We rarely set out to have an argument, a shouting match, a dialogue that brings hard feelings and strong language.  We usually have good intentions going in, but things seem to devolve so easily as frustrations mount and inflammatory statements are not met with grace.  Such it is with Job’s friends.  They’ve come ostensibly to comfort Job.  And we know that they’re doing a terrible job of it.  They’ve come to give “wise” counsel that will hopefully bring some measure of comfort.  But as they grow frustrated and outraged at Job’s insistence that he is blameless (not sinless, but blameless) and is suffering in spite of his uprightness, their tone dramatically shifts.

This week, we have a very long chunk of Scripture, Job 11-17.  Seven chapters in one week!  It spans the end of the first cycle of friends’ speeches and the beginning of the second cycle.  It’s a lot of text, and so I encourage you to read it before coming on Sunday since we won’t have time to read all of it during worship.  But since it is so long, I recommend breaking it up by speaker.  Start with Zophar’s speech in chapter 11, then Job’s response in 12-14, Eliphaz’s second speech in 15, and finally Job’s response in 16-17.  If you’re anything like me, the text can blend together.  So, I also recommend listening to it rather than reading it.  This is a conversation and hearing it read makes it a lot more personal and real.   Listen to each chunk multiple times, and you’ll get the overall gist of each speaker’s arguments.

As we hear from these 2 friends and Job, we’re going to see a subtle temptation and a subtle faith.  They can get drowned out amid the strong language and lamentations.  But as we step back to look at the whole, I think we will see that in the midst of Job’s roller coaster of emotions, he keeps coming back to the Lord with his questions, his anguish, and his isolation.  And to each aspect of his suffering, the Lord embeds in Job’s words an anticipation of the answer that is found in Jesus.  We often say that Jesus is the answer.  This week, we will see the questions and the needs that find their fulfilment in the Gospel.  So come ready to ride along with Job and his friends as they try to make sense of it all.  See you Sunday!