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Today we read Zophar’s response to Job. Job has experienced immense suffering from the loss of his children, his livestock, and even his health. Zophar’s response to Job’s experience is harsh. The title in the ESV translation is Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse. This should serve as an example to us when coming alongside someone who has experienced suffering the way Job has. We are to balance both grace and truth in our response to them. Zophar responded in such a way that was so heavy with truth it comes across as arrogant. We see Zophar draw a direct correlation between Job’s suffering and his sin, meaning that Job’s sin caused his suffering. However we know that it is not true. There are several examples throughout scripture: Paul in prison, Jeremiah being placed in a cistern, and even Jesus who suffered in the greatest possible way through being crucified on a cross for sins he did not commit. Jesus was blameless (2 Cor. 5:21).

Verses 5 and 6 Zophar gives a cutting response to Job, heavily laden with sarcasm as he delivers his heavy-handed rebuke to Job. This is the last thing we want to do when comforting someone. Often when we are with someone who is in a dark place like Job was, it is more the power of presence than it is the profound wisdom that can be shared. Sometimes the best thing you can do is give them a hug and be with them. 

In the Gospels when someone who is suffering encounters Jesus they experience his gentle and lowly heart. We can be encouraged that in the midst of suffering Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:28-30). We can also be encouraged that we have a high priest who can sympathise with us in our weakness, and that because of that we can draw near him in our time of need (Heb. 4:15-16). 

Chapter 10 is a continuation of the previous chapter, dealing with similar themes of the dichotomy of Job’s own sin and innocence. However, there is a shift in the purpose to his message. He says this all with the intent of it being directed towards God, and it is a brutally honest lament of how he is feeling. This passage is full of questions, and we know there is a lot of bitterness Job feels towards God. What is easy to forget as we read this is that Job doesn’t have any of the same knowledge we have.

He is stuck in this wrestling of knowing God, but not feeling like that remains true in his current circumstance. What is important to distinguish here is that how we feel about God is not the same as what is true about His character. Job feels like God is fighting against him, but that is not what is true. As the reader, we know that there is more to the story and that Job wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for God telling Satan not to harm him (Job 1:12). Though it felt to Job that God was nowhere to be seen in his struggles, and rightfully so, God was actually at the center of it all. 

What is so beautiful to know in this is that not only was God still present in this moment, but He also didn’t punish Job for being honest that it didn’t feel like God was there. God isn’t fragile; He isn’t going to break or be angry with us when we come to Him about how we feel. He desires for us to bring all of our thoughts and feelings to Him. He can handle our doubt. Because with doubt, comes faith. 

Drew Worsham, a speaker and pastor, says it this way, “As long as doubt exists, as long as the person is still uncertain, that is the only time that faith is needed.” But that doesn’t mean that we completely forget who God is. In his plea to God, Job still is thankful for what he knows about God. “You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.”(verse 12) We will not know all of the answers. But it is important that in our wrestling, we still remember God.

Reading Job 8 yesterday, we learned about Bildad’s theology: God rewards the righteous and God punishes the wicked. For Bildad, theology is simple. It’s an ancient version of the prosperity gospel: Do good, get good. Do bad, get bad. Reap what you sow. It’s black and white and neat and tidy. 

Job’s response to Bildad acknowledges that while God can work that way, it isn’t always true of how God works because Job cannot reconcile what he knows to be true of God with what he is experiencing of God. He wants to “contend” with God. Meaning, Job wants his days in court with God. He wants answers. He wants to know what he’s done to deserve this even though the first verses of chapter 9 recognize no one is righteous before God, and no one could answer God because God is wise and strong and beyond our ability to understand. And, God alone reserves the Sovereign right to shake the earth, command the sun, seal up stars, and do great and marvelous things (v. 5-10). 

