Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Job 4

Eliphaz

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?

3 Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.

4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.

5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

6 Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?

7 "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?

8 As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.

9 At the breath of God they are destroyed;
at the blast of his anger they perish.

10 The lions may roar and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.

11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 "A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.

13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,

14 fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.

15 A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.

16 It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:

17 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

18 If God places no trust in his servants,
if he charges his angels with error,

19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!

20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.

21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?'

Side Notes:

One thing my Bible cautions about is that this is Eliphaz speaking and not God so we must be careful about building our knowledge on Eliphaz's opinions. His argument is that suffering is a direct result from sin and if Job would only confess his sin (or sins) then his suffering would end. In Job's case this was not true but there are cases where it is (Gal. 6:7, 8). Eliphaz made many good and true comments, but he also made three wrong assumptions: a.) a good and innocent person never suffers; b.) those who are suffering are being punished for their past sins; c.) Job, because he was suffering, had done something wrong in God's eyes.

vs.7 & 8 Part of what Eliphaz said was true, and part of it was false. It is true that those who promote sin and trouble will eventually be punished (and not necessarily here on Earth); but it is false to assume that the good and innocent will never suffer.

All the material recorded and quoted in the Bible is there by God's choice. Some is a record of what people said and did but is not an example to follow. The sins, the defeats, the evil thoughts and misconceptions about God are all part of God's divinely inspired Word, but we should not follow those wrong examples just because they are in the Bible. The Bible gives us teachings and examples of what we should do as well as what we should not do. Eliphaz's comments are an example of what we should try to avoid - making false assumptions about others based on our own experiences.

4 comments:

Feldman Family said...

I guess verses 4-5 just served as a reminder to me..."Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed." We need to live what we profess even while we are in troubles and not run away from it. When troubles come we need to stand strong...stronger than when things aren't going wrong...what's that verse...in my weakness I will be made strong. I think Job had the reaction a lot of us have when we are facing a trial...we do get down...we do get discouraged...I remember thinking...well...man...is my faith not strong enough. Did I not believe hard enough that God could heal Emmalee and that's why she's not here with us anymore. I am glad that I can say I never did curse God during the time...I maybe questioned Him, but never cursed. Eliphaz is like many around us...there are still people today that believe that it's because of something we have done that we are going through our suffering...while in some cases that may be true...it is certainly not true for most of us. I even had a lady come up to me and tell me that she didn't think that God wanted us to have any children. I just looked back at her and said...well I hope that's not the case. I guess the important thing to remember is that God is there for us...He hates to see us suffer too...could you imagine being Job and having Eliphaz come up to you and tell you that if you would just repent all your sins then you would be done suffering. We need to remember to be kind to others while they are in trials...be there as a friend and not someone to pass judgement on them.

Anna said...

How much more difficult for Job that not only is he having to suffer emotionally and physically, but he also has someone telling him it's his fault, that this is all happening because he has done something that he needs to repent for. I think it can be easy when hardships, sufferings and trials come up to fall into the thinking that it's punishment. I know I've certainly fallen into that trap regarding Morgan's death on a couple of occasions. I know this isn't true of course, but it can be hard to not think those things when you are looking for reasons why. What we really need to do is just trust in God, that he has a plan for each one of us.

I think that sometimes Satan is able to use those feelings to drive a wedge between people and God. One of my favorite authors is Karen Kingsbury and in one of her books a family of 4 is ripped in half by tragedy. The widow in the book spends a lot of time being angry and turning her back on God. She led a good christian life, and felt completely struck down and abandoned by God when her husband and one of her daughters died. She had previously lived with the misconception that bad things don't happen to good people. But they do, all the time.

----

Brittney-
Thanks for your prayers. I will be keeping your friend and baby Emma in my prayers.

Feldman Family said...

Well said Anna!

possemom2 said...

I wonder if Eliphaz was speaking just to fill the silence and felt he was giving Job something to think about? Verses 7 & 8 are certainly not true. If only the evil and wrongdoers were to suffer and be punished we would have no need for a justice system. That kind of talk is just hurtful to those who are experiencing sorrow and suffering. We are all taught (if we are Christian) that God is with us always. If we were to feel his wrath everytime we sinned we would almost all wish we were never born!