Friends

Friends

“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.” (Job 2:11)

We read in God’s word of a man with many faces. But, he did not yield unto their influences until he had consulted God. He was a faithful servant to Jehovah. He was a mighty man of much wealth and he tithed to God the portion for himself as well as for his sons; just in case they forgot to pay their tithes. God was well pleased with Job. One to the other were friends indeed.

He had many friends and business associated from many nations. They were friends of a different sort. Much like the prodigal son in Luke, they were good time friends. They loved not the man but his notoriety and substance. Each played the friendship game. (Job 1:3). Job was a tradesman, something of an import-export businessman, with vast livestock and wholesale food supplies, equipping distance caravans for himself and others. Then disaster struck. Satan took all that Job had and reduced him to a rotting lump of sores siting in an ash pit crying for friendly comfort.

We read of four so called “friends” as representatives of all his friends who lived at different places across the Arabian Peninsula. Eliphaz was from Teman, a city in the northern part of the land later known as Edom. Bildad was from Shuhu, somewhat south of Haran near the southern borders of what is now Turkey. Zophar was from Naamah, which was likely located to the east in the south of Canaan. Elihu, the young man who speaks later in the book, was from Buz, in northern Arabia. Human nature is spelled out well in the attitude of these “friends.” As it was then, so is it now.

These men came to ‘comfort’ Job from some distance, but although they had a strong conviction about a Creator God, they struggled with a commitment to good works. Their visit was more to restore Job for their own benefit than to ease Job’s suffering. In their heart they accused Job of sinning. Shielding themselves they were continually accusing Job of having a secret sin of some sort. But God had said, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” (Job 1:8).

Job plead his case wisely and from the heart. He proposed that everyone would be withesses of his godly behavior. We read: “When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me. . . . I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind. . . . I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth” (Job 29:11-17). Would it be wonderful if we who claim to be friends could have the same confidence in our behavior. If we are friends indeed, we will love one another and in so doing know that we are children of the light. Know God, know peace. Amen 05-13-2019 BLL