Covetousness has often moved men to violence that they might not have otherwise been inclined to do. For instance, wicked king Ahab had a strong desire to obtain a vineyard belonging to Naboth (1 Kings 21:1-4). When Naboth refused to sell the vineyard, Ahab returned to his house to mourn. When Jezebel saw her husband’s grief, she created a plan to take the vineyard by force (1 Kings 21:5-16). This principle is not limited to Ahab and Jezebel but has unfortunately been the historical motive for many acts of violence. When men cannot fulfil the lusts of their flesh in a righteous manner, they simply resort to other means which often includes violence.
Few men, if any, have been afflicted like Job. His troubles involved the catastrophic loss of family members as well as physical ailments beyond most people's ability to endure. During the depths of these difficult trials, Job's three “friends” (Job 2:11) visited him. They showed up to comfort him but instead turned out to be additional sources of grief. Each word spoken by his friends seemed to compound his already miserable condition and circumstances. Job did not consider this to be the work of a friend and told them that, “To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend.” Later in the same chapter, Job said that his friends dug a pit for him (Job 6:27). Job’s friends should have shown him pity during his troublesome times instead of scorning (Job 16:20) and abhorring him (Job 19:19). True friends know how to comfort and console their friends as they experience trouble and pain in life. They certainly do not unrighteously judge and condemn.
