Seven Days of Silence

Four men sit on the ground. No one speaks. The sun goes down, and comes up, and goes down again. Seven days. Seven nights. Not a single word. And it may have been the kindest thing they ever did.

The book of Job is set long ago, in the land of Uz, somewhere to the east. Job was a good man, the Bible says, blameless and upright, who honoured God and turned away from evil. He was also the greatest man of all the people of the east, with a large family and huge flocks and herds. Then, in a terrible run of days, almost everything was taken from him. His animals were stolen or destroyed. His servants were killed. His children died when a great wind struck the house where they were gathered. And then Job himself was struck with painful sores from head to foot. Now he sits among the ashes outside the town, scraping his skin with a piece of broken pottery.

News travels. Three of Job's friends hear about everything that has happened. Eliphaz from Teman. Bildad the Shuhite. Zophar the Naamathite. Each comes from his own home, and they agree to meet, so that they can go together to sympathise with Job and comfort him. When they see him from a distance, they hardly recognise him. And they begin to weep aloud. They tear their robes, and throw dust into the air over their heads, the signs of deep grief. Then they sit down on the ground with him, for seven days and seven nights. No one says a word to him. Because they could see how very great his suffering was. They did not try to explain. They did not try to fix it. They simply came, and stayed.

At last Job speaks, crying out in anguish about the day he was born. And then his friends start to talk. And talk. And talk. For chapter after chapter, they argue with him. Their message, again and again, is this: God always punishes the wicked and blesses the good. So if you are suffering this much, Job, you must have done something terribly wrong. Confess it, and God will restore you. Job insists he has not done what they accuse him of. He pours out his pain and his questions to God. The friends who had been such good comforters in silence have become miserable comforters with their words. They were so sure they understood God's ways. Finally, God himself answers Job, out of a whirlwind, and shows him the wonders of creation, things far beyond any human understanding. And Job bows before him.

Then the LORD turns to Eliphaz. I am angry with you and your two friends, he says, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer, and not deal with you as your foolishness deserves. So Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar do what the LORD told them. Imagine that walk. Back to the man they had lectured and accused. And Job, the one they had hurt, prays for them. The LORD accepts Job's prayer. And when Job prays for his friends, the LORD restores his fortunes, and gives him twice as much as he had before.

Seven days was a traditional time of mourning in the ancient world of the Bible. When Jacob died, Genesis says Joseph mourned for his father seven days. The book of Sirach, written about two hundred years before Christ, says that mourning for the dead lasts seven days. Jewish families still keep a seven-day period of mourning, called shiva, from the Hebrew word for seven, when friends come to sit with the grieving.

Seven days of silence. You'll find this story in Job chapter two, verses eleven to thirteen, and chapter forty-two, verses seven to ten. Friends who were wonderful when they simply stayed, unhelpful when they talked too much, and a man who prayed for them anyway. So here is a question to carry with you. When someone you know is hurting, how can you simply be with them?