Are You Serving the All-Mighty or the Kinda-Mighty God? (Job 5:1-27)

By the time we get to chapter six, Job will blow his stack. You will understand why when we get to the end of this week’s devotional.

5:1 "Call now, is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?” Translation: “Job, what good will it do for you to pray? Complain as loud as you want, BUT NO ONE IS LISTENING!” FIA calls this statement a terrible blow to Job.

5:2 "For vexation slays the foolish man, and anger kills the simple.” Translation: “Job, your burning anger will lead you to volatile and unpredictable behavior. Hartley points out that “fool” and “simple” are placed first in their respective clauses for emphasis.

5:3 "I have seen the foolish taking root, and I cursed his abode immediately.” Eliphaz’s statement reveals his vanity; “I cursed…”

5:4 "His sons are far from safety, they are even oppressed (crushed) in the gate (or possibly “tempest”), neither is there a deliverer.” This is perhaps an oblique, tactless and cruel reference to the death of Job’s children and their being crushed beneath the stones of the collapsing house.

5:5 "His harvest the hungry devour, and take it to a {place of} thorns; and the schemer is eager for their wealth. 5:6 For affliction does not come from the dust, neither does trouble sprout from the ground, 5:7 For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Translation: “Job, what has happened to you is not random or reasonless or even caused by the Devil.” FIA states, “These verses imply that man’s troubles are innate and inevitable; if the familiar simile “as the sparks fly upward” simply describes something that happens unavoidably all the time, then Eliphaz has given up the attempt at a moral explanation, and offers dismal comfort to any sufferer.”

5:8 "But as for me, I would seek God, and I would place my cause before God;” Translation: (in a condescending tone) “If I were in your shoes…” I have to admit that a few times I have given such all-encompassing counsel (In essence: “If you would just seek the face of God, your problems would be over.”) It is definitely true that if we have a heart to pursue God, God will bless us. But it's not true to say that because someone is having a lousy month or year, they must not be seeking God! FIA writes, “The word ‘but’ is an emphatic contrast and gives to Eliphaz’s words a distant, judgmental tone.”

5:9 “Who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.” But apparently not too great or too unsearchable or too wonderful because Eliphaz has, in a way, flowcharted God. More on this verse (and flowcharting) when we get to the end of this chapter.

5:10 "He gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields, 5:11 So that He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 5:12 He frustrates the plotting of the shrewd, so that their hands cannot attain success. 5:13 He captures the wise by their own shrewdness and the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted. 5:14 "By day they meet with darkness, and grope at noon as in the night. (Is Eliphaz rebutting chapter three here? I think so) 5:15 But He saves from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the mighty. 5:16 So the helpless has hope, and unrighteousness must shut its mouth.” Taken as a unit, there is nothing really wrong with what Eliphaz is saying. In fact, if you placed this section in Proverbs or Psalms, it would fit right in.

5:17 "Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” Translation: “You Job, even though covered with a crust of worms and dirt, are in a rather enviable position. Your boils are a blessing!” FIA states, “The teaching that such experiences (as Job’s) are chastening was the staple curriculum of the Wisdom schools.” Eliphaz implies that Job was beginning to “despise the discipline of the Almighty.” (Something that both Proverbs and Hebrews admonishes us not to do.) But again, it wasn’t that Eliphaz’s theology was all wrong, it was just wrongly applied. He was trying to pound a square peg (Job’s experience) into a round hole (Eliphaz's theology).

5:18 "For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands {also} heal. 5:19 From six troubles He will deliver you, even in seven evil will not touch you.” Pay attention to the pronouns used throughout this chapter. In the middle (verses 12-19) the pronoun “He” (referring to God) is used extensively. But in verses 19-26 the pronoun “you” is used frequently. Verse 19 contains both – it signals the shift in Eliphaz's message to Job and, as Hartley points out in the next section, tempts Job to serve God simply for the benefits He can gain.

5:20 "In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. 5:21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither will you be afraid of violence when it comes. 5:22 You will laugh at violence and famine, neither will you be afraid of wild beasts. 5:23 For you will be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you. 5:24 And you will know that your tent is secure, for you will visit your abode and fear no loss. 5:25 You will know also that your descendants will be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth. (Can you imagine saying this to someone who has just lost all of his kids?!) 5:26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like the stacking of grain in its season.” Translation: “Job if you take my advice in verses 8 and 17, all of these blessings will begin to flow to you!” Hartley rightly says, “Unfortunately, and obviously without realizing it, Eliphaz sides with the Satan against God in offering this counsel, for he seeks to motivate Job to serve God for the benefits that piety brings. His error is not in his doctrine, but in his inability to counsel Job rightly…Eliphaz by his counsel tempts Job to seek God for personal gain, not for God himself.”

5:27 "Behold this, we have investigated it, thus it is; hear it, and know for yourself." This is an amazing statement. When tied together with Job 4:8, "According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it,” you realize that in Eliphaz’s theology there is NO “Job-Experience” loophole! The word “searched” in this verse and the word “unsearchable” in verse 9 come from the same root. By comparing those two verses you begin to think that Eliphaz has “searched out the unsearchable” and has “figured out the unfigureoutable.” Eliphaz hands Job his gift wrapped “This-Is-Why” theological box – he has packed it up, wrapped it up, put a bow on it, and the little note on top says, “THUS IT IS!” I love what FIA has to say in conclusion, “Eliphaz’s fault is not that his doctrine is unsound; it is his ineptness as a counselor…Eliphaz thinks he knows how to get along with a predictable and a manageable God.”

Spiritual Application: As I went through this chapter, there was one word from verse 17 that really caught my eye. It is a name for God – “Almighty.” In Hebrew it is "Shaddai." "El-Shaddai" would be translated "God Almighty." (And is also the name of a well-known song by Amy Grant). This name for God is used 49 times in the Old Testament, but 31 of those are in Job! And the New Testament equivalent (Pantokrator) is used 10 times in the NT, but 9 of those are in the book of Revelation. Both basically mean “all powerful.”

What does that say to us? First, do we have a picture of God as the “All-Mighty God” or as the “Kinda-Mighty God?” I think Eliphaz had the latter in view. The Living Bible puts verse 27 this way, "I have found from experience that all of this is true. For your own good, listen to my counsel." Eliphaz's theology extended just to his horizon, but no further! But God is in the business of doing things that will boggle our minds and cause us to stand in awe of Him!

Secondly, as I mentioned the word "Shaddai" is used more frequently in Job than any other OT book; and in the NT Pantokrator is used nine out of ten times in the book of Revelation -- a book that records the shaking of all that we think is unshakeable! The conclusion? When it is the darkest in our lives, when times are the most difficult, when the very foundations of society seem to be crumbling, and when it seems impossible to figure out what is happening to us or why it is happening to us – God reveals Himself as the SHADDAI! THE ALMIGHTY is able to keep us from harm, able to figure out our unsolvable problems and is able to deliver us when there seems to be no deliverer!