Job 4

Here in chapter 4 we see one of Job’s friends speak for the first time. The basic gist of his message is this: I’ve never seen a righteous man suffer this way, but wicked men often suffer this way. In other words, “Job, you’re a hypocrite, you act righteous but there is obviously something you aren’t telling us”. In the mind of Eliphaz, there is no way that Job is suffering as an innocent man. Therefore, rather than offering Job comfort or consolation, it seems that his goal is to elicit a confession.

His second step in doing this is to share a personal experience… and it’s a bit of a weird one. A whisper, a secret word, a vision in the night… A spirit passes before him, fear and trembling come upon him, his bones shake, his hair stands on end. – Let’s pause here for a second… why do you think Eliphaz is giving all of this detail? I think it is for effect. He thinks that by sharing this crazy experience it will PROVE that what he has to say is from the Lord! I get nervous when I hear someone claim that “the Lord told me” this or that. I get nervous when people allow weird experiences like this one Eliphaz tells us about dictate the decisions they make in life. The heart is deceitful… If we need to hear from God on a matter, the place that has the final word is the WORD OF GOD!

When Eliphaz actually shares what the Spirit in the vision told him, it is a true statement. “Can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone be pure before the Creator?” The obvious answer to these 2 rhetorical questions is NO. We are all sinners! We have all fallen short of God’s glory… and truly, because of this we have to face the consequences. As the Bible states the “wages of sin is death”.

This however, is not the point Eliphaz is trying to make. He is saying, “Job, this didn’t happen to you for no reason. If you are suffering like this, you cannot be innocent. No man can be more just than God, so God in His justice is punishing you for your sins.” In this we see the major problem Eliphaz has. In his world, suffering = divine punishment. There is no other explanation he can see, and therefore, rather than comfort his friend, he wants to force him to confess.

Does suffering really equal punishment from God? Is there no other explanation for the horrible things that go on in the world around us? Is the only answer “God is angry”? This much we do know:
1. SIN, ever since the fall has caused massive amounts of suffering, both direct and indirect. This is a natural result, not the judgment of God.
2. The devil is the one that is looking to “kill, steal, and destroy”.
3. This whole ordeal with Job is about more than just Job and God. It is about the challenge Satan has issued, it is about the goodness of God and whether or not He is really worthy of worship. Job’s life is a cosmic object lesson.
When we have friends that are hurting, we need to be careful that we don’t act like Eliphaz did here. Don’t assume when you see someone suffering that they are in the situation they are in because they are truly awful. We are all sinners. We all make bad choices. The Bible says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Whatever the reason for the persons suffering happens to be, whether it is self-inflicted or totally out of their hands, it provides us with an opportunity to ENCOURAGE them. We can remind them that GOD LOVES THEM, and that HE WANTS THEM TO DRAW NEAR TO HIM. We are not called to be the investigation team that discovers the “reason” behind the suffering. If Job’s case is any indication, we cannot do that because here on earth we will never have all the information.