We saw the heaviness of Job’s situation and how it weighed on him. The friends are about to explain to Job why they believe he is suffering. They probably wanted him to be restored, so they gave honest solutions to the situation they perceived.
Consider that when we eat too much food over a prolonged time it would result in us picking up weight. In the short term we might have a stomach ache. If we then want to lose weight we have to adjust our eating. If we want to become fit and strong, we need to exercise. If we want to receive a salary, we have to work for it. Our reference is that we see things change because of our input.
This cause-and-effect thinking was not unique to us. It shaped the worldview of Job’s friends.
The friends in the week of silence saw the suffering of Job. They must have strained their minds and anguished to understand his suffering. The friends had to either accuse Job or deny the justice of God.
Job is much closer to the time of the flood and those men likely had firsthand knowledge of the events we read of in early Genesis. They were very aware that God saw evil and judged it. We read of this flow of events in Genesis 6:5-7. We see in the verses that follow that Noah was a righteous man and how he was saved from the calamity that befell the earth. This theological model shaped their understanding of divine justice. The model of thought was that if you are wicked, it results in suffering. The contrary is that if you are righteous, it results in blessing.
Armed with this understanding of divine justice, the friends faced Job’s suffering and had to draw a conclusion.
Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar began to speak to Job, their friend. They started with caution. Eliphaz began to speak gently, addressing their hurting friend, though his soft words carried an implicit accusation. The friends imposed the model onto Job and logically, if Job suffered, it must be that Job did something wicked. So they started with probing suggestions and direct statements. “The innocent does not suffer” (Job 4:7), so he implies that Job must have done something to receive such suffering and that he needs to repent, for that would result in relief and blessing. In the same way, when we are overweight, we are told to stop eating badly and eat right, for that would result in a healthier weight.
Now, Job pleaded with his friends. He emphasized that he is suffering greatly, but that he is innocent. He did not attack the model that was presented to him; he pleaded his position. It is to our ears like somebody that eats healthy and exercises well but is still overweight. We tend to think, surely somewhere that person is cheating and is eating something either knowingly or unknowingly that is causing the results. The injustice that Job is presenting to his friends is that he is suffering greatly but that he did not do anything to cause this. With these words ringing in his ears, in addition to his already suffering soul, Job felt the weight of their accusation.
The innocent prosper and the wicked wither. But here we have a withering Job, called innocent and upright at the start of the book. We see the model and we see the break in its flow. We sit with a bit more information than Job; we feel the injustice and suffering of Job. We also feel the weight of the friends’ accusation as they refer to the death of his children and his great loss and obvious anguish in front of their very eyes.
An over simplification of reality leaves us with a distorted and incomplete picture. This is the very thing that God displayed to Job. God understands the complexities of reality and that idea brought Job to his knees. The friends were trapped in a model that left no room for innocence that suffered. For them, Job was guilty. A simple approach to this problem led the friends of Job to accuse their friend in a time when he was in need of compassion, not more wounds.