Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
Then Job replied: “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales. For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder? Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me. If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope: that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off!
It still brings me comfort, and joy through unrelenting pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient? Is my strength like that of stone, or my flesh made of bronze? Is there any help within me, now that success is driven from me?
A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. But my brothers are as faithless as wadis, as seasonal streams that overflow, because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow, but ceasing in the dry season and vanishing from their channels in the heat. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it. They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment.
For now you are of no help; you see terror, and you are afraid. Have I ever said, ‘Give me something; offer me a bribe from your wealth; deliver me from the hand of the enemy; redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless’?
Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand how I have erred. How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove? Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair? You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend. But now, please look at me. Would I lie to your face? Reconsider; do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake. Is there iniquity on my tongue? Can my mouth not discern malice?”
Job feels that nobody in the history of the world has suffered the way he has and that God has forsaken him. But at least Job can comfort himself with the thought that he has remained true to God. “It still brings me comfort, and joy through unrelenting pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient? Is my strength like that of stone, or my flesh made of bronze? Is there any help within me, now that success is driven from me?” Hmm! It seems that Job has been looking within himself for help, counting on his success to save him, rather than trusting in God. But success is always fleeting and can evaporate in a moment, as Job is learning.
Job has hoped that even if he has failed himself somehow, his friends will be able to comfort him. now things are even worse because Job’s friends are a complete disappointment. Look at the vivid descriptions Job gives.
“A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. But my brothers are as faithless as wadis, as seasonal streams that overflow, because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow, but ceasing in the dry season and vanishing from their channels in the heat. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it. They are confounded because they had hoped; their arrival brings disappointment.”
Wadis in desert areas are the same all over the world. The only time a wadi has water is when it rains or snows in the mountains and the wadis get the run-off. Sometimes this flooding can be catastrophic, and it’s a wise person who stays out of the wadi bed at any time of the year. The members of any caravan depending on water in a wadi can readily find themselves wandering off into the desert and dying. Job has been hoping that his friends will bring comfort; however, they seem far more interested in preaching to him than in helping him. The most bitter thing of all is the realization that Job’s friends think he must have committed some secret sin to have brought divine retribution down on his head. “Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake. Is there iniquity on my tongue? Can my mouth not discern malice?”
APPLICATION: Once more, we realize that there are those who comfort and then there are those who gloat. Even though Job’s friends have sat silently with him for seven days and nights, even though they have seen how much Job is suffering, despite all this, Job’s friends are not interested in encouraging but in inflicting their own self – righteousness on Job. Through the itching and the pain and the stench from the sores, Job is aware of his friends’ mixed motives and confronts them.
Reading the Book of Job, one wonders why Job’s friends would behave in such a fashion. The friends have traveled from some distance to be with Job and have then dedicated seven days and nights to grieving with him. That’s a lot of effort just to come and be nasty to someone. Have these friends been envying Job? Has there been a point in the past where Job has confronted one or more of them with their bad behavior and have they smarted under what they have perceived as criticism? Some of the dialogue coming from Job’s friends would suggest they are those who are seeking revenge for a previous hurt. We don’t know; we only have this record. And who recorded the Book of Job in the first place? Was it one of the friends? Job himself? We don’t know; we only know that this book has been accepted as Scripture for thousands of years.
Many of us can probably identify with Job at this point. Only this morning I have been communicating with a friend who is a nurse. My friend’s mother, also a close friend of nearly forty years, is dying with metastatic breast cancer and suffering the effects of radiation used to relieve her bone pain. For a health worker, few things are more frustrating and agonizing than watching someone you love suffer and being totally unable to relieve that suffering. But for Job, the pain of being misunderstood is proving to be just as agonizing as his losses and his physical suffering. May God help us so that we do not make the mistakes of Job’s friends!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be sensitive to the suffering of our friends and to wait for Your leading. Help us to actually be comforting and not condemning. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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