September 13 Daily Discovery - Read Job Chapter 5

This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).  

Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.

[1] Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
[2] For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
[3] I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
[4] His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
[5] Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
[6] Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
[7] Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
[8] I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
[9] Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
[10] Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
[11] To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
[12] He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
[13] He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
[14] They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
[15] But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
[16] So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
[17] Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
[18] For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
[19] He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
[20] In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
[21] Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
[22] At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
[23] For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
[24] And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
[25] Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
[26] Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
[27] Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

Testing and Chastisement Look the Same

These are comments from Eliphaz the Temanite, which started in chapter 4 verse 1.  

These were jobs friends who were supposed to be trying to bring him comfort in his affliction. This man is suggesting that Job is only getting what is coming to him because of something that he has done that has been hidden.

We know from reading from the first chapter this book that job was literally the best man alive on the earth in his day. He was godly, wealthy and generous. God was not judging him or correcting him for some sin, he was testing his faithfulness. He could have been experiencing the things that he was experiencing because god was trying to correct him for some error, but he wasn't. He was godly. But even gold can be refined and become more pure.

Universal Trouble

Eliphaz got this part right even though his application was wrong. Trouble is a part of the human condition and everyone is going to experience it. We can have problems simply because we are alive. Something unsavory can happen to us for three different reasons: simply because we are human, because we have sinned and God is correcting us, or because we are godly and God is refining us or testing us.

"Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward."

He seems to be referring to something akin to a campfire. Sparks fly up from the campfire. Lots of them but they don't last long. If indeed this is the illustration he is referring to we should accept that we will have problems; lots of them; and they will be mostly short-lived.

Chastisement is for Your Good

Eliphaz got this part right, too even though his application was wrong .. again.

God indeed does chastise us for our good. He corrects us in order to direct our paths into godly living, which is to our great benefit, not only in this life but also in the life to come.

Heb. 12:5-13

[5] And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
[6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
[7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
[8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
[9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
[10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
[11] Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
[12] Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
[13] And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

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Continue Your Search

Do you see any: Commands to Obey, Warnings to Heed, Promises to Claim, Examples to Follow, Vices to Avoid, Praises to Emulate, Prayers to Use, Principles by which to Live, Questions to Ask or Actions to Take?

See: Berean Fellowship Bible Study Method