July 2, 2025 • 30 mins
Do you remember the great prophets in the Bible who reached the point where they wanted to die? Moses did. Elijah did. And now we are seeing that Job felt the same way. But there are some interesting differences between his situation and the circumstances of Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah were not suffering physical pain. Moses was feeling extremely stressed, and Elijah was both stressed and afraid. Job felt intense emotional pain and excruciating physical pain at the same time. When Moses and Elijah asked God if they could die, they were talking directly to Him. No one else heard them. In Job's case, his friends heard what he said and it made them upset. That's when a friendly visit turned in to an ugly argument. But at least we can say that, even though things did not turn out for the best initially, the whole matter was resolved in the end. And had it not been for this disagreement, we would not have the book of Job as it is written.
Read about this subject
- Scripture: Job chapter 3-5
- Ox in the Ditch by Kerry Duke
Listen to more on this subject
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My Godand My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspiredWord to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
In the Book of Job chapter oneJob lost everything that he
(00:21):
had, but he still blessed God.
In chapter two now he has a terribledisease on top of everything
else that this man suffered.
At first, he maintains his composure.
Well, his three friends come tocomfort him and to mourn with him.
They sat down on the ground with him forseven days and seven nights and none spoke
(00:41):
a word to him, the Bible says, becausethey saw that his grief was very great.
But when we come to chapterthree of the Book of Job, we find
that the pain is getting to him.
His torment is beginning to unnervehim, and Job begins to speak.
And when he does, he pours out his griefand his fear and his anger especially.
(01:03):
You know, when we're under a lot ofpressure, what is on the inside will come
out, and sometimes that surprises andeven shocks the people that are around us.
But when we are under a great deal ofpain and pressure, that's what happens.
We might say that when we're undera great deal of stress in life,
what is inside of us comes out—thegood, the bad, and the ugly.
(01:26):
So let's read what was on the mindof this great man when he was under
severe stress in Job chapter three.
I'm going to read thiswhole chapter with us.
Job chapter three, beginning in verse one.
“After this job opened his mouthand cursed the day of his birth.
Job spoke and said, “May the day perishon which I was born and the night in which
(01:47):
it was said a male child is conceived.
May that day be darkness.
May God above not see it,nor the light shine upon it.
May darkness and theshadow of death claim it.
May a cloud settle on it.
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
As for that night, may darkness seize it.
May it not rejoice amongthe days of the year.
(02:08):
May it not come into thenumber of the months.
Oh, may that night be barren.
May no joyful shout come into it.
May those curse it who curse the day.
Those who are ready to arouse leviathan,may the stars of its morning be dark.
May it look for light, but have none andnot see the dawning of the day because it
did not shut up the doors of my mother'swomb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
(02:32):
Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish whenI came from the womb?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breast that I should nurse?
For now, I would havelaid still and been quiet.
I would have been asleep then I wouldhave been at rest with kings and
counselors of the earth who built ruinsfor themselves, or with princes who had
(02:54):
gold, who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not hidden like a stillbornchild, like infants who never saw light?
There the wicked cease from troubling,and there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners rest together.
They do not hear thevoice of the oppressor.
The small and great are there, andthe servant is free from his master.
(03:16):
Why is a light given tohim who is in misery?
And life to the bitter of soul wholong for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than hiddentreasures, who rejoice exceedingly and
are glad when they can find the grave.
Why is light given to a man whose wayis hidden and whom God has hedged in?
For my sign comes before I eat andmy groanings pour out like water.
(03:41):
For the thing I greatly fearedhas come upon me, and what I
dreaded has happened to me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet.
I have no rest, for trouble comes’”
In verse one, the Bible says that jobopened his mouth and cursed his day.
The New King James says he cursedthe day of his birth in italics.
(04:01):
And that is the idea.
Why did I ever live to see this day?
Job says I wish I had never been born.
That's what he means in verse threewhen he says may the day perish on which
I was born, and the night in which itwas said, a male child is conceived.
And by the way, just as a sideobservation here, this is one of
(04:23):
many passages in the Bible thatshow that life begins at conception.
Notice verse three (04:28):
a male child conceived.
There wasn't a conception of somethingthat developed into a human being.
This was a human being fromthe point of conception.
Another clear verse is Luke one, verse 36.
That's where the Bible says thatElizabeth, the mother of John the
Baptist, had conceived a son in herold age, and because of all this pain
(04:54):
and grief, Job asked the question thatwe are looking at and that is why.
Why is all this happening?
Look at verse 11 again.
Why didn't I die at birth?
Why didn't I perish whenI came from the womb?
Why did the knees receive me?
Why the breast that I should nurse?
In verse 16, he says why couldn'tI have been like a stillborn
(05:16):
child and like infants, littlebabies, who never saw the light?
Job is saying I would have been better offif I had died in my mother's womb because
at least there I would've been at rest.
That's where everybody wants to go.
That's what he says in verse 18.
There the prisoners rest together,the small and the great are there.
In verse 19 and then in verse 20 we seethat word “Why” again And this, by the
(05:40):
way, in verse 20 and 21, is a questionthat people still ask to this very day.
why is light given to him who is inmisery and life to the bitter of soul,
who long for death, but it does not come?
Why does God allow us to live?
We have a lot of questions for God.
Why did You make us, Lord?
(06:01):
Why did You create this world?
Why do we have so much eviland suffering in this life?
And sometimes, ironically, we askGod, “Lord, why don't You let me live
longer?” Then there are other timeswhere we say, “Lord, why don't You
let me die?” That's what's takingplace here in Job chapter three.
He's talking about people who arein such pain that they, as he says
(06:24):
in verse 21, look forward death.
They want to die.
And you might say that that's anatural human response, a natural
human feeling in some ways.
But you know, we have to read this inlight of the whole Bible, don't we?
We can't just read the Book of Job and saythat it's better for anybody to die than
to live in misery, because that dependson whether a person is saved or lost, and
(06:47):
that is what the New Testament teaches us.
We have to be ready spiritually to die.
But Job is not talking about that.
He's not going into that.
He's simply talking about thefact that he is in great pain
and misery, and he wants relief.
He wants a release fromall this suffering.
But you'll notice in this bookthat there is one thing that he
did not do and he did not mention.
(07:09):
Even though he wished that he had diedat birth and even though he talks about
longing for death, at the same time,he did not talk about taking his own
life, and he certainly didn't do that.
