“Those who withhold kindness from a friend
forsake the fear of the Almighty.
My companions are treacherous like a torrent bed,
like swollen streams that pass away,
that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
The caravans of Tema look;
the travelers of Sheba hope.
They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come there and are confounded.
Such you have now become to me;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?
Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
“Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
How forceful are honest words!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?
Do you think that you can reprove words,
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?
You would even cast lots over the orphan
and bargain over your friend.
“But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.
Turn, I pray; let no wrong be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
Is there any wrong on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity? (New Revised Standard Version)
There was a time when faith, hope, and love meant something; a time in which neighbor cared for neighbor, basic human kindness was extended to the stranger, and one’s word was more of a bond than a legal document. At least, that’s what the ancient character of Job felt like. And to be honest, I feel like that, too.
Wherever there is suffering, death, and accusations, there you will find behind it all the character we know as Satan. Evil is very much real. And it exists as much today as it did all those millennia ago when Job experienced Satan’s sinister touch of horrible suffering.
Today, we too often interact with each other much like Job’s supposed friends talked to him in a strictly legalistic way. They believed the world operated in a way where the sign of being under God’s blessing was to be wealthy and healthy. And those who were cursed could expect poverty and sickness.
But the world we live in is not so simplistic as that. Good and godly people suffer; whereas the bad use their riches and power to gain more riches and power for themselves. Satan is alive and well. He lives just down the street, even next door.
Until we can get a hold of that reality, we will be continually flummoxed about the real nature of the Book of Job in the Bible’s Old Testament. And we will fail to discern that not only was Job a profoundly righteous person, but that in all righteousness he contended with God. What’s more, he was eventually vindicated by God.
Some of the greatest suffering a human can endure is not what can be done to the body, but what affects the soul. To experience the silence of God, and the ignorant chattering of friends, is perhaps the hardest of all sufferings to daily contend with.
Job’s companions were more than unhelpful – they were just as harmful as the physical machinations of Satan. And if you can accept it, the companions themselves were mere tools of the evil one. It’s a scary thought, but one we must face.
Although Job was cursed with terrible pain of both body and soul, he never gave a curse back to his companions; and he never chose to curse God and die. You see, Job understood, more than most of us today, that it is diabolical and demonic to return curse for curse.
Nowhere in Holy Scripture will you find that God desires someone who has been struck on the cheek to strike the other back with so much force that they won’t ever do it again. Payback and retaliation may be the way of the world, but it is not the way of God’s everlasting kingdom. And Job knew it.
Job’s friends did not see the reality about his calamity. That’s probably because they just couldn’t admit the truth of it. Their self and spiritual awareness was so small that they stubbornly held to false notions of God, God’s world, and God’s people.
The thing any of us needs from friends and neighbors in a time of crisis is some commitment to helping, not harming. Unfortunately, Job’s friends were of the fair weather type; when the weather’s good, they’re all in; but when the weather’s bad, they emotionally and spiritually distance themselves as far from their friend as they can get.
As a person of integrity, Job never asked his companions to rescue him. He only expected them to stand by him, and not haggle over his worth as a friend. They proved to be false friends who were more harm than help.
The suffering person is in a time of profound disorientation. It’s difficult for them to know which way is up. They don’t need a friend who has all the answers; in fact, someone with all the answers is only annoying. Instead, they need a friend who will come alongside and never forsake them.
In the end, God’s anger didn’t extend to Job but to his so-called friends. Their pride and ignorance was their undoing. What’s more, Job continued to show his integrity by praying for his friends, despite all their emotional harm to him.
You would never find Satan responding in the way of Job.
O God, help me to keep my heart clean and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity. Open wide the eyes of my soul that I may see good in all things. Grant me this day some new vision of divine truth; and inspire me with the spirit of joy and gladness. Make me the cup of strength to suffering souls; in the name of the strong Deliverer, our only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 
