Reference

Job 15-16
Job: A Friend of God - Part 7

This week, pastor Don considers what another of Jobs' friends (Eliphaz) has to say about Job's predicament. Eliphaz makes an all too common assumption, one that lies at the heart of all religion. God punishes the wicked and blesses the good, therefore if you are suffering it is because you have done something wrong. Eliphaz basically accuses Job of undermining people's fear of the Lord with his words. The irony in the whole affair is that what Job's friends accuse Job of, they are actually guilty of. It is they, not Job, who are undermining the truth about God as we will see later on in the book. His friends, like many around us today (and perhaps even oursevles) are guilty of giving 'grace' to those they feel deserve it and witholding it from those they feel don't!