Commentary and reflection:
Eliphaz accuses Job of justifying himself. According to their tradition, he applies to Job the constant restlessness of the wicked. Although we may pretend to tell the truth, it will not always have a positive effect if our words are not accompanied by understanding and kindness. If we were to paraphrase the words of these “friends”, we could say: “Listen Job, you have fallen in disgrace, and it hurts us a lot that it has been so. As tradition teaches, every person who suffers is because of some secret sin they have. It is obvious that this is what is happening to you. Please, don’t say otherwise. Who are you to argue with God? Do you know better than Him? Suffer in silence. You are getting what you deserve.”
On the other hand, Job reproaches his friends for their lack of compassion. What a great lesson we can learn from this experience!
A real-life case comes to mind about a couple of church members years ago. They pretended not to really hate each other, but in my opinion, what they had was a treaty of peaceful coexistence. When one of them fell ill in bed, the other was quick to visit. After a long and untimely visit, he said he would not leave without praying. His rather sanctimonious prayer went like this, “Lord, here we I am next to a sinful man, without a doubt, with many faults. Surely, he is in this condition because, as you know, he has sinned a lot. You are punishing him for his serious mistakes. Please, forgive him so that he can finally get well, unless it is his time to pass, but allow him to go forgiven”. When he was done praying, the sick friend jumped up the bed and said: “Wait a minute, I want to pray, too!”
With a firm voice he prayed: “Oh God, you know that this man is more sinful me. You know all his faults and how he fakes holiness, in fact, he has offended you more than I have…”
This incident may be amusing, but it is rather sad. We may not be like them, but are we open to introspection before judging our brother because he contracted Covid 19, or lost his job, or his son turned away from the Lord?
Let’s not be like Job’s friends. It reminds me of the famous quote, maybe from Voltaire, “Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.”. We don’t need friends like that. Let us be good friends, willing to listen, understand and comfort.
The servant of God says regarding the value of words,
“The sacred fire of God’s love would make men tender and kind and sympathetic toward those in peril. Those who indulge in sharp, overbearing words, are really saying: I am holier than thou. Do you not see my exalted position?” TM 356.
May God grant you today the blessing of understanding friends.
Pastor Rolando de los Ríos
