Job 5:2

2 For wrath [ka`ac] killeth [harag] the foolish man ['eviyl], and envy [qin'ah] slayeth [muwth] the silly one [pathah]. KJV-Interlinear

2 'For vexation slays the foolish man, And anger kills the simple. NASB

Eliphaz will begin this chapter by spelling out that there are two things that destroy the sinner. That their sins will lead them ultimately to their own ruin, and that the ruin of a person is due to their leading a life of sin.

Eliphaz is certain that all reasonable people will agree with him in this. Do you?

Now, I should really end the lesson here and have us all take a test. What do you think of the above question? Is Eliphaz right, or is he wrong? And the obvious next question would be, 'Why is he right or wrong?'

Eliphaz will explain his position. Remember that Eliphaz's beliefs are based on both the scriptures and his observations in life, with emphasis on his world observations. He did have scriptural information available to him. Probably in the spoken word format, as the elders told the stories and passed scripture to the younger generations, and so forth.

His knowledge of the scriptures should not be in question. His understanding and application however is another matter.

Vexation indicates impatience in a person's behavior. It means an annoyance, irritation, exasperation. When a person chooses a path of sin, then one of the repercussions, or manifestations of the sin pattern, is having an unstable attitude and behavior. One becomes frustrated with life because life, lived within the sin nature, simply does not provide any satisfaction.

Having an unstable personality does not mean that the person is overtly weird, or constantly hyperactive, or loud, or obnoxious. An unstable behavior here means dissatisfaction with life in general. You can be rich and successful or poor and a loser, or anywhere in between. But your overall mental attitude is discontent.

No matter what you do or accomplish in life, you will never be contented.

A life, which is lived within the sin nature, is a life, which will never be satisfying. That much of Eliphaz's comment is very true.

And again, 'anger,' which is the repercussion of discontent, or frustration, rage, self pity, and a whole range of emotions, will lead the person to their ultimate end, or failure in life.

We all have to live within the framework of this world, and the world is not on our side.

Who is the ruler of this world? Satan. And just what is his concern regarding your welfare and happiness? Zip!

There are only two sides in life, that of Satan and that of God.

When you choose against God, which means simply that you choose not to live inside of your spiritual life sphere, then by default you choose Satan's policy for life. Most of us don't think of ourselves as choosing Satan over God. After all, we are reasonable and nice folks. But in fact when you are out of fellowship, then you are not nice, but in effect thumbing your nose at God. Thumbing your nose at Gods plan is the same as thumbing your nose at God.

Reject truth means that you reject God. Reject Christ means that your reject the Father. Regularly reject anything that deals with God, Christ, or doctrine means that you reject your spiritual life.

So, the first portion of Eliphaz's point is legitimate, and accurate. Live in sin, which means living outside of your spiritual life, then you will drive your life in the direction of discontent and worse. You will never gain happiness on your own.

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