Sin Boldly

 

Job 5:2 For wrath kills a foolish man, And envy slays a simple one. 3 I have seen the foolish taking root, But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. 4 His sons are far from safety, They are crushed in the gate, And there is no deliverer. 5 Because the hungry eat up his harvest, Taking it even from the thorns, And a snare snatches their substance. 6 For affliction does not come from the dust, Nor does trouble spring from the ground; 7 Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.

 

The twisted theology of Eliphaz continues as he pretends to speak for God in the matter of wrath and judgement.  Note that he sprinkles in truth with his lecture, but he misapplies it. He perverts it! We are warned against such false teachers in Ac 20:30 and that from among your own number, men will arise, perverting (twisting) the truth, to draw away the disciples after them.

 It’s true that the wrath of God will be poured out upon the foolish man on Judgement Day. He is the fool who has lived and died with the mantra, “There is no God.” Ps 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."

 

And it’s true that the wrath of God will be poured out on those who have set themselves up as their own god. It was this kind of envy that resulted in the fall of Adam and Eve: Ge 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

It’s also true that many unbelievers prosper in this life (the foolish taking root v3)

Ps 37:35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

These things are true, but then in what amounts to gross insensitivity in addition to false teaching Eliphaz attempts to speak for God as he recounts Job’s personal losses: Job’s sons and daughters crushed by a tornado, and robbers taking all of his property.

 

“I (God) cursed his (Job’s) dwelling place.” V3

 

Eliphaz implies that this was no accident. Someone was behind these tragedies; they didn’t just appear out of the dust. And that someone is God. Again it’s true that all things pass through the hands of a Sovereign God, but Eliphaz indicates that these tragedies against Job were brought on by some sin in his life.

 

He concludes this brief section with, 7 Yet man is born to trouble, As the sparks fly upward.

 

The sparks (resistance to God’s Law (sin) fly upward to heaven where God will deal with it by pouring out His wrath.

 

What a dismal outlook on life. Eliphaz relegates life on this planet to Law! There is no mention of God’s grace and mercy as it concerns the sinner. No mention of a coming Messiah, who will receive the wrath of God in the sinner’s stead.   Only an angry God dealing with sinners with any and all sorts of physical punishment in the here and now!

 

Waiting for the other shoe to drop from the hand of God is no way to live! Martin Luther once said  “Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are in this world we have to sin (sparks will fly upward) This loife is not the dwelling place of righteousness but, as Peter says, “we look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, (2 Peter 3:13) It is enough that by the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. (Jn 1:29) No sin will separate us from the Lamb”

 

In this life, we will have trouble, but to fear God solely because of His potential for pouring out wrath is just plain foolish and unbiblical. You want a reason to fear God? Fear Him because of His ability to forgive completely your sins against Him.

Ps 130:4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.