As we saw in an earlier devotion, God’s people sometimes suffer specifically because they are faithful. This was the case with Job. The suffering he experienced serve to validate his profession of faith. Serious loss of possessions, family, security, and status did not lead to apostasy, as Satan expected it would. But it was not easy for Job to face these things.
When his friends arrived, Job expected them to bring him some measure of comfort. Sadly, their words did not do that. We saw yesterday how Eliphaz failed to diagnose the affliction that Job was undergoing. Today, we consider Job’s response to Eliphaz and observe what miserable comfort Eliphaz actually offered.
In his response to Eliphaz’s first speech, Job speaks to Eliphaz (chapter 6) and then directly to God (chapter 7). It will help us to briefly survey his response before drawing some lessons from it.
Addressing Eliphaz, Job states two things. First, he reiterates the immense, unbearable pain that he felt under God’s affliction (6:1–13). Eliphaz had entirely minimised Job’s suffering in his counsel. Before he would say anything else, he first pleaded with his friend to understand the depth of his suffering. So intense was his suffering that he would rather have God kill him (6:8–9). Like Paul in a later generation, his affliction led him to despair of life itself (2 Corinthians 1:8). He would not take his life, for he recognised that God was the only one with authority to do that, but he desperately wished that God would end his suffering and, if not, that his friends would recognise the depth of his anguish.
Second, he highlights how empty Eliphaz’s comfort was. Eliphaz offered a very systematic solution to the problem that completely misdiagnosed the cause. His answer was very religious, but neat, religious answers rarely offer real comfort in affliction. He considered Eliphaz to be withholding kindness from him (6:14). In 6:15–20 he vividly portrays Eliphaz’s counsel as a dry riverbed. He pictures travellers in the desert going to a known river for water but being “ashamed” to find it bone-dry. In the same way, Job expected refreshing water from his friend but found “nothing” in his counsel (6:21).
Having addressed his friend, Job, for the first time in the book, turns his protest directly to God. Once again, his protest is twofold.
First, Job protests his insignificance (7:1–10). Christopher Ash describes these verses as “Ecclesiastes on a rainy day.” Job describes himself like an unpaid labourer (7:1–3) and complains that he cannot sleep (7:4). Worms and dirt consume him as if he is a corpse so that he views the future as hopeless (7:5–6). He feels like the living dead. It makes no sense that God would inflict such suffering on him. He is insignificant in the big scheme of things. His life is but a breath and he will soon fade into nothingness (7:7–10). Why should he be the object of such particular attention?
Second, Job pleads with God to leave him alone. Given his insignificance, would God not rather turn his attention elsewhere? “Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?” (7:20). He cannot understand why God persists with his affliction.
As we consider Job’s reply to his friend Eliphaz, we draw perhaps (at least) two pressing lessons.
First, we dare not minimise the power of words to heal or harm. Job anticipate his friends bringing cool, refreshing water to the desert of his spiritual thirst, but all he found was a dry stream. He knew that refreshment should be there, but he was “ashamed” (6:20) to find none. Words are powerful, and the words we use have the ability or build up or to break down. We need to think carefully how we speak and apply truth because our words will have an effect for good or ill.
Second, our willingness to honestly grapple with the perplexities of life greatly influences our confidence in the Lord. Eliphaz, we saw yesterday, had a very neat systematic theology. There was no room for nuance. If Job ever shared his worldview, affliction taught him that things are not always as simple as they seem. He was closer to learning God’s heart because he was willing to grapple with the perplexities with which he was faced.
As you meditate this morning on Job 6–7, pray that God will help you to guard the words you use, and the way in which you use them, and enable you to wrestle honestly with life’s perplexities so that you can grow to know him more.
