Wednesday: The Foolish Taking Root
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.
Image © Erik Stenbakken from GoodSalt.com
However, there is a problem here: not all that Eliphaz is saying here is wrong. On the contrary, many of these same thoughts are echoed in other parts of the Bible.
How do the following texts reflect the sentiments expressed in Job chapter 5?
Ps. 37:10 “For yet a little while and the wicked shall be nomore; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.”
Prov. 26:2 “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.”
Luke 1:52 “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.”
1 Cor. 3:19 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’”
Ps. 34:6 “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.”
Heb. 12:5 “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him'”
Hos. 6:1 “Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.”
Ps. 33:19 “To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.”
(19)
Job 5:1-7 Job is being punished for his own evil 8-16 focuses on God’s goodness – punishment to the evil – blessing to the good 17-27 is interesting in that he speaks about God’s love protection & blessing on those accept correction & are restored which is exactly what happens to Job.
The problem however is that it is very clear cut – if you are suffering then you’ve been bad. The other challenge is that this mind set also allows the evil to justify themselves in their unbelief when they go seemingly unpunished.
What would happen in a world where every wrong deed went punished & every right deed went rewarded and what implications would it have to men’s thinking in terms of the cosmic conflict/our allegiance to have those immediate results… would our actions be naturally prejudiced to good for merely the sake of reward and would our devotion to God lessen?
Hi Robbie,
Your last question certainly is a loaded one. And yet this is why I think that my parents sent me to Sunday School to learn morals and right from wrong there, backed up by my parents at home in ordinary life.
Is it wrong to 'fear God and do what is right' so that I can be a good child?
Like everything else I think there is a balance - if I go to church I may hear an inspiring story/sermon that gets me thinking it is better to be 'good than to be bad' which becomes a habit in my daily life. God, and parents - love obedient children. Sometimes God has chastened his children because He loves them - as our parents have often done, because we can learn with and from pain and walk away joyfully and 'grow' because it was done in love. Otherwise we may become like feral or bastard children whom nobody loves or cares about - enough to correct them.
I think truly, that I have in life done good, for the reward, because it feels better than the 'reward' I get when I have done bad, that always comes, such as a guilty conscious or a red bottom or broken friendships. The theory and theocracy comes later. Seems like this is what Job and friends were working out. Godbless today. Mrs A Stolz
Hi Mrs Stolz 🙂
No, certainly not. As parents/adults it's essential that we ground our children in right & wrong, choice... both at home & church. We've all seen the sad results of children who have not had this training - and worse still those that have not been shown or taught grace. My thoughts were just taking further the suggestions or conclusion that Job's friends had come to regarding his condition. If their reasoning were true...
Just for my own prep notes (in case I've got to take the lesson) it's worth reading Psalms 73 & 119
Job's situation may only be understood in the light of the Great Controversy discussed at the beginning of this week's study. Job's friends seemed not aware of it, but we can still glean from the wonderful theology that comes through . . . less the bash in Job!
Do SDA believe in out-of-body-experiences i e. Job watching himself from across the room or above himself as he lay on his bed of affliction?
Mattie, I am not sure if you mean out of the body experiences as in death or vision? Here are some verses Job shares about knowing the dead are in their graves and not hovering over their bodies. As far as visions I don't know of anyone hovering over their body in the Bible.
“But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they? people are laid to rest and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep. They never know if their children grow up in honor or sink to insignificance.
Job 14:10,12, 21 NLT
The short answer is "no" if you are referring to what is often called "out of body" experiences. My guess is that some people would call visions "out of body" experiences but they are given infrequently and in rather special circumstances. I don't call visions "out of body" experiences because of the community perception of that term.
We need to be reminded that God does speak to us in a variety of natural ways; through the Bible, the counsel of godly friends, the still small voice of conscience and so on. Having a supernatural or paranormal experience is not a sign that God is speaking to you and in fact the source of such experiences can be evil. It remains to be said that if we are sensitive to the broad spectrum of communication channels between God and us, we are less likely to be led astray by some of the more spectacular ones that come from another source and can deceive us.
Job\'s story is very interesting to me because we always here about how much of a good and righteous man he was but yet in still God allowed all these bad things to happen to him. So, what I got out of \"A Man and his maker is that God has no respect of persons. You can be rich, tall dark and handsome, loved by many, so on and so forth but that does not say that bad things won\'t happen to you. As for us, Christ followers, we should always keep Job\'s story in mind and know that we are only like dust as frail as a month and can have our lives changed within a moments time. Who are we to judge.
We have to remember though that Job's case was special Keisha - yes, it is true that God is not a respecter of persons, rich or poor you reap what you sew. In this case Satan wanted to prove to God that Job was only following him because He(God) was blessing him - Job was not reaping any consequences.
Nothing worse then saying the right thing at the wrong time. Or to tell the truth out of context.
I certainly agree.
The truth can be spoken in a damaging, destructive, way. And instead of leading/drawing a person toward God, "truth" can actually push them away. Reminds me of some words I've copied into the front of my Bible : "It needs something besides theory to reach hearts now." And, "we must not depend on theory. The most conclusive arguments are not sufficient in themselves."
We are to work with a right spirit (this is mentioned first), and with truth. (John 4:23)
Ps.73:3-11 discribes the unreasonableness of wealth. But verse 17 shows that when we enter the sanctuary things change. Ps. 37 is what was seen in the sanctuary.
Some preachers defend a gospel of wealth by sayin serve God faithfully, pray fo a mirracle,(and send the preacher a donation), and God wil give u wat ever u asked for-including a new house, fancy new car,money etc. If you dont receive it ,then you arent leaving right or dont hev enough faith. Some call this concept seed-faith. When yr faith leads u to plant a seed by doing some good deed(esp sendin money to the preacher),then u wil reap the crop dt u desire. The concept is even based on the same illustration Eliphaz used: sowing and reaping.
We cn agree tht altimately people will suffer or be rewarded according to the way they lived; bt the ultimate reward comes AFTER LIFE, not during life. Job's friends believe tht the reward comes durin life. This was their fundamental error. It MAY b tht people suffer or are rewarded in this life for their deeds, bt often ar nt rewarded in this life . Often the reward must wait for eternity after death. Note Luke 16:25, Matthew 25:31-46, Revelations 20:11-15.