Now, he could have been likehis wife in chapter two, verse
nine who said curse God and die.
But Job would not do that.
You see, there's a difference betweenwanting to die and taking one's own life.
(07:33):
In this book of Job, you have to rememberthat Job is pouring out his emotions.
He's pouring out his feelings.
So we're really seeing whatis on the inside of this man.
And again, it's very easy for youand I to stand back and analyze
him and sometimes criticize him.
But if you'd been in the same situationthat Job was, what would you have said?
(07:53):
And remember, in the case ofJob, we're not talking about
an ordinary good person here.
We're talking about the man of whom Godsaid there is none like him in the earth.
He was human just like you and I are.
Another great lesson in Job chapterthree about the problem of evil
and suffering is in verse 25.
(08:14):
Notice what Job says.
He said, “For the thing I greatlyfeared has come upon me, and what I
dreaded has happened to me. How manytimes do you worry about something
that might happen? How many times areyou anxious because something might
turn out for the worst” Job said Igreatly feared this and now it's here.
(08:36):
I dreaded this.
In other words, he thought aboutthese things and now he's in the
very situation that he was afraid of.
Now on the other hand, there aretimes that we are afraid something
will happen and it never does happen.
In the Bible, you read about David whothought that King Saul would kill him.
As a matter of fact, David was soafraid that Saul would kill him, he
(08:57):
was so sure in his mind, that he saidthis—He said, “There is but a step
between me and death” [I Samuel 20verse three]. He said in First Samuel 27
verse one, “I shall now perish one day bythe hand of Saul.” But that didn't happen.
David lived many more years after that.
When Jacob met his brother Esau in Genesischapter 32, Jacob was scared to death.
(09:19):
He was afraid that Esau and all his 400men coming with him were going to attack
and perhaps kill him and his family.
So he prayed to God and prayed fervently.
That was a long night.
He had heard by messengers thatEsau was coming with 400 men to meet
him, and the reason that Jacob wasso scared when he heard that was
(09:40):
because he remembered what he haddone to his brother 20 years before.
He hadn't exactly treated him right,and now he's very afraid that his
brother is going to attack him.
But what happened when Esaucame and met his brother?
He was very friendly to him.
So what he was afraid of andworried about never happened.
That's sometimes true in our lives.
We might even say that many times weworry about things that never do happen.
(10:03):
But sometimes they do, and that's what Jobmeans in Job 3:25, when he said, “For the
thing I greatly feared has come upon me,and what I dreaded has happened to me.”
Job was a conscientious man[Job chapter one, verse five].
It wouldn't be fair to say that hewas a worrier, but he was human.
(10:24):
Sometimes he thought about the future,and when he did, at times he would
wonder about bad situations and hewould have some fear about that.
He would fear, for instance, what itwould be like to lose everything, for
something bad to happen to his children.
Now, that's something thatevery parent thinks about.
We do everything that we can to preventit, to protect them, even though we know
(10:45):
that much of this is out of our hands.
Job also, at some time, thoughtabout health problems in the future.
Now, this is very human.
Doesn't this sound familiar?
Isn't this what we sometimes do?
Well, what if this happens to me?
What if my health goes down?
What if I become very ill andunable to function and enjoy life?
(11:05):
When people are young, they don't thinkabout that much, but as we age we fear
those days—the suffering, how to payfor help, and how to pay for treatments.
Who's going to be there to help?
How long and how bad will it last?
So let's look at ourselves and applywhat we're seeing here to our lives.
Do you fear what might happen?
(11:25):
What do you fear the most?
Do you fear losing what you have?
Do you fear financial and perhapssevere financial troubles?
You've worked hard.
You don't want to lose it.
You want to take care of your family.
You want to leave somethingto your children, and that's
good and that's right.
You want to make sure that you haveenough to live on in your old age.
(11:46):
Now, these are noble goals.
These are good plans, but circumstanceschange and as the future unfolds, you
can't predict it from one day to the next.
And what if the worst does happen?
What if there's some kind ofnational disaster or national crisis?
Suppose there's war or there's somekind of calamity that strikes your
family and leaves you almost penniless.
(12:08):
What do you do then?
That is why we'restudying the Book of Job.
It will help us to see howthis man endured and navigated
through these storms of life.
And here's another passage on thisvery question later in the Bible.
It's found in Habakkuk chapterthree, verse 17 and 18.
“Though the fig tree may not blossom norfruit be on the vines, though the labor
(12:31):
of the olive may fail and the fields yieldno food, though the flock may be cut off
from the fold and there be no herd in thestalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Do we remember in First Timothy six,seven and eight, that the Bible says
“We brought nothing into this world andit is certain we can carry nothing out,
(12:56):
and having food and clothing let us betherewith content?” Jesus talked about
this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew6:25 through 34. That is the section where
Jesus talks about worry, and He talkedabout two things in particular: what you
eat and the clothes that you wear. AndJesus’ bottom line to that worry is this.
Matthew six, verse 33 (13:18):
“But you seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all thesethings shall be added to you.”
Here's another common worry today.
Do you fear losing your health?
Our health is a big part of our life.
There's no doubt about that.
If you're healthy, you can domore and you can enjoy life more.
(13:40):
We see so much sickness around us andwe sometimes think, “Well, what if
that happened to me?” And we even fearsomething like that happening to us.
That could be a heart attack.
It could be a stroke, it couldbe blindness, it could be cancer.
It could be becoming paralyzed.
It could be Alzheimer's.
It could be anything.
One point that we will discuss moreand more as time goes on in this series
(14:04):
is that there are many problems inlife, including health problems, that
can actually turn out for the good.
You think about Job and his story.
This has done good for millions of peoplefor thousands of years, and it continues
to encourage us to this very day.
Sometimes there are reasons thatyou just don't see for suffering
and you certainly don't like them.
(14:26):
In Second Corinthians chapter 12 versesseven through 10, a passage that we
will discuss later, there you find thestory of Paul's thorn in the flesh.
Now this was so uncomfortable andperhaps painful that Paul prayed
to God three times to take itaway, but God didn't because God
said I have a purpose for that.
We'll talk about that, as I said,later, but I'm simply making the point
(14:48):
here that many times we are so focusedon the pain as human beings that we
forget God's perspective of that becauseGod sees the outcome not just in our
lives but in the people that thatsuffering might affect and in ways that
people just don't even think about.
