Imagine walking on the edge of a body of water. With hesitation you want to get into the water, but the cold and wetness delay that move. Finally you slowly touch the water surface, breaking the calm with a ripple. You deepen into the cold until you are submerged. Now that the initial deterrent has passed, you start to swim, disregarding the original hesitation. The friends of Job had things to say, although they also had some hesitation and caution. That surface has been breached now. In the previous chapters we see some caution, but now we see the full force of their arguments unfold. They jump headlong into their understanding of why Job is suffering, and they do not pull their punches with their suffering friend; neither does Job.
The friends insisted that their logic stands firm. Job must have done something bad to deserve this suffering. Relentlessly they pull at each other as they give examples to state their cases. The friends claim that the wicked suffer, but Job counters that they do not suffer and then die in peace at the end of a long life. The friends insisted very directly that Job obviously missed something. If he really lived righteously, he would not have suffered.
Imagine sitting with friends in the early afternoon. You are busy working hard, but you take a quick break. You say that you are very tired. Then they claim that you should have eaten a good breakfast. They further propose that you eat something now, but you are not hungry. You protest that you did have a good breakfast. Can you feel the tension that will follow if they insist that you did not eat and should eat now? Can you imagine that they claim you obviously did not eat, because you would have had strength to work hard if you did eat?
We tend to still do this today. If a friend is suffering from something, usually the advice leans towards what they must fix. If you struggle with health, eat more healthily. If you are sad, think happier thoughts. This is the same mindset. If you are suffering, it is because you did something to deserve it, so fix it and receive rewards. The advice might be true, but it also solely puts all the weight of circumstances on the person in a certain situation. We see Job pleading with his friends that they are suggesting things that are not true. You can feel the frustration from Job as he proclaims his innocence. In chapter 16 we see Job anguishing over how God is tormenting him, even though he is innocent. He wants to plead his case before God.
The remarkable thing that we do see from Job, between the strikes from his friends on his righteousness and his own pleas, is this: He still holds fast that God is his redeemer (Job 19:25). Whilst Job is being exposed and torn in anguish, he holds onto this—that God is righteous and powerful. He wants to plead to God that he is suffering by mistake.
In Matthew 7:2, we see that Jesus explains that we will also be measured by the same measure we use on others. The friends judged Job by their model, deducing that he must have sinned because he suffered. But what would happen if they suffered without sinning? Later in the same sermon, Jesus says that we can recognize a tree by its fruit (Matthew 7:20)—and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are not wealth or comfort. Job’s friends measured by the wrong standard.
Job stands firm that he is righteous and innocent. So this leaves the question bare: why is he suffering? He claims injustice and his friends claim Job is lying. If you saw two apples under an apple tree, would you assume both fell from the tree? What if one was placed there by a person? We should not be fast to assume the cause of a situation.