Truth without Wisdom -- 5/22/11

Sunday, May 22, 2011

TRUTH WITHOUT WISDOM

Job 5

Before we come to Job 5 this morning, I want to read you a very encouraging passage from the Word of God. Why don’t you just listen to it… (Read Job 5:17-27 NKJV))

¹⁷ “ Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

¹⁸ For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.

¹⁹ He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

²⁰ In famine He shall redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

²² You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³ For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

²⁴ You shall know that your tent is in peace;
You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.

²⁵ You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
And your offspring like the grass of the earth.

²⁶ You shall come to the grave at a full age,
As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.

²⁷ Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

What an encouragement for the one who is being corrected by the Lord. Yes, the Lord bruises, but He also binds up. Would anyone like to preach on this passage this morning? If you think this is an easy passage to preach on, then my task this morning should be a piece of cake, because these words are taken from our text. Yes, I was reading from Job 5, from the words of Eliphaz the Temanite.

As I read those words, some of you recognized them as being from Job 5 because you have been reading in Job and seeking to understand. If you haven’t read it recently in Job, I doubt that you knew the source of this passage. Why? Because the words sound so good and so encouraging, but you didn’t expect such wonderful truth from one of Job’s friends. You might say, “But from what you said last week, I got the idea that they weren’t real friends once they began to speak. I got the impression that we couldn’t trust what they say.” Hang on, because I only read part of what Eliphaz says. I read the last 11 verses of chapter 5 to demonstrate that Job’s friends had some very good things to say. So what’s the problem? We will see the problem as we go through chapter 5 this morning.

In order to get the flavor of chapter 5, we need to go back and read chapter 4. Remember that chapters 4 and 5 contain Eliphaz’s first words to Job. They follow on the heals of Job’s emotional outburst in chapter 3, where Job lamented the fact that he was ever born, followed by the complaint that he didn’t die at birth, and finally his sorrow at having to live in such misery. Later Eliphaz will speak again in chapters 15 and 22. So let’s read Job 4 (NKJV)…

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

² “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?

³ Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.

⁴ Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the feeble knees;

⁵ But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.

⁶ Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ “ Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?

⁸ Even as I have seen,
Those who plow iniquity
And sow trouble reap the same.

⁹ By the blast of God they perish,
And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.

¹⁰ The roaring of the lion,
The voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹ The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹² “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³ In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴ Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my body stood up.

¹⁶ It stood still,
But I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence;
Then I heard a voice saying:

¹⁷ ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸ If He puts no trust in His servants,
If He charges His angels with error,

¹⁹ How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed before a moth?

²⁰ They are broken in pieces from morning till evening;
They perish forever, with no one regarding.

²¹ Does not their own excellence go away?
They die, even without wisdom.’

Now let’s walk through chapter 5…

I. Introduction -- Eliphaz’ Appeal

Verse 1, “Call out now; Is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?” It’s almost as if Eliphaz is taunting Job. “Go ahead, Job, cry out, but who do you think will answer you?” The implication is that no one will answer Job, not even the holy ones. The KJV reads “saints.” Literally, it is holy ones. Some would see the holy ones as being the Lord’s saints on earth, as the KJV implies. Others regard these holy ones as the angels of heaven. Either way, Eliphaz concludes that there is no one who is about to help Job in his predicament.

However, this does not mean that Eliphaz has no advice concerning where Job should turn. Even though Job seems to have no recourse, Eliphaz will hurry on to give his own advice and perspective.

I. Now Let Me Tell You about the Fool

Now let’s read verses 2-7 (NKJV)…

² For wrath kills a foolish man,
And envy slays a simple one.

³ I have seen the foolish taking root,
But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.

⁴ His sons are far from safety,
They are crushed in the gate,
And there is no deliverer.

⁵ Because the hungry eat up his harvest,
Taking it even from the thorns,
And a snare snatches their substance.

⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust,
Nor does trouble spring from the ground;

⁷ Yet man is born to trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.

The attitude that kills the fool is variously translated “vexation” (ESV), “resentment” (Lawson), “wrath” (KJV/NKJV). Where does this statement come from? At first, we might think that Eliphaz has suddenly turned away from Job and is quoting some general principle, but that is not the case. Rather, he is referring to Job’s words in chapter 3. He is referring to the resentment and bitterness of Job’s attitude and he sees it as foolishness. Such resentment will kill the fool and envy will slay the simple one. Make no mistake about it, Job is a fool in the eyes of Eliphaz.

