With Friends Like These...(Part II)

The last of the trio of Job's friends chimes in and has precious little to add to Eliphaz or Bildad. Indeed, considering where we are in the Bible and the age of this story, what we're witnessing is indeed the wrestling of what divinity is and man's place in the world. Even at this early point in man's reckoning with the Almighty, he's beginning to test the idea of salvation, both what it is and how one finds favor in God's eyes. These are huge questions yet today, but imagine them in the time of Job when everything had divine meaning--weather, seasons, misfortunes big and small. Read any mythology and similar tales are rampant throughout, and why not? Ever since we've been around, we've ALWAYS asked the most impossible question to answer, which is WHY?!?

I've going to wait a couple of days to synthesize the observations of Job's friends and Job's responses, which is the main reason I've never written a Job Bible study--it becomes rather repetitive rather quickly. Until then, consider the simple question--at this point in time (and in our study--we're at least a month away from the formal introduction of the law), just how do you think Job determined that he was faultless in God's eyes, and what do you think he expected as a result of the perceived faultlessness?
Scott