We need to remember too that this is anatural part of the world that we live in.
(15:09):
This is life in Ecclesiastes12 verses one through seven.
The Bible shows that the bodythat we live in will return to
the dust, and that sometimes canbe a slow and painful process.
Sometimes we're afraid ofthat and understandably so.
But when we look at the Bible,the Scriptures remind us time and
again that this life is very short.
(15:31):
It's like a vapor that appears fora little time and then vanishes
away [James four verse 14].
That means we have to keep ourfocus on the world to come.
As Christians, we have to keep our mindset on that resurrection body that will be
incorruptible, that will never get sick,that will never age, that will never die.
That's where we needto have our heart set.
(15:52):
And here's another way thatwe can really relate to Job.
Now, remember that Job said thething that he greatly feared had
come upon him, and that is somethingbad happening to your children.
And Job sometimes had that fear.
We know that again because in Job chapterthree, verse 25, he said for the thing
I greatly feared has come upon me andwhat I dreaded has happened to me.
(16:15):
So Job feared this and it did happen.
They died and Job lived through it.
He kept his faith.
Losing a loved one is one ofour greatest fears in life.
We dread this.
Many people have experiencedthis and gone on and so can we.
When we hear of parents losing a child,when we see young people taking chances
(16:36):
today, when we think about mean peopleand dangerous highways, it does scare us.
But Job's example shows that nomatter how great the fear and no
matter how tragic the loss, we canget through it, we can move on.
And I've wondered many timesabout Job and how he did it.
I'm not just talking about Job makingit through this tragedy initially.
(16:57):
I'm not just talking about him survivingit while he was going through all this
pain and all this misery, and even thefirst few weeks or months after that.
I'm going to the very end ofthis book for this question now.
But do you remember how long Joblived after all this trouble was over?
He lived 140 years, andthose were not bad days.
(17:18):
Those were not evil years.
The Bible says that Jobdied old and full of days.
That's the very laststatement in this book.
Now full of days means that he hadgood days, that he had a peaceful life.
How could he have donethat with all that loss?
Because you know that he rememberedall the things that happened to him,
especially losing his 10 children.
(17:40):
How did he live with that memory?
Well, he was able to move on.
He was able to heal, and hedid that by his faith in God.
So even if the worst thing does happen andwe end up saying, “I was afraid something
like this would happen,” we know from theBook of Job and from the promises of God
everywhere in the Bible that if we putour faith in God and we put our hand in
(18:02):
His and allow Him to lead us through, wecan do it. We can make it through, we can
endure even though the pain is so bad wetell ourselves “I can't do this. I can't
take this.” Sometimes when we hear aboutsomething really tragic that has happened
to someone else, we make the remark, “Idon't think that I could live with that.
I don't think that I could standthat.” But life teaches us and the
Bible reminds us (18:25):
Yes, you can.
Here's another important lesson thatyou've probably already been thinking
about, and that is the fear of atragedy can be worse and it can be
harder on us than the tragedy itself.
The worry and the stress that we buildup on our mind oftentimes is worse than
the problem itself when it does happen.
(18:45):
The story of David in Second SamuelChapter 12 is a good example.
You'll remember that God struck thechild that David and Bathsheba had.
The child became very sick.
David did not know if that child wouldlive or die, and he went through so much
stress that he wouldn't eat anything.
He wouldn't have anythingto do with anybody.
He was totally consumed with thethought that his child might die.
(19:06):
And the child did die.
And when that happened, Davidwas able to pull himself together
to the surprise of his servants.
So the thought of his childdying was worse in his case than
the actual death of that child.
And that's what sometimes happens to us.
We sometimes give ourselves more troubleby worrying about a thing than the problem
(19:26):
itself gives us when it does happen.
That may not be thecase in every situation.
Sometimes the reality is worse thanjust thinking about it or fearing it,
but at least sometimes that's the case.
But at any rate, in Job chapter three,we find all these feelings and all
these thoughts going through Job'smind, and they come out in his words.
(19:47):
You see, Job is not just thinkingabout these things in chapter three.
These are not just thoughts in his head.
Job says these things and who hears them?
His friends.
Remember they've been quiet upto this time for seven days.
They haven't said anything to him.
Job chapter two, verse 13 ends bysaying, “So they sat down with him on
the ground seven days and seven nights,and no one spoke a word to him for they
(20:11):
saw that his grief was very great.”
But when Job says all this in chapterthree, when he cursed his day, when
he says I wish that I died at birth, Iwish that I'd never lived to see this
day, why is all this happening to me.
and he longed for death, that'swhen they became angry at him
and they began to condemn him.
(20:32):
They began to criticize him.
So we've entered into theargument stage of this story.
And you can outline this bookin three simple words that all
begin with the same letter—A.
First of all, in chapters one andtwo of the Book of Job, you have the
“afflictions” of Job. In chapters threethrough 37, you have the “argument”
between Job and his three friends.
(20:53):
Later you will hear from a fourthone, and that man's name is Elihu.
And then number three in thisbook you have the “answer” from
God in chapters 38 through 42.
So now in Job chapter four, thethree friends begin to speak.
And so this begins a cycle.
His friends will say somethingto him and then Job responds.
(21:15):
And the way that it runs is like this.
Eliphaz will say somethingto Job, and Job responds.
And then Bildad responds toJob, and Job responds to him.
And then Zophar responds toJob and Job answers him back.
Then it starts all over again.
Eliphaz accuses Job.
Job responds.
Bildad accuses Job.
Job responds.
Zophar accuses Job, and Job responds.
(21:38):
Then it happens a thirdtime in the same order.
Eliphaz accuses Job.
Job responds to him.
Bildad has just a few words to sayto Job, and Job responds to him.
And Zophar doesn't say anything else.
And then this younger manElihu begins to speak.
Now that's an outline of theargument that you're going to see.
Now you're going to read many things inthe Book of Job in this argument that
(22:02):
will give you trouble understanding.
Some of it is hard for any of us tounderstand, but if you understand
and you remember the basic pointthat these three were making about
Job, then you've got a handle onwhat this controversy is all about.
So what did they say about Job?
Well, let's look in Job chapter four, andwhat we find is that in Job chapters four
and five, Eliphaz is the first speakerand he starts out trying to be tactful.
(22:27):
The Bible says in Job chapter four,verse one, “Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered and said, ‘If one attempts aword with you, will you become weary? But
who can withhold himself from speaking?”He's saying we're trying to be careful
here not to hurt your feelings Jobunnecessarily, but this needs to be said.
