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Job 5:17-18  “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.  For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.”

These wise and true words are from the lips of Eliphaz, the first of Job’s ‘friends’ who come to offer ‘comfort’ and advice to their ailing companion.  Their advice is consistent with other parts of Scripture concerning the great spiritual benefit of our heavenly Father’s discipline that comes in the form of suffering and hardship:

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son?  It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.  For what children are not disciplined by their father?  If you are not disciplined – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.  How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!  They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:4-11);

“Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD, the one you teach from your law.” (Psalm 94:12);

“I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.  May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.” (Psalm 119:75);

“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:11-12).

James even tells us that we are to “consider it pure joy’ when we ‘face trials of many kinds’, because this is how we develop perseverance” (1:2-3).  

Like Bildad and Zophar, his two ‘pastoral care’ team-mates, much of what Eliphaz says throughout the book is good, sound theology.  The trouble is, however, that it is of little use in helping Job to process the serious and perplexing issues facing him personally because it doesn’t fit his case.  In fact, the LORD’s eventual response to their efforts is far from complimentary: “After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has’” (42:7)!

If we don’t incorporate the clear message of the book of Job into our overall theological framework we risk doing pastoral damage to fellow-believers.  Some of the suffering we have to endure is the consequence of our own foolish, sinful actions.  Sometimes God inflicts us with pain and hardship as a corrective, to guide us lovingly back onto the right path.  Sometimes it is to equip us to minister to fellow sufferers (2 Corinthians 1:3-11).  Sometimes, as in Job’s case, we are NOT given an explanation why, we just have to trust!  The Bible covers all these possibilities and more.  We know that in Job’s case the suffering was to ‘prove’ his faith and patience and to put Satan, the Accuser, in his place!  We are in error if we are too quick to interpret people’s life experiences in terms of only one of the many options.  The important thing to remember in all of this is that God is always in full control of every circumstance in our lives, and he will always use it for our ultimate good (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Romans 8:28).

– Bruce Christian