In verses 3-5 Eliphaz gives a graphic description of such a fool. The fool takes root, but suddenly his house is cursed. As Steven Lawson puts it, “Job is the foolish man who had been planted in the soil of prosperity and had begun growing . But suddenly his house was cursed.” While some translations render this impersonally, that his house was cursed, others (KJV, ESV) translate it, “I cursed his dwelling.” The idea seems to be, “I saw the fool taking root, but I rightly pronounced a curse on him, because I knew that he was a fool.” Eliphaz is becoming more direct is his judgment of Job.

In verses 4-5 it is not difficult to see that these are direct references to Job. According to Eliphaz, it is the hidden sins of Job that account for the death of his children. Because Job didn’t provide them safety through a godly life, they are crushed in the gate with no deliverer. The snatching of the harvest in verse 5 is a reference to the Sabeans, who came and carried away Job’s oxen and donkeys. Why did it happen? Because Job was a fool who would not own up to and turn from his sin.

In verses 6-7 Eliphaz sums up his statements about the fool with a little principle. “For affliction does not come from the dust, Nor does trouble spring from the ground.” In other words, “Job, troubles like you are experiencing do not just appear out of nowhere. There is a reason for these calamities that have come upon you. That reason is stated in verse 7, “Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.” In the context, it seems clear that Eliphaz is referring to man in his sin. Job is the man, and just as surely as sparks fly upward, so Job’s sin has led to the troubles with which he is confronted. We might view this as a kind of materialistic version of the principle in Gal. 6:7-8, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

Eliphaz has concluded that Job is a fool and that troubles like his are what the fool can always expect. There are no exceptions, and Job should not look for any other explanation.

II. But This Is What I Would Do

Eliphaz, not being the least bit timid, now tells Job what he would do if the tables were turned and their places were switched. Verse 8, “But as for me, I would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause.” Do you sense how uncaring and insensitive Eliphaz is? He assumes that it has never occurred to Job that he might present his case before God? He pictures Job as the fool, and the fool has no regard for God. It doesn’t occur to Eliphaz that Job might have been struggling with how to approach God in this situation.

Now we come to verses 9-16. Let’s read those… (9-16 NKJV)

⁹ Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number.

¹⁰ He gives rain on the earth,
And sends waters on the fields.

¹¹ He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.

¹³ He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.

¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,
And grope at noontime as in the night.

¹⁵ But He saves the needy from the sword,
From the mouth of the mighty,
And from their hand.

¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
And injustice shuts her mouth.

Here we have 8 verses of pure truth. This is another instance in which we read what Eliphaz says, and we want to shout, “Amen, brother.” Eliphaz says, “I would commit my cause to God, because God does great and marvelous things.” Who can possibly argue with that? Not David, who proclaims, “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well” (Ps. 139:14). We read again in Rev. 15:3, “They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty.’” Surely every person alive would do well to seek God and commit his cause to Him, because He does indeed do great and marvelous works. That is why Jeremiah said, “But, O Lord of hosts, You who judge righteously, Testing the mind and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have revealed my cause” (Jer. 11:20). I believe these words of Jeremiah were very familiar to Jesus, of whom it is said in I Pet. 2:23, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” Because He is a God who does great and marvelous things, we can cast all our cares upon Him, because He cares for us (I Pet. 5:7).

In verses 10-16 Eliphaz details the specifics of God’s great and marvelous works. The God who created the earth waters it abundantly (10) Not only does He take care of His physical universe, but He also works in the lives of the human beings He created. “He sets on high those who are lowly, And those who mourn are lifted to safety” (11). The Psalmist echoes this same truth in Ps. 113:7, “He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap.” Or consider Prov. 3:34, “He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble [lowly].” Eliphaz is right to include among the great and marvelous works of the Lord the fact that He gives special care to the lowly and needy.

