Job 5:6 - Meaning and Application

Eliphaz had touched Job in a very painful place. He had spoken of the loss of his wealth and the death of his children as just punishment for Job’s sin. But now, so that he would not drive Job into despair, he begins to encourage him and show him a way to find peace. His tone changes a great deal, and he speaks more kindly, as if he wants to make up for the harsh words he gave before (Galatians 4:20).

First, he reminds Job that no trouble happens by accident, and we should not blame lower causes for it. It does not come out of the dust or spring from the ground like grass does (Job 5:6). It does not come by chance, or by fixed seasons, as natural things do through a chain of lesser causes. Providence, God’s wise rule over the world, does not always keep the balance between ease and hardship as exactly as day and night, or summer and winter. Instead, it happens according to God’s will and purpose, when and how he thinks best.

Some read this verse as saying that sin does not come out of the dust, or wrongdoing from the ground. If people are bad, they must not blame the soil, the weather, or the stars, but themselves. If you scorn, you alone will bear it. We must not blame fate for our sins, because they come from us, nor blame fortune for our troubles, because they come from God. That means every hardship should make us patient, and every sin should make us repent when we suffer.

Second, he reminds Job that trouble is what all people should expect in this world. Man is born to trouble (Job 5:7), not as man in his original goodness, but as sinful man, born of a woman (Job 14:1), who fell into transgression. We are born in sin, and therefore we are born to trouble. Even those born to honor and wealth are still born to trouble in this life. Since our nature is fallen, sin becomes natural to us, and trouble is the natural result of that (Romans 5:12).

There is nothing in this world we can truly call our own except sin and trouble. Both are like sparks that fly upward. Our actual sins are like sparks from the fire of our original corruption. Since we are called transgressors from the womb, it is no surprise that we act treacherously (Isaiah 48:8). Our bodies are weak, and all our comforts fade, so our troubles rise naturally and often, one after another. Why should we be shocked by suffering as if it were strange, or complain as if it were unfair, when it is part of our condition? Man is born to labor, as the margin says. He is sentenced to earn his bread by the sweat of his face, and that should train him to endure hardship more patiently.

Third, Eliphaz tells Job how he should respond to suffering (Job 5:8). “I would seek to God,” he says, and in the original, “Surely I would.” There is a quiet rebuke here, because Job had been arguing with God instead of turning to him. Eliphaz means, “Job, if I were in your place, I would not be so upset and angry. I would accept God’s will.” It is easy to say what we would do in someone else’s trouble, but real testing shows how hard that can be.

Still, this is also good and timely advice, which Eliphaz speaks as if it were his own plan. The best thing to do in trouble is to turn to God. We should give our friends no advice that we would not follow ourselves if we were in their place. In that way, we can be steadied in affliction, helped by it, and see a good outcome from it.

We must seek mercy and grace from God by prayer. We must come to him as a Father and friend, even when he is dealing with us in discipline, because he alone can support and help us. When we lose everything in the world, we must still seek his favor, because he is the source and Father of all good and all comfort. Is anyone suffering? Let him pray. Prayer brings heart’s ease and heals every wound.

We must also give ourselves and our cause to him with patience. Once we have laid our case before him, we should leave it with him. Once we have put it at his feet, we should place it in his hand. “Here I am; let the Lord do with me as he sees fit.” If our cause is truly good, we do not need to fear leaving it with God, because he is both just and kind. Those who want to find help must commit themselves to him.

Fourth, Eliphaz encourages Job to do this by pointing to God’s power and rule. God does great things (Job 5:9), truly great things, because he can do anything, and he does everything according to his own will. His works are great in three ways. They are beyond full understanding, because no one can trace them from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The works of nature are mysterious, and even the most careful study cannot uncover all of them. The works of providence are even deeper and harder to explain (Romans 11:33).

His works are also beyond counting. He does great things without number. His power is never used up, and all his purposes will not be finished until the end of time. And his works are marvelous, so wonderful that we can never admire them enough. Even eternity would not be too long to spend praising them.