We’ll see over and over again the sin of Job: he demands answers from God. And, we’ll see over and over again that God doesn’t shun Job’s questions, despair, and confusion. Job’s confusion is understandable. None of us wonder why Job wants a conversation with the Almighty. All of us understand the spiral of Job’s questions and commentary:

• How can a person be made right before God?
• God’s wisdom is vast (God knows everything).
• God’s power is profound (God is able to do anything).
• God’s might and vastness wasn’t a comfort to Job. It actually made Job feel more distant from God—confirming to Job that he cannot know or understand God.
• Job feels that God is distant and impersonal and unaware of Job’s suffering.
• Job cannot defend himself against God and longs for a mediator or arbiter for help, someone to plead Job’s case. 

Ultimately, Job cannot make sense of his narrative: “God rewards the righteous. I am innocent. God punishes the wicked. I am not wicked, yet God is punishing me with suffering, but God is good and does good. This is not good. I cannot figure out God.”

We get this circular thinking. We read Job 9 and want to make sense of the nonsensical. We don’t want to be confused by God. We want to understand God’s ways and how He defines good because it’s easier to have a neat and tidy faith than one that requires faith and trust in the midst of mystery and confusion. However, if we could figure out God, would we need Him? We’d reason God away. We’d explain away the miraculous. We’d become self-reliant and self-righteous. Our awe of the Almighty would be replaced with satisfaction of self. We need Something bigger than us. When we walk through the darkest nights, profound loss, unimaginable suffering, our souls long to rest in One who holds all things together, One who is making all things right, One who defeats the dark, One who is with us through it all. 

Job’s grief and confusion challenged—and eventually changed—his simple theology; but his acceptance and awe of God wasn’t quick and easy. His growth took time. Maturity isn’t instant. We’ll sit with Job in his pain and confusion and watch as some offer thin answers to thick questions. Let’s be patient with Job and ourselves as God grows our trust and faith in Him in the mystery of His ways. His ways are not our ways and we need Him to be bigger than our understanding.

The Book of Job can be a confusing one to many readers. What do we make of the actions of God in this book? What about Job’s anger and frustration–is that okay? And then there are Job’s friends. For a time, they have a perfectly appropriate response to the trauma Job is enduring, but then they decide they’ve had enough. When they open their mouths, they have the intent to help, but this is neither the time nor the place for sermons based on assumptions.

In Job 8, we read the “advice” of Job’s friend Bildad. Reading through this, Bildad seems to make some decent points. He points Job to being “pure and upright,” and he tells him to “ask the former generation [to] find out what their ancestors learned” (v. 6, 8). This would be great advice in many situations! Understanding that the previous generations have so much to teach us is so very important, and it’s always a good idea to do what is right, so is there anything wrong with what Bildad is saying?

Bildad’s entire argument is based on two assumptions: that Job and his family messed up in some way and that he (Bildad) believes he knows why all of this is happening. First, as we see in chapter 1, Job was already “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” If this is to be believed (and it is), then Bildad’s first underlying assumption is rendered null and void. His second point, that he is the one who understands how God works, is defeated by his own argument: “…we were born only yesterday and know nothing.” Bildad proves his own ignorance in trying to illuminate Job’s.

None of this is to say, however, that we shouldn’t try and understand what we can about God—not at all. The point here is simply that no human can understand everything about the Infinite Creator of all we know as “real.” So, what can we know about God?

There is so much! The entirety of the Bible is God’s revealed nature and will for us! We learn that He is a relational God, that He loves us, that He loves us so very much that He sent His Son to die for the very people who made the cross necessary, and that He wants to guide you through life no matter what you have or haven’t done. There is much to know, so let us humble seek Him and what He has revealed to us today.

Job 7 is the continuation of the previous chapter. This chapter is important in the story of Job because he gives us insight into his theology in the midst of deep pain. What is interesting about this section is that we get to see that his thoughts towards God are correct, while also lacking important context. Job’s response towards God in his agony is important for us because oftentimes our theology will look similarly in our pain.   

One of Job’s greatest grievances with God in this chapter is that God is so involved with Job’s life. Really, Job just wants God to go somewhere else! He writes in verses 17-19 “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?” He thinks that God is so focused on Job’s life for the sole reason of bringing him pain as a punishment for sin. However, this is a very different picture from the one we get from Jesus. He says in Luke 12:6-7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” 

 So while Job knew that God was involved in his life, he thought it was to bring him harm. Jesus tells us that God is aware of our circumstances because we are regarded as valuable to Him. God doesn’t take joy in bringing us pain, but deeply desires to comfort us in it.   

