We left off yesterday with Job’s wife encouraging him to curse God and die. It is important for the husband and wife to be united in their walk with God. In our text we see that this was not the case for Job and his wife. We see the importance of the man having the fear of the LORD in his heart. He needs to know the Lord and be walking with the Lord faithfully. The man is to be the spiritual leader in the home. He needs to have a true walk with God to be able to give right direction to his wife and children.
We have already seen that Job cared about the spiritual health of his family. He did not take it for granted that his children would always do what was right. As the father in that household, he sought to intercede for his children, even though they were grown and out of his house. God’s Word teaches us that parents need to have that godly influence over their children as long as they live. Children need to grow up and make their own homes, but they should understand that they are never out of the caring thoughts of their fathers. This is a picture that all people are never out of the watchful eye of the God Who created man. Not all people have God as their Father, but He also knows what the lost are doing and He works in their hearts through the Holy Spirit to bring them to repentance toward Him and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is important for the wife to also know the Lord and walk with Him faithfully. Life will be difficult when both husband and wife are not walking with the Lord faithfully. Job did not allow his wife to lead him astray. It would have been much better if she would have walked humbly with the Lord, but he was not going to kick her out of the house because she lacked true faith in God. Job had his own challenges to deal with. He also had to deal with the challenges his wife put upon him. Then he also needed to deal with the challenges that his children put upon him. None of this was too much for him because he walked in the fear of God.
In verse 11 we are introduced to three friends that Job had. As we will see, they were not good friends. Job would be tested further in regard to his faith in the true God. Eliphaz the Temanite — Teman was the grandson of Esau. The name “Teman” means “southward”. They came from the area east of Idumea. The second friend was Bildad the Shuhite. The Shuhites could have come from Shua which means “wealth.” The third friend was Zophar the Naamathite. The Naamathites were from Naamah, which means “pleasantness”.
These three men must have lived close enough to communicate with one another on short notice. They had agreed to come and visit Job. They had heard about his troubles, but as we will see, they were not prepared for what they would see. The text tells us that their intent was to come and mourn with Job and to comfort him. As we will see, they were not a comfort to him. These men were familiar with Job. We read in verse 12 that they saw Job from a distance, and they did not recognize him. He was so disfigured from the boils. Boils would certainly do that. The skin would not be the same.
These men did not face the pain that Job was in, but they were shocked at what they saw. They all raised their voices and wept and rent their clothes as they looked upon him. They also put dust upon their heads and toward heaven. These men could not contain their shock at what the saw. This could also have a negative impact upon Job. He was in pain. He was suffering greatly. Their response could have scared him. Job was fairly well grounded in his faith in God and that would keep him from being shaken by these men.
In verse 13 we see that these men sat down on the ground by him and for seven days and seven nights, they said nothing to him. They saw his grief and they could see he was in great pain. This was a great change for Job. They had nothing to say at that time, and we will learn that they should have been silent for a while longer yet as well. Sometimes silence is the best response to a situation we do not understand. In that silence it is important to ask God to show us what we need to learn through the trials that others are facing.
These two chapters show us things that take place behind the scenes. We know that God is in charge of all things. Nothing happens without His full knowledge of it. We also see here that God allows the devil to have some room to do his evil deeds. We see the nature of the devil is evil continually. There is nothing good about the devil.
In the U.S. and probably in Canada as well, worship of Satan is on the increase. Those that are interviewed on this speak very positively about their pursuit of the devil. They suggest that their religion is just another form of worship. For the most part, they are speaking the truth. Most of the worship of god today is toward false gods. It may seem harsh, but false gods are part of the devil’s realm. There are people who would take great offence to being told that, but that is the truth.
The Bible makes it clear that there is only one true God. The Bible gives us enough detail about this true God and what He requires of man, that we do not need to be walking around in the dark. We can know Him and we can know how to serve Him and enjoy His blessings.
The Bible also gives us enough information about Satan that we can know that he is defiant against the true God. We can know that he presents himself as an angel of light, but those who are saved can have the discernment to know that he is a liar. We can know that his power is limited by the true God. We can also know that he is anxious to be able to attack those who truly know the Lord and serve Him faithfully.
We can also see from Job’s testimony thus far, that it is possible for a true child of God to be able to weather the real storms of life successfully. Those who are truly saved do not need to let unpleasant circumstances destroy them. We need to be careful to realize that we too can face severe testing and trials. We dare not boast of our “prowess”. We need to walk in the fear of the Lord if we know Him and learn of Him so that we can face the trials that will come our way. We do not need to live in fear, but we need to walk in humility with the Lord.
God has given us this background information to help us to look further into the belief systems of humanity. What we have already seen between Job and his wife, and what we will see between Job and his three friends is a typical description of how we as people think. Not always marriages will be as that of Job and his wife. There are those who have a good marriage where husband and wife are seeking to walk in the fear of God and serve Him faithfully. I am thankful that God has blessed me in such a marriage. We are not sinless by any means. We are learning the importance of trusting the Lord in all things.
The Bible is like a mirror. We can look into God’s Word and if we allow God to speak to our hearts, we will see who we are. If we put on our painted glasses and only listen to what we want to hear, we will not be blessed.
It is always important to come before the LORD in humility. It is always important to be ready to accept His Word as truth and not try to judge His Word by our standard.
Pastor Bartel