Jumping to Conclusions
Opening Prayer
Pray that God will help you to have his mind and think in his way as you read his Word today.
Read JOB 4:1-21
[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: [2] “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking? [3] Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. [4] Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. [5] But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. [6] Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope? [7] “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? [8] As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. [9] At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more. [10] The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. [11] The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. [12] “A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. [13] Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, [14] fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. [15] A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. [16] It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: [17] ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker? [18] If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, [19] how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! [20] Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. [21] Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’ Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What do you think Eliphaz is saying to Job here?Most of the book of Job is taken up with arguments written in poetry. There is much drama in this book, a drama of ideas. The way we think is so important. The way I think is more vital than what I can or can’t do with my body, for my thinking determines my attitude. When my attitude is wrong, I am in real trouble.
Here Job’s friends begin to speak to him. They are generally known as “Job’s comforters.” Sadly, they were really Job’s “discomforters”! They knew lots of facts about God but were very insensitive to Job. We, too, can have a cold, clinical knowledge of the Bible, but can lack the sensitivity offered us by the Holy Spirit. Eliphaz mocked Job for his spiritual strengths (2-6). He often used correct words, but he was aiming them at the wrong person.
It is true that we sow what we reap (8), and that no one can be better than God (17). But we always need to show care when we apply biblical truths to others. If I jump to the wrong conclusion, and apply truth wrongly, someone could be really hurt.
Apply
Are there “strong Christians” in your church who you look up to? How can vs. 3-6 help you to pray for them?
Closing prayer
Lord, I want to have knowledge of Your Word and the good judgment to use Your Word to help, not to hurt others.
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