Book of job and his friends sit in silence

After this point in the book of job, there begins 35 chapters of discussion between job and his friends. He has written, edited, and promoted a variety of books for different publishers. God does not answer their questions about jobs guilt or innocence, but rather speaks about the created order and contrasts what god can do with what humans are able to do. Eliphaz the temanite, and bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite. If hes sitting in the ash heap of the town dump, well sit here with. At the end of the book god is angry with job s three friends and in chapter 42 v8 god commands the three friends to take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant job and sacrifice. Sitting in silence, lessons learned from jobs friends. How the book of job makes us better friends and better. Noone said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. Tonya detweiler serves as the board treasurer for mennonite women usa. Jan 02, 2020 jobs friends did at least three things right that can be seen in job 2. And job said, let the day perish wherein i was born 3. They met together to go and console and comfort him.

Tonya currently serves as president of blue diamond communities in goshen, indiana where she lives with her husband craig and their blended family of five children. Select the basic errors with which god charged job s three friends. Through the rest of the book, jobs friends are slightly less awesome. These chapters set the stage for the long dialogues or debates between job and his socalled friends found in job 3. Why does kichijiro keep following rodrigues throughout the novel. So if theyre not job s friends, what are they doing there. They identified with his sorrow job s friends thought, if job s hair and clothing is dirty, well get ours dirty too. The silence of our friends by mark long, jim demonakos. This silence may have been due to a rising suspicion of evil in job. Throughout the book, job, his wife, and his friends speculate on why he, an upright man, suffers. Each time i read through the drama of the book of job. When they reached the threshing floor of atad, which is across the jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and joseph mourned for his father seven days.

Three of job s companions, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, arrive to comfort him, sitting with job in silence for seven days out of reverence for his grieving. Besides, his sufferings did not seem to benefit anyone. The wisdom of job s friends later in the book, job s friends make some foolish statements, but in this scene, they demonstrate remarkable wisdom. The book i read was the silence of our friends i would give it an 8. After seven days of silence with his friends and probably weeks of suffering before they came, job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Not only do they incur the indignation of job and his other friend elihu, but god himself rebukes them, saying to eliphaz, i am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has. Responding to criticism sermon by dean rhine, job 2. What upset god about jobs friends is that they misrepresented him completely.

Job s three friends, eliphaz, bildad, and zophar, have historically been known for offering lengthy speeches that resulted in their being condemned by god job 42. As we read through the book, we see their allegations of sinfulness of job s part increasing. Commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible nights they did not remain in the same posture and without food, etc. This time, job is distressed with terrible skin sores. What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they have. In this way, it is a universal story, as all have suffered loss that is unexpected and inexplicable. They had not been correct about gods motives and involvement in job s suffering. Reflective readers of the book of job may find various issues rather bewildering. First cycle of speeches 414 objectives in studying this section 1 to examine the counsel of job s friends, what their observations were, and upon what they based their conclusions regarding job s suffering 2 to consider job s response to his friends, how he took their advice, and how he continued to. They had not agreed on what was wrong, rather each took his own opinion. Wayne poplin liberty university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for obst 592 by maurice allan smith sr.

I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. Each time i read through the drama of the book of job, some new theme seems to. The first of the three, eliphaz, acknowledges that job has been a source of strength to others job 4. Should the priests have stayed in china, as they were told. Job actually feels like his reputation has been damaged by his views. The most hurtful comments of jobs friends bible study. When three of jobs friends heard of his calamity, each traveled from a. To these seven silent days we add time for the job s friends to hear news of the tragedy, meet together, and travel to job s place. The ultimate bible quiz book is a fun and interactive way to learn the most important aspects of the bible, and the perfect supplement to your bible study. The elders of the daughter of zion sit on the ground in silence. Regrettably, jobs friends are not able to endure the mystery of his suffering, so they jump to conclusions about its source. In reality, the way god responded to job s situation, the content of his speeches, and the fact that he did not answer job s puzzling questions were deliberate, very appropriate, meaningful and effective in the context and were an expression of his perfect wisdom. Oct 31, 2008 sitting like jobs friends the book of job has long been used as a book to try to explain the problem of why bad things happen to good people or why evil exists, etc. Job breaks the silence and he breaks it with the claim that the very day should disappear from the calendar year.

Let the day perish wherein i was born and the night which said a male boy is conceived. What did job s three friends have wrong, and what did they have right. After this job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Again it is common to hear people say that they ought to have quit while they were ahead, but a careful reader notices that it was job who initially broke the silence. The book of job, in the old testament, opens with words both majestic and onceuponatimeish. God reminds him that the world has order and beauty. If you can sit in silence with a person for half an hour and yet be entirely comfortable, you and that person can be friends. They argued with job from the humanist position based on human experience, human tradition, and human merit. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. Sometimes a man is encouraged by seeing his friends overwhelmed by the grief which. The first cycle of speeches given by job and his 3 friends begins. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven.

Their names were eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite. This section covers the cycles of speeches between job and his wellmeaning friends, including elihu chapters 3237. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. Now when job s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him. The story begins with the telling of a bet between god and satan about a man named job. The most hurtful comments of job s friends,barry york study from the bible and be encouraged to grow your faith. Tonight we will speak on the book of job, possibly the most misquoted book in the world. They try to make job repent for sins they think he mustve committed so god will fix his situationthey mean well, but theyre wrong. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven. Sitting on the earth marked mourning lamentations 2. Let him sit alone and be silent since he has laid it on him. When i am silent, i can meditate on god and the bible, and i allow my friend to. The thing that prompts job s friends to make their speeches is his outburst in chapter 3. However, they are so astonished by his losses and pain that they sit in silence for seven days.

