Back and Forth
“To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook and as the stream of brooks they pass away;” Job 6:14-15
Most of the book of Job is a back and forth between his complaints and spoken woes and the hurtful judgments by his three so-called “friends”. After the initial calamities which fell upon Job as a challenge by Satan to show God that Job only served Him because of how God had blessed Job, his three friends came to console him, and I use that term “console” very loosely, in his misery. He began by voicing his desire to die, and then Eliphaz spoke up and put in his two cents worth which covered two chapters. After he finished, Job began to defend himself.
Job had been patient to hear Eliphaz out even though what he said was not very pleasant nor was it helpful. Job was looking for a little sympathy to his plight. He sensed that his friends did not understand nor appreciate the depth of the pain, physical and emotional, that he was suffering. The only true sympathy comes from one who has been through a similar experience. Job could not find the words to describe how he felt. He just wanted his friends to help him, not rebuke him. It’s bad enough to be in misery. Judgmental attitudes from others only makes matters worse. However, Job’s greatest suffering came from his belief that God had turned against him, the God whom he had served and worshiped. Why did it feel as though God had shot him through with arrows of judgment and wrath? It was as if God had sent every terror from the arsenal of His wrath directly upon Job. All the things that Job had shunned, the food of the poor and a mediocre life, were now his lot in life. He had shunned evil, but evil had not shunned him.
Job had not given up his desire to die. He was without hope. He was suffering from severe depression which will not depart just by someone telling the suffering person to “snap out of it”. He thought that if God would just take him then all of his troubles, pain, and sorrow would cease to exist. Since he believed that God had been pleased to destroy everything that he cherished, then would God not also be pleased to destroy him? Remember that Job is unaware of Satan’s challenge to God. Even in his most miserable state, Job had not cursed God as Satan predicted, but Job was blaming God for all that had befallen him. In one respect, he was of the same belief as Eliphaz: a righteous man will always be prospered by God, and the unrighteous will suffer God’s wrath. Job considered himself to be a righteous man. So did God–Job was perfect, upright, feared God, and avoided evil (1:1). No wonder Job was confused.
Job had faith that when he died, not only would he be freed from his prison of pain and torment, but he would also be with the Maker of heaven and earth in a place of comfort and peace. Job was willing to endure further torment if it led to his death and release from his misery, but he never said anything about his death bringing God any glory. That was Jesus’ main purpose in going to the cross–to be obedient and bring glory to His Father. Eliphaz had offered Job some hope for the future in that eventually, as long as he patiently endured God’s correction (5:17), he would be blessed again with peace and prosperity, but Job was not convinced that joy was just around the bend on the road of suffering. He desired for Eliphaz to tell him why he should continue to go on living when the future was as bleak as his present. He saw nothing for which to live.
Perhaps Job had a thought similar to this: “Who needs enemies with friends like you all?” Eliphaz had been rough on Job. Even though the other two men had not yet spoken, Job could tell by their demeaner that they were in agreement with Eliphaz. He compared their unexpected chastisement to a brook. At times when melted snow and heavy rain made it muddy and overflowing, one would walk past it and see plenty of water. However, on another journey, in the summer when one would expect to refresh oneself in its cool water, one would find it dried up. No refreshment would be found. This is how Job felt about his friends. They had always been there for him, encouraging him, and praising him for his loyalty to God and his generosity in helping others. Now, in his misery and great troubles, why wouldn’t they continue to encourage and uplift him? Job found out the hard way that one can’t put confidence in other humans.
Job never invited his friends to come see him as far as we know. He never asked them for anything, and they didn’t offer. He just wanted someone to listen to him and sympathize with him. He didn’t expect to be verbally abused by their self-righteous rhetoric. He asked them to be specific and tell him where he went wrong in his life. What did he do to deserve the horrible things that happened to him? If they could only point out a reasonable and clear cause for his trouble, he would accept their words and end his complaints. Job was about as low as a man could get, and now his friends were trying to push him even further down into the muck and mire of misery. He asked them if they had ever known him to live in a pattern of sin. Why were they accusing him with no proof? Who were the real sinners here? Was it Job who was suffering, or was it his three visitors who were guilty of judgment, in effect, speaking for God?
Next installment: Job Questions God