Teach me, and I will be silent.
Help me understand what I did wrong.
How painful honest words can be!
But what does your rebuke prove?
Job 6:24-25
Observation: The three friends have begun to speak with Job, and the first (Eliphaz the Temanite) provides the most basic sentiment. He says that yes, Job has been a good man, but something has happened and he is being punished, so they are here to comfort him. This first statement isn't an aggressive attack, but just an observation of the way the world works ... in Yahweh's logical structure and order, 'good' people are blessed, and 'bad' people are punished.
Job does not respond with anger, but seems to still be processing the despair. His request of the Lord, however, is pretty simple ... could God please tell him what he did wrong and teach him, rather than just this forceful punishment? As it is, without teaching, Job doesn't know what he did wrong and cannot therefore repent and correct.
Application: In one sense Job is right ... if God punishes without teaching, we cannot learn. However, the Lord does not do that, and as a result a major component of this entire book of Job is founded in a flawed assumption, which is that God brings misery into our lives to teach us lessons. The Lord increases and removes blessing, and he knows of the evil in this world and how it can devour and destroy people. However, he is not the one that destroys, even those who have sinned against him.
In the wisdom books - Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes especially - the Lord has taken time to teach us that he loves us, but that he also loves everyone so much that he allows free will to be practices, in the hope everyone will select him has their Lord. Those that do not become free to practice evil, and even without others there are issues in this earthly world as a result of even the faithful failing to be good. We will all therefore have problems in life.
Again, the takeaway here isn't whether or not Eliphaz or Job are correct in their assessment of the situation at hand. Rather, it is that the Lord has indeed taken his time to teach us. Job asked the Lord to help him understand what he did wrong, and the Lord has provided billions and billions of people in subsequent generations the information we need to understand. It is almost like Job answered his own prayer, asking for teaching and then becoming the teacher.
Prayer: Lord, your word is so great, so wonderful, so wise, and so complete. It is a blessing to learn new truths about life from you every single day. Thank you for your wisdom, your council, and your love. Amen.
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