Job: More Than A Conclusion part III
Job 2:11-13
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
We first looked at the beginning lock to the door of Job’s heart which was his possessions and then family. Now we will explore the third lock of the friends. Our desire to please people, to be presented favorably before them and to have their support rules the actions of men. It will also dictate our relationship with Christ by determining if we submit to Him completely or not. The opinion of others will cause us to act differently, pray differently and even live out our faith differently. When we are before others we are always the victim and never deserve the hand life has dealt.
In Job’s case when his friends arrived he was not prepared for what they would say to him. No one ever thinks that their friends would turn against them and not take their side. We all say that we want friends to tell us the truth but that is a lie. What we want are “yes men” to make us feel better about our bad choices, selfish outlooks on life, the sin in our lives and all around bad behavior. In most cases our expectations of our friends are wrong as they don’t know the true condition of our hearts. Job expected his friends to bring him comfort in his suffering, thinking that they would just agree with him. They didn’t and even in some instances they judged wrongly about Job’s character, Job still put to much hope in them.
Job 19:2-6
2 “How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
shamelessly you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
my error remains my concern alone.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,
6 then know that God has wronged me
and drawn his net around me.
Job 19:13-22
13 “He has alienated my family from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away;
my closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;
they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even the little boys scorn me;
when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me;
those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[a]
21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
Job is seeking reconciliation from his friends, he is seeking their comfort, acceptance, approval and salvation through they pity. He desires them to join him in his lamentations against God but they refuse to rail against God with Job. How would God use this to remove a lock on the door to Job’s heart? What would be the purpose of having Job’s friends seeming to abandon him in his time of need? Well not only does depending on friends serve as deep idols of worship, they also help us to not submit to Christ for redemption. Some of us have friends that act as anchors and all they do is placate us into staying the same because they simple agree and “amen” our sins. In other words they aid in the saving of our lives. Our desire to have friends are really selfish and will definitely lead to deep idol worship as we gather people around us who accept us and who offer the comfort and approval we are seeking. This is what becomes our savior, our false savior which we use to safe our lives. One thing Job’s friends erred in was assuming that suffering equaled wickedness. And where Job erred was in putting God in a box and proclaiming sinless existence. None of us is without sin and could never stand before God and proclaim we don’t deserve discipline. It is always justice when God passing judgement on others. I heard a Pastor say that when we are angry and about life, we are actually angry with God. Being angry with God is a losing situation. It is critical that our dependence is rightly place on Christ as He and He only is our arbiter between us and God the Father.
Luke 9: 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Matthew 6: 1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Related articles
- Job:More Than A Conclusion part II (anointedplace.wordpress.com)
- Job: More Than A Conclusion part I (anointedplace.wordpress.com)
- Is it How or What you Ask? (anointedplace.wordpress.com)
Anointed Place Ministries 
good series brother. I gotta add in the 3rd “When you…” from Matt 6 –
Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
🙂
God bless friend
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