Doctrine and Covenants 121:10

[askandanswer]

What did the Lord mean by this verse? I thought by the time this revelation was given, in 1839, many former close friends of Joseph had betrayed him, contended with him, and charged him with transgression.

10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy ^afriends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

[CV75]

4 hours ago, askandanswer said:

What did the Lord mean by this verse? I thought by the time this revelation was given, in 1839, many former close friends of Joseph had betrayed him, contended with him, and charged him with transgression.

10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy ^afriends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

I guess a certain threshold had not yet been met! And not matter how few left, they are still friends.

[mikbone]

Joseph had friends betray him.  But he always had support from most of the Saints.

Joseph also had some very close friends / followers that remained supportive even after being put through rough tests of loyalty (Brigham Young & Heber C Kimball come to mind).

Job didn’t have any support.

Both Job & the Liberty Jail scriptures are excellent references that we can use to give us strength in adversity.  

My favorite is D&C 122:8

[Anddenex]

16 hours ago, askandanswer said:

What did the Lord mean by this verse? I thought by the time this revelation was given, in 1839, many former close friends of Joseph had betrayed him, contended with him, and charged him with transgression.

10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy ^afriends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

I could be wrong; however, as to my understanding of Job "all" his "friends" abandoned him and did contend against him saying he was a sinner (so to speak). I often think about Hyrum with this verse and Joseph Smith. If Hyrum, and those like him, would have contended against Joseph Smith I think he would have been like Job.

I also think the "key" point to this verse is "as they did Job." It's not just the contending, but how the contending occurred and what took place as a result. There's also a lot of Job's experience we don't have and what really happened to him. We have knowledge of it, but do we fully comprehend and have all the details?

 

[Carborendum]

The difference is found when asking "who were his friends"?

Job had people who were friendly and "on his side" so to speak.  But even those guys accused him of having sinned "because it stands to reason that any curses we receive must be a direct result of our having sinned."

The people who accused Joseph had already declared themselves to be his enemies.