Job 6:14 - Meaning and Application

Eliphaz had been very harsh in his criticism of Job, and his friends, though they had said little so far, had shown that they agreed with him. Job complains of their coldness as part of his misery, and as another reason for wanting to die. What comfort could he expect in this world when the people who should have comforted him were instead adding to his pain?

He first shows why he had every right to expect kindness from them. That expectation rested on plain human decency, as Job 6:14 says: “A friend should show pity to one who is suffering and wasting away under trouble; anyone who does not do so turns away from the fear of the Almighty.” Compassion is owed to people who are hurting. Those who are at ease should at least pity the afflicted, show real concern, listen to their complaints, share their sorrow, and do what they can to help and comfort them. This is especially fitting among members of the same human family, because any one of us may soon need the same kindness.

Lack of mercy is also a sign of godlessness. Whoever withholds compassion from a friend has, in effect, abandoned reverence for God. How can God’s love live in a person who refuses help to someone in need? (1 John 3:17). People who have no pity for others under God’s discipline show that they do not fear God’s own hand on themselves. See also (James 1:27). Trouble also tests friendship. When a person suffers, it becomes clear who is a true friend and who is only pretending. As Scripture says, a friend is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 18:24).

Job then shows how badly they disappointed him. “My brothers,” he says, “who should have helped me, have proven false like a stream” (Job 6:15). They had come with ceremony to mourn with him and comfort him (Job 2:11). Because they were wise and respected men, Job had expected their words to be full of comfort, reminding him of his former godliness, assuring him of God’s favor, and pointing him toward a good ending. Instead, they attacked him with reproaches, called him a hypocrite, mocked his suffering, and poured vinegar into wounds that needed oil. In this way they dealt falsely with him.

It is deceitful not only to break our promises to friends, but also to disappoint the hopes we have encouraged in them. It is wise to put little trust in people and much trust in God. We cannot expect too little from human beings or too much from the Lord. Even brothers can be false to one another (Jeremiah 9:4, Jeremiah 9:5; Micah 7:5). So we should trust the rock of ages, not broken reeds, and the fountain of life, not broken cisterns. God will always exceed our hopes, just as people often fall far short of them.

Job compares this disappointment to brooks that dry up in summer. Their early promises are like streams that swell with melted snow and floodwater, looking dark and full (Job 6:16). His hopes from his friends were like the hope travelers feel when they find a stream they have seen full in winter and expect to drink from it again in summer (Job 6:19). Caravans from Tema and Sheba, merchants traveling through the deserts of Arabia, would look for water in such streams. One traveler would say, “It is just ahead,” and another, “I saw water here before.” When we have found relief in a place before, we tend to expect it again. But that is not sure.

The disappointment is like travelers arriving at a dry bed of sand where they expected water. In winter, when no one needed it much, the stream was full. People praise and admire those who are prosperous and overflowing. But in the heat of summer, when water is needed most, it is gone. It has disappeared, or been turned aside (Job 6:17, Job 6:18). In the same way, when rich and powerful people fall into need, those who once gathered around them often step away, and those who once praised them are quick to condemn them. Anyone who places high hopes in creatures will find them failing at the very time they are most needed. But those who trust God have help when they need it most (Hebrews 4:16). Those who make wealth their hope will one day be ashamed of it, and of the confidence they placed in it (Ezekiel 7:19). The more they trusted it, the greater their shame will be: “They were ashamed because they had hoped” (Job 6:20).

We make our own disappointment when we build our hopes on weak things. Reeds break if we lean on them. A house built on sand will fall in the storm, and the fault will be ours for expecting it to stand. We are not truly deceived unless we deceive ourselves.

Job then applies this directly to his friends: “You are nothing now” (Job 6:21). They had seemed important, but in their talk they added nothing to him. He was no wiser and no better for their visit. This is a lesson for us. No matter how useful, dear, or impressive people may seem, there comes a time when we have to say, “You are nothing.” When Job was prosperous, his friends meant something to him, and he enjoyed their company. But now he could find comfort only in God.

It would be good for us to have this same clear view of the emptiness of created things, and of their inability to make us happy. Sometimes we learn this on a sickbed, a deathbed, or under deep conviction of sin: “You are nothing. You are not what you were, not what you should be, not what you claim to be, and not what I thought you would be, because you see my fall and are afraid.”

When you saw me in my success, you treated me warmly. But now that you see me brought low, you avoid me. You are afraid to show kindness, because you think it might encourage me to ask more from you, or to borrow from you, as in Job 6:22. You seem to fear that if you admit any connection with me, you may end up having to support me.

Perhaps they were also afraid of catching his disease, or even of being too near its unpleasant smell. But it is wrong, whether from pride or fussiness, or from caring too much about our money or our own comfort, to keep away from people in distress and fear to come near them. Their situation may soon be ours.