Job 6:1-30

Job 6:1-30

Suffering is irrational. That is not to say there is never an explanation, but in the emotional moment of suffering rational explanations, even if they are correct, are not helpful. An engineer can arrive at a crash site and explain the injuries as the result of mass, velocity, angle of impact, etc. But to the person with a shattered bone and internal trauma, the rational explanation is pointless. How much more when the explanation is wrong and delivered heartlessly, as was Eliphaz’s.

Job claims that his vigorous complaint is just because his suffering is disproportionate to anything he may have done and weighs more than sand on all the beaches. The comparison is not a rational comparison. In exact terms, how much is a ton of suffering? Job demonstrated the emotional and not rational nature of pain. In verses 8-13, Job reiterates that he would like to die; having lived innocently, death would bring peace and relief. The desire for death is not rational but an emotional response to overwhelming sorrow. Job, unlike stone or bronze, can’t hold up. 

In such emotional pain, Job’s friends have been useless. In fact, they are a net negative. He compares them to a wadi. A wadi is a stream that flows with water but only during rain or in wet weather. They can appear to be a strong water source, but only when you don’t need them. When the weather is dry and the need for water is the greatest, they are useless. Worse, they may draw travelers, who once saw them running full of water, to a dry gully. Job concludes his rebuke by essentially saying, “Your opinions are useless, and I didn’t ask for them." We can imagine our victim at the crash site responding to the engineer, “Shut the @#$%- up."

Job next tells them that if they would show him what he did wrong, he would listen, painful as that would be. But he is not interested in their vague general ideas and empty speculations. He even suspects that they are the sort of cruel people that would sell a friend and traffic an orphan.

“Lord, grant me the grace to offer the aid that is needed, not what I think people need. Amen”