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Eliphaz Offers Job a Reason and Solution
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I.
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Eliphaz dares to speak
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*it is likely that he was the oldest since his name is mentioned first and he speaks first, also note that when Job responds to Eliphaz, he responds as if Eliphaz were speaking for all of them. Also, he opens up his conversation seasoned with more grace than his companions.
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A.
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Respectfully opens the conversation and tells Job why he should listen
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> Says: “Will you be patient with me” – He’s preparing Job to hear hard news!
> Says: “Who can refrain?” – after what Job has just said, who can keep quiet!
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Look, you have instructed many; you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled, and you have strengthened the knees that gave way. But now the same thing comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are terrified. Is not your piety your confidence, and your blameless ways your hope?
Job 4:3-6 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “You have instructed many” - now it’s your turn and you don’t even take your own advice. Shouldn’t your blameless ways direct you?”
Q: How easy is it for those that are discouraged to ‘pick themselves up’? Whose role is it to encourage?
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B
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He lays out his THESIS:
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Q: What is he really telling Job?
Q: What would the motive be in saying this to Job?
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C
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He VALIDATES what he is about to say:
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1.
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Begins with: “As I have seen..”
Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. There is the roaring of the lion and the growling of the young lion, but the teeth of the young lions are broken. The mighty lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Job 4:8-11 - New English Translation (NET)
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Variations in translations:
*5 different Hebrew words for lion are used in these verses.
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v10
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KJV, NASB, ESV –
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“the teeth of the young lions are broken”
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NIV –
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“the teeth of the great lions are broken”
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v11
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KJV –
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“the old lion perisheth for lack of prey”
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NIV, NASB –
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“the lion perishes for lack of prey”
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ESV –
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“the strong lion perishes for lack of prey”
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The sense seems to be with broken teeth the lions roar will not feed him, he’ll perish – just as any will who do the wrong things.
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2.
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“The word was confirmed by a dream & a spirits visitation”
Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it. In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night when a deep sleep falls on men, a trembling gripped me — and a terror! — and made all my bones shake. Then a breath of air passes by my face; it makes the hair of my flesh stand up. It stands still, but I cannot recognize its appearance; an image is before my eyes, and I hear a murmuring voice:
Job 4:12-16 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “Breath of air” (ESV, NIV, NASB “spirit”) = can mean either spirit or breath. Commentators are uncertain whether Eliphaz is referring to a spirit or simply wind blowing on his face. Since the word can be either masculine or feminine it would not normally be translated spirit in other passages.
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“The WORD that supports what Eliphaz has to say”
Is a mortal man righteous before God? Or a man pure before his Creator? If God puts no trust in his servants and attributes folly to his angels, how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth? They are destroyed between morning and evening; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. Is not their excess wealth taken away from them? They die, yet without attaining wisdom.
Job 4:17-21 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “righteous before God” – scholars disagree on how to properly translate this phrase.
KJV, NIV – “more just/righteous than God”
NASB, ESV – “just/in the right before God”
> Says: “God puts no trust in his servants and attributes folly to his angels” – meaning, if others in God’s creation are not infallible, how can you be?
The spirit confirms what Eliphaz has observed… no one is blameless before God”
Q: Do you agree with this statement?
Q: Where do you think the “winds” may have come from, if not from God?
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D.
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He presents the EVIDENCE
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1.
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“Truth is truth… Job has no where to turn in order to refute the truth”
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2.
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“Bad things don’t just happen for no reason”
For wrath kills the foolish person, and anger slays the silly one. I myself have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his place of residence. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed at the place where judgment is rendered, nor is there anyone to deliver them. The hungry eat up his harvest, and take it even from behind the thorns, and the thirsty swallow up their fortune. For evil does not come up from the dust, nor does trouble spring up from the ground, but people are born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward.
Job 5:2-7 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “Have seen the fool taking root” – Someone who builds his life on sandy ground?
> Says: “His children crushed at the place of judgment” – OUCH!
He restates his thesis – just in case Job missed it the first time.
Q: Where does he say trouble comes from?
Q: Is he right?
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E.
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He offers advise to Job
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1.
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But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would set forth my case. He does great and unsearchable things, Marvelous things without number; he gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields; he sets the lowly on high, that those who mourn are raised to safety. He frustrates the plans of the crafty so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had planned! He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is brought to a quick end. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope about in the noontime as if it were night. So he saves from the sword that comes from their mouth, even the poor from the hand of the powerful. Thus the poor have hope, and iniquity shuts its mouth.
Job 5:8-16 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “But as for me” – Q: What’s he implying?
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“He saves from the sword that comes from their mouth, even the poor from the hand of the powerful.”
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KJV, NIV
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He saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
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NASB, ESV
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He saves from the sword of their mouth, And the poor from the hand of the mighty.
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God is just, he’ll exonerate you if you are truly innocent!
*Job does follow the advise of seeking God in v7:17-21
“Seek God. He’s powerful. He’s hope.”
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2.
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Therefore, blessed is the man whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he also bandages; he strikes, but his hands also heal. He will deliver you from six calamities; yes, in seven no evil will touch you. In time of famine he will redeem you from death, and in time of war from the power of the sword. You will be protected from malicious gossip, and will not be afraid of the destruction when it comes. You will laugh at destruction and famine and need not be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For you will have a pact with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. And you will know that your home will be secure, and when you inspect your domains, you will not be missing anything. You will also know that your children will be numerous, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. You will come to your grave in a full age, As stacks of grain are harvested in their season. Look, we have investigated this, so it is true. Hear it, and apply it for your own good.
Job 5:17-27 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “Blessed is the man whom God corrects” – Q: What is the implication?
