Job 5
Job 5 is the second set of counsel that Job’s friend Eliphaz delivers to Job. This chapter mainly contains attempts to interpret the causes of suffering and God’s attributes. Eliphaz understands life’s suffering as God’s discipline and seeks to teach how people should live before God.
In the beginning of the chapter (verses 1–7), we see an attempt to connect the cause of suffering with the principle of cause and effect. Then in the following portion (verses 8–16), he advises Job to seek God and speaks with emphasis about God’s greatness and righteousness. In the final section (verses 17–27), while stressing God’s discipline and grace, he urges Job to accept suffering and move forward with an attitude of repentance.
1verse“Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2verseFor resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
3verseI have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4verseHis children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
5versewhose harvest the hungry eat up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.
6verseFor affliction doesn’t come out of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
7versebut man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
8verse“But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
9versewho does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
10versewho gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;
11verseso that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.
12verseHe frustrates the plans of the crafty, so that their hands can’t perform their enterprise.
13verseHe takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
14verseThey meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
15verseBut he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16verseSo the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
17verse“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18verseFor he wounds and binds up. He injures and his hands make whole.
19verseHe will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil will touch you.
20verseIn famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
21verseYou will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither will you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22verseYou will laugh at destruction and famine, neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
23verseFor you will be allied with the stones of the field. The animals of the field will be at peace with you.
24verseYou will know that your tent is in peace. You will visit your fold, and will miss nothing.
25verseYou will know also that your offspring will be great, your offspring as the grass of the earth.
26verseYou will come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.
27verseBehold, we have researched it. It is so. Hear it, and know it for your good.”
Key Content and Message
By contrasting human imperfection with God’s omnipotence and righteousness, Eliphaz interprets Job’s suffering as also stemming from human sin and ignorance. He encourages Job to seek God even in the midst of suffering, and to recognize God’s hand that permits discipline. He also leads Job to take meaning from suffering by using it as an opportunity for humility and repentance, saying that God ultimately grants restoration and grace to those who come humbly before Him.
Points to Reflect On
- Can I still go to God even when I cannot understand the cause of suffering?
- In the course of life that unfolds differently from my thoughts, am I trusting in God’s sovereignty and will?
- In the midst of suffering, is my attitude one of resentment and complaint, or am I seeking God with humility?
Try Applying It to Me
- Let us adopt an attitude of trusting in God’s goodness and sovereignty even amid everyday difficulties and trials.
- Let us look back on my life during times of suffering and put into practice prayers that ask about the LORD’s will.
- When I interpret another person’s pain, let me make a decision to approach them with empathy and love without being biased toward only one perspective.
