I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
Job 15:17 stands within the prolonged debate between Job and his three friends over his afflictions. More particularly it belongs to Eliphaz's second speech, which presses fresh accusations against Job. Job's reply to that speech protests his innocence and voices a desire for death.
In the verse Eliphaz appeals to his own wisdom and to what he has observed as authority for his teaching about suffering. That the book is inspired guarantees that Eliphaz truly spoke these words, not that what he spoke is true. His statements about Job and about God are therefore not automatically reliable but must be tested against inspired declarations elsewhere in Scripture.
The friends' general principle that evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded is true, yet it was misapplied to Job. Affliction and suffering do not prove that a person is under God's displeasure and are no reason for discouragement. The friends had never known a thoroughly good man to be so afflicted. Job knew his own integrity and could not understand God's dealing with him, yet he did not charge God foolishly. God saw the end from the beginning and was working through Job's suffering to glorify Himself forever, to bring comfort and hope to thousands of sufferers, and to prove a blessing to Job.
Job 15:17 stands within the prolonged debate between Job and his three friends over his afflictions. More particularly it belongs to Eliphaz's second speech, which presses fresh accusations against Job. Job's reply to that speech protests his innocence and voices a desire for death.
In the verse Eliphaz appeals to his own wisdom and to what he has observed as authority for his teaching about suffering. That the book is inspired guarantees that Eliphaz truly spoke these words, not that what he spoke is true. His statements about Job and about God are therefore not automatically reliable but must be tested against inspired declarations elsewhere in Scripture.
The friends' general principle that evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded is true, yet it was misapplied to Job. Affliction and suffering do not prove that a person is under God's displeasure and are no reason for discouragement. The friends had never known a thoroughly good man to be so afflicted. Job knew his own integrity and could not understand God's dealing with him, yet he did not charge God foolishly. God saw the end from the beginning and was working through Job's suffering to glorify Himself forever, to bring comfort and hope to thousands of sufferers, and to prove a blessing to Job.