Jo’s Place

Job’s Fifth Speech was a Response to Eliphaz’s Continuing Harshness  So, Job spoke again: “I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are! Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking? I could say the same things, if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism, and shake my head at you. But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief. Instead, I suffer, if I defend myself, and I suffer no less, if I refuse to speak. “O God, you have ground me down, and devastated my family. As if to prove, that I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones. My gaunt flesh testifies against me. God hates me, and angrily tears me apart. He snaps His teeth at me, and pierces me with His eyes. People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek, in contempt. A mob gathers against me. God has handed me over, to sinners. He has tossed me, into the hands of the wicked. “I was living quietly, until He shattered me. He took me by t...

Eliphaz Continues His Second Attack    on Job. “If you will listen, I will show you ( the truth )… I will answer you from my own experience. And it is confirmed, by the reports of wise men, who have heard the same thing from their fathers— from those, to whom the land was given… long before any foreigners arrived. “The wicked writhe in pain, throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up, for the ruthless. The sound of terror …rings in their ears, …and even on good days, they fear the attack of the destroyer. They dare not go out into the darkness, for fear they will be murdered. They wander around, saying ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near. That dark day… terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle. For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty. Holding the shields they think are strong, they defiantly charge against Him. “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulg...

Eliphaz’s Second Response to Job was more harsh.  Eliphaz, the Temanite, said to Job: “A wise man wouldn’t answer, with such empty talk! You are nothing, but a windbag. The wise don’t engage, in empty chatter. What good are such words? Have you no fear of God, …no reverence for Him? Your sins …are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based, on clever deception. Your own mouth condemns you, ….not I. Your own lips testify against you. “Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made? Were you listening, at God’s secret council? Do you have a monopoly, on wisdom? What do you know, that we don’t? What do you understand, that we do not? On our side, are aged, gray-haired men… much older than your father! “Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is His gentle word not enough? What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision, that you turn against God… and say all these evil things? Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born, of a woman, be ...