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Everything that meant something in Job’s life—his family, social standing, and wealth—has all been stripped away. Now his friends are abandoning him as well. Job is in his greatest despair in verse 10: “He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone.”

Right when Job seems to be at his lowest point, he makes his greatest proclamation of faith. “For I know that my redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (v. 25). Job’s response to his brokenness is not to wallow in self-pity. His response is a profession of his faith: “For I know that my redeemer lives.” He didn’t say he “thinks” his redeemer lives, or he’s “pretty sure,” or he “guesses.” Job knows his redeemer is alive and working amidst and despite his dire circumstances. He is certain. When all else seemed to be spiraling and collapsing around him, Job was clinging to the foundation of his faith.

In addition to this confident expression of his faith, Job also boldly declares God will vindicate him from the false charges his friends are making against him. The word “redeemer” in this passage is translated from the word “goel.” Theologian G. Campbell Morgan explains “The Goel stood for another to defend his cause, avenge wrongs done to him, and acquit him of all charges laid against him.” Job is resting in the confidence his redeemer will vindicate him as well as be an advocate for him. Where Job’s friends saw God as a belief system, Job saw God as much more than a belief system. Job is confidently expressing that while everyone else has abandoned him, he knows God is standing beside him as his champion and advocate.

Romans 10:9-10 says “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Thousands of years before the arrival of the Messiah, Job believed and professed that God would redeem him. Whether we are experiencing our darkest moments or our greatest celebrations, may we believe and profess with as great a confidence as Job.

Here we see Bildad the Shuhite for the second time in the book of Job. Job is pouring out his heart in mourning, anger, and frustration in the previous chapter. Like many of us would in this situation, Bildad goes to Job to console him, but his consolation quickly devolves into the offering of uninformed advice. As one well studied in the Jewish law, and unaware of Job’s unique circumstances, Bildad easily misinterprets Job’s outburst as a blasphemous criticism of the goodness of God. Bildad cannot wrap his head around the possibility of a righteous man’s suffering, because there was no precedent for it laid out before him. His misperceptions lead to false accusations, and his false accusations lead to further hurt and suffering in the life of Job.

This passage in Job continues to tackle one of the most difficult questions in Christian apologetics: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Many would like to think that Christianity in the twenty-first century is far removed from the dogmatic theologies present in Job, but there are still many today that cling to the idea that suffering is reciprocal to sinful behavior, or perhaps even demonstrative of a lack of faith altogether. However, the more we engage those who are suffering, it is often they who exemplify faith on a scale far more apostolic in nature than the average cultural Christian. Often God allows for the tearing of the muscle so that in its healing process it may grow stronger to do the work of the kingdom, and to demonstrate in action the abundant and living grace of God.

This chapter reminds us that we often know less than we think about other peoples’ lives. It is also a call into authentic fellowship, honest confession, and radical vulnerability even in trial and temptation. We often feel the urge to provide free “advice,” to whoever will listen, and this flows from a place of compassion. However, when we lack an authentic relationship with those to whom we offer our thoughts, the very criticisms we perceive as productive can in reality be foolish or hurtful. We lack perspective. We must allow God to shift our hearts towards a vision that sees the world as he does, not with vengeful retribution, but with an immense compassion poured out at the cross.

James 1:19-20 says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Today, let’s lean in to being people who are quick to listen and slow to speak.

Have you ever found yourself feeling like Job? Depressed, humiliated, alone, innocent, suffering, and longing for the grave. Many of us will find ourselves in circumstances that leave us relating to Job. God in His infinite kindness gives us His word to see ourselves within the pages but doesn’t leave us there without hope.

In this chapter, we find Job in the middle of a response to his friend Eliphaz. He is broken in spirit (v. 1), friends who once sat with him now mock him (v. 2), he’s humiliated (v. 6) and his eyes are dim with grief (v. 7). We aren’t alone when we feel like this. Jesus relates to us. Mark 15:29 reminds us that Jesus experienced those hurling insults at Him, despite His innocence. The humility Jesus endured was death on a cross on our behalf, Philippians 2:5-8. In John 11, we see Jesus deeply moved with grief.

Job doesn’t have the benefit of the perspective Christ gives, but in verse 9 he gives us a glimpse into his faith and teaches us. In our suffering the righteous can “hold to their ways”, in endurance and perseverance, and in time we will “grow stronger”. James 1 refers to the benefits of persevering in trials, it leads ultimately to our maturity. As with Job, God doesn’t bring us through suffering or trials in an instant, but often it is a process that grows, shapes, and sanctifies us.

