What Does Reproof From You Reprove?

Read Job chapter 6 as a family

Job is suffering deeply and desperately needs comforting words from his friends and not truthful theology wrongly applied. In chapter 6, Job directly responds to Eliphaz’s first discourse. He pictures Eliphaz’s words as tasteless food without salt, and mentions they are loathsome to him. His current comfort has not been found in the words of his friend, nor in his confusion to understand his suffering. Rather he finds comfort in the day of his death knowing he will have some sort of happy and comfortable after-life.

Job asks his friend to teach him the truth of his suffering, to make him understand how he has gone astray. Eliphaz has reproved Job. Job says what does reproof from you reprove?

It is easy for us to be like Eliphaz. We take the facts that we see and try and discern certain causes. When we do this for the purpose of answering the why question, we must be so careful. We don’t want to be a counselor like Eliphaz who has plenty of wisdom, but because he is wrongly applying the facts he knows to the situation he sees; he is merely hurting and hardening his friend. He will need his friend to forgive him in the end.

Questions For The Kids

• Have you ever thought you knew the reason why a person close to you was suffering? Maybe you did not speak these thoughts out loud, but did you think they were suffering because of some sin in the person’s own life?
• Have you ever had someone tell you they knew why a certain bad thing was happening to you? Were they right or wrong? How did it make you feel?