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So why did Jesus die? There are only two answers to that question. One is that there is no justice in the universe. The other answer is, of course, the evangelical answer, the gospel answer. The reason why Jesus died was because he deserved it. God had imputed our sins to him, and at that moment, he deserved death. A principle of justice. And I'm saying this principle of Eliphaz is partly right.
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The story of Job is rich and dense, not only because of Job's own actions in the story, but because of the actions of those around him, like his friend Eliphaz. Hello, and welcome to Renewing youg Mind. I'm glad you've joined us. We're continuing our study of the Book of job with Dr. Derek Thomas. And today we'll meet one of Job's companions, named Eliphaz. Eliphaz attempts to comfort Job, but is the way he does it helpful? Is it theologically sound? Before we find out, I'd like to remind you that at the end of this episode, you'll learn how to receive Lifetime Digital Access along with supplementary material to this entire series. But now let's see how Eliphaz attempts to comfort his good friend job. Here's Dr. Thomas.
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Well, this is lesson number four in the book of Job, and we're going to look at chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7. 4 and 5 consist of a contribution by the first of Job's friends, Eliphaz, and then chapters six and seven. Job's response to what Eliphaz has to say. There's a Peanuts cartoon. Lucy says to Charlie Brown, there's one thing you're going to have to learn. You reap what you sow, you get out of life what you put into it. No more and no less. And then Snoopy says, I'd like to see a little margin for error. Well, Eliphaz belongs to that group of people that understand the universe operates according to a certain law. You reap what you sow. Now, let's pick him up. Of course, he begins with, if one ventures a word with you, will you be patient? Yet who can keep from speaking? These three friends have already arrived. They've been silent for a week, and now it is time for them to speak. Chapter four, verse seven. Remember who that was innocent ever perished, or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. And there it is. Right. There's a little bit of preamble, but he gets right to the point there in verses seven. And the reason for suffering is very simple. You reap what you sow, you get out of life what you put into it. You are responsible for your actions. This is a consequence of your actions. It's a consequence of your lifestyle. The implication is that Job has sinned. It may be a little sin, it may be a medium sized sin, it may be a big sin, it may be a sin, it may in the present, it may be a sin in the past, it may be a sin he's forgotten about. But one way or another, the answer to this predicament, from a philosophical, theological point of view, is that Job is reaping what he has sown. It's karma. You get whatever it is that's owing to you and it comes back to bite you. Notice in chapter 5 and verses 6 and 7, affliction doesn't come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. Now, there are a lot of texts in the book of Job that you can take out of context. And you can preach very orthodox sermons on these texts, but in the context in which they're said, they often mean something different. And this is an example of that. What is Eliphaz saying? Affliction doesn't come out of the dust. Affliction doesn't come, well, from nowhere. There's a reason for it, there's an explanation for it. And the explanation is simple. You reap what you sow, you get out of life exactly what it is that you put into it. Trouble doesn't just happen. Well, what do we make of that as a principle, as a philosophy, as a theological way of understanding Job's predicament? And remember, Job has lost all 10 of his children. He's lost all of his wealth and now he's losing his health and he has a disease that's threatening his life. What would you make of that? I think the first thing to say is that it's partly correct, it's partly true. You reap what you sow. It's in the Bible. It's in Galatians 6, 7. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows that will, he also reap. That's Paul. We teach our children that there are consequences for your actions. Don't be surprised if such and such is an outcome, because look at what it is that you've done. There's a law of cause and effect that generally operates in the universe. And we expect that. And we teach our children that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Paul says in Romans, Chapter one. What is the reason for the presence, the existence, the manifestation of the wrath of God in the universe? It's a consequence of sin. God is coming in judgment. These manifestations of his wrath are an expression of God's reflex, a reflex of his holiness toward sin. Well, we can pick out some specific examples in the Bible. Think, for example, of 2 Samuel 6 and that story of Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant. You remember the son of Abinadab in whose house the men of Kiriath Jearim placed the Ark when it was brought back from the land of the Philistines. And with his brother Ahio, he drove the cart. Remember, they put this Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of God. It contained some valuable religious objects, and to all intents and purposes, it was symbolic of the very presence of God. It belonged in the tabernacle and the Philistines had stolen it. They had taken it. And now it's on its way back to Jerusalem and it's on the back of a cart. And, well, I don't know what roads are like here in Florida, but in South Carolina there are lots of potholes. And one of these potholes hits a pothole, it wobbles a bit, it threatens to fall on the ground, and Uzzer stretches out his hand to steady the Ark and God strikes him dead. And how do we explain that outside of a biblical framework, of course, and outside of a biblical worldview and outside of an assumption regarding the