"By the town rubbish dump
he sat in deep shock"

But faith was not just another of Job's possessions; it was deeply etched into his nature so that no action of the adversary could take it away. Despite all his pain and destitution, his reliance on and hope in God remained intact. By the town rubbish dump he sat in deep shock without speaking for seven days; but his trust in a righteous creator was solid. When he eventually spoke, it was to bemoan his misfortune and to regret that he had been born; but he did not discard his God or even slander him. That was when his next problems walked into the story. There in public view sat this respected local dignitary whose sudden fall challenged the theology of the town's leading religionists. They were determined to protect their dogmatic principles at all costs. So they came to argue with Job.
The book of Job is not easy reading because of the convoluted arguments of the four "comforters". Their objective was to argue with Job rather than to comfort him, though they convinced themselves that they were trying to help him. But their idea of helping Job was to persuade him to accept their scheme of belief. If only Job would accept their theology his problems would go away, so they believed. But life is not meant to fit theology, because life comes first. Useful theology draws evidence from the complex events of life and seeks to explain what is there, rather than what 'ought to' be there. When we put concepts into first place we hurt people, which is what the comforters did to Job. Despite the evidence and Job's assurances of his sincerity, they tried to convince Job that his own sins had caused his suffering. Some comfort!

//Continued