“So called friends”
His grief was very great. —Job 2:13
Read Job 2:11-13 & Job 4
Job’s final trial was the most severe. After Job’s condition had become progressively worse, his three friends came to visit him. They had seen him from a distance but did not recognize him. They revealed their sympathy by rending their clothes, throwing dust into the air, and weeping, all the while keeping silence for seven days. Their goal was to lament his plight and to comfort him, but they did not succeed in this. Job was taught not to expect too much from man. Even the best of friends are poor comforters. While their silence should have been of some relief to him, he keenly felt the thoughts that were going through their minds.
After Job had cursed the day of his birth, Eliphaz, the eldest, spoke. He declared precious truths that were good and beautiful, but they did not apply to Job. In an underhanded way, Job was declared an apostate, someone who had turned his back to the ways of the Lord. Otherwise he would not have ended up in the situation in which he found himself. Eliphaz said that things go well with the righteous, but not with the wicked.
Why did Job’s friends meddle with his affairs?