Job 5:1-27 - Chastened by God?

Job 5:1-27

Eliphaz: Job Is Chastened by God

1 “Call out now;
Is there anyone who will answer you?
And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

2 For wrath kills a foolish man,
And envy slays a simple one.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root,
But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.

4 His sons are far from safety,
They are crushed in the gate,
And there is no deliverer.
5 Because the hungry eat up his harvest,
Taking it even from the thorns,
And a snare snatches their substance.

6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
Nor does trouble spring from the ground;
7 Yet man is born to trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.

8 “But as for me, I would seek God,
And to God I would commit my cause—
9 Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number.

10 He gives rain on the earth,
And sends waters on the fields.

11 He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,
And grope at noontime as in the night.

15 But He saves the needy from the sword,
From the mouth of the mighty,
And from their hand.
16 So the poor have hope,
And injustice shuts her mouth.

17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.

19 He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.
20 In famine He shall redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.

21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your tent is in peace;
You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.

25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
And your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to the grave at a full age,
As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.

27 Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

Eliphaz continued his speech against Job, assuming his suffering is the chastening of the LORD for something Job has done wrong and is deserving of.  He tells his friend that calling out to holy ones will not be answered because it is foolish to assume God would hear since he seemingly deserves his suffering in his friend’s estimation.  Eliphaz goes on to speak what seem like multiple parables or sayings such as we find in the wisdom of Proverbs, beginning with how foolish people are killed in the gates where importance in the community is seen and the starving people devour all such a foolish man has.  He goes on to say a universal truth is that man is born to suffer trouble just as sparks from a fire devour the wood and fly up into the air because trouble and affliction does not just come up from nowhere like out of the dust of the ground, but from man himself — Job, in this case, according to Eliphaz.  Eliphaz then offers sage advice for Job to do as he would, seeking God and committing his sorry cause to Him who “does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.”  He then names some of these limitless great things such as sending needed rain on the earth and lifting up the lowly (Psalm 113:7, 147:6, Luke 1:52) and those who mourn (Matthew 5:4) who will be kept safe.  God catches the crafty in their schemes and brings them to nothing, thwarting their plans and blinding them (John 9:39, 41) as they deserve.  Yet God saves those who know their need and trust Him to deliver from the oppressor holding the sword of power over them to give hope and true justice as men do not.  This truth holds still, for in Christ we are delivered from our adversaries (Luke 11:4, 2 Timothy 4:18) and given a certain hope of justice bought with mercy and grace on the cross which we do not deserve.  This accuser of Job says some things that are true about him and us, even if he meant them as an accusation of guilt and his own self-righteousness.  Truly the man God does correct is happy and blessed (Hebrews 12:5-6, 7-8, 10-11) as He bruises and binds our wounds and makes us whole in the process of discipline.  God does certainly deliver His own from trouble, evil, famine and want, and even from attacks of the wild beasts as Daniel was in the lion’s den.  He can deliver us from death in battle and slander from our accusers, as well as meeting our basic needs as Eliphaz wisely pointed out here.  God alone brings peace in suffering and a long life with fruit of many children to follow us as was promised to Abraham (Galatians 3:6, 29) in both a physical sense in the expansion of Israel in the promised land and in the larger spiritual sense of that faith (Galatians 3:8-9) we share in Christ for (2 Timothy 2:2) spiritual children through the gospel we share with others as our eternal fruitfulness.  Though Job’s friend may have meant well, he assumed he knew why Job suffered and attributed it to God’s chastening for some sin Job had committed in pride or otherwise, yet the foundational truths he spoke still apply in the right context to us all.  We just cannot see behind the scenes in the spiritual realm to understand fully why we suffer at the adversary’s hand or by our own sin.  Either way, we trust Him in His sovereign grace to keep us and justify us in Christ to the end when true judgment is leveled fully on our adversary the devil for all the harm he has done to God’s people as our (1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:10) accuser.  We are therefore chastened by God, disciplined, for the right reasons and not by the accuser’s false judgments as Eliphaz repeated to Job.