Giving Advice To Those In Trouble - Part 1

Text: JOB 5:1-10

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:

All of us will have periods when our close friends need us and turn to us for advice. Moreover, times will come when we need advice from our friends. Our friends may mean well and have good motives, yet they still may give poor advice that is grounded in partial truth. When giving advice, especially as Christian friends, we should remember the following rules:

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Always speak the truth in love. Eliphaz spoke the truth in 5:2 when he said, “Anger slays the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.” All of us know what jealousy and unprocessed anger can do. However, Eliphaz inappropriately linked that truth to his friend in 5:3, 4, implying that Job was a fool. Eliphaz spoke the truth in 5:7 when he said that “man is born for trouble.” In John 16:33 Jesus talked about the fact that, as long _as we live in this world, there will be trouble. While Eliphaz went too far when he implied that all troubles come from a human source, he again spoke the truth and gave excellent advice in 5:8, when he encouraged Job to seek God. We all need to seek God constantly in times of trouble and in good times. Eliphaz again was not correct when he implied that Job was not clean and that he was not seeking after God with a pure heart.

God's children have always been called to be truth-tellers. The word “true" means being consistent with facts and being consistent with God's revelation. Gods children must speak the truth as revealed in His Word. In Chapter 4 Eliphaz claimed to have a message from God that had come to him in a dream; but in 42:7 God said to Eliphaz, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right."

JOB 5: 9-16

Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

Preachers, Bible class teachers, and all Christians must preach, teach and speak what is right and true. Ephesians 4: 15 tells us to speak the truth in love. Some people speak the truth, but they do not speak it in love. Eliphaz did not speak the truth in love; he did not show his friend Job much sympathy. Ephesians 4 goes on to say, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). Eliphaz did not build up Job, and certainly was not very considerate of Job's pain and needs.

Turn people toward our marvelous God. The fact that Eliphaz shared the awesome power of God with Job is commendable. Eliphaz praised God because He “does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number” (5:9). Eliphaz was correct when he said that we cannot count the number of wonders that God is capable of performing. Ephesians 3:20 says that God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think...”

Eliphaz reminded Job that God gives the rain, waters the helds, raises up the lowly, and lift up those who mourn (5:10,11). He went on to say that, because God is actively involved in this world, “the helpless [have], hope” (5:16). Then Eliphaz listed a series of benefits and blessings that result from seeking God. In 5:17-27, he mentioned that God binds up wounds, protects people, and rescues them. We sing, “God is the fountain whence ten thousand blessings flow.”