Job 4 ~ the roar of the lion

Job 4

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

Yet who can keep from speaking? 

3 Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the weak hands.

4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

6 Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

7 “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same. 

9 By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

10 The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

the teeth of the young lions are broken.

11 The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;

my ear received the whisper of it.

13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

14 dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

15 A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up. 16 It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

17 ‘Can mortal man be in the right before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

18 Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed like the moth.

20 Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;

they perish forever without anyone regarding it.

21 Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

David fought a lion. Solomon used several of them along his throne. When his kingdom was divided, lions came out for the first time in a long time and devoured men. And C.S. Lewis created a beautiful story in Narnia about Aslan. I've been partial to lions since I was quite small and dreamed of Africa so many times.

Eliphaz the Temanite, should be called Eliphaz the friend of an almost destroyed Job. Job had trusted in his own righteousness for a long time. And Eliphaz is a good man, a good friend, willing to sit with Job and discuss the Good News of God. As well as his own still small voice about God. Eliphaz sounds like Cotton Mather. The problem is Eliphaz goes on for a long time and is judgmental of Job's soul. Like we all are. And we have to be, because we live upon our experiences to go forward.

Elijah heard the still voice of God and was encouraged. Perhaps we are learning more of what God would say to Eliphaz and not to Job. However, we would be wrong to hurry past what Eliphaz the Temanite would say. God takes Eliphaz and his words into account when He speaks to Job about His Power, His Glory and the hope Elijah, and all of us, including Eliphaz, should have in God.

Our own judgments roar within in us and war. We want to look up and be part of something so much more than we could ever be, "splendid, ancient, Powerful" (Max Lucado) and yet we don't have the patience to keep believing.

Eliphaz is giving hope in one hand and death in the other. We all get so tired of each other.

It is only in Jesus Christ that JOB became Job. The man he was uniquely created to be. Job is probably argued about more than anyone else in the Old Testament. Was it fair for God to treat Job thusly. And what if God were to do that to us. If the LORD decides we are going to be JOB, we are fortunate indeed, Job is about learning to HOPE, to lean. Not on to our own perfect reasoning. But to be grateful for the tools God gave us for the day. To not make a judgment that each day tells us of the next. To gather hope, gratitude and to trust the LORD.

It is more than endurance. It is about putting up with the ones we love with love. And putting ourselves out there again. If we are the one impatient. Or the one who fears the impatience of others.

The last passage has Eliphaz has asking about wisdom but giving an opinion in this Chapter., it just isn't necessarily Gospel. And we must look beyond ourselves to the Scriptures to determine not someone else's view of right and wrong, but lean unto God for His understanding. We cannot make our loved ones our gods. We must walk in the LIGHT of God. Eliphaz pushes the Mercy of God down in judgment, yet we are not to pick up worship of family and loved ones as our new gods.

…Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah Revelation 5:5

Jesus Christ, Son of God. Our Redeemer.

…I am the Light of the World. John 8:12 …

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world… John 1:9

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