holiness of God, it's inexplic. But within that sphere of thought, how do we explain it? Well, Uzzer received what he deserved. He wasn't supposed to touch the Ark. No one was supposed to touch the Ark of the Covenant. Everything about the story is wrong. The Ark of the Covenant wasn't supposed to be on an ox cart and no one was supposed to touch it. He has. Well, he has reaped what he has sown. Think of. Well, let's go to the New Testament. You might say that's an Old Testament story. This philosophy that Eliphaz is propounding here, who that was innocent ever perished, or where were the upright cut off? Chapter four and verse seven. Let's go to the New Testament. This might be a principle in the Old Testament, but we're in the New Covenant. And you go to Acts, Chapter 5, and Ananias and Sapphira. And in this period of the early history of the New Testament Church, when they have all of their goods in common and sell their belongings for the benefit of the wider community of the church, this is not something that seems to continue in the life of the church. I think it belongs to that early period in the life of the church. In Jerusalem. They tell a white lie about the value of a piece of real estate. It's not such a serious sin, you might think. And God strikes one and then another dead. This is the New Testament church. This is the church within living memory of Pentecost. This is the church with the apostolic gifts and manifestation in the church. Let's go back to the early church. People say, well, let's go back to Acts chapter five. And God strikes people dead for not filling in their forms correctly about their value of their real estate. Well, it's a principle. They reaped what they had sown. There is such a thing as instant retribution. That's what Eliphaz is saying. Suffering is punishment. It is instant retribution. It's the judgment of God. God is angry. He's visiting and he visits in punishment. He visits by sending suffering, he visits by inflicting trial. I'm saying it's partly right now, a non Christian worldview doesn't accept this, but within a Christian worldview, within a biblical worldview, we actually believe this. But there are consequences to our actions. Paul writes to the Corinthians, a passage we read together, for example, at the Lord's Supper, encouraging folk to examine themselves and so on, so that they come to partake in the Lord's Supper in a manner that is Christ centered and Gospel centered. He reminds us in that passage in 1 Corinthians 10. And then in chapter 11, Paul reminds us that there are some in Corinth who are sick, some have died, and it's a punishment. It's a visitation of God. God did this. God came in his holiness, in his righteousness. The world doesn't believe this, but this is what the Bible teaches. There are times when this happens. It is partly right. Why did Jesus die? That's probably the most important question you can ever ask. Why did Jesus die? He was without sin. He was sinless. He had never transgressed any law. Why is it right that Jesus should die? Death is the wages of sin. There's the principle, you reap what you sow, you sin, and what you reap, you reap death. Death is the wages of sin. Sin pays its wages, it gives out its wages. And its death. So why did Jesus die? There are only two answers to that question. One is that there is no justice in the universe. You can't expect justice. You can be an innocent man, you can live perfectly, you can live impeccably, and death still gets you. Bad things still get you because there's no justice in the world. The other answer is, of course, the evangelical answer, the gospel answer. It's the answer of 2 Corinthians 5, 21. The reason why Jesus died was because he deserved it. At the point at which he died, he was reckoned to be sin. Well, in Luther's words, he was the greatest sinner the world had ever seen. God had imputed our sins to him, and at that moment, he deserved death. That's why death came upon him. It's a principle of justice. And I'm saying this principle of eliphaz is partly right, but of course, it's also partly wrong. It's also partly incorrect. Take the example of John, chapter nine, the incident where we read of a man that has been born blind. And the disciples ask Jesus who sinned? Was it him or was it his parents? Well, you notice the inference of the question. What lies behind that question? Somebody has sinned. The only explanation for this blindness is that somebody has sinned. Either the man himself has sinned or his parents have sinned in some way, and this is a direct judgment of God upon him. Remember Jesus answer that. It was neither. Now, Jesus isn't saying that the man had never sinned, nor is Jesus saying that his parents were sinless. That's not the point. What he's saying is there is no immediate connection between the sin of this man or the sin of this man's parents and the malady that he's experiencing. The explanation lies somewhere else. It was neither him nor his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. And Jesus heals him, and he becomes. Well, he becomes. A wonderful story that we still remember. We're talking about it right here. God used it in order to teach others. God used it in order that he might be an instrument in the hands of God to teach and educate others. Take Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, the thorn in the flesh, whatever that was. And three times, three times Paul prays that this malady be taken away. There is no indication in the passage that this malady, this thorn in the flesh, whatever it was, was a punishment from God. There's nothing in the text that suggests that some people think it might have been his eyesight. And so on. But whatever it was, there's no indication in the text that it was a specific visitation of the judgment of God. Take Hebrews 12:6. