A. THE COUNSEL OF ELIPHAZ
1. Eliphaz warns Job (5:1-7)
a. There is danger in the anger of a foolish man
b. Such a one will see his sons crushed and his harvest
depleted
c. Affliction comes because man is born to trouble
2. Eliphaz directs Job (5:8-16)
a. Seek God and commit your cause to Him
b. For God does great things, catching the wise in their own
craftiness, saving the needy and giving hope to the poor
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
10 He bestows rain on the earth;
he sends water upon the countryside.
11 The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
3. Job reminded of God's blessings on those who accept His
chastening (5:17-26)
a. Happy is the man God corrects; don't despise His chastening
b. God will make him whole, and protect him in times of
trouble
c. God will give him peace, many descendants, and long life
17 "Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. [a]
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will befall you.
20 In famine he will ransom you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your children will be many,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.
-- Eliphaz's conclusion: "This we have searched out; it is true.
Hear it and know for yourself." (5:27)
27 "We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself."
B. JOB'S REPLY (6:1-7:21)
1. He justifies his rash words (6:1-7)
a. They are prompted by his heavy grief
b. He is experiencing the poisonous arrows and terrors of the
Almighty
c. Animals don't complain when well fed; but food has become
loathsome to him
2. He longs for death, while his integrity is still intact
(6:8-13)
a. He wishes that God would go ahead and crush him
b. Then he would have some comfort in knowing that he had not
concealed (or denied) the words of God
c. How long can he hope to endure?
8 "Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,
9 that God would be willing to crush me,
to let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 Then I would still have this consolation—
my joy in unrelenting pain—
that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 "What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?
12 Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?
13 Do I have any power to help myself,
now that success has been driven from me?
3. Job reproaches his friends (6:14-23)
a. They should have shown proper kindness
b. They have been like a deceitful brook, that disappoints
those who come to it
c. They have been afraid of what they have seen
d. He had not asked for their assistance
4. He challenges them to show him where he has sinned (6:24-30)
a. Show him his error and he will be quiet
b. Reproving him with no proof is of no benefit, it is like
overwhelming the fatherless and undermining one's friend
c. Look at him again and treat him justly, there is no
injustice in him
24 "Teach me, and I will be quiet;
show me where I have been wrong.
5. Job speaks out in the anguish of his soul (7:11-21)
a. Why does God terrify him with dreams and visions, so that
he longs for death?
b. Why is God testing him every moment? How long will this go
on?
c. Why can't God just leave him alone?
d. How has he sinned? What has he done to become a target for
God?
e. If he has sinned, why doesn't God pardon his transgression?
f. As it is, he will just go ahead and die, and then God won't
have to bother with him anymore (the sort of foolish
statement for which Job later repents, 42:3,6)
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
my eyes will never see happiness again.
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so he who goes down to the grave [d] does not return.
10 He will never come to his house again;
his place will know him no more.
11 "Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
that you put me under guard?
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,
rather than this body of mine.
16 I despise my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
17 "What is man that you make so much of him,
that you give him so much attention,
18 that you examine him every morning
and test him every moment?
19 Will you never look away from me,
or let me alone even for an instant?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
O watcher of men?
Why have you made me your target?
Have I become a burden to you? [e]
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;