“Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay (attempt, try) to commune with thee wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?” (Job 4: 1, 2 KJV).
In his question to Job, Eliphaz is acknowledging that Job’s grief may still be too great for him to discuss all that has just happened to him. Job has just lost all his wealth and his children and has shaved his head, rent his mantle, sat down in an ash heap, is scraping the boils that cover his body with a broken piece of pottery, has mourned for seven days, but still may not be ready or able to talk about his ordeal.
When we see horrendous things happen to others, we are often ready and quick to address it in hopes that we may help turn things around for the good. But if the one suffering is still pained about their ordeal, they most likely will not hear a word we say. Most often, if we are one of their trusted friends, they will seek us out for conversation on the matter when they are ready to talk.
Eliphaz asked, “Can we talk about it?” But before Job could respond, Eliphaz had decided they must talk about it. For who could withhold himself from speaking after what happened to Job?
We might think that only Job’s three friends knew of his ordeal. But through the book of Job, we see that Job was greatly involved in his community. It’s likely everyone knew about Job’s trials and had already started sharing their own opinion about it. Job was the talk of the town.
Elihu, Job’s fourth friend, comes on the scene in chapter 32. He says he will give his opinion (32: 6, 10, 17). An opinion is what all of Job’s friends gave. They could not refrain from telling Job how they viewed his situation. All the book of Job except for a few chapters is about them giving their point of view and Job’s response to it.
They could all talk until they were blue in the face. But nothing changed until God came on the scene and talked to Job about it. When God spoke, everyone else became silent. After God spoke, Job said, “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further” (Job 40: 4, 5).
We can talk about anything, really anything. But let us make sure that God has the last and final say about everything. And what He has to say is found written in the Bible (KJV).