We can't help but say this.
(22:47):
We know that you don't want to hearthis, but you need to listen to us.
You've helped other people that werein trouble, and now look at you.
And then Eliphaz begins to accuse job.
Look at chapter four,verse seven and eight.
“Remember now, whoever perished beinginnocent or where were the upright
cut off? Even as I have seen, thosewho plow iniquity and sow trouble reap
(23:12):
the same.” That sounds almost exactlylike Galatians six, verse seven.
Whatever a man sowsthat shall he also reap.
Now, that is what Eliphazis saying about job.
He's saying Job, God ispunishing you for your sins.
You are getting what you deserve.
These things don't happen to good people.
That's what he says in verse seven.
(23:32):
He said when did you ever seesomebody that was righteous going
through what you're going through?
These things don't happen to good people.
Now, he doesn't say that directlyhere in Job chapter four.
In other words, he doesn't use theword “you”—you have been plowing
iniquity and you are reaping whatyou have sown, but that's the idea.
Now he will get more personal,he and the other two will be more
(23:54):
direct, as this argument progresses.
And as it gets hotter and hotter, you'llfind them being more personal in their
attack against job, and they will usethe word “you.” But right now at this
point he's speaking in general terms, buteven at that, even though he's speaking
indirectly, even though he's saying thisby implication about Job, his charge
(24:14):
is still that Job is a sinful man.
Now we know that Eliphaz was wrong.
We know that because we can read Jobchapter one verse eight and Job chapter
two, verse three, where God said thatJob was a perfect and an upright man,
one that feared God and shunned evil.
God himself said that two times.
So really what happens here inthis book is that in this argument,
(24:39):
Eliphaz is the one who makes theinitial charge against Job: Job,
you're reaping what you have sown.
And then what you find in the case ofhis two friends, Bildad and Zophar, is
that they simply echo what Eliphaz said.
And remember, these men are not strangers.
They are not his enemies,they are his friends.
And we would say some friends, huh?
(25:00):
And Job is going to have some choicewords to say to them about this.
They have come to comfort him.
They have come to support and encouragehim, and they end up turning against him.
So in the seven days and the sevennights that they sat down on the
ground and didn't say anything, theywere evidently thinking something.
And the thing that they were thinkingabout evidently during that time
(25:22):
or close to the time that theybegin to speak, is that Job must
have brought all this on himself.
He must have caused this.
For something like this to happen thatis of such magnitude that we see, Job
had to do something that was very sinful.
And that was their idea.
Now think about what Job has been through.
Think about what he has lost.
He has lost his health.
(25:43):
He has lost his children.
He has lost his possessions.
This was the worst thing thatthey could possibly say to him.
You know, there are some people thatjust have almost a knack for saying the
worst thing at the worst possible time.
They just stick their foot in theirmouth and they give no support
and no comfort to people who aregoing through a bad, bad situation.
(26:04):
That is sad, but that is true.
And it's no wonder that in Job chapter16 verse two, Job finally got so
aggravated with these three men thathe says you are miserable comforters.
You've come here to supposedly comfortme and you're making me even worse.
And the sadder part is that theygot even harsher with Job because
Job wouldn't agree with them.
(26:24):
So really these three men are takingthe side of the devil: Job is a bad man.
Job is a hypocrite.
He's not a righteous man.
Remember, that's what Satan said to God.
The devil told the Lordthat Job was not a good man.
And God said yes he is.
That's what this whole test is about.
He.
You also see again that thesethree friends of Job did fine
(26:46):
when they didn't say anythingfor seven days and seven nights.
But the minute that theyopened their mouths, that's
when they made their mistake.
And God tells them that in theclosing chapter of this book.
So in Job chapter four, verses sevenand eight, they state a principle that
we've already looked at and that theBible upholds in other verses, and
that is that a man reaps what he sows.
(27:07):
That is generally speaking true,but that does not apply to Job.
That's what they missed.
They misapplied that generalprinciple of the Scriptures.
What they said was generallyspeaking true, but it didn't
have anything to do with Job.
Sometimes people today do the same thing.
They see a man who's going througha really hard time and they
automatically assume that he didsomething to bring all that on himself.
(27:30):
They see a woman who's goingthrough a tragedy in life and they
conclude that she must have donesomething to bring that on herself.
Sometimes that's true, and sometimesthat's not true, but let's be
honest, let's be fair with people.
Let's treat other people as wewould want them to treat us.
So the Bible shows that sometimes goodthings happen to bad people, and sometimes
(27:50):
bad things happen to good people.
This is what we saw in John chapter nine.
This is what we learnedin Luke chapter 13.
You can't automatically assume something.
Now there are some times whereyou know that a person has
brought hard times on himself.
But there are other times whereyou don't know that, and that's
where we need to be careful.
But Eliphaz was not.
As a matter of fact, he began tomake all kinds of accusations and
(28:13):
even to say some strange things.
In Job chapter four, beginning in verse12, he claims that he saw a spirit.
He claims that he had a visionand this spirit spoke to him.
And then he tried to applywhat that spirit supposedly
said to him to Job himself.
Even though he does notspecifically use the word “you,”
he is pointing all this at Job.
(28:33):
And he says some things thatwe would say are pretty cruel.
He says in chapter five, verse three, “Ihave seen the foolish taking root, but
suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. Hissons are far from safety. They are crushed
in the gate and there is no deliverer.”
What a cold thing to say to a manwho has just lost his seven sons!
So Eliphaz says Job,here's what my advice is.
(28:56):
You need to repent.
Beginning in verse eight (28:57):
“But as for me, I would seek God, and
to God I would commit my cause.”Now what he's saying there is you
need to turn your life around.
You need to admit that you're wrong.
You need to confess your sins,and then God will forgive
you and he will restore you.
Eliphaz goes on to point outthat God is punishing him.
In chapter five, verse 17, he says,“Behold, happy is the man whom God
(29:20):
corrects. Therefore, do not despisethe chastening of the Almighty.”
Now, that is a scriptural principle.
That is true in a general sense,but that has nothing to do with Job.
So for the second time in this chapterEliphaz states something that is true and
is backed up by the rest of the Bible.
He says that a man reaps what he sows.
(29:41):
That's what he says in chapter four.
That is backed up in Galatianssix, seven, and eight.
