| Job 5 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 1 [Eliphaz the Temanite speaking] "Call now, if there is anyone to answer you; and to which of the holy ones will you turn? 2 For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the silly one. 3 I have seen the foolish taking root [beginning to prosper], but suddenly his house has been cursed. 4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the [court of justice at the] gate, neither is there any to deliver them. 5 Whose harvest the hungry eats up, and takes it even from out of the thorns, and the robber swallows up their substance. 6 Although affliction does not come from dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground; 7 Yet man is born to trouble, as sure as the sparks [of a fire] fly upward. 8 As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause; 9 Who does great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number, 10 Who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the fields. 11 To set up on high those who are low; that those who mourn may be exalted to safety. 12 He disappoints the plans of the slyly shrewd, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. 13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the perverse schemers is quickly thwarted. 14 They meet in darkness [spiritual darkness] in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night. 15 But he saves the poor from their sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. 16 So the poor has hope, and the mouth of injustice is stopped. 17 Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects, therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 18 For he afflicts pain, and gives relief; he wounds, and his hands heal. 19 He shall deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.1 [To enter the kingdom, every man must go through seven troubles, or seven trials — which is great tribulation. Every man must go through seven troubles, or seven trials. The seventh is the trial of perfection, the final trial before the revealing of Jesus Christ and his resurrection with you. The seven troubles correspond to the seven vials in the book of Revelation.] 20 In famine he shall redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. 21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of violence when it comes. 22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 23 For you will be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. 24 And you shall know that your tent will be in peace; and you will visit your home and fear no loss. 25 You shall know also that your children will be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth. 26 You shall go to your grave in a full age, like a sheaf of grain matures in its season. 27 Look, this is what we have searched out, it is true; hear it and know it for your good."2 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | |||||||||
1 He shall deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. This is true. To enter the kingdom, every man must go through seven troubles, or seven trials — which is great tribulation. Every man must go through seven troubles, or seven trials. The seventh is the trial of perfection, the final trial before the revealing of Jesus Christ and his resurrection with you. The seven troubles correspond to the seven vials in the book of Revelation. George Fox refers to this scripture as absolute fact in the following extract from Letter 367: "And the Lord has promised to deliver his people in the six troubles, yes, in the seventh, the perfection of troubles; and therefore do not think time long, and your sufferings long, for the Lord will lay no more upon you but what you are able to bear; yes, upon his faithful people...when you are tried, you may come forth more precious than gold that is tried in the fire:"
One more example of the incredible knowledge of these pre-Abraham heathen men.
2 Eliphaz makes the mistake of today's preachers, preaching the gospel of prosperity. But until a man has had his lusts destroyed, until a man has suffered so that he is through with sin, God will not prosper a man because if he does, man will only waste his blessing in satisfying his lusts of the eye and flesh. But when lusts are replaced with love, through the crucifixion of the selfish spirit on the inward cross of self-denial, then God will be certain that his new creature has no lack of good things of the earth. He will bestow his blessings on a man, confident they will be used to further his plan and glory, instead of consumed on the selfish lusts.
People have a very hard time understanding that people and God are as different as a man and a rat. People are selfish beasts, and God does not want to perpetuate our beastly nature; no, he wants to destroy it and replace it with His nature. Then and only then will he greatly prosper a man.
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