In Job’s grief he again looks towards God and says in verse 21, ”Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?” Again, we know in the context of Jesus that God does count our sins against us (2 Cor 5:19). He does not punish us for our sins, but rather He has taken on our punishment so that we might have peace.   

While in this moment Job believed God to be involved in his life for his harm, we can know that our God is involved for our good. He desires not to harm us, but to give us a life abundantly. This chapter is an opportunity to solidify your theology today before pain inevitably comes tomorrow. Don’t let your circumstances define who you know your Savior to be!

In Job 6, Job’s agony spills out of his mouth, unedited and raw. It spills out in response to the calamities he faced, and the pain made worse by the rebuke of his friend Eliphaz.  

Earlier, Eliphaz had criticized Job for being impatient (4:5). He reminded Job that the righteous prosper and the unrighteous don’t (4:7-8). Then, he put out some oversimplified advice that Job should seek God, commit his cause to God, and then he’ll get delivered from his troubles (5:8-27). Eliphaz’s words understandably upset Job even more, and Job expressed his disappointment with his friends (6:15-21) and questioned what exactly Eliphaz’s rebuke was rebuking (6:25). 

If you’re in a valley today, hear the cry of Job’s heart and how the weight he feels is ”heavier than the sand of the sea” (6:3). Job feels he has no strength left to hope anymore and nothing good to be patient for (v. 11). He feels utter hopelessness, and yet God is still in his story.

If you feel like that, you can say it—to God and to others. We don’t have to pretend all is OK to be a real Christian. And you can remember that God is still in your story. You may still be on chapter 6.  He’s knitting all this together (Romans 8:28), even if you hit an all time low. And if you feel like you’ve worn out the ears of your friends, remember that you can call to God in your moaning in the evening and morning and noon, and he hears your voice (Psalm 55:17). And one day, he will wipe every tear from your eyes, and whatever is paining you today will pass away with the old order of things (Revelation 21:4).  When the end isn’t in sight and you don’t know where this is all going, there is still hope when you don’t feel even a little hope anymore. 

Eloquent. Poetic. These words describe the twenty-seven verses that make up the close of Eliphaz’s first response to Job. Eliphaz’s initial thoughts on Job’s lament begin in chapter four, where Eliphaz hypothesizes that Job must have sin in his life because “the Upright do not suffer.” In today’s reading, Eliphaz’s thoughts are continued.  

As readers, we know that Job is not being punished for his sin, so we also know there is nothing he needs to repent for, but his friends do not know that; neither are they able to grasp God’s greater purpose in all of this. They are doing their best to reason with Job to get him to acknowledge God and beg for repentance.  

Story is an effective teaching medium, and Eliphaz uses it to cut to the quick and explain his point. Eliphaz claims to have witnessed the life of a Foolish Man whose house was cursed, whose children suffered injustice, and whose harvest was robbed from him. Sound familiar? If not, this story is eerily like Job’s predicament. One could imagine the hurt Job felt after those words. He might have been so discouraged to the extent that the powerful truths ofEliphaz’s following words might have fallen on deaf ears.  

Eliphaz goes into a magnificent monologue declaring God’s glory and wonder, and lays out a pattern to follow for moments when God feels distant. He first challenges Job to appeal to God. Then he goes on to validate God’s nature by listing some examples of God’s Work; how he performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, how his miracles cannot be counted, how he sets the lowly on high and gives hope to the poor. How great our God is! When we are faced with an impossible situation, our perspective can be radically changed when we look at the record of accomplishment of the Lord Almighty and reflect on his radical and miraculous acts. What he has done before, he is more than able to do again. He is faithful to see ALL his promises through to the end. There is no end to his goodness or his greatness.  

The second point that Eliphaz makes is that those who God corrects are blessed. He takes the next few verses and declares God’s goodness to Job. Eliphaz reminds Job that even though God may wound, he also heals (v. 18); that he will continually rescue in times of hardship; that God protects and provides.  

