February 26 – Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar – Job 4-7

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were trying to be good friends to Job.  They sat with him for seven days and nights in silence just grieving with him.  There are not many people in today’s society that would do that for a friend.  Today we read of Eliphaz’s attempt at encouraging Job.  Bildad and Zophar will follow with their own words of wisdom.  I believe these friends of Job had good intentions, but what they didn’t realize was God’s part in the testing of Job.  Job had not done something wrong or questionable to bring judgment on his life.  Job’s friends assumed there had to be something wrong due to so many hardships in Job’s life.  This was a horrible mistake on their part.  It would have been better to stay silent at this point.  Toward the end of the book of Job, we see God’s disappointment in Job’s friends.  Even with good intentions and motives, we need to be careful with our words.