Eliphaz uses this truth to do two things. He wants to show Job his fault and foolishness in arguing with God. We must not try to judge God’s works, because they are too deep for us to search out. We must not fight with our Maker, because he will certainly be too strong for us and can bring us down in a moment. But he also wants to encourage Job to seek God and give his cause to him. What could be more comforting than knowing that power belongs to God? He can do great and wonderful things for our relief, even when we are brought very low.

Finally, Eliphaz gives one example of God’s power and rule. God does great things in the world of nature: he gives rain to the earth (Job 5:10). Rain stands here for all the gifts of God’s common providence, all the fruitful seasons that fill our hearts with food and gladness (Acts 14:17). When Eliphaz wants to show God’s great works, he speaks of rain. Rain seems ordinary, so we are often tempted to think little of it. But if we think carefully about how it comes and what it produces, we will see that it is a great work of both power and goodness.

God does great things in human affairs. He not only enriches the poor and comforts those in need by the rain he sends (Job 5:10), but he also lifts up the lowly by frustrating the plans of the crafty. Job 5:11 belongs with Job 5:12. Compare this with Luke 1:51-53. He scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, and so he raises those of low rank and fills them with good things.

See how he frustrates the plans of the proud and cunning (Job 5:12-14). There is a higher power that rules over people who think they are free and absolute, and that power carries out its own purposes even when they make their own plans. The stubborn, who go against God and against the good of his kingdom, are often very clever. They come from the old serpent, Satan, who was known for his cunning. They think they are wise, but in the end they will prove foolish.

God’s enemies make their own plans, schemes, and secret plots against him and against his faithful people. They are tireless in their designs, careful in their meetings, confident in their hopes, deep in their politics, and tightly bound together in their alliances (Psalm 2:1-2). Yet God can easily, and for his glory will certainly, ruin all the plans of his enemies and his people’s enemies. Think how the plots of Ahithophel, Sanballat, and Haman were brought to nothing. Think also how the alliances of Syria and Ephraim against Judah, of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek against God’s Israel, and of the kings and princes against the Lord and his anointed were broken. The hands stretched out against God and his church did not succeed, and the weapons formed against Zion did not prosper.

What enemies meant for the church’s ruin often turns into their own ruin (Job 5:13). He catches the wise in their own craftiness and traps them in the work of their own hands (Psalm 7:15-16; Psalm 9:15-16). The apostle quotes this in (1 Corinthians 3:19) to show how the learned men of the nations were made foolish by their empty philosophy. When God confuses people, they become lost even in things that seem most clear and simple (Job 5:14). They meet darkness even in broad daylight. Or, as the margin puts it, they rush themselves into darkness by the force and haste of their own plans. See also (Job 12:20, Job 12:24-25).

On the other hand, God favors the cause of the poor and humble, and he takes up their defense. He lifts up the humble (Job 5:11). Those whom proud people try to crush, he raises up from under their feet and sets in safety (Psalm 12:5). He advances the lowly in heart and those who mourn, comforts them, and makes them dwell on high, in the strong places of the rocks (Isaiah 33:16). The mourners in Zion are the marked ones, set apart for safety (Ezekiel 9:4).

He also delivers the oppressed (Job 5:15). The crafty aim to ruin the poor. Their tongue, their hand, and their sword all work toward that end. But God places under his special protection those who are poor, cannot help themselves, belong to him, and have committed themselves to him for his praise. He saves them from the mouth that speaks harsh things against them and from the hand that does harsh things against them, because he can, whenever he wills, silence the tongue and weaken the hand.

This has two results (Job 5:16). Weak and fearful believers are comforted, because the poor who had begun to despair now have hope. The experience of some becomes encouragement for others to hope for the best even in the worst times, because it is God’s glory to bring help to the helpless and hope to the hopeless. At the same time, bold and threatening sinners are put to shame. Iniquity stops its mouth, surprised by the strange way God has delivered his people, ashamed of its hatred toward those who seem to be Heaven’s favorites, broken by the disappointment, and forced to admit that God’s ways are just. Those who once ruled over God’s poor, frightened them, threatened them, and falsely accused them, will have nothing left to say when God appears for them. See (Psalm 76:8-9; Isaiah 26:11; Micah 7:16).