“If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the [a]feeble knees;
5 But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?
8 Even as I have seen,
Those who plow iniquity
And sow trouble reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish,
And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion,
The voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.
13 In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my body stood up.
16 It stood still,
But I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence;
Then I heard a voice saying:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 If He puts no trust in His servants,
If He charges His angels with error,
19 How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed before a moth?
20 They are broken in pieces from morning till evening;
They perish forever, with no one regarding.
21 Does not their own excellence go away?
They die, even without wisdom.’ Job 4 NKJV
Can I say something? I don't think Job is of a mind to protest here, in fact, Eliphaz has sat here silently with him for 7 days. At this point, if I were Job, I would not want just anyone's words, but would not care where the truth came from or by who, but please tell me the truth. Job is at a loss to understand this, so by all means, if you have a lamp then shine it over here. He reminds Job of his own wisdom, that he has given much instruction that has helped many who listened. So now, here you are, practice what you preach. Now this is all without the knowledge of the conversation that has occurred in heaven. We should not be men of just words, but also of action, fair enough, good general advice, and one must always have a duck's back when receiving counsel, some things are ignorant but not of ill intent.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6
In verse seven we see better where this is going, it is going to rely heavily upon a general principle, that you reap what you sew. It has been the speaker's experience, and it is a good concept in general, if I plant corn, I reap corn. If I sew discourse and speak evil, then I should expect the same, or what fruit relates. It is your karma they say, whoever they are. He thinks the sun is rising with his argument, but it has really stood still and stayed upon that darkest hour of the night. It is not only late but the clouds have moved in, and the only moon or stars are all from his memory, and he moves forward with these. Job, when has this ever happened to an innocent man? Isn't it that simple, that you stuck yourself inside a hornet's nest and got stung? This is the breath of God, His righteous judgment against you, you have done something wrong. Eliphaz later states that a man cannot be more righteous than God, that He even accuses His fallen angels, yet he presents here, in darkness, a works based belief. I know there is a Creator, as do the demons. I know he is righteous, and you are not. I believe in karma, and this must be yours, but does this template of religious conviction hold up? No, because it implies more than this, "that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." It acknowledges that, yet with a "but". If you are suffering, diseased, poor, it is because of more than the fallen nature of man, it can be for no other reason than a curse upon your personal sin. There is no room here for "all things work together for good, to them that love God."
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
They cannot wrap their heads around God being fair and doing this to a righteous man; they cannot grasp that Job is horizontally, quite possibly, a more righteous man than they, yet suffering like this. It goes against their dogmas, their science, that Theology that says, if I do this than God must do that. He even states can a man be more righteous than God, more pure than his Maker? Apply that, not just to Job but in the light of this:
As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.…Ephesians 2:1-2
This is the way you entered the world, "in sin my mother conceived me." The Bible also makes it abundantly clear that the wages of sin is death. So how are you alive under the same principles that you apply to your friend Job? Do you really want karma, are you that arrogant? Be as mad at me as you like, but I will say it again, God only owes us death on the basis of His Holiness. If it is true that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, then He has never owed us life at all, and whether rich or poor, sick or strong, it is all to His good will and purpose. I cannot look at a man who is bound to a wheel chair and say, oh, thou who must have sinned so much more than I, what a pity. Your life cannot possibly be worth as much as mine, or you would be healthy, wealthy and wise like me. I am the more righteous, look at what I have.
in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,9not by works, so that no one can boast.…Ephesians 2: 7-9
Eliphaz keeps going, and in this culture they put a lot of weight on things that cannot always carry them. He had a dream, and this somehow adds to his worldly logic, the mystical and spiritual. He had a dream. Now before I go on painting too kind a picture of myself and my own philosophies throughout the years, some confession of past blunders may be helpful to someone else. My wife and children laugh at me when I tell these stories, they are not the most photogenic portraits of sound doctrine or reason, but I have my past. I remember a period in my life when I experimented with other forms of religion, other types of "Christianity", and the quotation marks may be a little harsh, but I say it in my own humility about those errors. I started hanging out with a group of young people who believed differently than the people I went to church with, and they were all about dreams, prophecies, words and not so interested in Scripture or study. They were exiting, fun, very nice people and you always had someone to hang out with and something to go and do. Faith was brought up a lot, but it was more of a movement, a power, something you conjured up to get God to do something on your behalf. One day people they were telling you God had a special calling on your life, you need to go be a missionary here. You need to teach this class. Take this job. One night I had two different prophets tell me that I was supposed to marry this girl from our group, fortunately neither one of us took it too seriously. During that same week another girl I did not know from there called and told me that God had told her she was supposed to be with me, and then when I went back to that church the next weekend, yet another girl said the same thing. "Wow God, make up your mind." It started to become suspect to me, but sadly it should have been suspect when they had very little use for God's word and faith became no longer the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, but rather they needed to see everything. They wanted a crystal ball, and they sounded more like my worldly friends who talked to mediums, went to Unity Church and believed almost anything. So your a prophet Eliphaz, you had a dream, you are a wise man? Job would have probably been more impressed, but for one thing, he could not think of this sin for which Eliphaz accused him without proof. The basis of your argument is that in order for me to be going through this there is an absolute law that states it is always because of wrong doing. I think my friends meant well when I was young, they wanted me to be rich, to find love and to them that was happiness and religion. I think Eliphaz is sincere in this as well, but he is sincerely wrong. Again, no one knows the back story here, so none of them can provide a full illumination. It's okay to give advice, but don't assume that you are the origin and oracle of all truth. Your feelings, emotions, wants, desires, even your experiences need to be held up against the Word of God and prayer. If they don't match up, then choose the Word of God.
Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 1 Corinthians 6:3
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1: 1-2
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4
Lord, let me keep that in mind, that those that come to me preaching what my flesh already seeks, are not turning my heart towards eternal blessings. Let Your honor and Your glory fill my cup to overflowing. Thank you for the gift of Your Son, everything else is more than I ever needed.
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