A Good Logical Argument But Completely Wrong!

Job 4:7
“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?

Job was a very good man according to God, Job 1:8 and Job 2:3. Satan told God that Job was only good because of the favors he got from God, Job 1:9-11 and Job 2:4-5. The question to us is whether satan is right in my case or your case. Are we good because of the blessings we have and those that we anticipate? Would we be good people if we were sure God will not give us any further blessings?

If God had no blessings to offer now and in the future, would there be a need to relate with Him? If God doesn’t solve your problems, do you still need God? Satan said that Job was faithful to God and a good man to everyone because of the things God gave him and did to him. This meant that Job did not love God, he was using God to have his way. It meant that Job was exploiting God to his own advantage. While it is impossible to exploit God, some of us in the way we live are exploiting God.

If the relationship you have been praying about breaks, would you still love God and be faithful to Him, knowing that He had the power to enforce the relationship and He didn’t? If God who can heal, allows a loved to one die after you have prayed without ceasing, would you still praise Him and worship Him? If you are desperate about something but the more you pray the worse it gets and eventually it fails to work out, would you still love God?

Satan told God that Job only worshipped because of benefits. Satan told God that Job was good because he got some rewards from God. Satan made claims that Job was after something from God from his faithfulness. God allowed Satan to test Job and find out if he was faithful for personal convenience and not a pure love for God. Satan tested Job by destroying all the wealth Job had. Satan further killed all the children of Job. Then Satan destroyed Job’s health and he quickly deteriorated and suffered terrible skin disease. Job was faced with disaster after disaster, and now he was staring at a slow painful death.

Job’s friends came to visit him to comfort him over his misfortunes, Job 2:11. They wailed in mourning and then sat silently with him, in shock of what had befallen him, Job 2:12-13. After seven days of silent reflection and company, Job broke the silence by speaking. Job spoke in bitterness and he wished he was never born. After Job’s speech of bitterness, his friend Eliphaz spoke in the chapter of our consideration today.

Eliphaz speaks for himself and Job’s other friends. Eliphaz with other friends blames Job for having committed a certain sin that caused his suffering. They blamed Job for being guilty of some serious sin that brought this suffering. They believed that all suffering was a punishment for some sin. They, therefore, urged Job to repent his sins.

Our text today contains the wrong thinking of Eliphaz. Our text today makes the declaration that good and innocent people do not suffer. This false reasoning is the reasoning many of us still have. We strive to be happy, not because we love God but because we are evading the difficulties of life. After a long time of struggling to be nice, when bad things happen we permanently abandon faith. In anger we stop attending worship, we start warming up to atheism, and support anyone critical of religion.

Job 42:7
Epilogue
After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.

The entire book of Job is made of a dialogue between Job and his friends. Job’s friends argue that he is guilty and should repent. Job insists that he is innocent. Finally, God exonerates Job of wrongdoing and blames Job’s friends for misrepresenting the truth. Job’s friends were the majority but they were wrong. Job’s friends had a good argument that was even logical, but they were completely wrong.

The truth is not tested by how many people agree with it. The truth remains to be the truth even if no one supported it. The truth doesn’t have to have a good logical argument. The truth may seem illogical and fallacious but it is the truth. For many years people believed that the earth was flat and that is why we can walk and operate on it. That sounds good and logical, but it was wrong. The earth is round.

The truth is only validated by its consistency with the Bible which is the revealed revelation of God’s will. Anything that contradicts the Bible even if it’s a logical and sound argument, is wrong. Giving contraceptives to children to prevent pregnancies and disease infection seems like a good logical argument to protect the young ones from harm. Yet biblically it is wrong. Sex outside marriage is wrong even if one uses contraceptives, it remains wrong and evil. Even if all young people remain sexually active and can’t control themselves, they are wrong and hell-bound and they shouldn’t be supported en route to hell with contraceptives. Hell death is much more serious than the effects of pregnancy and any disease that is sexually transmitted. Such a truth may be illogical and unpopular but it is the truth.

Therefore when choosing a church to belong to, it is misleading to go to a church with a large following. The number of people however great, cannot validate the truth. Good logical arguments on what basic beliefs are not sufficient unless those teachings do not contradict the Bible. May God give us the courage, resilience, and wisdom of Job, so that we remain on the side of the truth even when we are alone and it doesn’t make sense to anyone else, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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