Poetry – Job 11 – 12

Who needs enemies when you have friends like this?

What am I talking about?  Read …

Bible Passage:  Job 11 – 12

Haven’t you met with someone like this before?

You are in pain.

You are feeling very bad because you did something wrong and you regret immensely.

You broke something because you did not heed a warning.

Then comes the constant barrage of ‘well meaning’ advice.

“I’ve warned you haven’t I?”

“Didn’t I tell you …?”

“Why did you do it?  Don’t you know…”

You know the feeling.  It is not that you don’t already feel miserable but here is someone who is just simply not helping you at all.

Job must surely feeling this way.  Now, his 3rd friend speaks and this one, perhaps dealt the most harshly with Job.

His friend is Zophar (which incidentally means ‘twittering bird’) and he claimed that Job deserved to suffer even more than what he was going through now because of his alleged wickedness and hypocrisy.  He urged Job to turn from his rebellious ways.

Of course Job did not take it lying down.  In Chapter 12, Job directly pointed out to his friends that they have mocked him.

And instead of being encouraged by them, he was deeply hurt.

Last Friday night service, Brother Bi Wei spoke about the character ‘Barnabas’.

In the sermon, we learned that Barnabas was originally not called by this name but the apostles gave him this name.  And Barnabas means The Son of Encouragement. And he really encouraged the people he came in contact with.

Bro Bi Wei did exhort us that we should learn to encourage more and not be so quick to criticize all the time.  This is a lesson well worth remembering and perhaps Zophar needed it too.

Indeed, as I read the words of Zophar, I can see that there are quite good questions.  For example,

“Can you search out the deep things of God?” Job 11:7

But I do find that the problem is that he directed it all at Job and did not think if the question should also be directed toward himself.

I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 5:2

Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.

Yes, God is in Heaven and we are on earth.  We shoud let our words be few, lest we say something wrong and say something we should not have and sin against God.

Let your words be few…

This reminds me of a song 🙂