When Friends Become Enemies (Job 4:7)
Sermon Summary
Pastor David Yan
21 February 2021
Job’s three friends came to him, sat with him and concluded that Job must have done something evil for him to be suffering as he was. Job’s friends became his enemies.
Consider this matter that friends can become enemies.
The friends presumed that Job was guilty unless proven innocent. Nowadays our laws presume a person is innocent unless proven guilty.
The presumption of Job’s friends was inflexible. There were no exceptions. Hence the three friends were adamant that Job was guilty.
The same situation existed with Jesus. The people presumed he was guilty of blasphemy and crucified him crying out “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt.27:40).
The proposition of the three friends was simply that no good person suffers. But this proposition is denied by Bible examples. Consider such examples.
Abel was a righteous man but he was murdered by his evil brother Cain. Joseph was innocent man but was sold into slavery by his brothers. Jeremiah was a faithful prophet but was cast into a cistern. John the Baptist was a faithful preacher but was beheaded for his message. Supremely, Jesus Christ was a perfect man but was nailed to a cross as if he were a criminal.
Sometimes people suffer for their own folly but there are exceptions. Innocent people do suffer. In New Zealand there is a case of a man who was jailed for rape and murder but subsequently was proven innocent and given government compensation.
The proposition of Job’s three friends failed to understand that sometimes suffering, as in the case of Job’s, has a higher purpose. Jesus made this clear to his disciples when they asked him if a man born blind was blind because of his or his parents’ sins (John 9:1-11). Jesus denied this and taught the higher purpose of some suffering.
This higher purpose is clearly seen in the life of Jesus Christ who was taken by lawless hands, crucified, put to death and all according to the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:22-23).
So it was that the friends of Job became his enemies because of their mistaken presumption that Job was guilty unless he could prove his innocence.
But is there hope for friends who become enemies? Yes. Most certainly. Observe how the story ends.
God’s wrath rested on the three friends (42:7) because of their presumptuous sin (Psalm 19:13). They needed forgiveness.
The friends were required to make an offering before God (42:8). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Come before God and make an offering. But what offering can we make to appease God?
We need a representative before God just as Job’s three friends needed a mediator. Their mediator was Job himself who was to pray for them (42:8). Our mediator is Jesus Christ who lives forever interceding for his people (Hebrews 7:24,25).
In conclusion let us learn from Job. Live a blameless life before God. Confess your sins. But if you suffer understand there is a higher purpose to your pain. God permits second causes to inflict hurt but ultimately he is the first cause yet in such a way that he is not the author of sin or evil. Trust him for he is a good God who will never forsake you. We rest in him who does all things well.