Day 20 - Are we like Job's friends?

Sometimes following the thought and argument of Job is not all that easy. So if you are struggling, join the club. Job is in misery, and that is understandable. But Job’s friends (this time it is Eliphaz who has spoken) do not offer much by way of help. Eliphaz’s worldview is that the innocent prosper and if Job were innocent this would not be happening to him (but see Psalm 73). In chapter 6 Job rebukes his friends.

15 My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook

that overflows its banks in the spring

16 when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.

17 But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears.

The brook vanishes in the heat.

18 The caravans turn aside to be refreshed,

but there is nothing to drink, so they die.

19 The caravans from Tema search for this water;

the travelers from Sheba hope to find it.

20 They count on it but are disappointed.

When they arrive, their hopes are dashed.

21 You, too, have given no help.

You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid.

It is that last line - they have seen it, and they are afraid. Eliphaz (and his friends) have no category for innocent suffering. They believed Job to be a righteous man, but now that he is suffering, rather than comforting him part of what they must do is prove he is unrighteous to protect their categories.

• Why do the ‘innocent’ suffer?

• How does Scripture answer that?

• How does Christ and his life address this?