Year 2, Day 98: Job 4

Confession

As I read Job 4, I have to confess something.  There is some wisdom in Eliphaz’s counsel.  However, it is not all wise.  This chapter – and most of Eliphaz’s speeches – gives us a great foil against which we can prepare for the world.

Truth: It’s All Good Until Trouble Comes Home

At the beginning, Eliphaz does speak some truth.  Eliphaz does rightly accuse Job of being human in that he can give out sound advice until he is the one in the problem.  Once trouble comes to roost, Job’s advice crumbles.

That is true for most human beings.  When we are strong and stable in life, we can be a very useful voice-piece for God.  However, when trouble comes our way we are far less likely to be a strong voice of God’s wisdom.  It is human nature.  As the self-monger within us builds up those initial protective walls that I spoke of last chapter, we focus on ourselves and our own turmoil.  This inherently makes us less likely to be able to speak of God’s ways to others.

Truth: Sin Is the Leading Cause of Death

Eliphaz also appears to speak some truth when he says that those who sow trouble reap trouble.  In the grand scheme of things he is correct.  As one of my favorite T-shirts says, “Sin is the leading cause of death.”  We all reap what we sow, eventually.

Truth: No One is (Naturally) Righteous Before God

At the end of this chapter Eliphaz does hint at truth once more.  Can a mortal be in the right before God?  Can any of us be pure before God?  Of course the answer to those questions is no.  All of us have sinned.  Every one of us is guilty of our sinfulness before God.

Lie: The Impatience of Grief

However, there are a number of things that Eliphaz gets wrong here.  First, Eliphaz speaks of Job as being impatient.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t know that I would call a man who sat around in ashes for 7 days impatient.  I understand what Eliphaz is trying to say here in that Job cannot possibly know the future and that he needs to be patient to let God reveal Himself.  We do need to realize that God often takes longer to unfold His plan than we have patience to wait.  However, I can only imagine the sheer pain that Job has endured and I think that mourning in silence for 7 days shows a great deal of patience.

Lie: Focus on Yourself

Next, notice that Eliphaz ever-so-subtly directs Job to begin to focus on himself.  What is it that Eliphaz tells Job is his hope in verse 6?  Eliphaz says that Job’s “integrity of his ways” is his hope.  Is that really truth?  Are any of us righteous because of the integrity of our ways?  Sure, Eliphaz may be saying these words to build up Job and to try to remind him of his integrity.  But Eliphaz is wrong with what he says here.  If our hope is in that we are good people, we are all doomed.  Our hope is only in God.  Who among us can save us from disease or even death because we have integrity?

Lie: The Righteous Don’t Perish

Then Eliphaz talks about how nobody who is righteous ever perishes.  On a very shallow level Eliphaz is truthful.  None of us are righteous, and we all die.  However, that isn’t what Eliphaz means when he speaks these words and the words that follow. 

The argument that Eliphaz is making is that Job’s pain implies that he has done something quite seriously wrong.  Eliphaz is arguing that Job’s pain is evidence of some unrighteous act in his past.  This is simply not true.  Bad things happen to good people just as often as good things happen to bad people.  We cannot judge a person’s righteousness by whether or not they are living a good and happy life!  In fact, one might make a case to say that the Bible argues that those who walk closely with God will live a life of friction with the world!

Lie: We Are Untrustworthy In God’s Presence

Now we turn to the end of the chapter.  We’ve already spoken of the truth in what Eliphaz says about all of us being guilty before God.  However, Eliphaz gets something tragically wrong here.  We may not be able to be righteous on our own merit before God, but we can certainly find forgiveness.  If we are repentant and contrite then we can absolutely find forgiveness!  In that case we can absolutely stand righteous before our God.  We stand not on our own righteousness, but on His!

Summing Up Eliphaz

As we look at Eliphaz, we should see the world in his words.  How many times does advice from the world start in what appears to be truth?  How often do we hear people talking about “their experience?”  How many times does what they say seem to be true?  Almost everything that comes from the world seems to be true in the beginning.

However, we cannot gain absolute truth from the world.  As we see here in Job 4, truth that is not founded upon the sanctity and righteousness of God’s Word will eventually fall apart.  When we listen to people speak in this world, we need to learn to become active and look past the shallow truth that seems to be apparent and see if there is genuine truth in what they are saying or not.

<><