GOD IS GREATER

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?

Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?”

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more. The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.”

“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:

‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker? If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’”

“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.”

Job 4:1-21, 5:1-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Job, Chapter 3, Job speaks for the first time after his affliction of sores from head to toe. In his words, we read a man deep in despair and depression, questioning why he was ever born into the world and cursing his birthday. A great man of faith who was seen as upright and blameless in God’s eyes had hit bottom in the midst of his suffering.

Job wasn’t talking to himself. We know his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, were with him, having traveled to be with him. They sat in the ashes in silence with him for seven days and seven nights before Job began speaking. And after Job finished, one of his friends begins to respond. The words of Eliphaz occupy Chapters 4 and 5.

As he speaks, Job’s Termanite friend first questions Job’s words as they compare to him as a man of God. Indeed, sometimes we all need to be reminded of our faith when we get caught up in tough times. We all can get off course if we’re not careful.

Eliphaz reminds Job about the way he has been a faithful servant of God, ever helping others. We know by Eliphaz’s words that Job was a teacher who had “instructed many”. We also know that he provided strength to people when they were in times of weakness. In addition, Job was an encourager who supported others with his words, again providing wisdom, encouragement and strength. And Job hadn’t done any of this on his own because he was always partnered with the Lord. He knew of how God helped those in need. Job had witnessed it first-hand.

But now, Job was the one in need and Eliphaz implies Job may have forgotten about what God can do in the lives of His servants. He says to Job, “But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?” In other words, Eliphaz was asking Job, “Do you not believe that God will deliver you, His faithful, blameless, and willing servant, from your affliction?”

Indeed, it is easy to lose our bearings and our faith when we go through hardship. Deep physical and/or emotional distress can consume a person and blind them to God’s goodness and providence…even a man who was as devoted a servant as Job.

Eliphaz next spoke of judgment on the innocent versus those who carried out evil. On the surface, one might think that Job’s friend was trying to allude that Job was innocent and blameless and so he would not perish in the midst of the affliction he was under. Only the evil would perish, reaping the same destruction they had sown.

But I don’t believe this is where Eliphaz was going at all. Rather, I think he was setting things up to make a point than no man or woman is innocent. For listen to the words he shares from what was brought to him secretly by a spirit that stood before his eyes “amid disquieting dreams in the night.” The spirit said:

‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker? If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’”

The spirit spoke words of truth and conviction. God may have referred to Job as blameless and upright but Job wasn’t perfectly good. No one, or as the scriptures say…no mortal, is except for God. In God and God alone we find perfect righteousness…and only He is good and perfectly pure. Even Jesus said as much in Matthew 19:17:

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good.”

That One is God.

And so Job, no more than anyone else, would be subject to God’s judgment…and neither he nor anyone else should see themselves as being so righteous they are beyond reproach. In God’s perfectness, He is perfect when He blesses and perfect when He disciplines…and we are not to question Him nor begrudge the judgment when it comes, particularly through resentment which Eliphaz says, “kills a fool”.

I’ll cover the remainder of Eliphaz’s dialogue in the next devotion but what can we take away from his words so far?

We need to remember two main points.

1. God is greater than we are. No one is above Him. No one is more righteous than Him. No one is more pure and holy than Him. Only He is good. His is our Master and Maker. He has no equal and there is nothing beyond the works of His hands.

And that leads to point 2.

2. God is greater than our problems or situations. The omnipotent King of Kings and Lord of Lords is for us…and if He is for us, who or what can be against us (Romans 8:31)? We need to remember this when we’re in the midst of life’s difficulties. If we really keep sight of how awesome God is, we will always remember He has worked greater miracles than what we’re going through. Indeed, God had done more incredible works than healing Job from the affliction of sores he was suffering from. Job had lost sight of that.

Friends, we will go through difficulties. We will go through situations and circumstances that may look hopeless and that might leave us feeling helpless. But we simply must trust God…in His power and might…in His providence and provision…in the great love He has for us. After all, He is our Father and is the only Father who loves His children perfectly.

In the end translation, God is greater…and He never wants us to forget that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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