Here he says that God chastens a man.
That is taught in Hebrews12, verses five through 11.
But he misapplied it, and that'swhat we have to be careful for
as we study and as we think aboutthe problem of evil in life.
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
(30:02):
Stay connected with our podcast on ourwebsite, and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever fine podcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providingChristian education since 1975
in Cookeville, Tennessee, offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
Study at your level.
Aim higher and get in touch with us today.
Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My Godand My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspiredWord to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
In the Book of Job chapter oneJob lost everything that he
(00:21):
had, but he still blessed God.
In chapter two now he has a terribledisease on top of everything
else that this man suffered.
At first, he maintains his composure.
Well, his three friends come tocomfort him and to mourn with him.
They sat down on the ground with him forseven days and seven nights and none spoke
(00:41):
a word to him, the Bible says, becausethey saw that his grief was very great.
But when we come to chapterthree of the Book of Job, we find
that the pain is getting to him.
His torment is beginning to unnervehim, and Job begins to speak.
And when he does, he pours out his griefand his fear and his anger especially.
(01:03):
You know, when we're under a lot ofpressure, what is on the inside will come
out, and sometimes that surprises andeven shocks the people that are around us.
But when we are under a great deal ofpain and pressure, that's what happens.
We might say that when we're undera great deal of stress in life,
what is inside of us comes out—thegood, the bad, and the ugly.
(01:26):
So let's read what was on the mindof this great man when he was under
severe stress in Job chapter three.
I'm going to read thiswhole chapter with us.
Job chapter three, beginning in verse one.
“After this job opened his mouthand cursed the day of his birth.
Job spoke and said, “May the day perishon which I was born and the night in which
(01:47):
it was said a male child is conceived.
May that day be darkness.
May God above not see it,nor the light shine upon it.
May darkness and theshadow of death claim it.
May a cloud settle on it.
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
As for that night, may darkness seize it.
May it not rejoice amongthe days of the year.
(02:08):
May it not come into thenumber of the months.
Oh, may that night be barren.
May no joyful shout come into it.
May those curse it who curse the day.
Those who are ready to arouse leviathan,may the stars of its morning be dark.
May it look for light, but have none andnot see the dawning of the day because it
did not shut up the doors of my mother'swomb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
(02:32):
Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish whenI came from the womb?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breast that I should nurse?
For now, I would havelaid still and been quiet.
I would have been asleep then I wouldhave been at rest with kings and
counselors of the earth who built ruinsfor themselves, or with princes who had
(02:54):
gold, who filled their houses with silver.
Or why was I not hidden like a stillbornchild, like infants who never saw light?
There the wicked cease from troubling,and there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners rest together.
They do not hear thevoice of the oppressor.
The small and great are there, andthe servant is free from his master.
(03:16):
Why is a light given tohim who is in misery?
And life to the bitter of soul wholong for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than hiddentreasures, who rejoice exceedingly and
are glad when they can find the grave.
Why is light given to a man whose wayis hidden and whom God has hedged in?
For my sign comes before I eat andmy groanings pour out like water.
(03:41):
For the thing I greatly fearedhas come upon me, and what I
dreaded has happened to me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet.
I have no rest, for trouble comes’”
In verse one, the Bible says that jobopened his mouth and cursed his day.
The New King James says he cursedthe day of his birth in italics.
(04:01):
And that is the idea.
Why did I ever live to see this day?
Job says I wish I had never been born.
That's what he means in verse threewhen he says may the day perish on which
I was born, and the night in which itwas said, a male child is conceived.
And by the way, just as a sideobservation here, this is one of
(04:23):
many passages in the Bible thatshow that life begins at conception.
Notice verse three (04:28):
a male child conceived.
There wasn't a conception of somethingthat developed into a human being.
This was a human being fromthe point of conception.
Another clear verse is Luke one, verse 36.
That's where the Bible says thatElizabeth, the mother of John the
Baptist, had conceived a son in herold age, and because of all this pain
(04:54):
and grief, Job asked the question thatwe are looking at and that is why.
Why is all this happening?
Look at verse 11 again.
Why didn't I die at birth?
Why didn't I perish whenI came from the womb?
Why did the knees receive me?
Why the breast that I should nurse?
In verse 16, he says why couldn'tI have been like a stillborn
(05:16):
child and like infants, littlebabies, who never saw the light?
Job is saying I would have been better offif I had died in my mother's womb because
at least there I would've been at rest.
That's where everybody wants to go.
That's what he says in verse 18.
There the prisoners rest together,the small and the great are there.
In verse 19 and then in verse 20 we seethat word “Why” again And this, by the
(05:40):
way, in verse 20 and 21, is a questionthat people still ask to this very day.
why is light given to him who is inmisery and life to the bitter of soul,
who long for death, but it does not come?
Why does God allow us to live?
We have a lot of questions for God.
Why did You make us, Lord?
(06:01):
Why did You create this world?
Why do we have so much eviland suffering in this life?
And sometimes, ironically, we askGod, “Lord, why don't You let me live
longer?” Then there are other timeswhere we say, “Lord, why don't You
let me die?” That's what's takingplace here in Job chapter three.
He's talking about people who arein such pain that they, as he says
(06:24):
in verse 21, look forward death.
They want to die.
And you might say that that's anatural human response, a natural
human feeling in some ways.
But you know, we have to read this inlight of the whole Bible, don't we?
We can't just read the Book of Job and saythat it's better for anybody to die than
to live in misery, because that dependson whether a person is saved or lost, and
(06:47):
that is what the New Testament teaches us.
We have to be ready spiritually to die.
But Job is not talking about that.
He's not going into that.
He's simply talking about thefact that he is in great pain
and misery, and he wants relief.
He wants a release fromall this suffering.
But you'll notice in this bookthat there is one thing that he
did not do and he did not mention.
(07:09):
Even though he wished that he had diedat birth and even though he talks about
longing for death, at the same time,he did not talk about taking his own
life, and he certainly didn't do that.
Now, he could have been likehis wife in chapter two, verse
nine who said curse God and die.
But Job would not do that.
You see, there's a difference betweenwanting to die and taking one's own life.
(07:33):
In this book of Job, you have to rememberthat Job is pouring out his emotions.
He's pouring out his feelings.
So we're really seeing whatis on the inside of this man.
And again, it's very easy for youand I to stand back and analyze
him and sometimes criticize him.
