Job--The Suffering Prophet (6): Job's Counselors Arrive

Reflections on the Book of Job (6)

Job’s Counselors Arrive

As the story of Job unfolds, we learn that there was a reason why Satan did not kill Job’s wife, when he took the lives of Job’s seven sons and three daughters. Satan used Mrs. Job in the same way in which he had used Eve in Eden–to vocalize the ends which Satan hoped to bring to pass, that Job would curse God to his face. The same holds true of Job’s three friends, who respond to their friend’s predicament with every intention of comforting Job in his suffering, but who, whether they know it or not, are actually doing the devil’s bidding. It is their presence in the city of Uz, which plunges Job into greater depths of despair than previously witnessed. With the arrival of these three “wise men,” Job descends from a state of physical misery into a state of spiritual torment and lament, as will be revealed in Job 3.

We are introduced to Job’s three friends in verses 11-13 of Job 2. According to Job 2:11, “When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.” The fact that Job’s three friends had to travel from their homes indicates that several months had transpired (cf. Job 7:3) between the time of Job’s loss of everything and the speeches from Job and his friends which begin in Job 3:1 ff. Some months earlier, when Job’s wife told him to admit that he had sinned and then to curse God and die, Job’s response was resolute (2:10). “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

But the greatest enemy of the sufferer is the passage of time without resolution. As the hours turn into days, and days into weeks, weeks into months, the pain, the loss of sleep, the loss of emotional well-being, slowly but surely chip away at both Job’s physical endurance and his spiritual resolve. Upon arrival, Job’s three friends find him in a far different emotional state then he had been in just months earlier. In the midst of his tears, Job praised God. Now, after some months have transpired, Job has fallen into the depths of despair. So much so that he has reached the point of cursing the day of his birth.

The extent to which Job’s physical and emotional state has worsened becomes clear in verse 12. “When they saw [Job] from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; [his three friends] began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.” The greatest man of the east is now a pitiful wretch almost beyond recognition. Job’s friends are totally unprepared for the sight that greeted them. The weeping and throwing of dust in the air are not only gestures of grief on behalf of their friend, but also indicates the shocking nature of Job’s appearance.[1]

That Job was as good as dead (presumed to die) is clear from what is described in verse 13. “Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights.” The customary period of mourning is seven days. During this whole time, “no one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.” Joining Job on the dunghill and mourning with him is a sign of the strength of the bond of friendship between the four men. Based upon this sacrificial act of friendship and support, we must take what follows in the three cycles of speeches–despite the tactlessness and bad theology of their comments–to mean that the sincerity of these men and their love for Job cannot be questioned. They mean well. But they simply do not understand that the more they talk, the more they make things worse. Sitting with Job and remaining silent comforted him. Explaining to him, why he was suffering was pure torture.

Pain and Misery Take Their Toil on Job

In the meantime, what has happened to Job’s great faith? The man who refused to blame God and renounce his integrity is now but a shell of his former self. Surely the pain and misery of his affliction, the realization of the greatness of his loss, the lack of proper food and rest, the shame of being banished from town, all the while aware that the townspeople think Job has brought this on himself through some secret sin, are all chipping away at his faith and resolve.

But the trigger for the lament which follows appears to be the arrival of Job’s three friends. The very presence of these three men starts an internal dialogue which Job did not face before. While Job does not know of the satanically-orchestrated trial by ordeal, he does know that he has done nothing wrong. We can reasonably assume that Job knew that his friends must be thinking similar things to what his wife had been thinking–there was some secret sin which Job had committed for which God was now punishing him. Since Job has committed no such secret sin, there is only one explanation as to why these horrible things have come to pass. Either God has abandoned Job [2], or else God has permitted these things to pass. [3] This conundrum raises the series of questions that pour forth from Job’s heart throughout the entirety of chapter three. “Why?”

