Tag: Even False Teachers Can Stumble on Some Truth - Job 3-5

Job 5:23-26

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.

Tag:   Even False Teachers Can Stubmle on Some Truth

In chapters four and five of Job we have the words of Job’s first friend, Eliphaz.  It is always important to remember that before you read any of Job’s three friends words, we recall the end of the book and God’s own commentary on their counsel to Job:

Job 42:7

The Lord Rebukes Job's Friends

After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

The words of Eliphaz, in the above text, have to be seen as not the “right” words for Job.   But, the irony of what Eliphaz says in this passage is exactly what does happen to Job in the end of the book.  In Eliphaz’s mind we are reading what he believes should happen to “righteous” people - he does not believe Job is righteous.   Eliphaz, like all of Job’s friends, believes that the righteous flourish and the wicked suffer.  Job was suffering, so, in Eliphaz’s mind, Job was wicked.   But, although his theory is wrong, since God has already told us that Job as righteous, Eliphaz did, actually, prophecy as to what would happen to Job in the end of the book.  Everything we read above is what happens to Job in chapter 42.   Job is blessed in the end.  Job have “many” offspring.    Eliphaz was completely off in his application of truth ... like so many teachers can be.   But, the truth of the matter is that, in the end, God will bless those who are truly righteous.   That is a true statement.   He may not bless them on this earth the way the world believe it should look, however.   Even Job does not “feel” blessed in this story.   But, in the end, “You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.”   We don’t know the timing, but we do know the truth for those who put their trust in God:

Psalms 1:3

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

We have this hope in God!!