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. 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 towards heaven. 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 great.

These guys are actually pretty good friends. I suppose my thoughts of them from reading the book before are generally not positive, as with their words they aren't supportive of Job but believe he brought punishment on himself somehow. But these guys show real compassion. They enter into Job's world for a little while, and sit in the ashes with him for seven days and nights with torn robes and dust on their heads! If your friend lost their job and family and was suffering, would you take an entire week out of your life to spend with them in silence? I might take a day, even two, but I wouldn't take a week, and I wouldn't sit in silence! I guess they couldn't exactly invite him over as he was covered in sores which might be considered unclean. Their only option might have been to go to him. Still, the silence is weird.

Where are they from? Temanite apparently suggests Edom [1], so perhaps from the south. Shuhite might suggest a descendent of Shuah, a son of Abraham, who might have come from the East as in Genesis it is written:

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastwards to the east country.

And Naamathite is even less clear, but might be from Arabia, or Uz, the same place as Job. These guys names could be plays on words or something too, but I don't know Hebrew, so that doesn't help. If they aren't plays on words, it's interesting that Job had fairly diverse friends, and outside his family. I don't know whether that was common in those days, but it does suggest that Job was particularly influential and knew a lot of people. The language does suggest also that they came some distance since they had to make an appointment and come 'each from his own place'.

The action of the friends is reminiscent of Jesus's actions towards us. I am reminded of my friend Paul Duffin's Sunday school lesson a few days ago where he taught on the incarnation of Christ, where Christ came into the world out of heaven in order to save us. He entered into our world, laying down his glorious position and the comforts of the heavens in the presence of God to be in our miserable fallen world, all for us, to save us from our fallen sinful selves who don't deserve it but who he loves nontheless because we are his children. Job's friends really do enter Job's world by covering themselves with ashes and tearing their clothes and sitting in silence, suffering for him. In the same way we should to enter into other's worlds who need us, perhaps in their poverty, loneliness, sinfulness or whatever other condition they are in, coming to them where they are, and meeting their needs, simply out of an understanding of what Christ has done for us.

It's easy to speak in a very cliche way about Christianity, which I would like to avoid if possible, simply in order to provide a refreshing new look. I'll attempt to do that if possible.

One more comment before I retire for the night. The bible is a layered book. It is full of stories of redemption. There is one main story, that is THE story of all the world, which it covers from beginning to end. Then there are sub-stories, that are little pictures of the main story, all over the place. And even within these stories, sometimes there are even smaller stories with individual characters or snippets of what the whole world is about. This story of Job's friends is just a tiny hint of what the whole thing is about. Job as a book is a bigger story, that is another snapshot in the grand scheme. And Jesus is THE story, where he redeems the entire human race through his mysterious sacrifice.

All scripture quotations are from the ESV.

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason." Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life."

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

It is interesting, and comforting that Satan must ask God's permission before he can strike Job. Satan is clearly very powerful, as he can inflict harm of that magnitude, but he cannot do it without God allowing him to.

Satan is right in a way, that it is reasonable to endure hardships where the suffering is outside of you. That is psychological pain and through various means you might be able to lessen it considerably, although it is still very real (you can ignore the problem, concentrate on something else, or replace what you have lost). But physical pain, especially in that day, would have been perhaps worse, especially combined with the other things that have been taken away.

I suppose in the vein of what I discussed previously, as before Satan took away what gave Job power in the world, he is further removing things that empower him. Now he cannot even physically work himself. Having sores all over his body would do a couple of things: first he'd be in so much pain that he would not be able to work to provide for himself or his wife. Second, he would be socially rejected as unclean and wouldn't be eligible for many of the benefits that society might have possibly had to offer. Basically, while before after losing all his possessions and the things that might support him fiscally he could at least be a beggar or simple laborer, now he can do neither.

His social rejection is made clearer by the fact that his wife even now seems to despise him. His wife blames him of simply trying to keep up appearances by not going against what he has said in the past and maintaining his integrity. Or she may mean simply maintaining his faith. But he proves her wrong either way. His reaction is one of acceptance of his fate and genuine faith. This is actually amazing when I think about it.

If one bad thing happens to me I get mad at God. And I have even less reason to be angry at God than Job, since I know God has suffered more than I have for my sake in sending his Son to die for me. Job only had a shadow of a hope in that, which we'll see later on.