Well, they definitely give us something to think about. Then job cursed the day of his birth and wished he had never been born. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. Here god appoints job as the priest for his friends. Meaning of number 7 in relation to jobs friends biblical. Social standing is the last thing taken away from job, and his friends essentially turn on him. God allows job to fall into the adversarys hands, who successively takes away job s property, his family, and his health. Some may wonder why god would allow someone who is innocent and righteous like job to suffer so intensely for apparently no good reason.

These guys have plenty to say, and job isnt their biggest fan. In the book of job, it becomes clear that the first three of job s friends eliphaz, blidad, and zophar speak wrongly. It is not to be supposed that job had no more than three friends indeed, elihu the buzzite appears later on as one of his friends but he had three contemporaries with whom he was especially intimate, old men, with whom he was probably accustomed to confer from time to time, and who were in the habit. What did jobs three friends have wrong, and what did they. Do job s friends respond to his accusations, or are they just trying to shore up their own worldviews. Through the rest of the book, job s friends are slightly less awesome. Eliphaz represents the biblical or rabbinic tradition job is being punished for his sins. The final scene of the prologue occurs when three friends of job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite got up to comfort him. The silence of our friends is based on longs childhood experiences with the civil rights movement in suburban houston, texas jim demonakos founded seattles annual emerald city comicon, as well as the comic stop chain of retail stores.

They believed that man must do things to earn gods favor and therefore suffering is a sign. Jobs friends accuse him of doing evil job 423 bible. As christians, we are not always going to hear gods voice, but from job we can learn a few practical things to do when god seems silent. The tone of the work abruptly changes, however, in chapter 3, as job begins his poetic speeches by cursing the day on which he was born. Yet all that discussion must be put in the context of the genuine love and concern that these friends had for job, and there was a sense in which they earned their right to. Test your knowledge of the bible with over 150 challenging questions and answers. Job accuses god of being unjust and not operating the world according to principles of justice, and his friends believe that job s sin caused his suffering. Job was the first to break the weeklong silence with a lament 3. Now when jobs three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place. Job laments the day he was born net bible then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to. Dec 29, 2016 the most hurtful comments of jobs friends,barry york study from the bible and be encouraged to grow your faith. An ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. His priestly role here also reminds us of christ, and it tells jobs friends that they, and we all, need a mediator.

Jan 02, 2020 after that, we have gods stormy questions in job 3841, gods rebuke of jobs three friends, and the sacrifice of seven bulls and seven rams in job 42. Yet, what they ended up doing was to accuse job of sinfulness. It is unwise to pull an isolated verse from the book of job and use it to understand godif the. Maitlands odyssey, the book of silence, is a story about a discovery of self and god in a world of silence. Job refused and suffered in silence refusing to sin. For a week they sit with him in silence until, on the eighth day, job begins to speak.

Preparing for unit 2 bible test flashcards quizlet. Dec 18, 2007 the wisdom of jobs friends later in the book, jobs friends make some foolish statements, but in this scene, they demonstrate remarkable wisdom. Mar 28, 2014 true friendship is sitting together in silence and feeling like it was the best conversation youve ever had. Always have recourse to the holy book for words of. When job s three friends observed job after his second test from satan, job 2 v says then they sat on the ground with job for seven days and seven nights.

Sitting in silence, lessons learned from job s friends october 17, 2012 caseyrclark commentary tags. Angry with job justifying himself rather than god, and by the inability of job s friends to provide an answer, elihu feels compelled to speak 32. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. If you cannot, friends youll never be and you need not waste time in trying. The same as god rebuke security, false infidelity to god. To be silent at such times is all that can be done. Roger hahn the prologue of job consists of the first two chapters of the book written in narrative form. Yet all that discussion must be put in the context of the genuine love and concern that these friends had for job, and there was a sense in which they earned their right to speak by their sacrificial display of compassion. When jobs three friends observed job after his second test from satan, job 2 v says then they sat on the ground with job for seven days and. And when he speaks, it is to the godly job that he speaks, bringing the silence of regret for hasty words in days of suffering and the silence of repose in the ways of the almighty see 38. But then he turns and puts the blame for jobs suffering squarely on job himself. This book is a series of short essays around the theme of silence.

Mark long is a video game designer and producer living in seattle. He takes issue with job s claim of innocence while charging god with counting him as his enemy. At one point job, weary of their unhelpful rhetoric, told them, you are miserable comforters, all of you. Luther who gave us a great religion when he broke away at the beginning of the reformation claims it is the most magnificent book of all scripture. Pascal once said, and the quote is to be found in this book, the problem with man is that his inability to sit in a room in silence for more than 15 minutes or something along those lines. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Interpretations of elihu in job biblical hermeneutics. His three friends, although wellmeaning, tormented job instead of helping him by demanding that he confess the sins that brought these terrible curses upon him. According to maimonides, a superscholarly medieval, guy, each of job s friends represents a different position on divine providence. They were false in their logic and wrong in their conclusions. Sitting in silence, lessons learned from jobs friends october 17, 2012 caseyrclark commentary tags.

Friends arrive, apparently to comfort job, but then also to harangue him. But for the first 37 chapters of the book of job, his cries for gods help and relief were met only by gods deafening silence. The central figure in the book of job, job s intense suffering supplies the framework for the primary theme of the book, which deals with the role of suffering in the life of a believer. For the first seven days, they merely sit with him, quietly. Thought for the day seven days of silence pull up a chair. They had not spoken up soon enough, letting job suffer in silence for seven days. In her free time, tonya enjoys landscaping, entertaining, cooking and traveling. True friendship is sitting together in silence and feeling. When jobs friends arrived, for how long did they sit in. This central section consists of the comforting words of his friends, who try to persuade job that if he is suffering he must have sinned, and job s increasingly bitter retorts that he is innocent, and that his punishment is undeserved.