Job 4:1-21

Our observations of life and the events that happen on the earth have a tendency to shape our thinking and our theology.  Sometimes that theology born out of our own experience and observation is not very good theology.  Job broke the silence to express his wish that he had never been born because his current pain is so exceedingly great.  Eliphaz is the first one of his friends to speak up in response to Job.  However, his words are not word of comfort to Job; rather they are words that reflect a theology based on experience and observation.

ELIPHAZ CRITICIZES JOB’S ATTITUDE: Job has been used of God to teach many men about the ways of God.  He has been a stellar illustration of God’s character and a faithful communicator of God’s Word to the people around him.  However, now that he is in such pain he wishes he were dead.  Eliphaz is accusing Job of lacking patience and being a hypocrite for not practicing what he has preached for so many years.  Job has obviously lost hope in his current state of pain and distress.  He has forgotten of the pleasures of the past and therefor he cannot see any of the promises for the future so he becomes hopeless in the present.  However, Eliphaz has picked a very poor time to lecture Job on hope and impatience.  There is no question that Job’s attitude demonstrates great despair, but he is facing desperate circumstances.  He needs someone to give him comfort, not criticism.

ELIPHAZ CONDEMNS JOB’S ACTIONS: It is clear that Job is seen as an upright man in the community and that his actions are above reproach.  Eliphaz cannot point to any sin in Job’s life, but that does not stop him from condemning Job’s actions.  Because of Job’s condition, Eliphaz assumes Job’s guilt.  This is where the theology of observation comes to the surface.  In general Eliphaz has observed that the Innocent experience prosperity while the guilty face hardship.  Therefore he deduces that since Job is facing hardship, he must be guilty.  That is the trouble with generalizations.  They may “generally” be true, but that does not make them absolutely true.  Eliphaz has no specific action of Job to point out as sin but he considers the circumstances of Job to be proof positive of the fact that Job is guilty.  We must be very careful not to fall into the trap of judging people’s character based upon their circumstances.  There are many very godly men who suffer greatly and many godless men who proper greatly.

ELIPHAZ CONSIDERS JOB’S ARROGANCE: Perhaps in an attempt to make his previous statement less harsh, Eliphaz says that no man can be completely innocent before the Lord.  It would be sheer arrogance to claim complete innocence before a completely holy God.  What Eliphaz is saying is absolutely true.  There are no innocent people on the face of the earth.  However, the inference that he draws from that truth is not accurate or fair.  He is inferring that Job’s present circumstances are directly related to his sinful nature.  In reality, just the opposite is true.  The reason that Job is suffering is not because of his sin but because of his holiness.  The theology of human observation says that holiness brings health while sin brings suffering.  However, that is not always the case.  We must learn to judge the character of men based on the actions that we observe not on the circumstances they experience.