Job 16:1–5

Eliphaz had claimed to be giving Job "the consolations of God." This moves Job to a bitter reply: "Miserable comforters are you all!" (v.2). Instead of comfort, they had given heartless accusations, which Job terms "words of wind." He says that if they were in his place, he could heap up words against them in the same cruel way. But he would not do that. He would use his words to strengthen and encourage them, and so give them some relief. He longed for this himself, but they had nothing for him.

His friends had been repeating the same basic idea in different ways: the disasters that had overwhelmed him could have only one explanation. He must have been a hypocrite, with evil hidden under his religious exterior. If this was the comfort they had to offer him, it was of a very miserable kind.

They had no true grasp of God's character, and so they could not understand His dealings with a soul. They had no proper sense of sin. So they did not know that if God blesses man, it must be entirely on the ground of grace. They did not know how to meet his case. They had said many true things, yet not one right thing that fit Job, because they did not understand him.

They turned him in the wrong direction; they engaged him with himself. He could not deny that he was afflicted. Measuring himself against other men, he could not see that he had done anything to bring such great affliction on himself. And his friends harassed him, holding his mind to this one point: that God's doings match man's acts, and so, since he suffered this much, he must have been wicked in an extraordinary degree. Job resists (Job 16) and calls his friends "miserable comforters" — and so they were... "My friends scorn me," he exclaims, "my eye pours out tears to God."

All human efforts to comfort, apart from God and the truth, fall short, because they are more or less ignorant. And the harder the trial, the plainer that failure becomes... They did not understand the ways of God with His own at all. By their false and unworthy suggestions, they made Job feel how completely unable they were to help him, and they threw him back on God Himself. So in the end he said, "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you" (Job 42:5).

The words of his friends irritated him; he found neither wisdom nor comfort in them. But he could listen to Elihu. There was healing balm in his words... No one showed him his vileness as Elihu did. Yet the words that laid him low as a naked sinner before God were the only words he had the patience to listen to.

So when Job got right with God and with himself, he soon got right with his friends, for he learned to pray for them. Yes, he could pray for the "miserable comforters," the "physicians of no value" — the very men he had argued with so long, so stubbornly, and so fiercely! "And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends."

Eliphaz had called their speeches to Job "the consolations of God" — at least the part that promised restoration if he repented. Job calls them "miserable comforters." Is there to be no end of windy words? Had the friends not used up their stock of accusations? What stirs Eliphaz up to speak further, with nothing new to say? Job could easily treat them the same way if he were in their place. Instead, he would have tried to give real comfort.

I have heard many such things, / And comforters of distress are you all. / Are windy words at an end? / Or what vexes you that you answer?

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were real friends, though they proved to be only "miserable comforters." They came to Job when everyone else had deserted him — children mocking him, young men pushing away his feet, his relatives failing him, his close friends forgetting him, his servants giving him no answer, and his wife refusing him, though he begged her for their children's sake. They were true-hearted friends, who said they would go and comfort their afflicted brother. And they did go; and they sat with him in his place of ashes and broken pottery for seven days.

And what had his friends done for him during the sifting he was passing through? He had good reason to say, "Miserable comforters are you all." They had no true grasp of God's character. So they could not understand His dealings with a soul. They had no proper sense of sin. So they did not know this: if God is going to bless man at all, it must be entirely on the ground of grace. They did not know how to meet his case. They had said many true things. But they had not said one single right thing that applied to Job, because they did not understand him.

All purely human efforts to comfort, apart from God and the truth, are useless, because they are more or less ignorant. And the more bitter the trial, the more obvious that failure becomes... They might have helped if his had been an ordinary case. But here was a deeply righteous man, stripped of every earthly possession in a way no one had ever seen. Their tongues were dumb. They did not understand God's ways with His own people at all. By their false and unworthy suggestions, they made Job feel how unable they were to help him. So they threw him back on God Himself. So that eventually he said, "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you" (Job 42:5).

And no doubt Job spoke the simple truth. He would have been a comforter of sorrow. He would not have been a doctor without any medicine. They brought poison into his wounds instead of something to soothe them. He said, "I have been pouring out my sorrow, but I am no better for it."

So we find that when Job got right about God and himself, he soon got right about his friends. He learned to pray for them. Yes, he could pray for the "miserable comforters," the "physicians of no value" — the very men he had argued with so long, so strongly, and so fiercely! "And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends."

Eliphaz had called their speeches to Job "the consolations of God" — meaning, no doubt, the part that promised restoration if he repented. Job describes them as "miserable comforters." Is there to be no end of windy words? Had the friends not exhausted their stock of accusations? What stirs up Eliphaz to speak further, with nothing new to say?

Job proved patient, but he does not spare his stubborn friends. They could not prove their unkind conclusions, and they would not take them back. So he begins his second reply to Eliphaz with a sharp complaint about their worn-out comments. There was no consolation in the words of any of them, only extreme trouble. So he longed for an end of words of no more weight than the wind. It would be better to answer calmly, if they must speak at all, and not with the sharpness of irritation.

And no doubt Job was speaking the plain truth. He would have been a comforter of sorrow; he would not have been a physician without any medicine. They brought poison into his wounds instead of something to soothe them.

