The words of Job's wife, seeing him in such anguish, are well known to us. They sound so cruel, so cold. "'Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.' But he said to her, 'You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we recieve the good at the hand of God, and not recieve the bad?'"
We assume that she just hit her breaking point and emotionally exploded. Everything that she had - family, friends, possessions - just vanished too. And she's looking upon her husband who is afflicted with terrible sores all over his body; they're festering wounds that Job is scraping off with a broken piece of pottery. She is emotionally overwhelmed, crushed. We see her breaking point, but we write it off as cold and callous. She saw her husband in this wretched state and just couldn't believe that he still clung to his claim of innocence. She wanted him to be out of his pain and misery. Job was the spiritual leader in his marriage. He had faith when even his wife gave up. He persevered through pain, through debates, through anguish, through everything that was presented to him. Job knew in Whom his faith was found, and he knew of His righteousness, His truth, His insurmountable goodness and mercy, His faithfulness, and His justice. And Job clung to Him as best he could, for he knew no other way.
Job's friends surely cared for him. They loved him, and they showed it. They came from distances when they heard of their friend's loss and pain. They tore their clothes, they wept - they mourned - and, "They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great." They didn't know how to comfort him because they realized that what he experienced was beyond how they could relate. Yet his friends stayed with him in his distress, hoping to comfort him with their presence. They surrounded their loved one and waited. During that time I would find it difficult to believe that those men did not spend their time praying and thinking.
What is the point of life, of learning, of pain, if we have no hope after death? What should stop us from being hedonists? Why should we not flee from every painful experience in our lives if this is all we have? These issues come to a head in Chapter 14, where Job questions whether men have life after death. "If mortals die, will they live again?" The answer once again is found in the life and power of Jesus Christ, who is given power over death. In John 11:25-26 it is written, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" There is a resurrection. Therefore there is hope. This pain is temporary, these circumstances are temporary, but life in Christ will never pass away.
When faced with the reality of the Lord Almighty answering him, Job concludes rather quickly that he is "of small account." In light of God, who made all that exists, who knows all, who is everywhere and eternal, Job cannot count himself righteous or important or worthy. He is humbled before the Lord. Job has understood that he is unable to contend with God, for he knew that he needed a Mediator. However, Job further realizes that life is not about the person or the circumstances. God alone gives life and meaning to all. Job is humbled by His truth. After this, Job does not seek further vindication but accepts the will of God as something not to be fully grasped by man. Certainly we do go through life searching for meaning, but we need to find that meaning through experiencing an intimate relationship with our Creator and Savior.