 We close this chapter with a familiar question as we walk through hardship, “where then is my hope?” (v. 15) In our grief and suffering we can feel hopeless. Romans 15:13 reminds us that we have a God of Hope. Jesus is a perfect reflection of that character quality. God sent Christ to die on our behalf to be a source of hope and light in a dark world. 1 Peter 1:3 says that through Christ’s resurrection we have a living hope. “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” (Hebrews 6:19, NLT)

We can be thankful today for a God that doesn’t leave us alone in our sufferings, trials, and humiliation. He understands, He sees us, He helps us endure, and ultimately has provided a source of hope in Christ to anchor us.

In today’s reading, Job is angry, tired, and frustrated, not just with God for his current life circumstances, but also with his friends. They come at him with “long-winded speeches,” arguments, and the same explanations for his suffering that he’s heard before. To sum it up using Job’s blunt honesty, his friends are “miserable comforters” (v. 2). They are so intent on arguing the reasons why Job is suffering that they forget to offer mercy and compassion.

Chances are, you’ve been let down by a friend, too. Probably not to the extent of Job here, but at some point or another, a person you trusted has hurt you. Humans are flawed and broken sinners and we unintentionally take our hurt out on each other. Job knows this firsthand. If we rely solely on humans to help us in our pain, we will always be disappointed. Even after spending verses 6-14 calling out in anger to God, Job speaks this: “Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend, as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.” 

This passage, written as far back as the time of Jacob in Genesis, speaks a truth foreshadowing Jesus. We know that Jesus is our advocate (1 John 2:1), interceding for us to the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:24-25). As if that’s not enough, He also calls Himself our friend (John 15:13-15). Job knows that because humans will always fail, we need a true helper and friend. In Jesus, we have that. 

Because Jesus was fully God and also fully human, He alone can mediate and advocate for us to the Father. The next time you feel alone, let down by others, or in need of comfort, make sure you go to the right source first. Friends and community can help you, but they will never be your Help. 

Eliphaz, who may be the oldest of the friends who counsel and rebuke Job, represents the voice and wisdom of the Edomites. Eliphaz shares several truths. We see how men condemn themselves with their mouths and actions. Withering and death come to us all. However, Eliphaz misses the essential truths that can be learned by considering Job’s tribulation:

• Job believes in the power of God and that we all (believers and unbelievers) belong to Him (Job 12:16).
• Man’s wisdom is not God’s wisdom. What we see in the world and the lives of men is not what we see through the eyes of faith.
• The words of men and wisdom of the world are not a comfort to us.  The only significance and comfort we can find in our lives is through the Word of God and our daily walk with him.

Instead of seeing these essential truths, Eliphaz paints Job as a presumptuous man who talks too much. Job is accused of being wicked, deserving of punishment, deceived by his own mind and lacking understanding. Eliphaz’s response represents how the world responds to trouble. How the world responds to trouble is very different from the response of believers. Yet, how often do we hear a worldly account of a situation and believe it? There is no shortage of non-believers with large platforms who share opinions on current events that include some truths but miss the essential truths going on at the same time. As believers, we should remember non-believers are unable to see what God is doing. We should remember to consider our circumstances through a different lens.

Job certainly sees his situation through a different lens than the world. Job’s security, even through his loss and pain, is found in God. Job stands within his core values by being faithful to God (Job 13:13-19) by acknowledging God’s sovereignty over him. We, as believers, can find the same security in His sovereignty. James, the half brother of Jesus, shared a similar point of view in James 1:2 saying, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” We would do well to remember we were created to worship and experience joy in all circumstances. 

This chapter is Job’s closing remarks of the first round of discussion between him and his friends. Since we’ve made it through many days of heavy poetry and debate, we’re going to do something different today. As we reach the end of this section of the book, we are going to try to think of this book in a different way, and hopefully reach a different perspective on this book. Picture this in your mind: The book of Job is like two court rooms, one in heaven and one on earth.

In heaven, God is in charge: the judge who controls the court and makes all the decisions, and because He is all-knowing and just, He has never made the wrong decision. His angels are there, to serve their King and give input. We saw in chapters 1 and 2 how one of these members of the heavenly court asks to afflict suffering and pain on a righteous man named Job, all to prove that this man only praised God because of all the things he had been given.

