“Truly then you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!” -{Job 12:2}

In verse 2 they had displayed an arrogance and Job responds with sarcasm that they alone had wisdom and when they die wisdom would go with them. He said,…

“Truly then you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!” -{Job 12:2}

They wrongly judged Job, convinced he had to be suffering greatly because he had sinned greatly.They could not see any other reason for all the suffering he was going through, loss of wealth, children, health, surely if his life was pleasing to God this would not have happened. There could not be any other reason, was their thinking as expressed by their constant accusations against Job.

Their arrogance led to a false and cruel conclusion. They also infered that they spoke for God and they were the wise ones, and he would do well to listen and follow their advice to repent!

They were not suffering and had contempt for him who was. They started off so well, coming to him, sitting with him, and for seven days being silent. They empathized, and then…they…opened… their… mouths…to tell Job what they believed his problem was, for after all they were in their own estimation, the wise ones, speaking for God!

When we are wise in our own eyes we often draw conclusions based on our own ignorance of what God is doing. For there are things that God was doing with Job that they had no idea of {Read Job chapter 1}, and it can be the same for us, and therefore as they were indifferent to the one suffering, so too we can be calous, unkind, speaking foolishly, and hurtful when it is not us who are suffering. Calous rather than compassionate!

We need to be careful and not to be wise in our own eyes, and pretending to speak for God, only to be proved wrong. We do not know what God is doing in someone’s life as Job’s friends did not, but professing to be wise, they were exposed by God as those who darkened counsel by words without knowledge.

They equated wealth, health, prosperity with a life that was pleasing to God and so they acted on that with their judgment, but as the end of the Book of Job shows, God corrects them because they misrepresented and dishonored, misrepsented Him, and He had them seek forgiveness from Job. And that He would accept Job’s prayer on their behalf. The one who they turned on was the one they had to turn to, to intercede for them!

  • “…the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.”-{Job 42:7-9}

God Bless,

Aidan.