Job 13:3 | KingComments | STEP | The answer of Job to Zophar continues. In the Job responds to his friends. His eye sees as that of Eliphaz ( ), his ear hears as that of Bildad ( ), he knows or has a heart as Zophar ( ). He makes it clear that he is not inferior to them in the knowledge of God ( ). And surely he will not give in to them, that is to say, be convinced by them of their rightness in their judgment of him. The friends have spoken of things which they have observed, and which have been observed by wise men. Well, Job can speak in the same way. His wisdom and observations are as good as theirs. Here’s a lesson for us. If we want to convince people on a religious level on the basis of wisdom, experience and perception, they have the right to respond with their own wisdom, experience and perception. Even if we teach the truth, they may reject it if we give the impression that we are just a little bit smarter than they are. But when we quote God’s Word, the weight of Divine proof stands behind our words. People can still reject it, but when they do, they reject God and not us. We can deduce from Job’s reply that his friends say what he too would have said before he was in this misery. He saw his life in prosperity as a reward from God for his faithfulness, because according to him it was also that God rewards faithfulness and punishes evil. But now that evil has come upon him, that view on God is broken. The friends stick to their theology, without a relationship with God. Job has lost his ‘theology’ and struggles from his relationship with God with the question why God is acting so with him. How should he see God then? That is why Job turns to God, about Whom he speaks as “the Almighty” ( ). His friends assumed sins on him. From them he does not have to expect understanding. They wrong him greatly with their unfounded accusations. They know neither his feelings nor his motives, yet they judge him harshly and treat him as a hypocrite. This is because of their limited view of God. They also do wrong to God by presenting Him in this way to Job. All that remains for Job is to speak to the Almighty and present his case to Him, as he did in Job 9-10. In Job 9 he sees no benefit in a trial with God, because he always loses it. But now he wants a trial anyway, because he still expects a righteous judgment by God. The friends are instruments in God’s hand to teach Job and to draw him to Himself. God wants to use everything that happens to us to cause us to go to Him. For this He also uses the incomprehension that we meet with people. Not that Job is already where God wants him to be. But what we hear here from Job is his deep longing for contact with God. God will interrogate Job in a special way when He has finished His work on him. At this moment Job is still too convinced that he is in his right. Job flatly accuses his friends of being false witnesses of God ( ). What kind of helpers are they that they treat a case like his this way? This does not mean that they deliberately tell lies, but they do not speak the truth and have no eye for Job’s struggle. What they express as ‘theological truth’ is not truth because it is applied to the wrong person at the wrong time. They are “all worthless physicians”. They are quacks. The reason for this is that they think wrongly and at the same time assume they have all the wisdom, while they reason away the trouble of Job. They say that Job has sinned and that he will be healthy again if he confesses his sins. Job says that he has not sinned, and that they are therefore worthless physicians. They do not make him healthy; on the contrary, they make him sicker. What they say in no way alleviates his misery. On the contrary, it aggravates his suffering. He prefers them to remain silent ( ). This is what they did for the first seven days, when they sat tacitly with him. If only they had never broken their silence, for nothing came out of their mouth, which gave him some consolation. It only pushed him deeper into misery. If they would take that attitude again, it would be to their wisdom. “Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent” ( ).

‏ Job 13:3

The Friends Are False Witnesses of God

The answer of Job to Zophar continues. In the Job 13:1-2 Job responds to his friends. His eye sees as that of Eliphaz (Job 4:8), his ear hears as that of Bildad (Job 8:8), he knows or has a heart as Zophar (Job 12:3). He makes it clear that he is not inferior to them in the knowledge of God (Job 12:14-25). And surely he will not give in to them, that is to say, be convinced by them of their rightness in their judgment of him. The friends have spoken of things which they have observed, and which have been observed by wise men. Well, Job can speak in the same way. His wisdom and observations are as good as theirs.

Here’s a lesson for us. If we want to convince people on a religious level on the basis of wisdom, experience and perception, they have the right to respond with their own wisdom, experience and perception. Even if we teach the truth, they may reject it if we give the impression that we are just a little bit smarter than they are. But when we quote God’s Word, the weight of Divine proof stands behind our words. People can still reject it, but when they do, they reject God and not us.

We can deduce from Job’s reply that his friends say what he too would have said before he was in this misery. He saw his life in prosperity as a reward from God for his faithfulness, because according to him it was also that God rewards faithfulness and punishes evil. But now that evil has come upon him, that view on God is broken. The friends stick to their theology, without a relationship with God. Job has lost his ‘theology’ and struggles from his relationship with God with the question why God is acting so with him. How should he see God then?

That is why Job turns to God, about Whom he speaks as “the Almighty” (Job 13:3). His friends assumed sins on him. From them he does not have to expect understanding. They wrong him greatly with their unfounded accusations. They know neither his feelings nor his motives, yet they judge him harshly and treat him as a hypocrite. This is because of their limited view of God. They also do wrong to God by presenting Him in this way to Job.

All that remains for Job is to speak to the Almighty and present his case to Him, as he did in Job 9-10. In Job 9 he sees no benefit in a trial with God, because he always loses it. But now he wants a trial anyway, because he still expects a righteous judgment by God.

The friends are instruments in God’s hand to teach Job and to draw him to Himself. God wants to use everything that happens to us to cause us to go to Him. For this He also uses the incomprehension that we meet with people. Not that Job is already where God wants him to be. But what we hear here from Job is his deep longing for contact with God. God will interrogate Job in a special way when He has finished His work on him. At this moment Job is still too convinced that he is in his right.

Job flatly accuses his friends of being false witnesses of God (Job 13:4). What kind of helpers are they that they treat a case like his this way? This does not mean that they deliberately tell lies, but they do not speak the truth and have no eye for Job’s struggle. What they express as ‘theological truth’ is not truth because it is applied to the wrong person at the wrong time.

They are “all worthless physicians”. They are quacks. The reason for this is that they think wrongly and at the same time assume they have all the wisdom, while they reason away the trouble of Job. They say that Job has sinned and that he will be healthy again if he confesses his sins. Job says that he has not sinned, and that they are therefore worthless physicians. They do not make him healthy; on the contrary, they make him sicker. What they say in no way alleviates his misery. On the contrary, it aggravates his suffering.

He prefers them to remain silent (Job 13:5). This is what they did for the first seven days, when they sat tacitly with him. If only they had never broken their silence, for nothing came out of their mouth, which gave him some consolation. It only pushed him deeper into misery. If they would take that attitude again, it would be to their wisdom. “Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent” (Pro 17:28).