The second court is on earth, in the remains of what used to be all that Job had been gifted from God. Job is the defendant (the one being accused), and his three friends that had originally been there to mourn with him, are the prosecuting attorneys, arguing that Job must have done something to deserve what happened to him. At this point, each friend has spoken once, and Job is finishing up this round of arguments, responding to the friend that spoke directly before him, and to all three friends. 

The main point that Job is making in this chapter is this: Human life is extremely frail and temporary. People live for a short period of time, die, and don’t ever live again on Earth. In the second half of this chapter (v. 13-17), Job describes a hypothetical situation, one that he wishes could be true. He says that if the dead could live again, it would give him hope. If this were the case, God would guard his steps, and God would cover his guilt. This situation is hypothetical to Job, only wishful thinking, but to us it is real and available through Jesus! He died for our sins, so the dead could live again in Heaven with Him, taking on the punishment for our sin that we deserve.

When someone we care about is struggling, we want to help. Often that help comes in the form of a solution.

 “Have you tried _______________?”

“You should _____________!”

“If you had done __________, then this would not have happened.”

While problem-solving or offering perspectives can be helpful at times, Job 13 cautions us against this approach as a default response. This is the approach taken by Job’s friends, however, it does not prove helpful. So, what should we do? How can we be helpful in the midst of others’ suffering?

First, we admit humility and avoid prideful advice. In verses 1-2, Job declares that he knows what the friends know, he is not inferior to them. If offering advice, we must do so humbly, refraining from condescension, and turn our efforts to encouragement. We do not have an exclusive deal with God. Prideful advice is a form of judgement, and judgement is not helpful or loving to the suffering. Jesus declared, “For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world,” in John 12:47.

Next, we acknowledge we are not God. This sounds simple, but in our efforts to make earthly sense of situations, we often rely on our human reasoning and proclaim it as truth. In verses, 7-12, Job admonitions the friends for speaking for God, and we must be careful not to do the same. We like to have answers, but we are not God. In Isaiah 55:8-9, God declares  “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

Finally, we sit in the silence. Job declares, in verse 5, “Oh that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom!” When others suffer, they need sympathy and support, which often sounds like silence. We give them space to grieve, provide permission to be honest, and validate their difficult emotions. We remind them of God’s love through our love.

Job calls us to set aside what we know or think should be done in moments of others’ suffering. He begs us to sit in the quiet moments with others’ pain, acknowledge we don’t have the answers, and simply admit we don’t have any words, but we have His love to share.

Job 12 encompasses Job’s reply to Zophar, and he begins by stating that all men are limited in their ability to know wisdom by being human in a way that the Lord is not limited by. As the chapter progresses Job reveals that he has been falsely rebuked by his friends. These verses (v. 4-6) remind us of Jesus, because He was and is perfect and holy. Nevertheless, He was accused, rebuked, and ridiculed for sins He did not commit and yet He still suffered on the cross when He sacrificed Himself for all, defeating death, giving us an opportunity to be reconciled to God, and joining God the Father in heaven three days later for eternity.

In the second half of Job 12, Job begins to address the Lord’s character. Job urges himself to remember the faithfulness of God by speaking on how all creatures exist to worship Him. Worship is the natural expression of creation praising its creator, and the Lord constantly reveals Himself as sovereign to humans through His creation. Job, despite not fully understanding God’s motive, practices faith in this moment. He chooses to exercise faith in hard circumstances because of his dependence on the character of God. Even if present situations make it hard to trust that God is who He says He is, every believer can grow in faith by remembering creation and remembering His faithfulness to us in the past.

Why does this matter? We can easily become entangled in the circumstances of our lives and attempt to take control, believing that our plan is the best plan, despite the Lord having one for us before we even came to exist. In the times when our plan doesn’t happen how we want it to, it is easy to run away from the Lord or listen to what the crowd of people around us is saying. Yet through Job 12, we can see that the best way to handle things not going our way is to reflect on the past. It is then we can begin to realize how sovereign, faithful, and wise the Lord truly is in our past, present, and future circumstances. If life had always gone the way we wanted it to when we were younger, it would be a disaster because we are humanly limited and do not know what is best for ourselves. So, the times that things do not go the way we planned for them to go may be the exact times that the Lord desires to grow our faith and intimacy with Him.