Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? Is it for your reverenceThe word "reverence" in this context is derived from the Hebrew word "yir'ah," which often translates to fear, awe, or respect. In the ancient Near Eastern context, reverence was a profound respect for the divine, acknowledging God's supreme authority and holiness. Eliphaz, the speaker in this verse, questions whether Job's suffering is due to his reverence for God. This rhetorical question implies skepticism about Job's piety, suggesting that mere reverence is not the cause of divine rebuke. Historically, reverence was a central tenet of the Israelite faith, emphasizing a relationship with God characterized by deep respect and obedience. that He rebukes you
The term "rebukes" comes from the Hebrew "yakach," meaning to correct, reprove, or argue. In the biblical narrative, rebuke is often associated with divine correction intended to guide individuals back to righteousness. Eliphaz implies that Job's suffering is a form of divine correction. From a conservative Christian perspective, this reflects the belief that God disciplines those He loves, as seen in Hebrews 12:6. The historical context of rebuke in the Bible often involves prophets or leaders being corrected to align with God's will, emphasizing the importance of humility and repentance. and enters into judgment
The phrase "enters into judgment" is rooted in the Hebrew "shaphat," meaning to judge or govern. In the ancient world, judgment was a process of discerning right from wrong, often involving a legal or moral decision. Eliphaz suggests that God is actively judging Job, implying that Job's actions have warranted divine scrutiny. In the broader scriptural context, God's judgment is portrayed as just and righteous, reflecting His holy nature. For conservative Christians, this underscores the belief in God's ultimate authority to judge humanity, as well as the assurance that His judgments are fair and purposeful. against you?
The phrase "against you" personalizes the divine action, indicating that Job is the specific subject of God's rebuke and judgment. This personal aspect of divine interaction is significant in the biblical narrative, as it highlights the intimate relationship between God and individuals. Eliphaz's assertion that God is acting against Job suggests a belief in retributive justice, where suffering is a direct consequence of personal sin. However, the broader message of the Book of Job challenges this simplistic view, inviting readers to explore the complexities of suffering and divine justice. From a conservative Christian perspective, this invites believers to trust in God's wisdom and sovereignty, even when His actions are not immediately understood. Persons / Places / Events 1. JobA man described as blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil. He is the central figure in the Book of Job, experiencing intense suffering and questioning the reasons behind it. 2. Eliphaz the TemaniteOne of Job's three friends who comes to comfort him. In this chapter, Eliphaz is speaking, suggesting that Job's suffering might be due to his lack of reverence or hidden sin. 3. GodThe Almighty, who is sovereign over all creation. In the context of Job, God allows Job's faith to be tested through suffering. 4. TemanA region in Edom, known for its wise men. Eliphaz, being a Temanite, is considered wise, though his counsel to Job is flawed. 5. The Heavenly CourtThe setting at the beginning of Job where God and Satan discuss Job's faithfulness, leading to the trials Job faces. Teaching Points Understanding Divine DisciplineRecognize that God's rebuke or judgment is not necessarily a sign of His displeasure but can be a form of loving discipline meant to refine and strengthen our faith. Reverence and RelationshipReflect on the nature of your relationship with God. True reverence involves trust and submission, even when His ways are beyond our understanding. Misinterpretation of SufferingBe cautious of assuming that suffering is always a direct result of personal sin. Like Eliphaz, we can misjudge others' situations without understanding God's broader purposes. Faith Amidst TrialsEmbrace trials as opportunities to deepen your faith and reliance on God, trusting that He is working for your ultimate good. Community and CounselSeek wise and compassionate counsel during times of trial, but always weigh human advice against the truth of Scripture. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Eliphaz's assumption about Job's suffering challenge our understanding of God's justice and discipline? 2. In what ways can we ensure that our reverence for God remains genuine and not just a response to fear of judgment? 3. How can the concept of divine discipline in Hebrews 12:5-6 help us interpret our own experiences of hardship? 4. What steps can we take to avoid misjudging others' suffering as Eliphaz did with Job? 5. How can we support others in our community who are experiencing trials, ensuring our counsel aligns with biblical truth? Connections to Other Scriptures Proverbs 3:11-12This passage speaks about the Lord's discipline as an act of love, which can be connected to the idea of God entering into judgment not out of anger but as a means of correction and growth. Hebrews 12:5-6This New Testament passage echoes the theme of divine discipline, emphasizing that God disciplines those He loves, which can provide a broader understanding of why God might allow suffering. Psalm 37:23-24These verses highlight God's guidance and support for the righteous, suggesting that even in judgment or discipline, God is present and sustaining. People Eliphaz, Job, OphirPlaces Ophir, UzTopics Brings, Charges, Enter, Entereth, Enters, Fear, Honour, Judging, Judgment, Piety, Punishment, Reason, Rebukes, Reprove, Reproves, Reproveth, Reverence, SendingDictionary of Bible Themes Job 22:4-6 5444 pledges Job 22:4-11 8779 materialism, nature of Library December 29 Morning
Understanding what the will of the Lord is.--EPH. 5:17. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.--Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.--This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.--We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathKnowledge and Peace
'Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.'--JOB xxii. 21. In the sense in which the speaker meant them, these words are not true. They mean little more than 'It pays to be religious.' What kind of notion of acquaintance with God Eliphaz may have had, one scarcely knows, but at any rate, the whole meaning of the text on his lips is poor and selfish. The peace promised is evidently only outward tranquillity and freedom from trouble, and the good that is to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture What Life May be Made
'For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 29. When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, ... lifting up; and He shall save the humble person.'--JOB xxii. 26-29. These words are a fragment of one of the speeches of Job's friends, in which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Whether all Things are under Divine Providence
Whether All Things are under Divine Providence We proceed to the second article thus: 1. It seems that not all things are under divine providence. For nothing that is ordained happens contingently, and if all things were provided by God, nothing would happen contingently. There would then be no such thing as chance or fortune. But this is contrary to common opinion. 2. Again, every wise provider, so far as he is able, preserves those in his care from defect and from evil. But we see many evils in …
Aquinas—Nature and Grace Whether God is Everywhere by Essence, Presence and Power?