But if you'd been in the same situationthat Job was, what would you have said?
(07:53):
And remember, in the case ofJob, we're not talking about
an ordinary good person here.
We're talking about the man of whom Godsaid there is none like him in the earth.
He was human just like you and I are.
Another great lesson in Job chapterthree about the problem of evil
and suffering is in verse 25.
(08:14):
Notice what Job says.
He said, “For the thing I greatlyfeared has come upon me, and what I
dreaded has happened to me. How manytimes do you worry about something
that might happen? How many times areyou anxious because something might
turn out for the worst” Job said Igreatly feared this and now it's here.
(08:36):
I dreaded this.
In other words, he thought aboutthese things and now he's in the
very situation that he was afraid of.
Now on the other hand, there aretimes that we are afraid something
will happen and it never does happen.
In the Bible, you read about David whothought that King Saul would kill him.
As a matter of fact, David was soafraid that Saul would kill him, he
(08:57):
was so sure in his mind, that he saidthis—He said, “There is but a step
between me and death” [I Samuel 20verse three]. He said in First Samuel 27
verse one, “I shall now perish one day bythe hand of Saul.” But that didn't happen.
David lived many more years after that.
When Jacob met his brother Esau in Genesischapter 32, Jacob was scared to death.
(09:19):
He was afraid that Esau and all his 400men coming with him were going to attack
and perhaps kill him and his family.
So he prayed to God and prayed fervently.
That was a long night.
He had heard by messengers thatEsau was coming with 400 men to meet
him, and the reason that Jacob wasso scared when he heard that was
(09:40):
because he remembered what he haddone to his brother 20 years before.
He hadn't exactly treated him right,and now he's very afraid that his
brother is going to attack him.
But what happened when Esaucame and met his brother?
He was very friendly to him.
So what he was afraid of andworried about never happened.
That's sometimes true in our lives.
We might even say that many times weworry about things that never do happen.
(10:03):
But sometimes they do, and that's what Jobmeans in Job 3:25, when he said, “For the
thing I greatly feared has come upon me,and what I dreaded has happened to me.”
Job was a conscientious man[Job chapter one, verse five].
It wouldn't be fair to say that hewas a worrier, but he was human.
(10:24):
Sometimes he thought about the future,and when he did, at times he would
wonder about bad situations and hewould have some fear about that.
He would fear, for instance, what itwould be like to lose everything, for
something bad to happen to his children.
Now, that's something thatevery parent thinks about.
We do everything that we can to preventit, to protect them, even though we know
(10:45):
that much of this is out of our hands.
Job also, at some time, thoughtabout health problems in the future.
Now, this is very human.
Doesn't this sound familiar?
Isn't this what we sometimes do?
Well, what if this happens to me?
What if my health goes down?
What if I become very ill andunable to function and enjoy life?
(11:05):
When people are young, they don't thinkabout that much, but as we age we fear
those days—the suffering, how to payfor help, and how to pay for treatments.
Who's going to be there to help?
How long and how bad will it last?
So let's look at ourselves and applywhat we're seeing here to our lives.
Do you fear what might happen?
(11:25):
What do you fear the most?
Do you fear losing what you have?
Do you fear financial and perhapssevere financial troubles?
You've worked hard.
You don't want to lose it.
You want to take care of your family.
You want to leave somethingto your children, and that's
good and that's right.
You want to make sure that you haveenough to live on in your old age.
(11:46):
Now, these are noble goals.
These are good plans, but circumstanceschange and as the future unfolds, you
can't predict it from one day to the next.
And what if the worst does happen?
What if there's some kind ofnational disaster or national crisis?
Suppose there's war or there's somekind of calamity that strikes your
family and leaves you almost penniless.
(12:08):
What do you do then?
That is why we'restudying the Book of Job.
It will help us to see howthis man endured and navigated
through these storms of life.
And here's another passage on thisvery question later in the Bible.
It's found in Habakkuk chapterthree, verse 17 and 18.
“Though the fig tree may not blossom norfruit be on the vines, though the labor
(12:31):
of the olive may fail and the fields yieldno food, though the flock may be cut off
from the fold and there be no herd in thestalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Do we remember in First Timothy six,seven and eight, that the Bible says
“We brought nothing into this world andit is certain we can carry nothing out,
(12:56):
and having food and clothing let us betherewith content?” Jesus talked about
this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew6:25 through 34. That is the section where
Jesus talks about worry, and He talkedabout two things in particular: what you
eat and the clothes that you wear. AndJesus’ bottom line to that worry is this.
Matthew six, verse 33 (13:18):
“But you seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all thesethings shall be added to you.”
Here's another common worry today.
Do you fear losing your health?
Our health is a big part of our life.
There's no doubt about that.
If you're healthy, you can domore and you can enjoy life more.
(13:40):
We see so much sickness around us andwe sometimes think, “Well, what if
that happened to me?” And we even fearsomething like that happening to us.
That could be a heart attack.
It could be a stroke, it couldbe blindness, it could be cancer.
It could be becoming paralyzed.
It could be Alzheimer's.
It could be anything.
One point that we will discuss moreand more as time goes on in this series
(14:04):
is that there are many problems inlife, including health problems, that
can actually turn out for the good.
You think about Job and his story.
This has done good for millions of peoplefor thousands of years, and it continues
to encourage us to this very day.
Sometimes there are reasons thatyou just don't see for suffering
and you certainly don't like them.
(14:26):
In Second Corinthians chapter 12 versesseven through 10, a passage that we
will discuss later, there you find thestory of Paul's thorn in the flesh.
Now this was so uncomfortable andperhaps painful that Paul prayed
to God three times to take itaway, but God didn't because God
said I have a purpose for that.
We'll talk about that, as I said,later, but I'm simply making the point
(14:48):
here that many times we are so focusedon the pain as human beings that we
forget God's perspective of that becauseGod sees the outcome not just in our
lives but in the people that thatsuffering might affect and in ways that
people just don't even think about.
We need to remember too that this is anatural part of the world that we live in.
(15:09):
This is life in Ecclesiastes12 verses one through seven.
The Bible shows that the bodythat we live in will return to
the dust, and that sometimes canbe a slow and painful process.
Sometimes we're afraid ofthat and understandably so.
But when we look at the Bible,the Scriptures remind us time and
again that this life is very short.
(15:31):
It's like a vapor that appears fora little time and then vanishes
away [James four verse 14].
