Took a little time off from Job but am back to it with Job 5 this morning.
Job had finally spoken in chapter 3 and then Eliphaz replied in chapter 4 and continues here in chapter 5.
Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
His children are far from safety;
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
but man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upward.
Eliphaz sounds like a realist! People get what they deserve. He believed that fools get what they deserve. Their kids get endangered, people steal their food and trouble just follows them like stuck toilet paper.
The not so subtle implication is: Job you got problems because you deserve them!
Eliphaz continued ...
As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
he gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.
But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
Eliphaz says you got to turn to God and he will set everything right. We all have a sense of the way things are and should be and find the above is generally true. Eliphaz's observations generally hold true: fools usually do get into trouble, the wicked get their just desserts and that God is good to the downtrodden. But ... we see enough exceptions to have out doubts.
I suppose those who don't believe in God might see Eliphaz's positive spin as wishful thinking and that life is just one big dice game and a spin of the roulette wheel.
Eliphaz continues to give correct sounding religious answers ...
Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.
He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no evil shall touch you.
In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
You shall know that your tent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.
Do we disagree with a word spoken here by Eliphaz?
Those who believe God to be fair and just and a helper of people would counsel the same as Eliphaz.
But ...
Job is sitting there sickly and sorrowful as he has lost everything and everyone in his life. The "deviation from the norm" always bugs us. We always need a reason for everything. Why is it that we feel like we got a rock in our shoe when stuff goes wrong?
If the "game" of life is just a hand of poker then you play what you got, bluff or fold 'em. We have no just cause to complain.
But for some reason deep within there is the sense that things aren't the way they are supposed to be. Is this the cost of free will?
And what to do with the silences of God?
Do we need constant reassurance that God is out there?
We live in the era of modern communication. We are never far away from reassurances that we are loved by others. Beloved friends and family are an email away, a phone call away, a hop in the car or a ride in the plane.
Not so long ago, loved ones could be separated for various reasons and the only link between them would be pen and paper and mail service that could take weeks. Did loved ones doubt the solidity of their beloved's love? I'm sure they did on occasion and how much joy there must have been with each communication!
We might shout, God has the best technology after all, God is God, so why doesn't God send a daily or even an hourly message to us to let us know God cares?
I don't know.
Why did it matter to God that Job was a righteous man? Why did God believe that Job would demonstrate trust in God even amidst loss and suffering?
I don't know.
Lord, Job's trust in you meant something to you. By extension, my trusting you and living my life rightly matters to you. I do often wish for a burning bush or an angelic visitation or a booming voice from the sky. I haven't gotten any of those things. But I have Jesus. You have preserved his teachings and deeds. His life, death and resurrection is exhibit A pointing to your concern for the affairs of this world. And you have found other ways to let me know you are out there paying attention. And you have asked me to join you in doing work in this world. Help me to be faithful in that even if at times I have doubt. Amen.
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