Loading... Job 5:17 - DESPISE NOT THOU THE CHASTENING
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
Eliphaz a friend of Job is speaking. Eliphaz has seen the suffering of Job and has concluded that Job is suffering because Job has sinned against God. Job is miserable because of his suffering and in this passage; Eliphaz is telling Job that he needs to rejoice because God loves him so much that he would not let Job disobey him.
Eliphaz does not know what Job has done wrong but he has determined that Job must have sinned against God. Eliphaz is right that while no one desires to be disciplined, one who is disciplined by God should rejoice. The reason one should rejoice is because it means that God loves them too much to let them continue living their life of sin.
The fact that God loves you when he disciplines you is hard to understand. It is hard to understand just as it is hard to understand when you were a child your parent telling you that the discipline they are administering to you hurts them more than it hurts you. How many young kids thought that if it hurts their parents so much, why do their parents discipline them?
As a child, you do not understand a parent’s love. However, as a parent, you can understand what Eliphaz is saying here. If a parent does not love their child, they will let their child do whatever they want. The parent will create no boundaries and soon the parent sees that their child is out of control and they want little to nothing to do with that child.
A parent who loves their child is a picture of God’s love for us. A parent who loves their child will not sit around and let their child do what they want, when they want. A parent will establish rules for their child and these rules are designed to protect the child. When a child disobeys, that means that the parent must discipline the child so that when they are old, they will not depart from the ways of God.
Eliphaz was right that if this were punishment from God, Job should be happy that God loved him this much that HE did not let Job get away with some serious violation. However, Eliphaz was wrong. Job was not being disciplined, and rather than patiently waiting and ask questions of Job, Eliphaz jumped to conclusions and made assumptions that were not right.
Eliphaz’ doctrine was correct that a loving God will discipline those who are called by HIS name. However, Eliphaz applied the wrong doctrine to the situation of Job because he was not patient enough to discover what God was doing in the life of Job. It would have been one thing if Eliphaz had asked Job if this suffering was because of sin, but that is not what Eliphaz did. Eliphaz simply proclaimed Job as guilty and did not take the time to fully search out the matter. Eliphaz may have been a good friend, but because of his presumption, he ended up sinning against God. Eliphaz wrongfully judged Job by saying he sinned but because he was judging, it was him who was in sin.
It does not matter if we have the scriptures memorized backwards, forwards, or upside-down; if we do not properly apply the truths of scripture to the situations around us, we will be the ones who fail. Just because we know the truth, that does not always mean we have the right application. Be patient with those around you and seek the face of God that the words that you speak will be the truth.