Objection 1: It seems that the mode of God's existence in all things is not properly described by way of essence, presence and power. For what is by essence in anything, is in it essentially. But God is not essentially in things; for He does not belong to the essence of anything. Therefore it ought not to be said that God is in things by essence, presence and power. Objection 2: Further, to be present in anything means not to be absent from it. Now this is the meaning of God being in things by His …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Everything is Subject to the Providence of God?
Objection 1: It seems that everything is not subject to divine providence. For nothing foreseen can happen by chance. If then everything was foreseen by God, nothing would happen by chance. And thus hazard and luck would disappear; which is against common opinion. Objection 2: Further, a wise provider excludes any defect or evil, as far as he can, from those over whom he has a care. But we see many evils existing. Either, then, God cannot hinder these, and thus is not omnipotent; or else He does …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Doctrine of God
I. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD: (Vs. Atheism). 1. ASSUMED BY THE SCRIPTURES. 2. PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. a) Universal belief in the Existence of God. b) Cosmological:--Argument from Cause. c) Teleological:--Argument from Design. d) Ontological:--Argument from Being. e) Anthropological:--Moral Argument. f) Argument from Congruity. g) Argument from Scripture. II. THE NATURE OF GOD: (Vs. Agnosticism) 1. THE SPIRITUALITY OF GOD: (Vs. Materialism). 2. THE PERSONALITY OF GOD: (Vs. Pantheism). 3. THE UNITY …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible The Case of the Christian under the Hiding of God's Face.
1. The phrase scriptural.--2. It signifies the withdrawing the tokens of the divine favor.--3 chiefly as to spiritual considerations.--4. This may become the case of any Christian.--5. and will be found a very sorrowful one.--6. The following directions, therefore, are given to those who suppose it to be their own: To inquire whether it be indeed a case of spiritual distress, or whether a disconsolate frame may not proceed from indisposition of body,--7. or difficulties as to worldly circumstances.--8, …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul Bands of Love; Or, Union to Christ. "I Drew them with Cords of a Man, with Bands of Love: and I was to them as they that Take Off the Yoke on their Jaws, and I Laid Meat unto Them. " --Hosea xi. 4.
BANDS OF LOVE; OR, UNION TO CHRIST. SYSTEMATIC theologians have usually regarded union to Christ under three aspects, natural, mystical and federal, and it may be that these three terms are comprehensive enough to embrace the whole subject, but as our aim is simplicity, let us be pardoned if we appear diffuse when we follow a less concise method. 1. The saints were from the beginning joined to Christ by bands of everlasting love. Before He took on Him their nature, or brought them into a conscious …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity: Or, an Exhortation to Christians to be Holy. By John Bunyan.
Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.'--[Psalm 93:5] London, by B. W., for Benj. Alsop, at the Angel and Bible, in the Poultrey. 1684. THE EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This is the most searching treatise that has ever fallen under our notice. It is an invaluable guide to those sincere Christians, who, under a sense of the infinite importance of the salvation of an immortal soul, and of the deceitfulness of their hearts, sigh and cry, "O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Epistle xxxix. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). But what can be good news to me, so far as concerns the behoof of holy Church, but to hear of the health and safety of your to me most sweet Holiness, who, from your perception of the light of truth, both illuminate the same Church with the word of preaching, and mould it to a better way by the example of your manners? As often, too, as I recall in …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Job 22:4 NIVJob 22:4 NLTJob 22:4 ESVJob 22:4 NASBJob 22:4 KJV
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