All scripture passages are from the ESV.

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

This is insane. Let me imagine what it would be like if this happened to me. I don't have as much as Job, so I have less to lose, but it will help me get the idea. First, every material possession, and in fact my livelihood, what I have to make money, are taken. This would be my reputation, or something similar, that would prevent me from getting a job. This would curse me and make me poor for the foreseeable future. In addition, my keyboard, my computer, my music collection, my compositions, everything that I have that might not be valuable to others but that's valuable to me. That covers the oxen, donkeys, sheep, servants, and camels. Then, if that wasn't enough, my immediate family dies in a disaster and any support I might get from them is gone.

I had never realized this before, but actually, as well as attacking what is close to Job, Satan more takes away what can keep Job alive and support him. In those days I suppose your livestock were what kept you alive and made you wealthy, and barring that, your children were hopefully successful and would support you in your retirement.What would be my reaction after that? Honestly, I have no idea. I can't really predict what I would do. Whether I would lose faith, or whether I would be angry at God, or whether I'd have the same reaction as Job at least at first and tear my clothes and shave my head. But I seriously doubt I would feel much like worshiping. He worships God, not by denying that God was responsible for what had happened, but by admitting that God had taken away.

All scripture quotations are from the ESV.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out you have and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
This is bizarre. Satan and God have a dialogue like they are very polite political enemies. Then God gives up one of his most faithful followers to the mercy of Satan. And again we see Job being called blameless. Let's consider what that means for a moment.

He definitely isn't totally perfect in the sense that we usually understand it, as even later in the book Job repents after God speaks to him a second time:

"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you and you make it known to me.' I heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Clearly in contrast to God, Job still fails miserably, as we all do. Although he was a blameless man relative to other men, he still falls short significantly of the measure that God sets for us all, and he knows he needs a redeemer.

So why does God allow Satan to wreak havoc upon Job? God seems to take Job's immediate health and happiness pretty lightly. I think that is true to some extent. Although God doesn't take it lightly, he does think little of it with regard to what is to be gained by Job's suffering. I have often thought about the consequences of God's allowance (or bringing about) of suffering. I have also heard of the phrase: the ends doesn't justify the means, and how terrible it is to allow a likely end to justify a horrible means. But I think that statement doesn't apply to someone who has a perfect foreknowledge of what is to come, and a perfect understanding of the full consequences of His and others actions. I am getting a little technical here, but it's helpful to consider it for a moment, before going back to the scripture and reading it again.

God fully understands the consequences of our suffering (and even knows what it feels like, see Jesus's life) so he has the full right to put us through that suffering in order to bring about an even greater end, of which he has total certainty (unlike us, planning imperfect). So what was so great about Job's suffering? At least two great things, maybe more. God's glory through Job's faithfulness, Job's ultimate happiness. In addition there is the redemption of his friends, and our benefit from learning of it and reading it. Maybe we'll get to discuss them more later in the book. That's all for now.

All Bible quotations are from the ESV.

I've wanted to write a blog on my Bible reading for a while, so we'll see how this goes. If it's anything like my other blog attempts it will have 3 posts and die a painless death.

My goal will be to expound the scripture and draw out points that I find interesting, without over analyzing it or removing it from its context. Often I think people read too much into Scripture and don't let it speak for itself. Much of what is said is not necessarily as rational as we in modern western society like things to be. In the vein of Donald Miller in Searching for God Knows What, I will try not to formularize scripture.

I just read Esther, and as I am reading through the bible, I'm moving on to Job, one of my favorite books of the bible.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.

Job is rich; he is the greatest man in all the east. Already we see Job atoning for others by offering sacrifices for them. He is acting as a priest already, and we shall see that he does this later as well. Check out the end of Job.

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have no spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends.

So we see that Job also prays and intercedes for his friends. Notice the extremely redemptive language: Job's friends did not deserve mercy, but God accepts Job's prayer for them and God will 'not ... deal with [them] according to [their] folly.' It's amazing Job actually does pray for his friends, because they have been accusing him all along of being sinful and had no faith in him whatsoever through the whole book. However, he does pray for them, and in doing so, is redeemed himself.

All quotations from the Bible are from the ESV.