Today's Video Devotion

Friday 7/28/23

Hating Sin While Loving the Sinner

📺️ Job 4 🔊

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

 ²If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

 ³Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

 ⁴Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

 ⁵But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

 ⁶Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

 ⁷Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

 ⁸Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

 ⁹By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

 ¹⁰The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

 ¹¹The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

 ¹²Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.

 ¹³In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,

 ¹⁴Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

 ¹⁵Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

 ¹⁶It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

 ¹⁷Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

 ¹⁸Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

 ¹⁹How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

 ²⁰They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.

 ²¹Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Unknown, possibly Job, Moses, Solomon, and Elihu

Date Penned: (2000-1800 BC)

Overview: Faith in God's Sovereignty Through Trials (c 1-42)

Theme: Three Friends Answer Job (c 3-31)

Message: Eliphaz Speaks (v 1-21)

Job 4 Commentary

(4:1-5) Eliphaz Speaks - Eliphaz claimed to have been given secret knowledge through a special revelation from God (4:12-17) and that he had learned much from personal experience (4:8). He argued that suffering comes as a direct result of sin, so if Job would only confess his sin, his suffering would end. Eliphaz saw suffering as God's punishment, which should be welcomed in order to bring a person back to God. In some cases, of course, this may be true (Galatians 6:7-8), but it was not trie with Job. Although Eliphaz had many good and true comments, he made three wrong assumptions: (1) A good and innocent person never suffers; (2) those who suffer are being punished for their past sins; and (3) Job, because he was suffering, had done something wrong in God's eyes. (For more about Eliphaz, see the profile and the chart. Eliphaz was from Teman, a trading city in Edom recognized for its wisdom; see Jeremiah 49:7.)

(4:7-8) A 1/2 Truth - Part of what Eliphaz said is true, and part is false. It is true that those who promote sin and trouble will eventually be punished; it is false that anyone who is good and innocent will never suffer. All the material recorded and quoted in the Bible is there by God's choice. Some of it records what people said and did, but not every word or deed is an example for us to follow. The sins, the defeats, the evil thoughts, and the misconceptions recorded about God are all part of God's divinely inspired Word, but we should not follow those wrong examples just because they are in the Bible. The Bible gives us teachings and examples of what we should do as well as what we should not do. Eliphaz's comments are an example of what we should try to avoid--making false assumptions about others based on our own experiences.

(4:12-13) A Questioned Vision - Although Eliphaz claimed that his vision was divinely inspired, it probably did not come from God because later God criticized Eliphaz for misrepresenting him (42:7). Whatever the vision's source, it is summarized in (4:7) On the surface, this statement is completely true--a mere mortal cannot compare to God and should not try to question God's motives and actions. Eliphaz, however, took this thought and expounded on it later, expressing his own opinions. His conclusion (5:8) reveals a very shallow understanding of Job and his suffering. It is easy for teachers, counselors, and well-meaning friends to begin with a portion of God's truth but then go off on a tangent. Don't limit God to your perspective and finite understanding of life.

(4:8-19) Eliphaz's Opinions - Do angels really make errors? Remember that Eliphaz was speaking, not God, so we must be careful about building our knowledge of the spiritual world on Eliphaz's opinions. In addition, the word translated "folly" is used only here, and its meaning is unclear. We could save Eliphaz's credibility by saying he meant fallen angels, but this passage is not meant to teach about angels. Eliphaz was saying that sinful human beings are far beheath God and the angels. Eliphaz was right about God's greatness, but he did not understand God's greater purposes concerning suffering.

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the Book of Job with Chapter 3. In our text today we see Job speak under the affliction and pain of his current circumstances. Although he is upset and speaks of his death in travail, he does not curse God but rather had faith that if God has him alive he must cling to his faith. In making application we can see the importance in faith in the midst of our personal storms. Once we realize God is in control and have placed out faith in Him we must cling to our Lord with the same attitude of Job. If it is my time to go I am ready but as long as God puts breath in my lungs I will serve the Lord. How about you? Are you facing tough times that test your faith? Let us learn from our text today and the faithfulness of Job to remember to keep our faith in the midst of adversity.