[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":88},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Foffering-help-to-a-suffering-friend":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Foffering-help-to-a-suffering-friend-surround":77},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":59,"date":60,"description":16,"extension":61,"image":62,"meta":63,"minRead":64,"navigation":65,"path":66,"postType":67,"publication":68,"publicationUrl":62,"seo":69,"stem":70,"topics":71,"__hash__":76},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Foffering-help-to-a-suffering-friend.md","Offering Help to a Suffering Friend",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"Job",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":55},"minimark",[13,17,20,23,26,29,32,35,38,46,49,52],[14,15,16],"p",{},"In the midst of his troubles, Job had three friends who came to \"sympathize with him and comfort him\" (Job 2:11). Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar cried with Job and sat on the ground with him for a full week without saying anything (2:12, 13). They listened as Job tried to find an explanation for his plight, and they offered some opinions of their own.",[14,18,19],{},"Giving Job a Piece of Their Mind",[14,21,22],{},"Eliphaz complimented Job for his good deeds, but suggested that Job's own sins had brought about his misfortune. \"If I were you,\" Eliphaz said—and it's easy to speculate about what we would do if we were in another's shoes—\"I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him\" (5:8).",[14,24,25],{},"Bildad followed a similar line of reasoning, except with a more painful angle. He explained the death of Job's children as God's direct judgment upon them: \"When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin\" (8:4).",[14,27,28],{},"Job protested repeatedly and maintained his innocence, but his third friend, Zophar, rebuked Job for his wordiness and self-righteousness, and for trying to \"fathom the mysteries of God\" (11:7).",[14,30,31],{},"The speeches of Job's three friends pointed to one caustic conclusion: Job was simply getting what he deserved. There was logic in what they said, but not much compassion. Listening to his \"comforters\" may have been one of Job's toughest trials!",[14,33,34],{},"Finally a fourth friend, Elihu, entered the conversation. He had listened to the other three men's advice but hesitated to speak because he was younger than the others. Elihu \"became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him\" (32:2, 3). Elihu offered a different point of view, suggesting that God uses misfortune to teach, discipline, and improve individuals and nations. It's a reasonable argument, but it still didn't satisfy Job.",[14,36,37],{},"Job's Reaction",[14,39,40,41,45],{},"Henry H. Halley summarizes: \"Job's three friends seemed to think that all suffering is sent upon men as a punishment for their sins; and if we are great sufferers . . . we have been great sinners. . . . Elihu's idea seemed to be that suffering is sent upon men, not so much as a punishment for sin, but rather to keep them from sinning; ",[42,43,44],"span",{},"it's"," corrective rather than punitive.\"",[14,47,48],{},"These theories didn't make Job feel a lot better. He exclaimed, \"Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you!\" (12:2). He said, \"You are miserable comforters, all of you! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief\" (16:2-5).",[14,50,51],{},"Job complained sarcastically, \"How you have helped the powerless! . . . What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!\" (26:2, 3).",[14,53,54],{},"Job's friends encouraged him when they showed up, but discouraged him when they spoke up. When friends suffer, often they need our presence more than they need our advice.",{"title":56,"searchDepth":57,"depth":57,"links":58},"",2,[],"Revealed and Relevant","2012-11-25","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Foffering-help-to-a-suffering-friend","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":16},"articles\u002Foffering-help-to-a-suffering-friend",[72,73,74,75],"Perseverance in Suffering","Intergenerational Ministry","Biblical Theology","Discipleship","3lyDYOZXrvBch7bYz8K-ZIphWklYcMYQESDfdrEXIV8",[78,83],{"title":79,"path":80,"stem":81,"description":82,"children":-1},"O Little Town of 'Where I Am'","\u002Farticles\u002Fo-little-town-of-where-i-am","articles\u002Fo-little-town-of-where-i-am","My wife Candy works the night shift as a Registered Nurse in the mother-baby unit of a local hospital. We were disappointed to learn that one of her 12-hour shifts this week will start at 7:00 P.M. on Christmas Eve. But as our family adjusted plans to accommodate her schedule, we realized there was something fitting about this. After all, the angels announced Jesus' birth to shepherds working the night shift. Joseph and Mary adjusted their schedules and travel plans to meet the requirements of an imperial decree. And what more appropriate place to spend the night on Christmas Eve than a maternity ward surrounded by newborn babies?",{"title":84,"path":85,"stem":86,"description":87,"children":-1},"Old So Soon","\u002Farticles\u002Fold-so-soon","articles\u002Fold-so-soon","I've never heard a farmer say, \"You know what? The weather has been perfect every day this year!\"",1790466168726]