Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 15-16 HCSB

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Thoughts

Eliphaz is quite a friend, isn’t he? Well, maybe he is. At least he leaves no doubt as to what he thinks of Job. I guess the best kind of friend is one who tells it like he sees it. Except in this case, we know that he sees it wrong.

Eliphaz thinks that Job is full of hot air, that he’s talking like a fool, that it’s his sin that is talking. I guess Job’s life, previous to all of these attacks by the enemy, holds no weight with Eliphaz. Remember, Job was a good man. God said of him, “No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

It seems that perhaps Eliphaz and Job’s other friends might have taken some perverse pleasure in seeing what they perceived as Job’s fall. Job was successful in every area of his life. He had financial wealth, he had health, and he had a large family.

Sad to say, but in many cases, the more successful you are, the more people want to see you fall, even your supposed friends. 

Job’s response was perfect. “You are all miserable friends.” The poor guy feels like his friends are against him, his own body is against him, and worst of all, that God is against him.

Have you ever felt that way? My guess is, probably. It’s part of the human experience. Life is hard sometimes. As a matter of fact, I remember in some of my hardest times, I have used the exact phrase that Job used in today’s reading. In talking about how God was treating him, Job said, “He seized me by the scruff of the neck…” I have felt that way a few times in my life. The difference is, in Job’s case, he didn’t deserve it. In my case, I did. I was in a state of rebellion, and I felt as if God was holding me by the scruff of the neck over a chasm. Not a good feeling, but boy did it get my attention! God is a good and loving God, and I’m thankful that He is sometimes a stern Father. He caused me to return to him like the prodigal son, and He graciously and lovingly took me back, as he promises to do in 1 John 1:9…If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Have you ever felt God dealing with you as a stern Father? How did you respond?

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