Priest Daniel Sysoev - Job 4

 In the last chapter we read Job's first speech when he cursed his life, when he said that the day he was born was cursed because he saw the suffering that opened his eyes. Now we are moving on to reading the first speech of his friend.

It is interesting that there is such a feature. Where does the book of Job begin? With these words: "And Job answered and said ...". What did he answer? He answered the silent reproach of his friends. Why did friends throw dust over their heads? They were amazed that a righteous man would be so sinful. Because if he received punishment for good, then he might not be a sinner. They have a completely straightforward logic: how can a righteous person violate and how can he fall into such calamities? If he is punished, then there was a crime. This logic is interesting. And in fact, friends are terribly indignant that Job curses his birthday and says that it would be better if he died and:

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

3Surely you have instructed many,

and have strengthened their feeble hands.

4Your words have steadied those who stumbled;

you have braced the knees that were buckling.

5But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary.

It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

6Is your reverence not your confidence,

and the uprightness of your ways your hope?

7Consider now, I plead:

Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Or where have the upright been destroyed?

8As I have observed, those who plow iniquity

and those who sow trouble reap the same.

9By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

10The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl,

yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

11The old lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12Now a word came to me secretly;

my ears caught a whisper of it.

What is the first consolation that Eliphaz offers him? Look, you could comfort others before. Why aren't you comforting yourself now? Does this question remind you of anything? You saved others, but you can't save yourself ?! No wonder Job is called the prophet of Christ, no wonder the book is read on Holy Week. It is here that Job is invited to admit that he is a sinner, to admit that what God is doing to him is just, right, and you must console yourself with this. You consoled others, so take care of yourself. I must remember that you used to support, now support yourself. Consolation in a good way.

6Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope? 

You had to rely on your integrity, and if a punishment has come upon you, then the vicious in something must find sin in himself. Some Christians believe that they should seek out sins in themselves. It is a common phenomenon when people are engaged in self-examination and consider it the greatest Christian virtue. Have you met such a phenomenon? Either they do not see sins at all, or they begin to engage in such self-digging. Although the task of a Christian, what is it? Serve God and Praise Him! With us, everything is replaced by introspection, in fact Eliphaz says so, dig, maybe you will find something? Maybe there is some sin? Saying is insane. The righteous is never punished, says Eliphaz. Why? This logic still exists. People say "The righteous, they are not punished, and sinners are always punished in this life." This obviously happens and vice versa. The righteous may be subjected to calamities, he may be punished by God. Why? Because there is injustice in this world. And it's stupid to close your eyes to her and why should you close your mouth. Actually, Job's friends want to invite him to close his mouth and, contrary to the evidence, talk about the real world. They offer Job blind faith. There is blind faith when a person believes in someone's stupidity, but not in God. Isn't it a blind belief, for example, that man descended from a monkey? In the world, not a single monkey has turned into a person. The belief that rebirth is taking place is an absurd belief, which is not based on facts, but based on what cannot be by definition. There is another kind of blind faith here. There is blind faith among those who accept God, but accept not a living one, but as a set of their own ideas. God has been credited with a number of characteristics and believes that he should act that way. For example, when Christ came and broke the Sabbath, we say “how dare you…”, he did not break it, but revealed it. Job is invited to call evil good. All the speeches of friends, the tonality intensifies in the future, they are aimed at making a person think of God as some kind of dead substance.

7Consider now, I plead:

Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Or where have the upright been destroyed?

8As I have observed, those who plow iniquity

and those who sow trouble reap the same.

9By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

10The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl,

yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

11The old lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

What is the logic here? The fact that those who do evil are punished by the same evil. God's function is to punish them. When people say that “God does not punish anyone, does not punish anyone,” they themselves do evil and themselves, then they perish. This is a popular theory, and it is completely false. God can punish and can save.

There is a famous story about a sage who was in India. He came to the king, the king handed out gifts to everyone, but forgot to him, and he cursed him. The tsar got scared and fell under his feet and said "I'll give you everything, just remove the curse!" I cannot remove it, it is already in effect, I can only correct it. This is a purely mechanical approach. Man himself generates evil, and he cleans it up himself, and God cannot do anything here.

We are talking about the fact that God really intervenes. If he punishes, then the punishment is not legal. The word "punish" means to show, it is not mechanical with sin. For example, the same act can be punished and not punished by God, depending on the situation. When a person is punished by God, then God punishes him to the extent that it should be done, not because some independent justice requires it. Very often people say, "Why is there injustice in the world?" But, fairness is too small a level. There is a measure of God's freedom that cannot be included in the framework of justice. God is just, but he is more than justice, he is not less than justice. Why? Now they say that God is not fair at all. This is not true, this is heath, which was condemned by the church in the 2nd century. Here Job's friends say: there is an act - there is a punishment, a man dug a hole for himself.

