Job 5

Verses 1-5

• Eliphaz begins by telling Job that foolish people are the ones who suffer, underhandedly implying that Job and his sons were foolish. Job's sons had died, so it's likely that Eliphaz blames their death on their own foolishness. 

  • These are hurtful words. When someone loses loved ones, don't be quick to say that death came because of foolish behavior. This isn't always true. 

  • Notice, in verse 3, that Eliphaz is speaking from his own experience. He says, “I have seen...” In the previous chapter, he predicated his words on a spiritual vision he had, which also deceived him. 

    • Remember not to base your counsel to anyone upon personal opinions or experiences. These can easily deceive us. Our teaching must be based upon the truth of the Word. At best, relevant experiences can enhance a truth already existing in the Word.

Verses 6-9

• Next, Eliphaz tells Job that adversity doesn't just spring up from nothing. This is true. We live in a world that's fallen. And all people are “born to trouble” because we are born with a sinful nature as well. Therefore, Job, having a sinful nature, must have some sin that's causing his affliction, right? Therefore, he should commit himself to God, as Eliphaz has...or so it seems.

• Although he speaks some truth, Eliphaz, again, is using these principles wrongly, implying that Job must be in some sin or foolishness, otherwise his affliction would be springing up from nothing. 

  • Eliphaz misunderstands. Afflictions come, and not always because of some sin. Some afflictions come because God has simply allowed the enemy to bring them. And remember that such are allowed for reasons that will be for our good in the end (Romans 8:28).

     

Verses 10-26

• Eliphaz then moves to speak of God's greatness as seen in His works. He adds that God does save and deliver the lowly, and those who seek Him will have peace, and that being painfully corrected by God ultimately leads to good things (verses 17-22) (also see Hebrews 12:11). Yes, this is true. However, Eliphaz seems to have this truth misplaced. Job is a man who seeks God, and yet he is suffering. Job came to his dwelling not to find nothing amiss (verse 24), but to find everything destroyed!

  • The point? Making a true statement in the wrong context, or to the wrong person, is unhelpful at best and harmful at worst. When you speak, make sure you think about who you're speaking to, and be considerate of their situation. Giving a correction from the Word in an incorrect context is still speaking amiss! 

Verse 27

• Eliphaz and his friends were over-confident, being convinced that they were right in what they said to Job. I'm sure they were well meaning, but they were obviously missing some pieces to the puzzle. 

  • It doesn't matter how much you've studied, or how many of your friends agree with you. You can still be wrong about some things, or missing information, and simply because you don't know what you don't know.

  • Often times, it's not what we know that causes us to speak amiss, but what we don't know. We can get overconfident with the partial truth that we know, leaving us to be humiliated over the full truth that we were ignorant of.

• Be careful about what you say so confidently about God and His decisions. Have a fear of God. There is much that we don't understand. If you aren't careful, you could end up like Eliphaz, who spoke amiss and was under judgment for it (Job 42:7)—though not because his doctrine was false, but because he spoke proudly without thought to his own ignorance.

  • A good rule of thumb is this: Focus on Christ and His walk, not God and His decisions. “For His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33). Don't teach on what you don't fully understand. And be humble about discerning this.