Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Job
Book: Job
Chapter: 5
Overview:
Eliphaz urges that the
Sin of sinners is their ruin.
(1-5) God
is to be regarded in affliction.
(6-16) The happy
End of
God's
correction.
(17-27)
1-5 Eliphaz here calls upon
Job to answer his arguments. Were
any of the saints or servants of
God visited with such Divine
judgments as
Job, or did they ever behave like him under their
sufferings? The term, "saints," holy, or more strictly,
consecrated ones, seems in all ages to have been applied to the
people of
God, through the
Sacrifice slain in the
Covenant of
their reconciliation.
Eliphaz doubts not that the
Sin of sinners
directly tends to their ruin. They kill themselves
By some
Lust
or other; therefore,
No doubt,
Job has done some foolish thing,
By which he has brought himself into this condition. The
allusion was
Plain to
Job's former prosperity; but there was
No
evidence of
Job's wickedness, and the application to him was
unfair and severe.
6-16 Eliphaz reminds
Job, that
No affliction comes
By Chance,
nor is to be placed to second causes. The difference between
prosperity and adversity is not
So exactly observed, as that
between
Day and night, summer and winter; but it is according to
the will and counsel of
God. We must not attribute our
Afflictions to fortune, for they are from
God; nor our sins to
fate, for they are from ourselves.
Man is born in
Sin, and
therefore born to trouble. There is nothing in this world we are
born to, and can truly
Call our own, but
Sin and trouble. Actual
transgressions are sparks that
Fly out of the
Furnace of
original corruption. Such is the frailty of our bodies, and the
vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles arise thence as
the sparks
Fly upward;
So many are they, and
So Fast does one
follow another.
Eliphaz reproves
Job for not seeking
God,
instead of quarrelling with him. Is any afflicted? let him pray.
It is
Heart's ease, a salve for every sore.
Eliphaz speaks of
Rain, which we are apt to look upon as a little thing; but if we
consider how it is produced, and what is produced
By it, we
shall see it to be a great work of power and
Goodness. Too often
the great Author of all our comforts, and the manner in which
they are conveyed to us, are not noticed, because they are
received as things of course. In the ways of
Providence, the
experiences of some are encouragements to others, to
Hope the
best in the worst of times; for it is the
Glory of
God to send
help to the helpless, and
Hope to the hopeless. And daring
sinners are confounded, and forced to acknowledge the
Justice of
God's proceedings.
17-27 Eliphaz gives to
Job a
Word of caution and exhortation:
Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
Call it a
chastening, which comes from the
Father's
Love, and is for the
Child's good; and notice it as a
Messenger from
Heaven.
Eliphaz
also encourages
Job to submit to his condition. A good
Man is
happy though he be afflicted, for he has not lost his enjoyment
of
God, nor his title to
Heaven; nay, he is happy because he is
afflicted. Correction mortifies his corruptions, weans his
Heart
from the world, draws him nearer to
God, brings him to his
Bible, brings him to his knees. Though
God wounds, yet he
supports his people under
Afflictions, and in due time delivers
them. Making a wound is sometimes part of a cure.
Eliphaz gives
Job precious promises of what
God would do for him, if he
humbled himself. Whatever troubles good men may be in, they
shall do them
No real harm. Being kept from
Sin, they are kept
from the evil of trouble. And if the servants of
Christ are not
delivered from outward troubles, they are delivered
By them, and
while overcome
By one trouble, they conquer all. Whatever is
maliciously said against them shall not hurt them. They shall
have
Wisdom and
Grace to manage their concerns. The greatest
blessing, both in our employments and in our enjoyments, is to
be kept from
Sin. They shall finish their course with joy and
honour. That
Man lives long enough who has done his work, and is
fit for another world. It is a
Mercy to die seasonably, as the
Corn is cut and housed when fully ripe; not till then, but then
not suffered to stand any longer. Our times are in
God's hands;
it is
Well they are
So. Believers are not to expect great
wealth, long
Life, or to be free from trials. But all will be
ordered for the best. And remark from
Job's history, that
steadiness of mind and
Heart under trial, is one of the highest
attainments of
Faith. There is little
Exercise for
Faith when
all things go
Well. But if
God raises a storm, permits the enemy
to send wave after wave, and seemingly stands aloof from our
prayers, then, still to hang
On and trust
God, when we cannot
trace him, this is the patience of the saints. Blessed
Saviour!
how sweet it is to look unto thee, the Author and Finisher of
Faith, in such moments!