On the other hand, the Lord “frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot carry out their plans. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. They meet with darkness in the daytime, And grope at noontime as in the night” (12-14). Is this not the overall biblical view of how God deals with those who possess this world’s wisdom? Nehemiah was that faithful servant of the Lord who returned to Jerusalem to inspire and lead its people to repair her walls, but his labor was not without opposition. Listen to Neh. 4:11, “And our adversaries said, ‘They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.’” Their enemies were plotting how they could frustrate the work they were doing for their God. But now come to verses 14-15, “And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, ‘Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.’ And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to u, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.” The Almighty God brought their plot to nothing. Paul quotes directly from Job 5:12, when he says in I 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.’” He uses the words of Eliphaz to support his claim that the world’s wisdom is foolish in the sight of God. That’s right, Eliphaz is quoted in the New Testament. The wise men of this world are walking in darkness, but they don’t have the light to realize it.

Now come again to verse 15, “But He saves the needy from the sword, From the mouth of the mighty, And from their hand.” He began to talk about the Lord’s concern for the lowly in verse 11, before contrasting in verses 12-14 how He opposes the wise and proud. Now Eliphaz returns to God’s care for the poor and needy. We could easily place these words alongside those of David in Ps. 35:10, “All my bones shall say, ‘Lord, who is like You, Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?’” Can you think of anyone the Lord delivered from the mouth of the mighty, and from their hand? I’m thinking about Daniel. Mighty King Darius threw him into a den of lions, but the Lord saved him from the mouth of those mighty lions and from the hand of this powerful king.

Make no mistake about it, Eliphaz has it right. No one can find a thing wrong with what he says in verses 9-16. It is no wonder that his words may be set easily alongside the writings of David and even quoted by the apostle Paul. This is biblical truth at its best. We won’t take time to read it now, but you ought to go back and compare these verses with the song of Hannah in I Sam. 2. You will find that there are many similarities. If you decided to memorize verses 9-16, you would not find any opposition from me.

So is there any problem here? Only in the way Eliphaz applies these truths to Job. Let’s try to understand the flow of Eliphaz’s logic. “Job, take a good look at yourself. Go ahead, cry out for help, but who will answer you? There is no one you can turn to. Job, you are acting like a fool. I have seen what happens to the fool. Though he may begin well, he will fall. The afflictions you are suffering clearly identify you as the fool, who takes no thought of God. Troubles don’t come from nowhere. Your troubles are the result of your hidden sin. But if I were in your place, I would present my cause to God, because God does great and marvelous things. Job, don’t you realize that the God who waters the whole earth is able to set the lowly on high. He can restore you to your former place of greatness. You think you are wise, Job, but your wisdom is foolishness with God. Go to Him, and He will save you. He is your only hope.” That is the flavor of the counsel of Eliphaz. “Job, I would have the wisdom to turn to God, but you are so foolish that you are relying on your own wisdom. Come to him and confess your sins.”

And that bring us to the last section of this chapter…

III. So This Is What You Should Do

Now let’s read again this last section of chapter 5. Read 5:17-27 (NKJV)…

¹⁷ “ Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

¹⁸ For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.

¹⁹ He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

²⁰ In famine He shall redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

²² You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³ For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

²⁴ You shall know that your tent is in peace;
You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.

²⁵ You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
And your offspring like the grass of the earth.

²⁶ You shall come to the grave at a full age,
As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.

²⁷ Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

Wow! This is not Paul or Peter or John speaking. Nor are these the words of Moses or David or Isaiah. This is not even the utterance of Job. But this is what Eliphaz said. He begins with an oft-repeated principle of scripture: “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty” (17). We read in Ps. 94:12, “Blessed is the man whom you instruct, O Lord, and teach out of your law.” Better known to us are the words of Prov. 3:11-12, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” The translation “happy” is the same word that is most often rendered “blessed” throughout the Old Testament. Whatever translation you prefer, just realize that it isn’t the kind of happiness that we generally think of in this world. Bear in mind how the writer of Hebrews quotes this correction principle from Prov. 3, adding his own clarification. Let’s read it in Heb. 12:5-11…

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;
⁶ For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
⁷ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸ But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹ Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

This faithful correction from the Lord brings a blessing that is far deeper than being happy because the circumstances are favorable. Rather, this is a blessing that has eternal value. So Eliphaz is right on with what he says about the blessing of receiving the Lord’s correction.

Now notice verse 18, “For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.” Does the Lord bring affliction? Yes, He does, but He also brings healing. This is simply an application of the principle of divine correction. We find the same basic idea in verse 19, “He shall deliver you in six troubles, Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.” Even if it is the Lord who brings the troubles, He will deliver you out of them repeatedly. This verse reminds me very much of Prov. 24:16, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Why does the righteous man rise again? Because He looks to the Lord for deliverance.

