friends like that

Week 24  Job 19

Job had three friends – Eliphaz-the-Temanite Bildad-the-Shuhite & Zophar-the-Naamaathite.
When EB&Z: heard of the tragedy (Job) had suffered, they got together and travelled from their homes to comfort and console him.
EB&Z felt bad about Job’s reverses and went to console him. And they probably did console him at first. But then after a bit of consolation they started realizing that Job was not only devastated and ruined. He was also wrong.
That created a dilemma for them. On the one side they were sorry their friend had been smashed-to-pieces. But on the other they were getting irritated about how he was doping-out reasons behind why he’d gotten smashed-to-pieces. And so EBZ’s consolation started transitioning into disputation-correction-argument.
I’ve been reading Proverbs at the same time and Solomon says some Job-applicable things:
arguments separate friends like a gate with iron bars…
the tongue can kill or nourish life…
the human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear it if the spirit is crushed?
I’m down to Job 19 today and Job tells EB&Z – more or less: “you guys are killing me!” Then Job told them what he needed most from them: have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy.
Solomon: there are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. What Job needed more than anything from EB&Z was a friend who stuck.

Note: quotes from Job 2:11 & 19:21 Proverbs 18:19 21 14 24 (NLT)