That means we have to keep ourfocus on the world to come.
As Christians, we have to keep our mindset on that resurrection body that will be
incorruptible, that will never get sick,that will never age, that will never die.
That's where we needto have our heart set.
(15:52):
And here's another way thatwe can really relate to Job.
Now, remember that Job said thething that he greatly feared had
come upon him, and that is somethingbad happening to your children.
And Job sometimes had that fear.
We know that again because in Job chapterthree, verse 25, he said for the thing
I greatly feared has come upon me andwhat I dreaded has happened to me.
(16:15):
So Job feared this and it did happen.
They died and Job lived through it.
He kept his faith.
Losing a loved one is one ofour greatest fears in life.
We dread this.
Many people have experiencedthis and gone on and so can we.
When we hear of parents losing a child,when we see young people taking chances
(16:36):
today, when we think about mean peopleand dangerous highways, it does scare us.
But Job's example shows that nomatter how great the fear and no
matter how tragic the loss, we canget through it, we can move on.
And I've wondered many timesabout Job and how he did it.
I'm not just talking about Job makingit through this tragedy initially.
(16:57):
I'm not just talking about him survivingit while he was going through all this
pain and all this misery, and even thefirst few weeks or months after that.
I'm going to the very end ofthis book for this question now.
But do you remember how long Joblived after all this trouble was over?
He lived 140 years, andthose were not bad days.
(17:18):
Those were not evil years.
The Bible says that Jobdied old and full of days.
That's the very laststatement in this book.
Now full of days means that he hadgood days, that he had a peaceful life.
How could he have donethat with all that loss?
Because you know that he rememberedall the things that happened to him,
especially losing his 10 children.
(17:40):
How did he live with that memory?
Well, he was able to move on.
He was able to heal, and hedid that by his faith in God.
So even if the worst thing does happen andwe end up saying, “I was afraid something
like this would happen,” we know from theBook of Job and from the promises of God
everywhere in the Bible that if we putour faith in God and we put our hand in
(18:02):
His and allow Him to lead us through, wecan do it. We can make it through, we can
endure even though the pain is so bad wetell ourselves “I can't do this. I can't
take this.” Sometimes when we hear aboutsomething really tragic that has happened
to someone else, we make the remark, “Idon't think that I could live with that.
I don't think that I could standthat.” But life teaches us and the
Bible reminds us (18:25):
Yes, you can.
Here's another important lesson thatyou've probably already been thinking
about, and that is the fear of atragedy can be worse and it can be
harder on us than the tragedy itself.
The worry and the stress that we buildup on our mind oftentimes is worse than
the problem itself when it does happen.
(18:45):
The story of David in Second SamuelChapter 12 is a good example.
You'll remember that God struck thechild that David and Bathsheba had.
The child became very sick.
David did not know if that child wouldlive or die, and he went through so much
stress that he wouldn't eat anything.
He wouldn't have anythingto do with anybody.
He was totally consumed with thethought that his child might die.
(19:06):
And the child did die.
And when that happened, Davidwas able to pull himself together
to the surprise of his servants.
So the thought of his childdying was worse in his case than
the actual death of that child.
And that's what sometimes happens to us.
We sometimes give ourselves more troubleby worrying about a thing than the problem
(19:26):
itself gives us when it does happen.
That may not be thecase in every situation.
Sometimes the reality is worse thanjust thinking about it or fearing it,
but at least sometimes that's the case.
But at any rate, in Job chapter three,we find all these feelings and all
these thoughts going through Job'smind, and they come out in his words.
(19:47):
You see, Job is not just thinkingabout these things in chapter three.
These are not just thoughts in his head.
Job says these things and who hears them?
His friends.
Remember they've been quiet upto this time for seven days.
They haven't said anything to him.
Job chapter two, verse 13 ends bysaying, “So they sat down with him on
the ground seven days and seven nights,and no one spoke a word to him for they
(20:11):
saw that his grief was very great.”
But when Job says all this in chapterthree, when he cursed his day, when
he says I wish that I died at birth, Iwish that I'd never lived to see this
day, why is all this happening to me.
and he longed for death, that'swhen they became angry at him
and they began to condemn him.
(20:32):
They began to criticize him.
So we've entered into theargument stage of this story.
And you can outline this bookin three simple words that all
begin with the same letter—A.
First of all, in chapters one andtwo of the Book of Job, you have the
“afflictions” of Job. In chapters threethrough 37, you have the “argument”
between Job and his three friends.
(20:53):
Later you will hear from a fourthone, and that man's name is Elihu.
And then number three in thisbook you have the “answer” from
God in chapters 38 through 42.
So now in Job chapter four, thethree friends begin to speak.
And so this begins a cycle.
His friends will say somethingto him and then Job responds.
(21:15):
And the way that it runs is like this.
Eliphaz will say somethingto Job, and Job responds.
And then Bildad responds toJob, and Job responds to him.
And then Zophar responds toJob and Job answers him back.
Then it starts all over again.
Eliphaz accuses Job.
Job responds.
Bildad accuses Job.
Job responds.
Zophar accuses Job, and Job responds.
(21:38):
Then it happens a thirdtime in the same order.
Eliphaz accuses Job.
Job responds to him.
Bildad has just a few words to sayto Job, and Job responds to him.
And Zophar doesn't say anything else.
And then this younger manElihu begins to speak.
Now that's an outline of theargument that you're going to see.
Now you're going to read many things inthe Book of Job in this argument that
(22:02):
will give you trouble understanding.
Some of it is hard for any of us tounderstand, but if you understand
and you remember the basic pointthat these three were making about
Job, then you've got a handle onwhat this controversy is all about.
So what did they say about Job?
Well, let's look in Job chapter four, andwhat we find is that in Job chapters four
and five, Eliphaz is the first speakerand he starts out trying to be tactful.
(22:27):
The Bible says in Job chapter four,verse one, “Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered and said, ‘If one attempts aword with you, will you become weary? But
who can withhold himself from speaking?”He's saying we're trying to be careful
here not to hurt your feelings Jobunnecessarily, but this needs to be said.
We can't help but say this.
(22:47):
We know that you don't want to hearthis, but you need to listen to us.
You've helped other people that werein trouble, and now look at you.
And then Eliphaz begins to accuse job.
Look at chapter four,verse seven and eight.
