April 29, 2025

Job is sitting with three of his friends, and up to this point, they’ve been quiet and haven’t said anything to comfort him. Then Eliphaz breaks the silence. He starts well by assuring Job that he doesn’t want to grieve him further or hurt his feelings, but he can’t help himself, and rather than correct him for loathing the day he was born, he goes into a discourse about how Job could console and comfort those who grieve but couldn’t take it when it came upon him. However, God had visited Eliphaz in a vision or dream, whether for Job or for his own haughtiness, the Bible doesn’t say, giving him words to counsel with. The jest of Eliphaz’s vision was to assure Job that even though he was a great man, he was not greater than God, and God puts no trust in His servants, and He even charges His angels with folly, so how much less are we who are mere mortals, who are made of dust and clay, which are easily crushed. Maybe Job needed to hear what was said, but I don’t want or need friends like these. I’ll take my counsel, correction, and comfort from the Holy Spirit. If you can’t help your friend with comforting words, it’s best to say quiet. 

Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Job 4:4-5

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? Job 4:17