ESOCS Devotional 5 October 2024 – Can A Mortal Be Righteous Before God?
MEMORY VERSE: “Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?”Job 4:17
TEXT: JOB 4:1-17
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the [a]feeble knees;
5 But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?
8 Even as I have seen,
Those who plow iniquity
And sow trouble reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish,
And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion,
The voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.
13 In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my body stood up.
16 It stood still,
But I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence;
Then I heard a voice saying:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
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Eliphaz attempted to create an exacting impression with Job. He wanted Job to be humble. He thought that Job was a sinner, a hypocrite who was being punished for some great sins. He wanted Job to repent and admit that he was a great sinner. In order to get Job to do that, he told him that everyone is a sinner and because of that suffering is often our lot in life. To give authority to his words, Eliphaz pointed to what he believed was a supernatural vision he had. Eliphaz said that a spirit posed a question to him. In his vision, he heard a hushed voice asking, “Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?” (Job 4:17).
But Job never made anything close to such a claim in his first speech in chapter 3. Rather, Job complained about his suffering, and asked why God did not care about the day of his birth and why life was given to a man whose way was hidden, whom God had hedged in. So, I believe that the spirit speaking to Eliphaz was not asking whether a mortal can be more righteous than God, but whether a mortal can be righteous before God. Isaiah 64:6 tells us, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away.” And Psalm 130:3 says, “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” Dearly beloved, we all share in the fallen nature, and because of that, we suffer.
But Eliphaz was trying to use this truth in an attempt to get Job to repent. He was telling Job that none of us is innocent. However, Eliphaz was wrong in thinking that Job needed to repent of some specific sin. He thought that Job was a great sinner. In verse 7 he said, “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?”
But Job was not suffering because he was a great sinner or committed some specific sin. He was not suffering because he was one of the worst men on earth. No. He was suffering because he was the best of men, one who was devoted to God, one who shunned evil. Sometimes, God sends suffering to His people in order for them to grow in Christ, for their faith to be strengthened. Sometimes, they suffer for God’s glory.
In John 9, when His disciples saw the man born blind, they asked who sinned, him or his parents. Jesus replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:2-4). The man was not suffering because of a sin he committed or because his parents sinned. Their integrity had nothing to do with his affliction (1 Peter 1:4-5; James 1:2–4).
- It is better to suffer for righteousness’ sake than for sinful acts we have done.
- Lord, teach me to hunger for righteousness and holiness in my life.
Further Reading: Proverbs 12:9-22; Luke 17:11-19; Matthew 7:1-14
ESOCS Devotional 5 October 2024
