, although he spoke of misery and questioned his condition – he never blamed God.  Considering the type of man he was, based on God’s description of him, can you blame him for his honest expressions and questions about his circumstances?  

Eliphaz was the first to address the situation.  He first stated a few encouraging facts about Job then quickly turned to being very critical and harsh.  Job responded, then came Bildad with his attack.  Job responded to him then came Zophar’s assault with another response from Job.  It just seemed that his friends became progressively more aggressive and Job understandably became more despondent.  It’s hard for me to fathom being in such a state of suffering and have so-called friends speak so brutally.     

The Bible I use is written in chronological order and is broken down in easy-to-read daily doses.  Each day has a short little commentary with thoughts about that day’s study.  Preceding Job 22 a couple of thoughts in that commentary were:  “Job looks in the mirror and sees only innocence where his friends see guilt.”  And, “No one is helped by the conversation between Job and his three friends.  Job speaks out of pain, and his friends speak out of tradition and experience.  All of them speak half-truths because they lack God’s full revelation.”

The commentary before the second round of assaults started said this:  “No one on earth possesses the full picture, making it easy to accuse God falsely.  Suffering can impede people’s ability to think clearly about God and about themselves.  While Job urged his friends to stop talking, it may have been wise for Job to be silent as well!” 

But it doesn’t stop there – Eliphaz and then Bildad take some more shots.  In his final speech to them Job speaks of wisdom and understanding; his former blessings; his anguish; and, of his innocence.  

Then, a younger man by the name of Elihu had apparently been present the entire time, observing and listening.  He finally decided it was his turn to speak his mind and he was mad!  Job 32:1-5:  “So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.”  He proceeded to basically rake them all over the coals.  He went on and on for 5 more chapters!  But then….GOD!

I’m sure most of you have either heard of or even played a game called 20 Questions.  Well…that game has nothing on God.  In Job 38 & 39 when God finally intervenes He challenges Job and asks him more than 50 questions.  The commentary says:  “The questions reveal Job’s limitations, confront his pride, and humble him.”  And, “God questions people to bring them to the end of themselves and to awaken them to think more deeply about Him.” 

Job 40:1-5:  “Then the Lord said to Job, ‘Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?      You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?’  Then Job replied to the Lord, ‘I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?  I will cover my mouth with my hand.  I have said too much already.  I have nothing more to say.’”  Talk about being humbled!!  But then God went on – with more questions and more humbling.  

Now we come to my favorite part and my new revelation for this year in the story.  In chapter 42 we see Job’s humility shining through, we see his confessions and his repentance.  Then….drumroll please….here is the really BIG ASK – verses 7-10:  “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.  When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!”  Job’s friends had treated him shamefully – yet what did God do?  The BIG ASK from God was – pray for these guys! 

The commentary for that day said this:  “His friends needed someone to offer a sacrifice on their behalf; they needed a sacrifice to be made right with God.”  And, “God declared at the beginning of the story that Job was righteous.  Through losing all that he had and then encountering the Lord, Job is reminded that God’s redemption – not Job’s integrity – is the source of righteousness.” 

This story flowed through all of the characters speaking half-truths culminating in all of them being restored.  Through the sacrifice they offered and Job’s prayer for them his friends were restored.  Through Job’s obedience to pray for those that had hurt and offended him so deeply he was not only fully restored but doubly blessed.  He fulfilled the big ask and was rewarded.

I’ve said all of this to come to this place of challenge for us all.  When we are wounded by others do we handle it the way God would want us to handle it?  Are we able to put the pain aside and pray for them?  We have a wonderful example in this story of why and how to do it plus the results.  So why would we hesitate to do the right thing?  Because it can be hard, that’s why.

I would never, ever try to present myself as a person that always does everything right and holds no fault for things that I’ve lived through and experienced.  However, I will tell you that I came out of my long marriage very wounded emotionally.  I questioned what kind of wife I’d been, what kind of mother I’d been, what kind of Christian I was and in general what kind of woman I was.  I held a lot of bitterness in my heart toward my ex-husband and the woman he left me for.  I went through a period of time where I was angry with God, questioned Him wanting to know why He didn’t intervene.  I yelled at Him and out of my pain and grief left the church for a time.  

I eventually began to heal and found my way back to God and to church.  When I got back into my routine of studying the Bible and prayer time I eventually had God very clearly speaking to me – He had a BIG ASK for me – pray for my ex and his wife.  I refused to do it.  I told Him that I just could not do that.  But He persisted and it was almost like He said to me what He said to Job – “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?”  I finally relented and forced myself to pray for them.  I did it every day and eventually I could really mean what I prayed.  When I obeyed, God restored my peace and the bitterness left. (I still pray for them every day.)  

Since then I’ve had other situations that have caused issues for me – situations that interfered with my peace and joy.  I had to release them through prayer in order to move on.  It does us no good whatsoever to hold onto things that hurt us – which is a strong temptation when those that have hurt us never even acknowledge what they’ve done or ask for forgiveness.  You’ll notice that it says nothing in the story of Job about him hesitating or refusing to pray for the friends that had inflicted so much hurt on him.  He simply obeyed God’s instructions to pray for them and he was handsomely rewarded in many ways.  Should we be any different from Job?

So…we need to beware of speaking half-truths – about ourselves, about others and definitely about God.  We need to learn to put our pain aside and just obey – the results will be restoration.

Written by Karran Martin – February 1, 2026

[All bold emphasis is mine]

All commentary and scripture quotes are from:  The One Year Chronological Study Bible published by Tyndale – NLT translation