So the three friends failed to convince Job. Their ministry was one-sided. Instead of silencing Job, they only led him out into a discussion that seemed almost endless. He gives them word for word, and far more.

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were true friends, though they turned out to be only "miserable comforters." They came to Job when everyone else had deserted him. They were sincere-hearted friends, who said they would go and comfort their suffering brother. And they did go; and they sat with him in his place of ashes and broken pottery for seven days.

All merely human efforts to comfort, apart from God and the truth, fall short. They are more or less ignorant. And the failure shows more clearly the more bitter the trial is. Job's three friends were sincere in their care for him, and eager to serve him in his hour of sorrow. But the cause of his affliction completely baffled them. They could not understand how such a perfect and upright man could be tried so severely. They might have helped in an ordinary case. But here was a truly righteous man who had lost everything he owned, in a way never seen before. Their tongues fell silent. They did not understand God's ways with His own at all. Their false and unworthy suggestions made Job feel how unable they were to help him, and threw him back on God Himself.

Just let them change places, if that had been possible. Let those three friends be in Job's position. Let them lose their possessions and their families too, swept away in a way that looked like the effect of God's displeasure. Let their bodies suffer in a way as plain and as painful as Job's. Then even a careless onlooker would see the clear sign of some terrible dealing with them. Put them in that position, with Job as the friend who comes to speak with them. Could he not have used words and looks just as severe?

Patient as Job proved to be, he does not spare the stubbornness of his friends, who could not prove their uncharitable conclusions and would not take them back. So he begins his second reply to Eliphaz with a sharp complaint about their worn-out comments. There was no consolation in the words of any of them, only extreme trouble. So he longed for an end of words that weighed no more than the wind. If they must speak, it would be better to answer calmly, and not with the sharpness of irritation. If it were possible for them to stand in his place, he could say words at least as cutting, and shake his head just as painfully.

Eliphaz had claimed to be giving Job "the consolations of God," and this moves Job to reply bitterly, "Miserable comforters are you all!" Instead of comfort, they had given heartless accusations, which Job calls "words of wind." He says that if they were in his place, he could heap up words against them in the same cruel accusation, but he would not do so. He would use his words to strengthen and encourage them, to give them some relief. He longed for this himself, but they had nothing for him.

The friends had certainly opened themselves up to this rebuke. They had violated every God-given safeguard of friendship. They had contradicted all their former confidence in him. They treated Job as a stranger they knew nothing about, and guessed at his whole past from his present condition. It was an outrage against the name of friendship. We can well understand Job's disappointment and anger at such treatment.

Their ministry was one-sided. Instead of silencing Job, they only led him out into a discussion that seemed almost endless. He gives them word for word, and far more.

If we are walking with God, are we not aware how little we are able to help one another? It is painful to see how good we seem at finding each other's weak points. To tell a man he is at the bottom of a deep ditch is one thing; to be able, through grace, to lift him out of it is quite another. We must know the hand and heart of God, and His sustaining power, for ourselves. Then we can meet others in their varied circumstances. Like a skilled doctor, we will know what each medicine is worth and be ready to use it.

Eliphaz had claimed to be giving Job "the consolations of God," and this moves Job to reply bitterly, "Miserable comforters are you all!" (v.2). Instead of comfort, they had given heartless accusations, which Job calls "words of wind." He says that if they were in his place, he could pile up words against them in the same cruel way. But he would not do that. He would use his words to strengthen and encourage them, and to give them some relief. He longed for this himself, but they had nothing for him.

Just let them change places, if that had been possible. Let those three friends be in Job's position. Let them have not only their possessions but their families swept away… Let their bodies suffer too, in a way as visible and agonising as Job's… Put them in those circumstances, with Job as the friend who comes to speak to them: could he not have used words and looks just as harsh? I cannot help thinking that Job's answer here is a deeply moving appeal, especially when he goes on, "I could strengthen you with my mouth." There he clearly has the advantage in grace over them… Not one word of that kind or purpose had come from them.

He meets their wrong accusations with great skill. He brings out his suffering afresh, yet always with that horrible nightmare behind it: God is not for me, but against me! Such things as Eliphaz spoke he had heard before. What are you anyway? Nothing but miserable comforters. If they were in his condition, he would speak too. "I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain." I would never treat you as you treat me.

And no doubt Job spoke the plain truth. He would have been a comforter of sorrow, not a physician with no medicine. They brought poison into his wounds instead of something to soothe them. He said, 'I have been pouring out my sorrow, but I am no better for it.'

And what had his friends done for him during the sifting he was going through? He had good reason to say, "Miserable comforters are you all." They had no true grasp of God's character, so they could not understand His dealings with a soul. They had no proper sense of sin. So they did not know that if God was going to bless man, it had to be entirely on the ground of grace. They did not know how to meet his case. They had said many true things, yet not one single right thing that applied to Job, because they did not understand him.

All merely human efforts to comfort, apart from God and the truth, fall short, because they are more or less ignorant. The harder the trial, the more obvious that failure becomes… They might have been of use if his were an ordinary case. But when a deeply righteous man lost every possession he had, in a way no one had ever seen, they had nothing to say. They did not understand God's ways with His own people at all. Their false and unworthy suggestions made Job feel how completely unable they were to help him, and they threw him back on God Himself.