The silence of Job’s three friends was broken from chapter four of Job. The next twenty-four chapters record for us the dialogue between Job and his three friends. The friends were trying to diagnose Job’s problems and the reasons for his intense sufferings. It consists of three cycles of speeches; after each friend spoke, Job replied until all three had spoken in each cycle. Then a new cycle began and ran its course, followed by a third cycle in which only Eliphaz and Bildad spoke. Zophar remained surprisingly quiet.

The tone of the first cycle was set by Job’s lament in chapter three. As the dialogue proceeded, the tone intensified from detached sympathy to derogatory condemnation on the part of the three friends. Although the three friends heard Job’s insistence on his innocence, they failed to read his heart. As the dialogue moved on, they caused such pain and despair to Job to the point that Job dismissed them as miserable counsellors. Job fruitlessly appealed to them for pity and compassionate friendship and understanding.

We need to take note that the speeches of the three friends in the first cycle expressed the understanding of the principle of retribution stated by Eliphaz in 4:8, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it”. Eliphaz concluded that Job had brought the misfortune upon himself. Admittedly, Eliphaz realised that it is a blessing for God to use suffering to reprove and correct (5:17-18). He urged Job to turn back to God and ask for mercy and grace.

Bildad extended this principle by appealing to traditional teaching (8:8-10) and natural law (8:11-19). He proclaimed that God is just. Thus, God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked (8:20-22). Zophar added on, saying that because God has unsearchable wisdom, nothing escapes Him (11:5-12); His justice cannot be challenged. He insisted that although Job protested his innocence, there must be some hidden sin that had led to his suffering and he should confess it (11:13-20).

The second and third cycles of speeches built on the first. Having concluded that Job’s suffering was a consequence of his sin, the scale and intensity of the disasters befalling Job must point to some great wickedness on Job’s part. Zophar even speculated that Job’s earlier prosperity must have resulted from him exploiting the poor (20:10).

What the three friends were saying is not essentially wrong in terms of the principle stated and this is also expressed in other parts of Scripture. But the error is their rigid application of the principle. As a general rule, God judges sin and rewards the righteous but this does not mean that all misfortune is evidence of a wicked life or that all prosperity is a sign of a godly life. Job was not claiming to be sinless but he maintained that he had done nothing to bring about the dramatic change in the circumstances of his life. His protests to the accusations of his friends were taken as an unwillingness to humble himself and this indicated an even greater sin. They did not diagnose Job’s problems accurately and in fact added on to his distress and agony.

In one sense, they drove Job to launch his complaint against God. Job felt ostracised. He was alienated from God and man, a lone challenger in an unfriendly universe, forced to face reality alone. Job protested that he was not inferior to his friends in understanding but they did not understand his pain. Even at the risk of death, Job would continue to argue his case against God. He began to accuse God of harassing him senselessly and he appealed to God to leave him alone so that he may not come to a point of sinning grievously against God before he expired.

Yet in chapter twenty eight, Job, in a beautiful poem, stressed that wisdom cannot be found in the realm of the living or in the realm of death (28:20-22). Verses 23-28 constitute a beautiful climax: only God knows the way to wisdom. Although wisdom is not detected by human ingenuity, it nevertheless manifests itself in human life. The conclusion, “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding”(28:28). Job still clung to his belief in God despite the adverse situation he was in; he only wanted to hear from God why He was targeting him and what was it he had done to deserve this seemingly unfair treatment. Although the friends were urging him to admit his sins, Job could not honestly agree to do so just to appease God. For he knew that his sufferings were not because of unrighteousness on his part. From the prologue we know that Job was not suffering because of unrighteousness. On the contrary, he was suffering because of his righteousness and blamelessness.

There are many lessons we can draw from the dialogue; we will look into them subsequently. But at this point, we can realise the limitation of man’s wisdom and realise that true wisdom only dwells with God. We need to be careful not to wrongfully judge others. Rather, we need to be open to be corrected regarding our unwholesome conclusions about others and our lack of discernment.

 

FURTHER LESSONS FROM THE DIALOGUE

Job’s three friends were rather close friends as seen by their willingness to visit him to comfort him and to remain silent with him for seven days and nights. They would have known him to be a godly person and one who was generous, kind and helpful.

We see this expressed by Eliphaz:

“Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported  those who stumbled;  you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope”? (4:3-6)

In the light of this, should not the three friends be slow to accuse Job of sin and wrongdoing? It reminds us to be especially careful not to speak negatively of those who are generally godly and spiritual and those who are holding important leadership and responsibilities in Christian ministry. We need to examine the facts and issues clearly before making concluding observations that may affect God’s ministry and glory.

Also, we notice that the three friends, as the dialogue progressed, became aggressive and reactive towards Job and became more concerned about defending their theology and winning the argument rather than listening to the heart and sincere ‘truth’ proceeding from Job. They were even prepared to accuse Job of wicked deeds when they knew that this was unlikely in a man like Job.

This teaches us to be more concerned about truth than about reputation and being seen as spiritual in the eyes of men and our colleagues. We must not forget that God is a God of truth and truth matters very much to Him. The evil one, on the other hand, is always distorting the truth and casting doubt on God’s goodness and righteousness. If we are not careful, we may unknowingly be used by the adversary to be tools in his design to destroy God’s people and His ministry. We must be humble and open enough to acknowledge that we may be wrong in our discernment and conclusions even though it may cost a dent in our reputation.

We need to be careful that we do not contribute to the breaking and breakdown of a godly brother or sister because of our careless words and gossip. This can be tantamount to speaking negatively about God Himself if the brother or sister concerned is highly regarded by the Lord. Notice that God rebuked the three friends at the end and asked Job to pray for them. God was angry with them even though they thought they were defending God and His justice by confronting Job.

Our apparent good intentions may actually be poisonous and good intention may not necessarily end up with positive results if they are not backed up by wholesome truth and understanding of the person and the situation concerned.

Let us be quick to listen and slow to speak as counselled by Apostle James, and let not many of us seek to be teachers, for it will incur a greater accountability before God.