Job's Friends Arrive

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Chapter 2 records Job's trial. Again, God and Satan met. Satan had taken all that Job had except his health, his wife and one servant, but he still remained faithful to God. But Satan was not satisfied. "Let me take away his health and he will surly curse you." God granted Satan's request and Satan caused Job to have a very painful and loathsome disease. His wife tempted him to curse God, but Job resisted. His friends came to console him but they brought very little comfort and Job is set forth as an example of suffering and patience.

Lets take a little closer look at this chapter. Lets, first, examine the characters.

1. Job. The Lord describes him here as a "good man" who feared God. One who had turned away from evil and had kept the faith in spite of what God had allowed Satan to do to him.
2. Job's Wife. This woman was not much help to Job when things got bad. She failed the test immediately. Her suggestion to Job was, "Curse God, and die."
3. His friends. Notice they have heard of Job's plight and have come to council him, but they were not prepared for what they saw. He looked so bad that they did not recognize him. Their first reaction was one of compassion. They tore their robes, threw dust into the air and sat down for 7 days and 7 nights, no one spoke a word.

What do you think was going through the minds of these people for 7 days? Matthew Henry suggests that they were afraid to talk. Afraid they might say what they were thinking. Job did not want to say anything to offend his friends and his friends, seeing the extent of his sufferings, did not want to add to his misery, but believing that it was caused by some great sin in Job's life, thought he probably deserved what he had gotten. Surly, they thought, this man has been a hypocrite all these years.

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