What follows in chapter three raises the difficult question about whether or not Job sins by engaging in the lament which follows and the cursing of his own birth. The one thing we can say for sure is that the more intensely Job seeks an answer to his question, the more and more he realizes that there is a wall between human understanding and God’s decree which no amount of human wisdom or curiosity can penetrate. By focusing so intently upon the “why?” Job begins to lose the proper perspective he had earlier. Job never curses God. In no sense whatsoever does he fulfill Satan’s expectation that Job will do so. But cursing the day of his own birth does bring into question the righteousness of God’s decree which included Job’s birth. This explains why the story of Job ends with the account of Job’s repentance (42:6) and after Job does so, God renews and re-establishes his relationship with Job, so that things are even better than they had been before (42:12 ff).[4]

Job’s Anguished Lament — His Friends Make Things Worse

At the end of these series of speeches, God commends Job for speaking correctly about him, while at the same time rebuking Job’s friends for misrepresenting the ways of the Lord. Job’s friends are talking about God and at times Job addresses their theologically-flawed comments. But at many points in what follows, Job does not even respond to the comments of his friends, choosing instead to describe his own struggles by pouring out his heart before God. Job is not seeking to win an argument. Being right doesn’t really matter to him. More importantly, Job seeks to restore his friendship with God. This is why Job’s heartfelt but audacious comments trouble his friends. They don’t want to hear such honest if shocking words from Job, since they are primarily concerned only with the logic of it all. But Job not only responds to his friends, he tries to debate with God and force an answer to his question. Job is not always right, but he is painfully honest.[5] Job puts into words those things that every sufferer thinks and feels, but may be afraid to say out loud. This is why Job’s honest and intense debate with his friends and YHWH grabs us so tightly.

Despite the depths of his pain and the passion which flows from his heart, Job never laments the loss of his wealth or his health. Job does not whine about all the things he had before and has now lost. Instead, as a blameless and upright man, Job demands an answer from God. He repeatedly asks “why?” Since Job knows nothing of the reason behind his trial by ordeal (although the reader does), he is deeply troubled about the fact that God has brought all this to pass. Job has no clue yet that his obedience and refusal to curse God points us ahead to the perfect righteousness of Christ. Job is afraid that God has abandoned him, especially when he has done nothing wrong. Job struggles to figure out why this has happened. Anyone who has ever suffered can certainly put themselves in Job’s place. We all ask “why?” Asking “why?” is not necessarily a sin. At least it is not a sin to ask “why?” if we are prepared to accept the answer God will give us in this life, or in the next.

Does Job sin in all of this? Yes, because everything not done from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). But Job is already justified through the merits of the coming redeemer in whom he has placed his trust. Therefore, whatever sin Job commits must be seen in the context of the sins of a justified sinner. Job’s repentance at the end of the story is clearly evidence that this is the case. Even though Job cries out in bewilderment, he never does curse God and thereby fulfill Satan’s prophecy. In this sense, Job passes the trial by ordeal with flying colors. His unwillingness to blame God means he understands the nature of God’s promise–that God will redeem Job from his sin. Job also demands that God keep his promise to vindicate the innocent. Since all covenants involve two parties–and God has sworn on his oath that he will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him–Job has every right to ask (even demand) that God vindicate him from the accusations that some secret sin lies at the root of Job’s travail.

Yes, Job knows and accepts the fact that God has the right to do what he wants with his creatures. Yet Job also knows that God will not punish the innocent. Since he is blameless and upright, Job has the right to raise the “why?” question about his own predicament. The answer Job gets in the end can only satisfy those who are willing to wrestle with God’s mysterious ways through the eyes of faith. God’s answer to Job as to why all this happened will never satisfy those driven by impatient and sinful human curiosity to ask “why?” But for those who see the trials of life in the light of the sufferings of Jesus Christ, there is indeed an answer to the very difficult questions that Job raises throughout his lament. As it was for Jesus, so will it be for us. Suffering precedes final glory. This is God’s way.

Job: The Suffering prophet, "Why?"

To read the first in this series: Job: The Suffering Prophet (1)

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[1] Andersen, Job, 95.

[2] Kline, Job, 464.

[3] Andersen, Job, 9.

[4] Kline, Job, 465.

[5] See the helpful discussion of this in; Andersen, Job, 96-99.