The prologue to Job (chs. 1–2) records the story of the kindness and severity of God and of the sweetness and bitterness of his providence in the life of his servant Job. In 1:13–22 we read of Job’s response to Satan’s first test (the loss of his wealth) and in 2:1–10 of his response to the second test (the loss of his health). In both responses Job remains patient, resistant, and faithful. This passage (2:11–13) introduces a third test Job will undergo—the loss of his friends’ trust in his word and respect of his character. While these verses offer no indication of this testing to come, they introduce to us the ironies of friends who will act like enemies and worldly-wise men who speak like fools. But before Job 4–25 highlights their condemnable words, 2:11–13 features their commendable character.

  I.E.  Introduction to Job’s Third Test (2:11–13)

1.  An Appointment to Show Sympathy (2:11)

2.  Sympathy, Solidarity, and Silence (2:12–13)

There is much we will see and hear from Job’s friends that we are not to emulate. They will prove to have more folly than wisdom. However, here in 2:11–13, they model loyal friendship and supportive sympathy.

When we review their actions, we find much to learn. When they hear of Job’s troubles, they act upon that information. How few of us act at all? When we hear of a death in someone’s family, do we make a call or write a note? When we learn that someone from church was admitted to the hospital, do we visit and sit with them? Do we pray with them, or perhaps read a comforting psalm and sing a soothing hymn to them? Moreover, like Job’s friends, are we willing to put our lives on hold in order to travel to a friend who is in despair or facing death? Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar sacrificed weeks to show their sympathy and try to bring comfort. Imagine life on the ash heap. Months without companionship. And then, in the distance, three friends emerge. What a sight for sore eyes (and a body inflicted with sores)!

In 2 Corinthians 7:6, Paul writes that “God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” The coming of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar surely comforts Job. What also surely comforts Job, as it would comfort any grieving soul, is their empathy expressed in their incarnational ministry. By weeping with Job, tearing their garments like Job, accepting the ash heap alongside Job, and not speaking to Job, they model gospel grieving. They do not check into the presidential suite at the Marriott down the road but sit on the zero-stars ash heap. They do not read Romans 8:28 (“all things work together for good”), but embody Revelation 8:1 (“there was silence in heaven”). Sometimes when we enter the home of a member of our church who is dying or walk through the door at the hospital and witness the inexplicable sufferings of someone we nurtured in the faith for many years, there is no need to say anything. Our presence is felt. It is enough for us to be there, to hold their hand, to dab their tears, to join them in weeping.

There is much to commend about Job’s friends in 2:11–13. However, it is difficult not to read what they later say and do back into these verses. We look at this scene and just wish we had some duct tape for their mouths! The sharing in his sorrows, the silence, the tears: it is all so beautiful. They should have called it a day—or a week, to be more accurate. If they had just ridden off into the sunset after the seven days of silence, they would have gone down in history as the picture of friendship. Artists would have painted portraits, composers would have written oratorios, and Christians would have named their children after them.

But alas, such is not the case. As we will see next, a storm is about to hit. A whirlwind of words is about to blow through Job’s ash heap. His “friends” (2:11), even “close” (19:14) and “intimate friends” (19:19), are about to unleash their full armory of rebukes, accusations, scorn, and mockery. It is neither sticks nor stones that breaks Job’s bones but words. It is words that crush his inner spirit. He will soon cry out, “How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?” (19:2). Job 2:11–13 is not all that will be said of Job’s friends. In chapter 4, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar will turn on Job, misjudging his motives and attacking his claims. This is the last test, but it is no least test. How will Job fare? Will we hear again the narrator’s voice, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (2:10)? Will Job continue to hold fast to his integrity, fear God, trust God, and believe in God’s sovereign, just, and merciful providence?