Job 4:3-6

3 Behold, thou hast instructed [yacar] many [rab], and thou hast strengthened [chazaq] the weak [rapheh] hands [yad].

4 Thy words [millah] have upholden [quwm] him that was falling [kashal], and thou hast strengthened ['amats] the feeble [kara`] knees [berek].

5 But now it is come [bow'] upon thee, and thou faintest [la'ah]; it toucheth [naga`] thee, and thou art troubled [bahal].

6 Is not this thy fear [yir'ah], thy confidence [kiclah], thy hope [tiqvah], and the uprightness [tom] of thy ways [derek]? KJV-Interlinear

3 'Behold you have admonished many, And you have strengthened weak hands. 4 'Your words have helped the tottering to stand, And you have strengthened 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? NASB

You can t have life both ways.

Eliphaz begins with a reminder of Job's past behavior. Job has been wealthy. Job has sat in the city gate and acted with advice and as a judge.

Eliphaz points out that Job has helped many people. Not just his own children and family. Not just his employees. Not just friends and people who live or work within his sphere of life. Job has helped many folks get through their trials and sufferings of life.

What kinds of sufferings? We have to assume that the sufferings that occurred to others are common to all. Many folks lose loved ones. Many folks have accidents. Many folks get sick with various kinds of diseases.

Remember that in Jobs day, the average lifefont was in the several hundreds of years.

Noah was still alive, and he lived to be 950 years old. Shem was still alive and he lived into the six hundreds of years. Arphaxad, Shelah, and Eber all lived into their four hundreds of years, and were still alive. The generations which include Peleg, Reu, and Serug lived into their two hundreds of years. This is presumably the period of time in which Job lived.

So, there were many generations of very old folks, who were still living simultaneously. Death and sickness, though they did occur, might not have been that common back then.

From Eliphaz's point of view, good men were blessed and bad men suffered. That was probably a presumed observation on his part, because his opinions come from his observations of life.

But back to Job's circumstances. Job was a wealthy and successful person. He helped others. And as Eliphaz implies, Job helped others because he was in a position to help. He was rich. Eliphaz begins to lay the foundation for Satan's argument.

Job has rebuked others when he observed wrong or error in their lives. Job has offered verbal support, and financial support where it was called for. Those who were weak, he helped. Those who needed assistance, he helped. Job was not a selfish man, but very charitable and compassionate toward others.

But now, when adversity falls onto Job, what does he do? He complains. You can't have life both ways.

Eliphaz is politely accusing Job of hypocrisy. 'Job, you teach others to stand up in times of trouble, but when trouble turns against you, you whine as they did initially. You don't abide by your own advice.'

Eliphaz accuses Job of complaining against God, and actually against everyone, in Job's opening remarks. He has in the past, always suggested that God is honorable, and trustworthy, and faithful, and helpful in times of need. But when Job gets hammered, the calendar should be modified, the habits of lovers in the night should be disallowed, even the survival of babies should be restricted to only those who will not suffer, ever.

So, when others suffer, then they should suck it up and trust in God, but when Job hurts, then all of life, including the laws of nature, should change for his sake! Did Job teach others, and learn nothing himself?

Does that make Job a hypocrite? Did Job give instruction and aid to others merely because he was wealthy? Did Job do as Satan suggested, only give credit to God because he was prosperous?

Or, is there another view? Though a great man, he did not think it beneath himself to give advice and charity to others. He did not think of himself as above others. He did not think of himself as an elite, someone who is naturally better than others.

Job would work to help others because it was just in his nature. Remember Gods own description of Job, 'He is an upright and just man.' This certainly implies that Job had no ulterior motives for doing the things he did. He was not looking for power, or authority, or control from which he could dominate others, and thus elevate or satisfy his own ego or lust.

On the one hand, Eliphaz accuses Job of giving medicine to others, but is not willing to take it himself. Therefore, is he not a hypocrite? Eliphaz uses the same words that Satan used. His afflictions have 'touched' him. He implies that the afflictions were merely superficial and not really that bad.

But Job has been really hammered. Eliphaz should have used terms which described the afflictions as being a 'thorough pounding or beating,' not just a 'touch.'

This implies that if someone walks up to Job and simply touches him, then he is so superficial that he can't stand to be 'touched.' Is Job's profession of theology nothing more than a mere pretence? Had he really been sincere in it, God would not have afflicted him, nor would he have behaved as he has under this affliction.

This is the very thing that Satan originally aimed to prove against Job, that he was a hypocrite, and nothing more than a paid religious mercenary.

And so the final question in this segment. Isn't Job's respect for God his confidence, and his knowledge the foundation of his beliefs? If Job is as convinced of his faithfulness and uprightness as he professes to be, then shouldn't he still maintain his confidence in God, with a full expectation of deliverance from his troubles?

Or, if he does not, then what does that infer? Perhaps that he is not as confident of his innocence as he professes to be.

And so the opinions of Eliphaz, begin. Who is right, Eliphaz or Job. Who is wrong, Eliphaz or Job.

Is Eliphaz misapplying his observations in life? Is Eliphaz judging Job wrongly? Or is he right on, and Job really is a whining hypocrite?

Or, is Eliphaz too opinionated, and presuming too much? That Job really is an upright person, and just happens to be in so much pain that his remarks should be expected as normal expressions of deep misery. Are all of Job's previous years, cancelled out because of this single short period of trouble?

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