We have seen that the book of Job consists of a short prologue (chap 1&2) and an even shorter epilogue (chap 42). The rest of the book consists of a series of dialogues that Job has with three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar before a fourth friend Elihu enters the fray in chapter 32. Yesterday we learned our first counselling lesson from the book of Job. We need to get a firm grip on the sovereignty of God. Today we will go on to see how Job suffered from bad counsellors. In 13:4 he complains you are worthless physicians, all of you! In 16:2 he laments miserable comforters are you all! In 19:2, 3 he says; “How long will you torment me and crush me with words? Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me. In 16:5 Job says that if their positions were reversed my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
JOB SUFFERED FROM BAD COUNSELLORS
In 2:11 we meet Job’s friends for the first time. They have deservedly received a bad reputation but they were not bad men. Initially at least they got a few basic lessons right.
1) They visited Job – In 2:11 we read 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.
2) They sympathised with Job – Their goal was to comfort Job. Notice from
2:12 when they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.
3) They were silent – In 2:13 the narrator tells us then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. Those seven days of silence were golden. Unfortunately they had to open their mouths and ruin it all.
4) In 5:7 Eliphaz starts to develop an important theme yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. Here are the beginnings of an attempt to tease out the effects of the Fall. If only he had developed this line of thinking to a greater extent he may have helped Job. All he ended up doing was adding to Job’s pain.
Although the friends meant well they went horribly wrong from the minute they opened their voices. We are on safe ground when we criticize them because even God in 42:7 tells them you have not spoken of me what is right. We do not want to be guilty of being poor spokespersons for God. What errors must we avoid?
1) Don’t regard general principles as though they were absolute. Job’s friends theology was simplistic. They could only see two reasons for Job’s suffering – either God is bad or Job must be bad. They were adamant that God is good and just and fair in the way he runs the universe. Here they were right. The only other possible reason they could see for Job’s plight then was that Job was bad. Here they were wrong (God says so). Their main error was to consistently treat a general principle as though it were an absolute principle. Listen to what Eliphaz has to say in 4:7-8 consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. In other words; “if you are experiencing trouble Job it is because you deserve it. In counseling suffering people do not make general principles absolute ones. The classic way that we do this today is the promise of healing. Just pray for healing and if you have enough faith you will be healed. Some teachers encourage Christians by saying; “God does not want any of his children sick. Claim your healing. There is healing in Christ’s atonement.” It is a general principle that God in His mercy does sometimes choose to heal but it is no guarantee. We can also mistake general principles with absolute ones in the way we apply Proverbs. For instance Proverbs 11:24-26; 13:20; 19:15; 22:6 contain general truths about stinginess, friends, laziness and child rearing. We cannot claim them to be absolute principles.
2) Instead of listening to Job they wanted to win the argument and resorted to hurtful personal remarks. Bildad jumps into the arena. Listen to his callous words to Job in 8:4; when your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin. In other words – your children got what they deserved. With friends like these who needs enemies? Zophar follows the same line of reasoning. In 11:14 he says; if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm without fear. In other words; “just stop sinning Job and all will come right.” What a wonderful bed side manner. I would just love these guys to visit me in hospital – wouldn’t you?
3) In 4:12-16 Eliphaz resorted to claiming personal revelation. “A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice. We want our words to convey some authority to a sufferer and like Eliphaz we say. “The Lord told me, OR, I had a vision last night concerning you, OR, I have a word from the Lord.” When Leland Hayward negotiated the rights with Baroness von Trapp for the film “The Sound of Music” he made a generous offer. “We are portraying you in the best possible way and will give you ten percent of the profits.” He expected an immediate YES! The baroness replied; “My dear Mr Hayward. I never make a decision like this without the help of the Holy Ghost so I will go to church to consult the Holy Ghost.” She left and returned an hour later and smiled a beatific smile and said; “My dear Mr Hayward, the Holy Ghost says fifteen percent.” It is most unwise to try and clinch an argument by saying; “the Lord told me” and it is dishonouring to his name.
As we seek to help suffering people we need to grasp some of the good lessons Job’s friends teach while avoiding their errors.