“Remember now, whoever perished beinginnocent or where were the upright
cut off? Even as I have seen, thosewho plow iniquity and sow trouble reap
(23:12):
the same.” That sounds almost exactlylike Galatians six, verse seven.
Whatever a man sowsthat shall he also reap.
Now, that is what Eliphazis saying about job.
He's saying Job, God ispunishing you for your sins.
You are getting what you deserve.
These things don't happen to good people.
That's what he says in verse seven.
(23:32):
He said when did you ever seesomebody that was righteous going
through what you're going through?
These things don't happen to good people.
Now, he doesn't say that directlyhere in Job chapter four.
In other words, he doesn't use theword “you”—you have been plowing
iniquity and you are reaping whatyou have sown, but that's the idea.
Now he will get more personal,he and the other two will be more
(23:54):
direct, as this argument progresses.
And as it gets hotter and hotter, you'llfind them being more personal in their
attack against job, and they will usethe word “you.” But right now at this
point he's speaking in general terms, buteven at that, even though he's speaking
indirectly, even though he's saying thisby implication about Job, his charge
(24:14):
is still that Job is a sinful man.
Now we know that Eliphaz was wrong.
We know that because we can read Jobchapter one verse eight and Job chapter
two, verse three, where God said thatJob was a perfect and an upright man,
one that feared God and shunned evil.
God himself said that two times.
So really what happens here inthis book is that in this argument,
(24:39):
Eliphaz is the one who makes theinitial charge against Job: Job,
you're reaping what you have sown.
And then what you find in the case ofhis two friends, Bildad and Zophar, is
that they simply echo what Eliphaz said.
And remember, these men are not strangers.
They are not his enemies,they are his friends.
And we would say some friends, huh?
(25:00):
And Job is going to have some choicewords to say to them about this.
They have come to comfort him.
They have come to support and encouragehim, and they end up turning against him.
So in the seven days and the sevennights that they sat down on the
ground and didn't say anything, theywere evidently thinking something.
And the thing that they were thinkingabout evidently during that time
(25:22):
or close to the time that theybegin to speak, is that Job must
have brought all this on himself.
He must have caused this.
For something like this to happen thatis of such magnitude that we see, Job
had to do something that was very sinful.
And that was their idea.
Now think about what Job has been through.
Think about what he has lost.
He has lost his health.
(25:43):
He has lost his children.
He has lost his possessions.
This was the worst thing thatthey could possibly say to him.
You know, there are some people thatjust have almost a knack for saying the
worst thing at the worst possible time.
They just stick their foot in theirmouth and they give no support
and no comfort to people who aregoing through a bad, bad situation.
(26:04):
That is sad, but that is true.
And it's no wonder that in Job chapter16 verse two, Job finally got so
aggravated with these three men thathe says you are miserable comforters.
You've come here to supposedly comfortme and you're making me even worse.
And the sadder part is that theygot even harsher with Job because
Job wouldn't agree with them.
(26:24):
So really these three men are takingthe side of the devil: Job is a bad man.
Job is a hypocrite.
He's not a righteous man.
Remember, that's what Satan said to God.
The devil told the Lordthat Job was not a good man.
And God said yes he is.
That's what this whole test is about.
He.
You also see again that thesethree friends of Job did fine
(26:46):
when they didn't say anythingfor seven days and seven nights.
But the minute that theyopened their mouths, that's
when they made their mistake.
And God tells them that in theclosing chapter of this book.
So in Job chapter four, verses sevenand eight, they state a principle that
we've already looked at and that theBible upholds in other verses, and
that is that a man reaps what he sows.
(27:07):
That is generally speaking true,but that does not apply to Job.
That's what they missed.
They misapplied that generalprinciple of the Scriptures.
What they said was generallyspeaking true, but it didn't
have anything to do with Job.
Sometimes people today do the same thing.
They see a man who's going througha really hard time and they
automatically assume that he didsomething to bring all that on himself.
(27:30):
They see a woman who's goingthrough a tragedy in life and they
conclude that she must have donesomething to bring that on herself.
Sometimes that's true, and sometimesthat's not true, but let's be
honest, let's be fair with people.
Let's treat other people as wewould want them to treat us.
So the Bible shows that sometimes goodthings happen to bad people, and sometimes
(27:50):
bad things happen to good people.
This is what we saw in John chapter nine.
This is what we learnedin Luke chapter 13.
You can't automatically assume something.
Now there are some times whereyou know that a person has
brought hard times on himself.
But there are other times whereyou don't know that, and that's
where we need to be careful.
But Eliphaz was not.
As a matter of fact, he began tomake all kinds of accusations and
(28:13):
even to say some strange things.
In Job chapter four, beginning in verse12, he claims that he saw a spirit.
He claims that he had a visionand this spirit spoke to him.
And then he tried to applywhat that spirit supposedly
said to him to Job himself.
Even though he does notspecifically use the word “you,”
he is pointing all this at Job.
(28:33):
And he says some things thatwe would say are pretty cruel.
He says in chapter five, verse three, “Ihave seen the foolish taking root, but
suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. Hissons are far from safety. They are crushed
in the gate and there is no deliverer.”
What a cold thing to say to a manwho has just lost his seven sons!
So Eliphaz says Job,here's what my advice is.
(28:56):
You need to repent.
Beginning in verse eight (28:57):
“But as for me, I would seek God, and
to God I would commit my cause.”Now what he's saying there is you
need to turn your life around.
You need to admit that you're wrong.
You need to confess your sins,and then God will forgive
you and he will restore you.
Eliphaz goes on to point outthat God is punishing him.
In chapter five, verse 17, he says,“Behold, happy is the man whom God
(29:20):
corrects. Therefore, do not despisethe chastening of the Almighty.”
Now, that is a scriptural principle.
That is true in a general sense,but that has nothing to do with Job.
So for the second time in this chapterEliphaz states something that is true and
is backed up by the rest of the Bible.
He says that a man reaps what he sows.
(29:41):
That's what he says in chapter four.
That is backed up in Galatianssix, seven, and eight.
Here he says that God chastens a man.
That is taught in Hebrews12, verses five through 11.
But he misapplied it, and that'swhat we have to be careful for
as we study and as we think aboutthe problem of evil in life.
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
(30:02):
Stay connected with our podcast on ourwebsite, and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever fine podcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providingChristian education since 1975
in Cookeville, Tennessee, offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
Study at your level.
Aim higher and get in touch with us today.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.