InstaStudy

Understanding Eliphaz's Counsel in Job 5

A study of Job chapter 5, focusing on Eliphaz's counsel and its implications.

1. The Consequences of Foolishness

1.1 The Futility of Wrath and Envy (Job 5:1-2)

Verses: Job 5:1; Job 5:2
  • Eliphaz suggests Job's cries are futile, implying no divine response will come.
  • He warns against the self-destructive nature of wrath and envy, suggesting Job's suffering stems from these.

1.2 The Destruction of the Foolish (Job 5:3-5)

Verses: Job 5:3; Job 5:4; Job 5:5
  • Eliphaz observes that fools may prosper temporarily, but their foundation is ultimately cursed.
  • He notes that the children of the foolish are far from safety and are crushed in the gate, with no one to deliver them.
  • Their harvest is consumed by the hungry, and their wealth is taken by robbers.

2. God's Sovereignty and Provision

2.1 Affliction Arises from the Ground (Job 5:6-7)

Verses: Job 5:6; Job 5:7
  • Eliphaz asserts that affliction does not arise from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground automatically.
  • He states that man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward, implying suffering is an inherent part of human existence.

2.2 Seeking God in Affliction (Job 5:8-10)

Verses: Job 5:8; Job 5:9; Job 5:10
  • Eliphaz advises Job to seek God and commit his cause to Him.
  • He describes God as performing great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
  • God gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields, providing for His creation.

3. God's Justice and Deliverance

3.1 God's Power Over the Crafty (Job 5:11-14)

Verses: Job 5:11; Job 5:12; Job 5:13; Job 5:14
  • God sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
  • He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
  • He takes the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
  • They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.

3.2 God Delivers the Needy (Job 5:15-16)

Verses: Job 5:15; Job 5:16
  • God saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.
  • So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

4. The Blessing of Divine Correction

4.1 Blessed is the Man Whom God Corrects (Job 5:17-18)

Verses: Job 5:17; Job 5:18
  • Eliphaz declares that blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
  • For He wounds, but He binds up; He strikes, but His hands make whole.

4.2 God's Protection from Trouble (Job 5:19-23)

Verses: Job 5:19; Job 5:20; Job 5:21; Job 5:22; Job 5:23
  • God will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven, no evil shall touch you.
  • In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
  • You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
  • You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
  • For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

5. The Promise of Future Blessing

5.1 Restoration and Prosperity (Job 5:24-27)

Verses: Job 5:24; Job 5:25; Job 5:26; Job 5:27
  • You shall know that your tent is secure; you shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.
  • You shall know also that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.
  • You shall come to the grave at a full age, as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.
  • Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear it, and know it for your good.