In The Word
Read: Job 15-17
Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?
3 Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which do not benefit?
4 Indeed, you do away with reverence,
And hinder meditation before God.
5 For your wrongdoing teaches your mouth,
And you choose the language of the cunning.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips testify against you.
7 “Were you the first person to be born,
Or were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you hear the secret discussion of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that we do not?
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too little for you,
Or the word spoken gently to you?
12 Why does your heart take you away?
And why do your eyes wink,
13 That you can turn your spirit against God
And produce such words from your mouth?
14 What is man, that he would be pure,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?
15 Behold, He has no trust in His holy ones,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is detestable and corrupt:
A person who drinks malice like water!
What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life
17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
18 What wise people have told,
And have not concealed from their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked person writhes in pain all his days,
And the years reserved for the ruthless are numbered.
21 Sounds of terror are in his ears;
While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
And he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God,
And is arrogant toward the Almighty.
26 He rushes headlong at Him
With his massive shield.
27 For he has covered his face with his fat,
And put fat on his waist.
28 He has lived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ruins.
29 He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his property will not stretch out on the earth.
30 He will not escape from darkness;
The flame will dry up his shoot,
And he will go away by the breath of His mouth.
31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For his reward will be emptiness.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
And his palm branch will not be green.
33 He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
And fire consumes the tents of the corrupt.
35 They conceive harm and give birth to wrongdoing,
And their mind prepares deception.”
Job Says Friends Are Miserable Comforters
16 Then Job responded,
2 “I have heard many things like these;
Miserable comforters are you all!
3 Is there no end to windy words?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
4 I too could speak like you,
If only I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And shake my head at you.
5 Or I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the condolence of my lips could lessen your pain.
Job Says God Shattered Him
6 “If I speak, my pain is not lessened,
And if I refrain, what pain leaves me?
7 But now He has exhausted me;
You have laid waste all my group of loved ones.
8 And you have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness;
And my infirmity rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
9 His anger has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with His teeth;
My enemy glares at me.
10 They have gaped at me with their mouths,
They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have massed themselves against me.
11 God hands me over to criminals,
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but He shattered me,
And He has grasped me by my neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.
13 His arrows surround me.
He splits my kidneys open without mercy;
He pours out my bile on the ground.
14 He breaks through me with breach after breach;
He runs at me like a warrior.
15 I have sewed sackcloth over my skin,
And thrust my horn in the dust.
16 My face is flushed from weeping,
And deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
18 “Earth, do not cover my blood,
And may there be no resting place for my cry.
19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And my advocate is on high.
20 My friends are my scoffers;
My eye weeps to God,
21 That one might plead for a man with God
As a son of man with his neighbor!
22 For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way of no return.
Job Says He Has Become a Proverb
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.
2 Mockers are certainly with me,
And my eye gazes on their provocation.
3 “Make a pledge for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will be my guarantor?
4 For You have kept their hearts away from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who informs against friends for a share of the spoils,
The eyes of his children also will perish.
6 “But He has made me a proverb among the people,
And I am one at whom people spit.
7 My eye has also become inexpressive because of grief,
And all my body parts are like a shadow.
8 The upright will be appalled at this,
And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
9 Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way,
And the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But come again all of you now,
For I do not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my plans are torn apart,
The wishes of my heart.
12 They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I hope for Sheol as my home,
I make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the grave, ‘You are my father’;
To the maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where then is my hope?
And who looks at my hope?
16 Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together go down into the dust?”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Have you ever been in a situation that looked so dire that it consumed your every thought and crushed your spirit? There are many Bible characters that you could relate with. Job was one of those people who described the impact of his situation as, “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me (Job 17:1).” This is one reason why the Bible is so relevant to your life, because it tells the stories of real life people and even records their true thoughts and emotions. King David was very transparent when he wrote some of the Psalms that describe the weighty impact his struggles, mistakes, and difficult relationships had on his body and mind.
Yeshua is another person who can relate to your situation. He is described this way: “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do (Hebrews 4:15).” This is why He is your faithful friend to provide comfort, compassion, and strength when you face challenges that seem will overwhelm or even destroy you. “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested (Hebrews 2:18).”
If you are in a dark place, turn to your Savior who cares. “The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:17–18).”