2 Important Lessons From Job’s Friends

The book of Job is a fascinating story of a Bible patriarch who was tested and proved himself faithful. Although it was not easy for a man to go through gruesome story, Job’s experience beat the imagination of many including even scholars. Some people believe that it is a fairy tale that does not have any bearing on our lives today. The story of Job is not a made up story but a real experience we can learn from today.

Let me share with you two simple lessons we can glean from the friends of Job.
#1. They sympathised with Job in his pain and suffering

In Job 2:11-13, the Bible says that Job’s three friends, and later Elihu too, came to be with him for 7 days and night without speaking a word. They just wanted to sympathise with him in the moment of his pain and suffering. They “saw that his grief was very great” (Job 2:13). He had lost his enterprise, children, workers, wife and his health. Job was a man in deep pains. Indeed, his pain led him to say “May the day perish on which I was born” (Job 3:3). The best thing the friends did for him was to be with him in silence. Job’s friends understood what Paul said in Romans 12:15 that, we must “…weep with those who weep.”

When people are in pain and suffering, it is not the time for long lectures or talks. It is no time for sermons. It is time for sympathy. It is the time to be with them and comfort them. Job’s friends made an appointment to be with him. We must continually be with those who go through pain and suffering. That’s the first lesson we can learn from Job’s friends.

#2. They accused Job in his pain and suffering

Even though Job’s four friends did the needful by sympathising with him, no sooner did they start making speeches to explain what was going on in his life then they cause more harm to the man. They all accused Job that he was going through trouble because he had done something wrong. They shared in his pain but they wanted attributed his personal woes to sins they could not prove he committed.

Consider below what each one of Job’s friends said about what was going on:

• Eliphaz said Job was a sinner and was being chastened by God. (Job 4-5)
• Bildad said Job must repent from his sin. (Job 8)
• Zophar said Job must repent. (Job 11)
• Elihu said Job is self-righteous. (Job 35)

It is not everything unfortunate that the righteous go through that is their making.

Job’s situation was unknown to him. God hid it from him. But Job understood that the righteous go through many things in this fallen world. Satan thought he was tempting him to fall but God was testing him to prove his faith. You also see that the most important element in the story wasn’t the people and the material things in Job’s life but his relationship with God. In Job 13:15, he said though he slay me, yet I will trust him. Finally, we see that Job’s friends were wrong because God rebuked them for their comments and asked them to go to Job to be pray for. (Job 42:7-9)

These two lessons from Job’s friends are profound and meaningful for us today. Yes, we must mourn with those who mourn but we must guard against sharing what does not align with the will of God. God has the final say on what happens.

Do you have any other lessons to share? Share below.