Now just look down through verses 20-24. I’m not going to read them again, but just scan them. Here Eliphaz speaks of the Lord’s protection against all kinds of evils. We would have no trouble weaving these verses into Psalm 91. If you are familiar with that Psalm, surely what Eliphaz says here will bring it to mind. You will see what I mean, as we compare these words to Ps. 91:3-12…

³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
¹² In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Do you see what I mean? Again, Eliphaz is perfectly in line with what scripture teaches.

In verses 25-26 Eliphaz continues to give a picture of peace and prosperity, assuring Job that His descendants can be many. Though he has lost all, the Lord is able to give him more. Though Job is so miserable he despairs of life, the Lord is able to heal him and bring him to a ripe old age.

Eliphaz closes his first speech with the words of verse 27, “Behold, this we have searched out; It is true. Hear it, and know for yourself.” He emphasizes that he has not spoken these words on the spur of the moment. What he has shared with Job is truth that has been searched out. Notice that he says, “This we have searched out.” He is not alone in his judgment. Apparently he has consulted with Bildad and Zophar, and the three of them are in agreement. This becomes increasingly clear, when we listen to what the other two friends have to say.

So we ask the question again: “Is there a problem with what Eliphaz says in this last section?” The problem is in the way he applies these principles to Job. The application is seen in the context. Why does Eliphaz say in verse 17, “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects? Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Lord”? What does that statement have to do with Job? It doesn’t take a genius to answer that question. Eliphaz is saying that all of Job’s troubles constitute the correction of the Lord. According to Eliphaz, God is disciplining Job for his hidden sins. The message is something like this: “Job, remember that it is a great blessing to be corrected by the Lord. So don’t despise His chastening. Don’t you know that although He is bruising you now, He is able to bind you up? What blessing will be yours, Job, if you will just admit your sins and receive all these troubles as His gracious correction. When you do that, he Lord will protect you from all evil, give you more descendants, and bless you even in your old age. Surely you must know that what we are saying is true. Job, be careful to apply all this to yourself.”

Conclusion

Though Eliphaz spoke great truth which can be confirmed throughout the Bible, he was dead wrong in the way he applied those truths to Job. We know from chapter 1 that God did not afflict Job because of his sins, but Satan attacked Job because of his righteousns.

I want to conclude by leaving you with two thoughts. First of all, try to put yourself in Job’s place. Suppose you were seeking the Lord with all your heart, worshiping and serving Him faithfully, when your whole world feel apart, similar to the experience of Job. How would you react? As we ponder that question, perhaps we will cultivate some sympathy for Job.

The second thought with which I leave you is this: There is a greater than Job, who experienced great tragedy than Job. We keep coming back to this truth again and again, and we will continue to do so. May God give us grace to keep running from Job to Jesus. If you can sympathize with Job at all, look at Jesus. Did anyone ever accuse Jesus? Do you think people believed that Jesus was a great sinner because He experienced great suffering?

When we look at the death of the Lord Jesus, we sometimes turn to Isaiah 53 to read about it. At first, that seems strange, since this prophet wrote 700 years before Jesus was born. But as we read from Is. 53:4-7, we understand that Isaiah’s words are clearly looking forward to Jesus the Messiah…

⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.

That’s Jesus. Notice especially verse 4, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…” That’s great, no problem. But then listen the words that follow: “Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” Did you catch that? It appeared to us that God Himself had smitten this one who slaughtered. The NIV reads, “Yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.” Isaiah prophesied that people would consider the cross to be God’s punishment for the Messiah’s sins. And why wouldn’t they? Only the worst of criminals were crucified on a cross. Didn’t this indicate that Jesus must have done something worthy of such punishment? Listen to how Jesus was treated when He hung on the cross… (Matt. 27:41-43 NKJV)

⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ⁴² “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. ⁴³ He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

They considered Jesus to be a criminal, guilty of great sin. Since He trusted in God, if He were worthy, God would deliver Him.

Why would He who was the pure and spotless Son of God endure such opposition? Why would He continue until He had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, inviting the wrath of God to fall upon Him? Let’s allow Peter to answer our question in I Pet. 2:21-25…

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
²² “ Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

²³ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. ²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.