“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole. He shall deliver you in six troubles, Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine He shall redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes” (Job 5:17-21).
“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove? Do you intend to rebuke my words, And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind? Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless, And you undermine your friend. Now therefore, be pleased to look at me; For I would never lie to your face. Yield now, let there be no injustice! Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands! Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern the unsavory” (Job 6:24-30)?
Today we stand in Your Presence O righteous God; please lead us and guide us in the way that we should go. We realize that You are the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father, except through You. So please teach us to be merciful as we deal with others. And through our godly dealing with them, may they see Christ glorified in us, and be led to call You blessed! In the worthy Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today, you will notice that I included a response from Eliphaz and one from Job for us to consider them simultaneously. If you were to look carefully at Eliphaz’s comment it has truth and error combined. This manner of speech is rather dangerous because of the confusion they cause! This is the kind of message that Satan used with Eve in the Garden of Eden, “Has God indeed said, ” ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’ “ (Genesis 3:5)? That was not what God said.
This is what God said, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16, 17, emphasis supplied).
Half truths are whole lies. And they are very dangerous! As I stated before, they cause confusion, and, if the hearer is not careful, he or she can be led astray, as Eve was. To be on the safe side NEVER engage in conversation with the devil. (See John 8:44).
Back to our Scripture for today. Eliphaz in his speech said, You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue. If Eliphaz was convinced that what Job was experiencing was God’s correction, why was he making his tongue a scourge for Job? Why cause Job all this pain! Job’s response will reveal the intensity of this devastating speech upon him, in the midst of his suffering! His response to Job did not reveal the love of a friend when it was needed the most.
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove? Do you intend to rebuke my words, And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind? Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless, And you undermine your friend.
Job is not rejecting correction. He is willing to be taught. Showing him his errors may even relieve his pain! “If you spoke the right words perhaps they could lift me, because the right words spoken at the right time have power!” They are life producing (Proverbs 18:21).
Job is desperate! Eliphaz’s arguments have not proven anything. Instead, he has overwhelmed and undermined “his friend.”
Let us keep in mind that the underlying factor in this series is to recognize the condition of our hearts and to allow God to control what comes out of our mouths, when we are speaking to people. What comes out of our mouths is what is stored in our hearts. That is the reason we are spending so much time examining the conversations of Job and his “friends.”
*Some minor changes/corrections have been made to this devotional.
NOTE: This was the devotional for Tuesday, February 1. My regrets for the tardy publication.