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Job 29:21-23
21 Unto me men gave ear [shama`], and waited [yachal], and kept silence [damam] at [lamow] my counsel [`etsah].
22 After ['achar] my words [dabar] they spake not again [shanah]; and my speech [millah] dropped [nataph] upon them.
23 And they waited [yachal] for me as for the rain [matar]; and they opened [pa`ar] their mouth [peh] wide as for the latter rain [malqowsh]. KJV-Interlinear
21 'To me they listened and waited, And kept silent for my counsel. 22 'After my words they did not speak again, And my speech dropped on them. 23 'And they waited for me as for the rain, And opened their mouth as for the spring rain. NASB
Job enjoyed the position of statesman and counselor. People came to him from far and wide, to hear his words of wisdom. When a discussion broke out, folks all had their say and then it was Jobs turn.
In that case, everyone fell silent and listened with great patience. Job spoke, and when he was finished, there was nothing more to be said about the matter.
Throughout history there have been many want-to-be's, in terms of wise counselor, and kind and gentle leader. But persuasiveness usually gets lost or entwined in the political agendas of deceitful desires for power, authority, and position. The world probably has not seen a legitimate statesman in a very long time.
Perhaps Job and Jesus are the only two, ever.
Throughout the centuries of the pre-Christ era, the world was ruled by empire builders. Since the First Advent of Christ, the world has been pursued by religious empires, by monarchies, and with the advent of the United States, secular agendas, and now we see an effort to return to the religious empires of old by the Islamists.
That combination of secular and religious rule will be the form, which will exist in the Tribulation. Both typically rejecting Christ as the legitimate ruler of history, and of this world.
But back in Jobs day, his words were as those of Jesus when he first began his earthly ministry at the First Advent. He spoke and his personality, his magnetism, his dynamic appeal with people trapped them with the hypnotic appeal of truth.
Even as Job is currently suffering with tremendous physical aches and pains and discomforts, even as he is speaking, his three friends have fallen into silence.
You can probably visualize Job as always smiling, kind, dynamic and yet confidently forceful in his own will. Someone you would instantly like when you met him, or someone with whom you would dislike due to jealousy of his abilities and success.
