Day 5

Job is now having a conversation with his friends. My reflections:

I like the way Job defended himself in his response in Chapter 6. He expressed his disappointment at what his friend said, disappointed that his friend couldn’t defend his integrity. He reminded them of their friendship and asked them if they had proof of his wrongdoings.

I also liked that Job questioned God in Chapter 7 verse 11; he said that he would not be silent. Wow, what manner of boldness! He wanted answers. Job was generally authentic with his feelings to God and this reminds me that I can be real with him. What is the essence of not being being when he knows my thoughts?

After Job defended himself, Bildad also joined Eliphaz in being judgmental about the whole situation.

8:4 — He insinuated Job’s kids deserved to die! How insensitive. How do we judge people for things that they are going through. We may not voice them out, but they are there, in our thoughts. We sometimes think we know everything about people’s situations or why they are going through all that. This is a reminder that we are not all-knowing. Only God is.

8:8–10 — Bildad also advised him to reach out to what I’ll term the elders. This is perhaps because they could not just understand the situation and why Job was being ‘punished’. The older generation is expected to be wiser and could help them make sense of the situation. Could he also have felt Job was too proud and overstating his righteousness?

In Chapter 9, Job still acknowledges God for who He is despite his pain. It shows that God would remain God despite what we go through, and we should trust His love and mercy would always prevail.

It seems at some point, Job was no longer hopeful (6 vs 11) and we see in Chapter 9 vs 33 that he wished there was a mediator. As in Job 1 vs 5, where Job acted as a mediator for his children.