> Says: “six calamities; yes, in seven” – following one number by the next highest expresses thoroughness. 7 is the number of perfection.
“God’s correction is for our good, heed it!”
Eliphaz ends on this passionate (and upbeat) note!?!
Q: How do you see God’s correction?
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Q: Eliphaz does not say WHY Job is being corrected, but what is the direct implication for being corrected?
Q: What problem does Job have if he thinks he’s blameless but God is correcting him?
Q: Does he have hope of getting out from under God’s rod of correction if he sees himself as blameless?
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II.
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Job responds to Eliphaz
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A.
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He ACKNOWLEDGES his words have been severe
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Then Job responded: “Oh, if only my grief could be weighed, and my misfortune laid on the scales too! But because it is heavier than the sand of the sea, that is why my words have been wild. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks their poison; God’s sudden terrors are arrayed against me. “Does the wild donkey bray when it is near grass? Or does the ox low near its fodder? Can food that is tasteless be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? I have refused to touch such things; they are like loathsome food to me.
Job 6:1-7 - New English Translation (NET)
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Job uses analogy to indicate how he and grief are intermingled
All these things are connected
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Wild donkey
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bray
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Near grass
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Ox
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low
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Near fodder
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Tasteless food
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eaten
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Without salt
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White of egg
(scholars unsure of what this is, if it’s even a food. The idea is that it’s something disgusting a slimy like the white around an egg yolk)
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taste
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When eaten
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Q: If Jobs misery/misfortune are placed on a scale opposite his complaining, which is greater?
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B.
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He RESTATES his grief
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Oh that my request would be realized, and that God would grant me what I long for! And that God would be willing to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and kill me. Then I would yet have my comfort, then I would rejoice, in spite of pitiless pain, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. What is my strength, that I should wait? and what is my end, that I should prolong my life? Is my strength like that of stones? or is my flesh made of bronze? Is not my power to help myself nothing, and has not every resource been driven from me?
Job 6:8-13 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “I have not concealed the words of the Holy One” – He has been innocent in defying God
“It is real whether he used extreme words or not! He CANNOT endure anymore!”
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C.
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He REBUKES his friends for their “efforts”
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What Job needs is not coming from his friends’ efforts.
“Doesn’t a man deserve more from his friends?”
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1.
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To the one in despair, kindness should come from his friend even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
Q: You thoughts on that statement?
My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream, and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams that flow away. They are dark because of ice; snow is piled up over them. When they are scorched, they dry up, when it is hot, they vanish from their place. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema looked intently for these streams; the traveling merchants of Sheba hoped for them. They were distressed, because each one had been so confident; they arrived there, but were disappointed.
Job 6:14-20 - New English Translation (NET)
Job uses a metaphor of caravans desperately searching for a stream for water that at an earlier time was raging. When they finally arrive it has dried up.
Q: Wasn’t this a bit unfair? They’ve traveled from their homes, sat with him in silence for 7 days & nights. What did Eliphaz say that was so wrong?
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2.
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For now you have become like these streams that are no help; you see a terror, and are afraid. “Have I ever said, ‘Give me something, and from your fortune make gifts in my favor’? Or ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s power, and from the hand of tyrants ransom me’?
Job 6:21-23 - New English Translation (NET)
“Has he ever abused their kindness? Or taken advantage of them in any way, or even asked for help?”
> Says: “you see a terror, and are afraid” – Q: Where they afraid of the looks of Job or afraid lest God inflict the same upon them for comforting Job?
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3.
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Teach me and I, for my part, will be silent; explain to me how I have been mistaken. How painful are honest words! But what does your reproof prove? Do you intend to criticize mere words, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind? Yes, you would gamble for the fatherless, and auction off your friend. “Now then, be good enough to look at me; and I will not lie to your face! Relent, let there be no falsehood; reconsider, for my righteousness is intact! Is there any falsehood on my lips? Can my mouth not discern evil things?
Job 6:24-30 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “Criticize mere words” – I may have said extreme things but you KNOW my actions.
“As much as it hurts and strains him, he asks them to point out what he is be being punished for” – “Don’t just generalize it – tell me what I did!”
Q: What did Job expect to be their response?
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D.
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Job speaks of life
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1.
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Does not humanity have hard service on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant longing for the evening shadow, and like a hired man looking for his wages, thus I have been made to inherit months of futility, and nights of sorrow have been appointed to me. If I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise?’, and the night stretches on And I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns. My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and festering. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is but a breath, that my eyes will never again see happiness. The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again. He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence know him any more.
Job 7:1-10 - New English Translation (NET)
“Life is hard, life is short”
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2.
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Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, that you must put me under guard? If I say, “My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,” then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I would prefer strangling, and death more than life. I loathe it; I do not want to live forever; leave me alone, for my days are a vapor!
Job 7:11-16 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “You scare me with dreams” – they have added to his misery!
Q: Job is speaking to God here, were the dreams ones that Job had or was he referring to Eliphaz’s dream – that Job would then be attributing as God originated?
“It’s his right to cry out”
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E.
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Job cries out to God
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What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them? And that you visit them every morning, and try them every moment? Will you never look away from me, will you not let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle? If I have sinned — what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target? Have I become a burden to you? And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, and you will seek me diligently, but I will be gone.
Job 7:17-21 - New English Translation (NET)
> Says: “Every, never” – Q: Is it true? Why does Job say this?
> Says: “Pardon my transgression” – Q: Is Job acknowledging sin?
*Notice that God is the one that “set him as a target.”
“Why do you pay so much attention to us and not just leave us alone?”
“Why not tell me if I have wronged you”
“Why me?”
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Compare: Job 7:17 – “What is man?” to Psalm 8:4 – “What is man?”
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