3I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. 4His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
People can say the most insensitive things sometimes. Someone loses a child and they say “At least you can have another one.” Or you lose a spouse and they say, “You’re young, you can marry again.” They might mean well, but they totally miss your pain. In fact, they make it worse by their comments. Job’s friend, Eliphaz, is beginning to step in it. He sat silently with Job for a full week, but then he had to open his mouth! Can you imagine being in Job’s place, having lost his wealth and his children in a single day and then to have a friend say these things to you? And at the end of the chapter he throws in some platitudes for good measure. This is a direct attack on Job’s character and Job knows it. We don’t really know the motives of Eliphaz, but we can learn from him what not to do when someone is hurting. Eliphaz has told us his theology in the previous chapter. Verse 17 and following says, “Everyone is a sinner, and God brings judgment.” Then in this chapter, he makes this theology personal. Job is the sinner and God is punishing him. This is a terrible theology of suffering. If this were true, every one of us would be experiencing God’s judgment right now! We have all sinned and deserve punishment, but He often withholds punishment. He holds back the full measure of His wrath until judgment day. A better theology of suffering would begin with this fact. Bad things happen, and they might not be connected to the righteousness or lack thereof of the person receiving the brunt of the bad thing. There often is no connection, no cause and effect. Judgment spans this short life and eternity. Not everything will be fair in this life alone. Some things will take eternity to balance out.
The Arnold Journey 