Job 5: Eliphaz-tronaut

Job 5:8 "But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him."

Eliphaz continues his speech to Job. The first few verses talk about trouble that has come to a person. Eliphaz doesn't specifically mention Job, but unsafe children...a stolen harvest...these are things that happened to Job. Which makes it kind of unsettling when Eliphaz mentions a fool being suddenly cursed. Was Job suddenly cursed, as Eliphaz says with some certainty? Not exactly.

Hey, Eliphaz seems to ask. Why don't you consult God about it? Lay your case before him. Seems like good advice, but practical? Not exactly. When we don't have any idea what God is doing, and it's painful, we want to know what the deal is. We have this idea of God, of how good we are as people, and think it insane that this good God would bring calamity on our innocent heads. Even that suggests that bad things only happen because of our behavior. A sense of self cannot be driven by our circumstances, because we are not our circumstances.

So to lay one's cause before God requires a man to know certain things about God. In verses 8 through 20, Eliphaz demonstrates his knowledge, his estimation of God. It seems to be a lot of God frustrating mans plans, and God putting man in his place, really just showing off his power.

It's good to be disciplined by God, but Eliphaz starts making promises on His behalf that may or may not be fulfilled, and place God under no obligation to fulfill them. Then to ask Job to apply these promises to himself...seems a bit presumptuous.