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. Yes, the Lord disciplines the one that he loves. He chastises them. But here in this passage in Job chapter four and verse seven, remember who that was innocent ever perished. The implication of Eliphaz is Job isn't innocent. All these protestations on the part of Job that he is innocent, well, he's beginning to suspect it. And what is Job's response? You look at chapter six and seven. Let's go back to verse 14. He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. My brothers are treacherous as a torrent bed, as torrential streams that pass by, which are dark with ice and where the snow hides itself, when they melt, they disappear. When it is hot, they vanish from their place. The caravans turn aside from their course. They go up into the waste and perish. The caravans of Timur. Look, the travelers of Sheba hope. They are ashamed because they were confident. They come there and are disappointed, for you have now become nothing. You see my calamity and are afraid. And he's saying Eliphaz. Well, he's saying Eliphaz is like a storm comes and it goes. It comes and it disappears. Eliphaz is a bit of a windbag. He talks a lot. He has a lot to say. He's very confident about himself. And Job says in response that he is of no help. He's of no help whatsoever. There's a parody here, and it's a parody of the eighth Psalm. What is man that you make so much of him and give so much attention? Let's look at chapter seven and verse 21, right at the end of Job's response. Let's go back to verse 19. How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone, till I swallow my spit? If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark, as though God has set a target on his back? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth, and you will seek me, but I shall not be. It's almost as though Job is saying. It's almost like a child that's saying, you know you'll miss me when I'm gone. I remember When I was little, you know, every child goes through this sort of moment and they want to run away from home. Things are difficult. Life is hard. Things happen in families and so on. I remember packing a little bag of some cookies and something to drink, and I walked down the road as far as the bend. We're talking 100 yards maybe. And I remember saying. I remember looking back and saying to my mother, you'll be sorry when I'm gone. And she's looking pitifully. And of course I turned, you know, went around the corner and just sat there. And about 20 minutes later, my sister comes and says, it's time to go home now. Let's go. And it's almost as if Job is saying at the end here, you know, you'll miss me when I'm gone. What is Job saying?
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Here
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he is taking Eliphaz contribution. And Eliphaz is a man with a very simplistic view of life. It's very black and white. It's very easy to understand. It's very easy to comprehend. There are no question marks. There are no gray areas. There's nothing that this man can't fit into his worldview and his box. Suffering is punishment. Always, invariably, without exception. And I'm saying that's partly right. Sometimes it is. If you sin willfully, there's no point in complaining about the consequences that develop from that. There are consequences. You reap what you sow. If you contracted a disease, say, from a lifestyle that was contrary to the word of God, you gave yourself to a certain lifestyle, you contracted a sexually transmitted disease, well, you've only got yourself to blame. We feel sympathy, there's compassion, there's Christian love, there's forgiveness. There's all of that. But you can't come and say, I don't understand this. Why has this happened to me? Why is life so unfair? You've lived a life of debauchery and you've contracted a disease. You have yourself to blame. It's your actions and you need to own up to them. But what if you've contracted a disease through a blood transfusion? It's got nothing to do with you. It's not a consequence of anything that you did. You still have the disease. The disease is the same in both cases, but one is innocent and the other is not. Life is more complicated than what Eliphaz is saying here. Well, what are the lessons that we can learn from this introductory comment by Eliphaz? Well, two things. One, that well intentioned counselors can be wrong, or let me put it more simply, Christians can be wrong. Well meaning, well intentioned Christians can be wrong. They can come in, analyze the situation, give some analysis of it, and they can be wrong. They can be seriously astray. Eliphaz is seriously astray. And we know that because God says so. We're told that in the prologue. That was the function of the prologue. Job was a godly man and the reason for his suffering was not his sin. There's another lesson here, and it's a lesson that we're going to have to unpack as we study through the Book of Job. God's ways. Well, they're not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Does Job have an answer to the question why? No, he doesn't. And Eliphaz hasn't provided it. And nor has Job himself come to a full realization of it. And he's walking now in that pathway of discovering once again that God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. He ends this little section. You'll be sorry when I'm gone. He's talking to the Lord and he has stopped listening to Eliphaz. And he's taken his troubles, pitiful as they are now, and he's laid them at the feet of Almighty God.
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That can often be one of the hard truths of Scripture, that our ways are not God's ways. And yet what comfort to be able to lay our troubles at the feet of the Lord. If you enjoyed today's episode, you can receive lifetime digital access to the entire series, along with the complete series on DVD and a digital study guide. If you call us with a gift at 800-435-4343 or give your donation online at renewingyourmind.org your support helps Ligonier and Renewing your mind get trusted resources to more people around the globe. Tomorrow we'll be concluding this brief study of the Book of Job. As we meet, another of Job's would be comforters. Will he do a better job than Eliphaz, or will he compound Job's misery? Find out tomorrow here on Renewing your Mind.
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Ra.