Job 42:7-8

These verses may seem strange to some people. Such people do not know why God was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. Job’s friends were sometimes wrong, but sometimes Job was wrong too. So, you might think that they all deserved the same punishment.

The explanation is that Job was a servant of God. In other words, Job had a special task to do. A servant carries out his master’s work. And Job had decided to do God’s work on earth (Job 29:14). So Job was acting on behalf of God.

Job was already God’s servant when his troubles began (Job 1:8). And Job was still God’s servant during his troubles (Job 2:3). In verses 7-8, God emphasised 4 times that Job was God’s servant.

At the time of the Bible, there was a special relationship between a servant and his master. Someone who insulted a servant was also insulting the servant’s master. See Mark 12:1-9. A master would try to punish the person who insulted his servant. The master would feel that the person was insulting the master’s own honour.

In 2 Kings 2:23-24, some youths insulted a servant of God called Elisha. This was a terrible thing to do. It was as if they were insulting God himself. Animals called bears came from the wood and attacked those youths. If those youths had insulted an ordinary man, such a terrible thing would not have happened. But Elisha was acting on behalf of God.

Eliphaz said that Job was very evil (Job 22:5). This would be a stupid thing to say about any innocent man. But Job was not merely an ordinary man. He was a servant of God. So Eliphaz’s stupid words were insulting God. In other words, Eliphaz insulted God’s servant. So Eliphaz was also insulting God. And the three friends were responsible for another wrong thing also.

A servant must be loyal to his master. And Job tried hard always to be loyal to God. Job was even loyal to God when he heard his wife’s foolish advice (Job 2:9-10). Job did not blame God in chapter 3. But then Job’s friends accused Job. And Job felt that, in order to defend himself, he had to accuse God. Job only blamed God because of the friends’ arguments. So they were partly responsible for Job’s errors. They had caused Job not to be totally loyal to God.

So God was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. The Bible often tells us that God is angry because of our evil deeds (Romans 1:18). But God is not cruel. He is kind. And he wants to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

God could have punished Job’s friends. But instead, God wanted to forgive them. So God told them to kill some animals. Then, they should burn the animals as gift to God. In other words, the animals would suffer the punishment that the friends deserved. And God would forgive the friends. God often wanted such gifts before Jesus came. When Jesus died, he suffered our punishment. So, he suffered instead of us. And God forgives us, because of what Jesus did (Hebrews 10:1-10). We must confess our evil deeds to God. And we must invite Jesus into our lives.

Job prayed for the friends because he was God’s servant. So Job had a special relationship with God. Job was even able to pray on behalf of his friends. We all can have that special relationship with God. First, we must invite Jesus into our lives. And then we can allow God’s Holy Spirit to pray through us (Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 14:15; John 7:37-39).

Job prays for his friends

v9 The names of Job’s three friends were:

• Eliphaz, who belonged to the people called Temanites;

• Bildad, who belonged to the people called Shuhites;

• Zophar, who belonged to the people called Naamathites.

They obeyed God. And God answered Job’s prayer.