Job 5:17-27 - Understanding God's Discipline

^{Job 5:17-27
17} “Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
¹⁸ “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief;
He wounds, and His hands also heal.
¹⁹ “From six troubles He will deliver you,
Even in seven evil will not touch you.
²⁰ “In famine He will redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ “You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you will not be afraid of violence when it comes.
²² “You will laugh at violence and famine,
And you will not be afraid of wild beasts.
²³ “For you will be in league with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
²⁴ “You will know that your tent is secure,
For you will visit your abode and fear no loss.
²⁵ “You will know also that your descendants will be many,
And your offspring as the grass of the earth.
²⁶ “You will come to the grave in full vigor,
Like the stacking of grain in its season.
²⁷ “Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

Message: Understanding God's Discipline

Time: The time of Job is unclear and commonly debated. Often the language of the book can give clues. It seems to be that Job had a lifespan of close to 200 years as Job 42:16 says he lived 140 years after the events in the book.

What the Lord is Saying:

From the Bible, wisdom involves knowing truth and then rightly applying that knowledge (from TableTalk). And truth is key here as a word for it also means that what you are seeking to know is the truth. There are many religions in this world that have their origin not on truth and not on truth from the Bible. And for those people what is often a tragedy is their application, albeit good has a non-truth origin. This has been one of the key tragedies of life. People spend much of life in application mode but rooted in the wrong place. 

But, back to the idea from TableTalk, once you know truth, one must rightly apply the truth in life. To me, it also interesting how many people side with the truth of the Bible and will quote verses and yet apply them in situations that are outside the context of the verse. But there isn't always necessarily a 1:1 ratio in regards to truth. The same truth may be applied differently, depending on the situation.

In the passage today, Job is on the aftermath of experiencing heartbreak, having lost his possessions and the people in his life and even his own health and dignity. He still praises God and still believes that God is over him, but he also begins to wonder why he was even born. God will be God no matter what. 

Job's friends enter and we start off with Eliphaz. In chapter 4, Eliphaz presented the idea that bad outcomes are because of good sowing. Life may have this appearance at times, but it is not always the case. In fact, I think many people see the complete injustice of there being a God with they see bad outcomes from good people, thinking that God is only allowed to be the God we want or think he should be. 

Here in chapter 5 is another instance of misapplication.

Verse 17 and 18 speak the truth that the Lord's discipline is something we can accept. Discipline reminds us we are God's children.

Now, just a note here, the issue with Job was he was being disciplined despite the presentation that he hadn't done anything wrong, per se, to have that discipline. I don't think any of us struggle with being disciplined when it is direct result of sin; the issue here is discipline that doesn't have to do with sin.

The word here in verse 17 is “correcteth” (יכח yâkach ) meaning to argue, convince, reprove, punish, and to judge. Does God sometimes ordain pain in our lives? Does God discipline people or correct them, not because they have done something wrong, but just because? I believe he does. Jesus was scourged for our sins and yet he did nothing wrong. Some people in life get a lot of good things just because.

God shows his love for us in that while we are sinners he dies for us. God overwhelms us with good despite the fact that we have been bad. We freely accept this, but not the reverse, receiving bad when we haven't done anything to merit it.

Promise: When the Lord disciplines us, it could be the result of sin, but it may be also to show us that he is sufficient.