JOB'S FRIENDS

JOB'S FRIENDS

© Morris E. Ruddick

"Then the wrath of Elihu was aroused against Job because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job." Job 32:2-3

The story of Job provides one of the oldest and richest insights into the realities that bridge the spiritual and the natural; of a foundational dynamic that links God and the righteous, along with the dichotomy between the religious and righteous.

Job was described by God as blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shuned evil. Job was a righteous man. He was a tz'dakim who represented God as a blessing to his community. Yet Satan's challenge targeted another dimension.

The challenge was that without the blessings of God, Job would blame God for his misfortunes. Upon losing his children, his fortune and his health; despite the prodding of his wife to curse God and die, Job vindicated God's trust in him with the familiar words:
"'The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.'
Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God." Job 1:21-22

Following the tragedies unleashed against Job was the arrival of Job's three friends. Their outward intentions of bringing Job comfort, soon gave way to unfettered charges that his former blessings had been built on weak and shifting sands. In short, they aligned themselves with the destruction arrayed against Job, taking positions as his accusers.

In his misery, Job expressed a heart-cry for hope (Job 6:11). He pondered if success had left him altogether. As his friends prodded, he questioned what he had left. The arrival of Elihu became the spark of a deeper revelation the Lord gave Job. It was a rich glimpse into God's honor and majesty. It brought a perspective that has marked the heroes of faith throughout the centuries.

The Role of Honor
The perspective yielded from the story of Job unveils a compelling truth concerning the importance the Lord ascribes to the honor of the righteous and how that is tied to His honor.

The ease with which Job's friends digressed into becoming his accusers begs the question of an undercurrent that already existed among them; an undercurrent that perhaps was the catalyst that fueled Satan's charge against Job. What was missed in the speculations of Job's friends was the honor the Lord ascribes to the righteous. The increase of the intensity of their rant was well described by Elihu's response:
"His anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job." Job 32:3

The reality was that God had Job poised for promotion. That promotion would take him down a pathway that brought clarity to the role of honor. It not only vastly broadened Job's grasp of the Lord's honor and majesty; but it also redefined the foundational honor attributed to the righteous, which Job's friends, for all their words, missed altogether.
"And the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has." Job 42:7

The Dynamic
From the time that Cain killed Able, each generation has experienced the reactions of the religious to the righteous. Job was slandered. Noah was mocked. There was a reason God told Abraham to leave his family, his country and his father's house. Joseph's brothers conspired to kill him and at the last moment got rid of him by selling him into slavery. David's presence was both a comfort and torment to Saul, until he purposed to kill David.

Without the aura of success that Job once had, the undercurrent among his friends manifested. It is the difference in response to the superficial and the real. It is the crux of the dichotomy between the religious and the righteous. It is the dividing asunder between Churchianity and the Kingdom.

Jesus pointed to the root of the problem: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while his men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way." Matthew 13:24-26 "The kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea that gathered some of every kind. When it was full, they sat down and gathered together the good, but threw the bad away." Matthew 13:47-49

Yet, Jesus pointed out that for those who would be his followers: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:19

The blending between the religious and the righteous gives rise to the ambitions and competition of the religious, the manifestations of which range from slander to the outright destruction and removal of the righteous. The ones given the keys to unlocking the Kingdom become targets. Yet the keys they have for advancing the Kingdom are what give them the edge and an immunity from the intentions of the ambitiously religious.
Audience
Honor against Overwhelming Odds
Years ago, as the head of a small consulting operation, I published an advertisement to a host of Fortune 500 companies we sought to do business with. The ad showed a graphic of David with a determined grin as he popped the rock into his sling under the shadow of Goliath. The ad positioned our company against some of the largest and best known consulting firms in the world. Even today, this ad differentiates the ministry and impact we steward.

The truth in this ad gives focus to the perspective held by Job's friends. They banked on outward appearances: on Job's position and success, while overlooking the honor, substance and role tied to the righteous. The role of the righteous may or may not carry the image of success as the world views success.

Upholding God's Honor
The foundational dynamic linking God and the righteous is honor. Honor distinguishes the righteous tz'dakim from the religiously ambitious.

The role of the righteous as His ambassadors, within their spheres in word and deed, upholds and points to the honor of God. When the righteous uphold God's honor, the positioning becomes a precursor to the cloak of honor worn only by the righteous.
"I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:24-25

Honor in the midst of your enemies
When God's honor is upheld and the honor of the righteous tz'dakim is given genuine support by the community, then the expectation will be for the community to experience the positive ripples from this dynamic.
"And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, as the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people." Exodus 11:3

The book of Acts tells of when: "Great fear fell upon the church and upon ALL who heard these things." This was a day in which the dynamic of God's honor was upheld. Stephen was stoned for it. Their leadership was limited to the righteous. God's people were not trying to be like everyone else. Their identity and worldview was fully in God. The righteous tz'dakim of the early church were not dealing the success cards mete for church growth; but rather the change tied to building the Kingdom.

Understanding the Times
We've entered a new season. Globally, we are experiencing a shift that penetrates the economic, cultural and political realities governing the course of future events. The stakes are higher, as are the parameters for operating according to God's Kingdom rule. We have to be viewing the realities from God's perspective and ensuring our pathways and models provide anticipatory responses to the changes.

The gap between the two-thirds of the world with little to no middle class and the West is closing. God's righteous ambassadors have always been "out-of-the-box" from the standpoint of the world and the position of the religious. We have not been wired to be like everyone else.

Within the shift underway will be surprises; unveiling unlikely candidates for the tasks of the Kingdom. Ambassadors are emerging from among the suffering and persecuted who may now be as Jobs, poised on their ash heaps, listening to the rants of their unafflicted "friends" coming from their stances of success.

The Key to True Honor
True honor follows humility. The revelation Job had came through a pathway of humility and led to the honor only bestowed by God.
"Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3-5

True humility is the revelation that "His strength is made perfect in our weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:8-9) The honor that comes from God has its context in the impact made in community. The price of community leadership is the sacrifice seen in genuine friendship. Jesus described it in John 15:13 when He said: "Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends."

God's authentic ambassadors, the ones who sow good seed, the tz'dakim, are givers of life. They extend opportunity. When they see the gaps, they work toward filling it in, rather than pointing it out. God is looking for those who will sow the good seeds and pay the cost to avert disasters and build community.
"I sought a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me." Ezekiel 22:30

With their many words, Job's friends had dishonored him. They added to the weight of the burden rather than shouldering it with Job. They were gap finders, rather than gap-standers. They judged Job with an unbalanced scale based on the limitations of their own perspectives.
"I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Matthew 12:36-37

The scripture says that Job's friends had no answer and still by their words they condemned Job. In their limited, self-righteous perspectives, they brought God's anger on themselves. Yet, in graciously praying for his friends as he beheld God's honor, Job was promoted into an entire new season of being blessed to be a blessing.
"The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold." Job 42:10-11
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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling" and "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.

Mr. Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.

2009 Copyright Morris Ruddick - response@strategic-initiatives.org