All that Eliphaz relates to Job regarding God’s nature is abundantly true. His intentions were also good. But unfortunately, the application was lost on Job because it brought no comfort to his afflicted soul. Eliphaz was not aware of the mystery of God’s purpose in allowing all these calamities to befall Job. An important insight to take from this passage is this: Always take time to recognize God’s sovereignty in the confusing moments of life. When we allow ourselves the margin to look at our lives through God’s sovereign plan, we are reminded that we exist for God’s glory, not our own. His plan is perfect and although we may not be able to recognize how our hardship fits into his plan, it does not mean that God is any less close, or does not see us in our pain. If our faith is in him, he promises an expected end, a peace that surpasses all understanding. He is our reward. Life is in Him. 

In Job 4, we see Eliphaz calling upon Job to remember the advice that he has given to others. Eliphaz is from Teman, a city that is known as a center of wisdom. Eliphaz begins his speech by asking, “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?” This may sound rather blunt; however, Eliphaz and Job are close confidants. Eliphaz sat wordless with Job for an entire week to show his empathy and care for him. He felt compelled to speak and confront Job with what he saw as his problem. Eliphaz pointed out Job’s contradicting lament, recorded in Chapter 3. Job has comforted others in their times of need and is now in despair in his own time of need. 

Eliphaz quickly steps in when he notices Job’s despair and questions him further, showing Job that his despair has caused him to lose confidence and hope. Eliphaz is insinuating that Job’s problems have come upon him because of some sin that Job has committed, and that he should confess and repent. In verse 7, Eliphaz gets to the heart of his speech by stating that no one has perished if they are innocent. To further his point, Eliphaz tries to reason with Job, saying that he would not complain unless he also believed that he was guilty of some sort of sin. Eliphaz is only speaking from his own observations and experiences as to why these things are happening to Job. 

Job and his friends have built their lives on the belief that God helps the good and brings suffering upon the bad. It makes sense as to why Eliphaz is implying that Job’s suffering is the result of God’s judgment. As readers, we know that Eliphaz’s assumption is false. Eliphaz attempts to recover at the end by stating that we have all fallen short of the glory of God and that man is sinful, meaning that Job is not alone. Although no doubt well-intentioned, Eliphaz fails to comfort Job or reveal the true reasons for his suffering.

Oftentimes we find ourselves putting on a face and pretending everything’s all right. Job, however, shows us here that faithfulness looks just the opposite. In Job 3, Job lays out his pain and sorrow before the Lord. He doesn’t hide anything, pretend like it’s all rainbows and roses, or even attempt to fix any of it himself. Instead, he calls out to the creator of the universe. Job has an intimate enough relationship with the Lord that he could fall before Him and vividly express his deep anguish and grief. Even a man as godly and blameless as Job could bring his raw and real pain to God. So can we.

How often do we think that when we face tough problems, it’s up to us to fix them? It’s like we think if we just buckle up or tough it out or smile through it, we can come out unscathed. For most of us, it’s a byproduct of the world we grew up in–it’s up to us to figure it out. Determination, perseverance, and self discipline are from the Lord (2 Timothy 2:7), but we can encounter problems when we start to believe that we are capable of handling our problems on our own, without God. 

Job’s words in this chapter are words of lament. It is OK for us to lament, too. But it is also important for us to remember that the beauty of the Gospel is that we do not have to carry our burdens and sorrow on our own. If we could patch ourselves up, make ourselves pretty, and fix all our bruises and mistakes, we wouldn’t need Jesus. The truth is, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t take away the pain, sin, and brokenness of this world. But there is a God who can. God sent his one and only son to die on the cross for our sins to take away the shame, guilt, pain, and death we deserved. 

There is immense freedom in this! Freedom to fall at the feet of the Creator of the universe and bring him all of your hurts, hang ups, and brokenness. You don’t have to fix yourself before you come. In fact, his only requirement is that you come–broken (Matthew 11:28). Come today to the one who loves you and cares about you. To the one who sees you in your suffering. To the one who loved you enough to send his Son to die for you, so that you might have eternal peace and joy in Him.