Job 6:4 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters | Metropolitan Tabernacle

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Job 6:4

Comments

He says that God is now a terror to him. Since they cannot see directly what he is feeling in his heart, let them judge by what he has expressed of his sufferings. Job is here almost admitting that he has gone too far in saying what he said in chapter 3, but he adds that it is not without cause – if only they knew. ‘Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?’ Don’t you understand what is happening to me, he asks. Yes, I have burst out with extravagant complaints, but that is because of the extreme nature of my trials. An ass is silent and contented when it has enough to eat, and an ox lies down in the pasture to digest its meal when it has had enough. If my suffering was not so extreme, I wouldn’t complain.Job also gives his opinion of Eliphaz’ advice – something insipid and tasteless like the white of an egg. How can Job derive comfort from this empty council which does him such injustice and totally fails to appreciate the depth of the problem? Although the three friends have sat in silence with him for seven days, when they do start to speak their hostility becomes apparent immediately. They have nothing to say which truly fits Job’s case. Sometimes they come out with moral truisms which fail to address Job’s case; at other times they are attacking him for imaginary sins which he is not guilty of.

Application

The deeper our trials are, the more important it is that our comforts are genuine. Job calls their counsel tasteless. This is the believer’s assessment of the type of liberal doctrine that Eliphaz has been given. For all its apparent beauty and poetry, it is utterly useless.

Job thinks God is punishing him. That is a big mistake. If like Job are not aware of some specific sin for which the Lord is dealing with you, and if you are depressed and in anguish, don’t say, ‘God is hurting me.’ No, he has sent it for your profit; he is with you in it, and you can pray to him. He will turn it to account. Job says, ‘I have no comforts. There isn’t anything I can think of to add just a ray of hope to my situation. Nothing in view can help me.’ Let us never be in the position that we say that we cannot receive any comfort at all. Is there nothing to help us to bear our lot? Even if we can’t see God, can we not remember he is with us – future hope, heaven, promises – God is too wise to make any mistakes. It is wrong ever to allow trials to blot out all hope. Job needed to seek God’s eternal blessings. We have to get our minds to work and think about the trustworthiness of God. We have to bring them to life in dark.

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Job 6:4 Commentary and Bible Study