Imagine Job slumped over the ash heap in his home. He’s sick, bereaved of his children, financially ruined and living with a brokenhearted wife. What does a man like that need most from his friends?

Job’s friend Eliphaz thought Job needed a good tongue lashing to help him forsake the error of his ways. He started with hypotheticals, but quickly moved on to very pointed comments.

Eliphaz described a man he knew who seemed to be well established, but whose house was suddenly cursed. His children were crushed and his wealth evaporated. How did this happen? Troubles like that didn’t come from nowhere.

If I Were You . . .

Eliphaz shifted from musing about a nameless man to speaking directly to Job.

“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.” Job 5:8

Did Eliphaz really think that Job didn’t know he could talk to God about all this? Job’s initial words following the tragedy were filled with despair, but that didn’t wipe out all of his previous years of faithful prayer and trust in God.

Thinly Veiled Accusations

In Job 5:9-16 Eliphaz reminded Job about what God was able to do for the person who deserved his blessing, and then he began to make personal accusations. He talked about how God treats crafty people with wily schemes, people who plot against the needy and practice injustice against the poor. Who could he be talking about?

Harsh Words

Finally, in verses 17 to 26, Eliphaz came out into the open. He told Job that it’s a good thing to be corrected by God and he shouldn’t despise God’s discipline. God might wound a sinner like Job, but he would also bind him up if he repented.

Eliphaz was sure that the man whom God favored would never suffer calamity or harm. He would be protected from famine, death and the sword, even the stones of the field and wild animals would be at peace with him. His property would never go missing, his tent would be secure, and his children would be many. In fact, such a man would be full of vigor to the day he came to his grave.

Job saw that Eliphaz thought he was out of God’s favor. All of the bad things Eliphaz described applied to Job at that very moment, so was God punishing him for some terrible, secret sins he had committed?

Job Pushes Back

Job pushed back at Eliphaz as he lamented the weight of his anguish and misery. If his words were impetuous when he first spoke, who could blame him? He felt like God had pierced him with poisoned arrows.

Job had never cursed the day of his birth before, but now he was overwhelmed with reasons to weep and complain. He felt so bad that he wished God would take his life – and take it before he was tempted to deny God himself. He was running out of strength to remain patient. (Job 6:8-13)

A Friend Like a Dry Well

Job compared Eliphaz’s friendship to a water source that failed just when it was needed most. He compared himself to a caravan that was forced to go so far off course it perished because the spring of water they hoped to find had dried up. Relying on Eliphaz was like dipping into an empty well.

Afraid to Help?

“Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.” Job 6:21

Perhaps Job’s friends didn’t want to help him because they were afraid he needed a bailout from them. He asked them a question to make them think about that.

“Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless?’” Job 6:22-23

The answer must have been “no” because Job moved on without waiting for them to reply and built a case for his integrity. If Job’s friends had anything helpful to say to him, he was willing to listen, but he was not going to agree to lies about himself. Eliphaz’s accusations did not fit Job; he had not committed the sins Eliphaz named.

An Appeal for Relief

Job was suffering like a slave in bondage with no control over what happened during his days and nights. All day long he wished the day would end, but his nights dragged on in misery. His body was wracked with disease and pain. He desperately needed relief.

In Job 7:6-21 Job appealed directly to God. Did God not remember how fleeting Job’s fragile life was? He could be gone in the blink of an eye and anyone who looked for him would not find him. He wondered why God was so interested in tormenting him. He felt like he was constantly under surveillance and unable to get relief from God’s oppressive attention. Why was he the target? Why couldn’t God just forgive whatever he had done wrong and stop pressuring him?

God’s Thoughts About Job

As we read Job’s thoughts about God, we need to remember what God thought of Job. God loved him; he said there was no one else on earth like him and he commended Job for his blameless behavior. God had his eye on Job, but it was not so he could make his suffering worse. The afflictions came from Satan. Relief was going to come from God . . . but not just yet.