Much of what Eliphaz said to Job was correct. That is, he made many valid points, points that we found were expressed later in the Bible. And yet, something still was terribly wrong with his response to Job. The problem wasn’t so much with what he said; the problem was more the context in which … Continue reading –>
In chapter 5, Eliphaz continues with his argument. It’s mostly the same as what he said in the previous chapter: evil happens only to evil people. Imagine how this must have felt to Job, who knew that it couldn’t be right and that he didn’t deserve his present situation. However, there is a problem here: … Continue reading –>
Eliphaz wouldn’t exactly win any awards for tact and sympathy with his opening lines. Basically he was saying that it was easy for Job to be a light and comfort to others when things were going well. But now that evil had befallen him, he’s “troubled.” Yet, shouldn’t he be? God is just, and so … Continue reading –>
Read Job 2:11–13. What does it tell us about how Job’s friends viewed his situation? Having heard about what happened to Job, these men made “an appointment” (Job 2:11, NKJV); that is, they planned to come together and see their friend. The verses convey the idea that they were stunned at what they saw, and they … Continue reading –>
Most of the action in the book of Job takes place in the first two chapters. Here the veil between heaven and earth is lifted, and we are given a glimpse into a whole aspect of reality that otherwise would remain hidden from us. However far our telescopes can peer into the cosmos, they haven’t … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Ps. 119:65–72; Job 2:11–13; Job 4:1–21; Rom. 3:19, 20; 1 Cor. 3:19; Heb. 12:5; Matt. 7:1. Memory Text: “ ‘“Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”’ ” (Job 4:17, NKJV). Last week we stressed the importance of putting ourselves in … Continue reading –>
“In an era so unprecedentedly illuminated by science and reason, the ‘good news’ of Christianity became less and less convincing a metaphysical structure, less secure a foundation upon which to build one’s life, and less psychologically necessary. The sheer improbability of the whole nexus of events was becoming painfully obvious—that an infinite, eternal God would … Continue reading –>
Again, we must put ourselves in Job’s position. Why is God doing all this to me, or why is He allowing this to happen to me? Job hasn’t seen the big picture. How can he? He knows only what has happened around him and to him, and he doesn’t understand any of it. Who hasn’t … Continue reading –>
Imagine the following conversation. Two people are bemoaning the fate of all humanity: death. That is, no matter how good the lives they live, no matter what they accomplish, it’s going to end in the grave. “Yeah,” gripes Methuselah to a friend. “We live, what, 800, 900 years, and then we are gone. What is … Continue reading –>
Job finished his first lament, as recorded in chapter 3. For the next two chapters one of his friends, Eliphaz, gives Job a lecture (we will come back to that next week). In chapters 6 and 7, Job continues to speak about his suffering. “‘Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, and my calamity laid … Continue reading –>
