Lesson 333: “Are You a Friend to a Job?"
Remember that Job had God’s hedge around him and Satan said to God, “take down the hedge and I can cause Job to turn against you” (paraphrased – Job 1:10-11). God took down the hedge and Satan went to work to destroy Job. Job goes and sits in the ashes scratching himself with broken pottery pieces. Now here comes Job’s friends to “help, advise and console” him. However, instead of pulling Job up from the ashes they “sprinkled dust on their heads and sat down on the ground with him” (Job 2:12b-13). Eliphaz spoke first, suggesting that Job was not as upright as he first thought and perhaps he had “plowed evil” to cause God to punish him in such a drastic manner. He insinuates that Job is a fool (5:3) and advises him to appeal to God.
Bildad is second in line to offer Job understanding as to why this suffering came upon him. He says, “if” you are pure and upright God will restore your rightful place. He declares that all who forget God will have the same destiny as the reeds that cannot thrive without water. Bildad was a little kinder and encouraging when he assured Job that God would bring back the laughter to his mouth. Now Zophar is my least favorite of the friends, telling Job “if” he would put away the sin in his hand and allow no evil to dwell in his tent then perhaps God would return to him. “The eyes of the wicked will fail and escape will elude them. Their hope will become a dying gasp” (Job 11:20).
“So these three men stopped answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes” (Job 32:1). This is where the youngest of the bunch, Elihu, comes in saying that he totally disagrees with the other three; “not one of you has proved Job wrong and none of you has answered his arguments” (Job 32:12). This young man is explaining to Job how God will speak to him through dreams, how to pray to God and how God will turn his soul from the pit. He suggests that man discern for himself what is right and does not blame God for evil. He asked permission to reply to Job and his friends, telling them to look to the heavens and decide what their sins have to do with God. “God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him” (Job 36:22)? Even though this man was the youngest of the friends of Job, his speech is filled with praises for God and down-sizes his personal advice.
In chapter 38 the Lord answered Job! And this is when the Lord spoke to me also! His message to me was to come up out of the ashes! He also told me to stop keeping my friend(s) in the ashes. All of this was in a dream just the way young Elihu said God would speak to Job (and me). “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword” (Job 33:14-18). I was being a friend to Job! I was advising, sympathizing, petting, patting on the back, telling what God thought they should do and all the time I was keeping them in the ashes. I heard God say in my dream as plain as day that the trial was over! He would have no more to do with the trial my friend was going through! He would not reveal what the next move was until they moved out of the ashes! And furthermore, He would not reveal what my next move was until I let my friend up out of the ashes!
I had to go to my friend and tell them all of this and admit I did not know why God had allowed the trial in their life and did not know what their next move was. But I knew for sure that I could no longer “help” them with my prattle. I had not proved them wrong nor justified God’s actions and had definitely not given God any glory. My reply to my friend and to God was the same as Job’s. “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. And like Job, I prayed for and with my friend and left so that God might bring them out of the ashes!