Job 5 Summary

Eliphaz continues with the angel theme that he started back in (Job 4 Summary) in chapter 5, verse 1 as he basically – for some reason – challenges and mocks the thought that Job could get a hearing even with an angel…

Job 5:1  Call now, if there be any that will answer thee;
and to which of the [saints/holy ones/holy angels] wilt thou turn?

Job 5 Summary of Verses 2-5

Job is foolish and silly | Job 5:2-5

Why will no angel answer Job? It’s because he’s secretly wicked. Eliphaz accuses Job of being foolish and silly in the biblical sense of those words in verses 2-5…

Job 5:2 For wrath killeth the foolish man,
and [envy/anger] slayeth the silly one.

Eliphaz points to his personal experience again in verse 3 and says that he’s seen this happen with his own eyes…

Job 5:3 I have seen the foolish taking root:
but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

So, Eliphaz declares the house of the wicked accursed by God – even though it looked like the wicked was prospering. Just like Job was prospering for a while.

And Eliphaz again uses his words like someone carelessly thrashing around a sword as he brings up dead children to Job once more…

Job 5:4 [His/The wicked man’s] children are far from safety,
and they are crushed in the [gate/place where judgement is rendered],
neither is there any to deliver them.

And ultimately, wicked people get their stuff stolen from them – just like Job did by the Sabeans and Chaldeans – verse 5…

Job 5:5 [Whose/The wicked man’s] harvest the hungry eateth up,
and taketh it even out of the thorns, [they’ll take it even if it’s behind some protective barrier…]
and the [robber/thirsty] swalloweth up their substance.

Job 5 Summary of Verses 6-7

God brings affliction into people’s lives | Job 5:6-7

And amazingly, we’re going to see next that Eliphaz seems to touch on some measure of truth as he asserts in verses 6 and 7 that its inevitable that God brings affliction into people’s lives…

Job 5:6 Although [affliction/evil/hardship/mischief] cometh not forth of the dust,
neither doth trouble [spring out of/sprout from] the ground;

Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble,
as the sparks fly upward.

Eliphaz identifies that there is a reason for affliction entering people’s lives – but unfortunately he himself can’t understand that reason – especially in Job’s life.

Job 5 Summary of Verses 8-16

Eliphaz’s fool-proof solution for Job | Job 5:8-16

So, in verses 8-16, Eliphaz has a fool-proof solution for Job to get out of this current trouble and affliction and to return to God blessing him.

It’s simple – seek God, which Job never stopped doing – verse 8…

Job 5:8 I would seek unto God,
and unto God would I [commit/set forth] my cause:

Why do this? Because God is awesomely powerful – verse 9…

Job 5:9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable;
marvellous things without number:

God mercifully provides water for the world  – verse 10…

Job 5:10 Who giveth rain upon the earth,
and sendeth waters upon the fields:

God gives great reversals of fortune to those who are low and mourning – verse 11…

Job 5:11 To set up on high those that be low;
that those which mourn may be [exalted/raised] to safety.

On the other hand, God frustrates the plans of those who plan evil – which Eliphaz is apparently thinking that Job currently is doing – verses 12 and 13…

Job 5:12 He disappointeth the [devices/plans] of the [crafty/shrewd/tricksters],
so that their hands cannot perform their [enterprise/what they had planned].

Job 5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness:
and the counsel of the [forward/cunning] is [carried headlong/brought to a quick end].

By the way, verse 13a is the only verse in this book that’s directly quoted in the New Testament. It’s referenced by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:19. What Eliphaz says is true – it just doesn’t apply to Job’s situation in the way that Eliphaz thinks it does.

Now, here’s what those who plan harm for others ultimately get – verse 14…

Job 5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,
and grope in the noonday as in the night.

On the contrary, God saves the poor from those wicked people – verses 15 and 16…

Job 5:15 But he saveth the poor from the sword,
from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.

Job 5:16 So the poor hath hope,
and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

Job 5 Summary of Verse 17

God is disciplining and not destroying Job

And so, the fact that God hasn’t completely destroyed Job yet for his secret sin in Eliphaz’s mind should encourage Job that there’s still time for him to repent.

God is graciously choosing to correct him for his supposed sin rather than destroy him – verse 17…

Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth:
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

Job 5 Summary of Verse 18

God will bless again

God will relent from his punishing Job and start blessing him once more if Job just starts seeking God again – verse 18…

Job 5:18 For he [maketh sore/wounds], and bindeth up:
he [woundeth/strikes], and his hands [make whole/heal].

Job 5 Summary of Verses 19-22

God will deliver from 7 problems

When Job repents of his secret sin, Eliphaz says that God will deliver him from 7 problems – verse 19…

Job 5:19 He shall deliver thee in six [troubles/calamities]:
yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

And here are those 7 problems from which God will deliver Job once he turns from his sin – verses 20-22…

Job 5:20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death:
and in war from the power of the sword.

Job 5:21 Thou shalt be hid from [the scourge of the tongue/malicious gossip]:
neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: {i.e., he apparently has to repeat two of the problems in order to make 7… }
neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

Job 5 Summary of Verses 23-26

Millennial blessings

Why won’t Job be afraid of the beasts of the earth? Because in Eliphaz’s mind, once Job repents of his alleged sin, his situation will be nearly Millennial in the scope of its blessings. Eliphaz paints a wonderfully bright picture of Job’s potential condition once he starts seeking God – like he’d already been doing – where in verse 23 Eliphaz promises Job Millennial Kingdom kinds of blessings…

Job 5:23 For thou shalt [be in league/have a pact] with the stones of the field:
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

And Eliphaz finishes out the list of the myriads of blessings that Job can anticipate once he just puts an end to his secret sin and starts seeking God again in verses 24-26…

Job 5:24 And thou shalt know that thy [tabernacle/tent/home] shall be [in peace/secure];
and thou shalt [visit/inspect] thy habitation, and shalt not [sin/be missing anything].

Job 5:25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be [great/numerous],
and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

Job 5:26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,
like [as a shock of corn/like stacks of grain] [cometh in/are harvested] in [his/their] season.

The funny thing is that Job does – by God’s gracious hand – experience many of these blessings just mentioned. But he doesn’t experience them because he ends up confessing some secret sin or starts seeking God when he supposedly wasn’t doing that. It’s when Job finally comes to the place where he can trust God – and does so – even though he can’t understand God’s ways.

Job 5 Summary of Verse 27

Case closed

Eliphaz rests his case in verse 27…

Job 5:27 [Lo this/Look], we have [searched it/investigated this], so it is [i.e., true…];
hear it, and [know/apply] thou it for thy [i.e., own…] good.

So, get with the Retribution Plan, Job! You’re suffering as punishment from God for doing evil! So, stop doing evil. Start doing good and God will once again bless you.

You can picture Eliphaz motioning to the other two friends and they’re all nodding their heads in agreement.