Beloved, I am pleased to share with you today the above theme from Job 4:1-2 and following. Indeed, in turn, Job’s friends speak. These comforters, what are they going to say consoling? These sages, with what wisdom will they teach their unhappy friend and calm his despair? Will they have, as later the divine Doctor, that language of scholars who knows how to “support with a word the one who is tired?” (Isa 50.4-9). On the contrary, their speeches will only gradually exasperate poor Job! It’s not that their arguments are always wrong! We find great truths that are part of the inspired Word. Some verses are even quoted in the New Testament (Jb 5:13 in 1 Cor 3:18-20). But Eliphaz, Bildad and Tsophar will make these truths a false application to Job’s case. Like these three men, we can know many truths… and quote them inappropriately. “A word spoken in its time, how good it is” (Pr 15:23).
Eliphaz in vs. 3 and 4 bears a good testimony to Job who, before being himself under discipline, had straightened up failing hands and shaky knees (Heb 12:11-13). Well – his friend told him quite abruptly – since it is your turn to be affected by misfortune, so put into practice what you taught others (Rom. 2.17-24). Eliphaz the Themanite, who seems to have been the oldest of the three friends and the one who speaks with the most dignity, first reproaches Job for his lack of firmness in the presence of the first misfortune that had befallen him and his family. Moreover, not content with this, he takes job back, because, while he had so well consoled others in their pains, he had yielded under the weight of trial, when it had reached him himself. He maintains the infallible righteousness of God’s ways that can never forget the innocent or spare the guilty. He goes further and tells the story of what was communicated to him by a spirit, he says, and which was secretly revealed to him, his ear having been opened to hear some of the things contained in the visions of the night. He makes a striking description of the latter and the solemn words that have been spoken in his ears. The sum of this revelation was a judgment of the presumption of mortal man who wants to bring God to the bar of his court in any way. He also insists on the madness of the one who resorts to the help of the creature.
The ideas of sin and suffering against which Job’s poem was written now appear dramatically. The belief of the three friends had always been that God, as the righteous Governor of human life, gives bliss in proportion to obedience and names trouble to the exact extent of disobedience. Job himself, in fact, must have had the same creed. One can imagine that, while he was prosperous, his friends had often told him about this very point. They had often praised him for the wealth and happiness he enjoyed as proof of the great favor of the Almighty. During the conversation, they had noticed case after case, which seemed to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that if men reject God, affliction and disaster invariably ensue. Their idea of the order of things was very simple and, on the whole, it had never been seriously questioned.
Of course, human justice, even grossly administered, and the practice of private revenge helped realize their theory of divine government. If a serious crime was committed, the injured person’s friends would take up his cause and prosecute the perpetrator to retaliate. His home may have been set on fire and his herds scattered, himself driven into a kind of exile. The administration of the law was crude, but the unwritten code of the desert made the evildoer suffer and allowed the man of good morality to enjoy life if he could. These facts would support the belief that God always regulated a man’s happiness by his merits. And beyond that, regardless of what was done by men, quite a few accidents and calamities seemed to show divine judgment against evil. Then, as now, one could say that vengeful forces are hiding in lightning, storm, plague, forces that are directed against transgressors and cannot be evaded.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Eliphaz’s intervention: blessed is the man whom God takes back:
- Spiritual instruction, examples of
1 Sam 9:27 When they came down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Tell your servant to pass before us. And the servant passed by. Stop now, Samuel resumed, and I will make you hear the word of God. 2 Kings 17:28 One of the priests who had been taken captive from Samaria came to bethel and taught them how they should fear jehovah. Mt 5:2 Then, having opened his mouth, he taught them, and said: Acts 18:26 He began to speak freely in the synagogue. Aquila and Priscilla, having heard him, took him with them, and more accurately explained to him the way of God.
- Human weakness, manifested by all men
Nb 11:14 I cannot, on my own, carry all this people, for it is too heavy for me. Mt 26:40 And he came to the disciples, whom he found asleep, and said to Peter, “So you could not watch an hour with me! Jn 16:12 I still have a lot to tell you, but you can’t wear them now. 1 Cor 3:2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you could not bear it; and you cannot even now, because you are still carnal.
- Breath of God, power of the
2 Sam 22:16 The bed of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were discovered, By the threat of the Lord, by the sound of the breath of his nostrils. Jb 4:9 They perish by the breath of God, They are consumed by the wind of his wrath, Isaiah 11:4 But he will judge the poor with fairness, And he will pronounce with righteousness on the unfortunate of the earth; He will strike the earth with his word like a rod, and with the breath of his lips he will make the wicked die. Isa 30:28 His breath is like an overwhelmed torrent that reaches up to the neck, to sift through the nations with the sift of destruction, and like a deceptive bit between the jaws of peoples.
- Fragility of man, general references
1 Sam 20:3 David said again, swearing: Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he will have said, Let Jonathan not know; it would hurt him. But Jehovah is alive and your soul is alive! there is only one step between me and death. Ps 49:13 But the man who is in honor has no duration, He is like the beasts that are slaughtered. Isa 2:22 Stop entrusting yourselves in man, in whose nostrils there is only one breath: For what value is he? 1 Pet 1:24 For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass dries, and the flower falls;
From all of the above, we note that all things are in the hand of the One who suddenly strikes the fool who thought he was safe. Finally, he invites Job to repentance, adding that if he humbled himself before God, this trial would not be dispelled, but that he would come out of it more blessed than ever. This, I believe, in a few words, is the general scope of Eliphaz’s first speech in chapters 4 and 5. It is, however, too remarkable a fact for us not to stop there, namely that the Spirit of God quotes as part of the Scriptures words that Jehovah judges at the end of the book as having given not only a false appreciation of Job, but also of Himself. These words are not what Jehovah says at the end, nor what Elihu expresses in the debate, as an interpreter, or even Job’s plea. It is the words of Eliphaz that are quoted by the apostle Paul in the New Testament. That is a very striking fact. God Himself declares that Job’s friends did not speak properly; however, the Holy Spirit gives us their talks out of inspiration and uses the words of one of them as part of the scriptures. Certainly, these two points of view fit together without difficulty. One need only examine Eliphaz’s words to realize that they contain nothing that is not according to the truth. On the other hand, if we weigh their application to Job, they are seriously erroneous. How wise are the ways of the Lord and how admirable the teachings of the Word are! In the first epistle to the Corinthians, as in the one to the Hebrews, the New Testament quotes the words of Eliphaz, but here the application is perfectly right. In The story of Job, this is not so, and his friends are the object of divine reprehension for their words, while the application is as right as the scope, when the Spirit quotes them in the New Testament; everything is in its place. This is a striking example of how wonderful God faces everything according to His own wisdom. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Shout, please! Is there anyone to answer you? And which of the saints will you turn to? (Job 5)
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.