Job 4:1-21 - Accused of Suffering for Guilt

Job 4:1-21

Eliphaz: Job Has Sinned

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 ”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 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’s friend Eliphaz finally broke the weeklong silence by attacking the innocence of his friend, reasoning that he could help him as Job had helped so many others throughout his life.  He questions the reverence of Job’s confidence and the integrity of his life as his hope in the midst of his suffering, as if it is Job’s fault that he has suffered so much.  He seemed to encourage his friend by saying that the innocent will not perish and living an upright life will not allow him to be cut off from God.  Yet he then goes on to say if he plants some sin then he will reap trouble as recompense.  God would then destroy those sinners in His wrath (Romans 6:23).  Eliphaz goes on to say God gave him a dream or vision that made him afraid with trembling fear.  He saw a spirit walk in front of him and his hair stood up on the back of his neck while gazing at a shapeless form speaking to him.  The apparition asked if a man can be more righteous than God or more pure than his Creator.  The voice also told him that nobody is trustworthy, not even fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) who were accused of error before the Almighty.  This means that God and His word alone are trustworthy, not any created man or angelic being.  Men are founded on the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7, 3:19) that Gods,made by His hands and live in houses made from the same destructible material, so they are easily crushed in judgment like a moth is crushed by a man.  The message appears to mean that men come and go, dying without wisdom of these things in their pride and sin.  Job’s friend is either making up this account or God was using it to bring to light that man’s innocence and excellence of intellect falls short of God’s righteousness, and that Job must be suffering because he sinned and his pride of life (1 John 2:17) must be the cause.  He accused Job os suffering because he was guilty, in other words.  This accusation and others from this and the other friends follow throughout most of the rest of this book of Job until he tries to defend himself and finally be reconciled to God in the end.  We know in Christ that we are all sinners and our pride keeps us from the reconciliation of the gospel in Christ until faith receives His word and work to deliver us from the pride of life and the sin that accuses us rightly before our Maker.  We need no revelation in a dream from a friend when God’s Spirit convicts of our sin, how short we fall in righteousness, and the certainty of eternal judgment on sin by the wrath of God (John 16:8-9, 10-11) to come, and points us to His Son as the remedy to deliver from everlasting suffering by His forgiveness of grace in the gospel of our salvation.  When we are accused by others of suffering for our sin by a lack of faith in Him, we remember our guilt has been answered by grace in His righteousness and not earned or deserved on our own merit.