Although Job’s three friends came to comfort him, they believed that his troubles came upon him through his own sin, believing that suffering is a sign of disfavor from God,

“For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one. I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer. Because the hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and a snare snatches their substance. For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground; yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:2–7).

Job’s friend Eliphaz believed that trouble does not come from dust, or out of thin air, as we might say, but Job’s troubles were rooted in his foolishness.

Eliphaz and his two friends surely had lived long enough to see that sometimes the innocent suffer, and the wicked prosper.