https://esv.literalword.com/?q=job+4
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 3 February 2025:
Job 4:1-2 — Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said….
After seven days of silence, Eliphaz speaks first. His tone is measured and restrained, but restraint is not the same as wisdom. He signals hesitation — “If one ventures a word with you….” — yet proceeds anyway. This marks a critical shift in the narrative: suffering is no longer simply endured; it is now interpreted. The danger here is subtle. Eliphaz does not enter Job’s pain; he evaluates it. Compassion gives way to explanation, and explanation becomes accusation.
This moment reveals how quickly human reasoning moves to analysis when mystery feels uncomfortable. Scripture later warns that not many should presume to be teachers because words spoken without understanding can multiply harm. Eliphaz believes silence is no longer acceptable, but God has not yet spoken.
Job 4:3-5 — Behold, you have instructed many… but now it has come to you, and you are impatient….
Eliphaz appeals to Job’s past faithfulness. Job has strengthened the weak and steadied those who stumbled, yet now he himself is shaken. The implication is sharp: if Job truly believed what he taught, he would not be struggling now. This equates spiritual maturity with emotional stability and assumes that genuine faith prevents deep anguish.
Scripture consistently rejects this assumption. The Psalms are filled with faithful lament. Jeremiah weeps openly. Jesus Himself is “sorrowful even to death.” Faith does not eliminate pain; it brings pain honestly before God. Eliphaz mistakes visible distress for spiritual failure, reminding us how easily suffering is misread as weakness instead of weight.
Job 4:6 — Is not your fear of God your confidence…?
Eliphaz assumes fear of God should function as insulation from pain and anquish. But reverence is not armor against grief. Faith is not stoicism. Job’s fear of God has not failed; it is precisely why he brings his anguish toward God instead of away from Him.
The New Testament reframes confidence not as emotional steadiness, but as trust in God’s character even when feelings contradict hope. Confidence rests not in one’s composure, but in God’s faithfulness.
Job 4:7 — Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?
Here Eliphaz reveals his governing theology: innocent people do not suffer like this. Suffering is interpreted as evidence. Pain becomes proof. This is moral retribution theology — tidy, logical, and deeply flawed. It leaves no room for testing, discipline, refinement, spiritual warfare, or delayed justice.
This logic collapses completely at the cross. The only truly innocent man suffers the most unjust death in history. If Eliphaz’s principle were true, the gospel would be impossible. Scripture teaches that suffering may come not because of sin, but because of love, obedience, or redemptive purpose.
Job’s friend wrongfully assumed Job was suffering because of his sin. Again, the ‘friend’s’ comfort of Job turned to criticism. In the midst of his suffering, Job didn’t need a lesson he needed loving care.
Job 4:10-11 — The lion perishes for lack of prey….
Eliphaz reinforces his argument with imagery: strength fails when justice intervenes. But again, he assumes he knows what justice looks like in real time. Scripture warns against this certainty. God’s justice is often hidden, delayed, and redemptive rather than immediate and punitive.
The New Testament cautions believers not to judge before the proper time, because God sees what humans cannot. Eliphaz’s confidence becomes his blindness.
Job 4:12-16 — Now a word was brought to me stealthily….
Eliphaz appeals to a personal spiritual experience — a night vision, a moment of fear, a voice in the darkness. He treats the experience itself as validation. But Scripture consistently teaches that spiritual experiences must be tested by truth, not assumed authoritative because they feel profound.
Not every spiritual impression is divine instruction. Later revelation will make clear that Eliphaz’s conclusions, though emotionally compelling, misrepresent God. The New Testament echoes this warning: even supernatural-sounding insights must be weighed against the revealed character and purposes of God.
Job 4:17-21 — Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
The message emphasizes human frailty and impurity. Much of it is true in general. Humanity is weak, temporary, dependent. The error lies in application. Eliphaz uses general truth to make a specific accusation God has not made.
This is where theology becomes dangerous — when truth is weaponized without love. Scripture teaches that awareness of human frailty should lead to humility and mercy, not condemnation. The gospel reveals that God does not crush fragile vessels; He redeems them.
Job 4 introduces the central tension of the book: sincere theology spoken without understanding can deeply misrepresent God and hurt the vulnerable. Eliphaz speaks many true things about humanity but draws a false conclusion about Job. God will later say that Eliphaz has not spoken rightly about Him.
The New Testament resolves this tension by revealing that suffering is not always corrective — sometimes it is formative, sometimes redemptive, and sometimes mysterious. The cross forever dismantles the idea that pain equals guilt.
“Can a man be pure before his Maker?” Eliphaz trembled in fear and dread at the recognition that all men are guilty before God. All men fall short of the glory of God, and the penalty for our sin is eternal death. But in His perfect love, mercy, and grace God sent His son to pay the penalty for our sin — “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).” … “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) … “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) … “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:3)
That eternal life began the moment you were saved, and you are surrounded by God’s love in all circumstances:
- Luke 12:6-7 — Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
- Luke 12:22-32 — And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
- Job 13:15 — Though he slay me, I will hope in him;
- Psalm 37:5 — Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 3 February 2025: Examine how you interpret suffering — your own or others’. Do you instinctively look for fault, explanation, or control, or do you first move toward compassion and trust in God’s purposes? Today, resist the urge to explain pain prematurely. Practice presence instead. Sit with mystery. Speak only words that reflect God’s patience and mercy.
Pray: “Father, forgive me when I try to explain what You have not yet revealed. Guard me from speaking truth without love and certainty without humility. Teach me to trust You in suffering without rushing to conclusions. Help me to comfort others as You comfort me — not with answers, but with faithful presence. Thank You for Christ, the innocent One who suffered for me and proved that Your purposes are deeper than my understanding. Shape my heart to reflect Your compassion and truth together. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 