 Then he talks about a certain revelation that he had:

12Now a word came to me secretly;

my ears caught a whisper of it.

13In disquieting visions in the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

14fear and trembling came over me

and made all my bones shudder.

15Then a spirita glided past my face,

and the hair on my body bristled.

16It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance;

a form loomed before my eyes,

and I heard a whispering voice:

17‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God,

or a man more pure than his Maker?

18If God puts no trust in His servants,

and He charges His angels with error,

19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundations are in the dust,

who can be crushed like a moth!

20They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;

unnoticed, they perish forever.

21Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’ 

Here Eliphaz sees a certain spirit who speaks to him. The question is, what is this spirit? This is the same spirit that initially started this business, or rather, it was God who started, and Satan began to blaspheme God. God appears and speaks. The devil will not always blaspheme. Hula is a clear line that is subtle. See what he says: first, the detail of the vision, refers to the vision, how to punish the evil spirit, says so. First, a person is embraced by horror and awe and shakes his bone. He was shaking all over, his breath caught, my hair stood on end on me. God doesn't need hysteria, panic. Because such a person he is unable to stand before God. We do not have such customs in our church that you would enter the temple of God, and once a torch was poked in your face. Does this happen with us? Not. It happens that you wanted to become Orthodox, but they put you in a coffin with bones, does it happen? Not. And if a person wants to join the Freemasons, they will put him in a coffin with bones, they will poke a sword in the chest, that is, they will be horrified to throw him out of balance. So that a person loses control over himself. This is no coincidence. This is a way of taking over human flesh. A person loses and then he can be mastered, you can put something alien to him. But Eliphaz clearly thinks that the spirit is from God. He does not have the gift of discerning spirits. As the Slavic text says:

And I will find the spirit on my face: frightening me of power and flesh. 

I found the spirit on my face. An interesting picture, it very accurately coincides with the description of the vocation of Mohammed, whom they also began to strangle. For some reason this spirit likes the process of strangulation. I even think it's understandable why. Why is there a stranglehold on a Masonic execution? Our breath is a symbol of the breath of God. When a person is baptized, one of the first things a priest does is blow in his face. The devil strangles a man. 

He became — but I did not recognize his appearance — only his appearance was before my eyes; quiet breeze - and I hear a voice

He didn't recognize. So, when God's servant comes, they ask him “who are you?”. There must be a contact. A personal God meets a personal person. Man recognizes in this coming God or the messenger of God. And here Eliphaz does not know who is in front of him. In front of him there is a certain unidentified person who puts his ideas in. The spirit does not allow itself to be known. Why? How does the expulsion of evil spirits by the Lord begin? The first question, which asks: what is your name? Their unity is crumbling. They show that they actually intimidate people, but in reality they are afraid of the Creator. Here there is no appearance, no appearance, something formless, incomprehensible. Angels are the clear messengers of God. Evil spirits, when they come to people whom they deceived, do not have a clear guise. Why? Because they take on the appearance. Even here it is said that I did not see his appearance. He holds some kind of appearance, illusion, Satan can take the form of an angel, maybe Christ, the Mother of God, etc. But, just assuming the appearance, he is not real. Because it disintegrates with its true nature. Where can another creature have an image? Who is the role model? Lord! The Lord is the image of the Father, and he, being the image, gives the appearance to all that exists. Likewise, the appearance of a person, the appearance of a given species of animals, the appearance of the Sun, the Moon, all this happens to the appearance of the prototype - Christ, who gives images to all being. The devil, having departed from the first image, becomes a disintegrating being. There is an interesting point: one of the church fathers says that when the devil appears, he appears in a changing light. The devil must maintain his appearance so that his appearance does not creep out. Therefore, when evil spirits appear, they appear in red light, or in a blue glow, or in a projection white light, but their light changes all the time. A similar being comes to Eliphaz and says: 

17‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God,

or a man more pure than his Maker?

A person cannot be more righteous than God, and even more purely than the Creator. It follows that every person is wrong by definition.

18If God puts no trust in His servants,

and He charges His angels with error,

Note that this is an old deep grudge. Do you understand what this is about? Spirit remembers when he was very badly offended. Then he goes to nature and says:

19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth! 

So, what is the sin? In the fact that a person lives in a body, that life is fast and a body made of dust means that is why he sins. Is the logic known? When a person says “I live in a body, how I live, so I sin…”. It is the devil who says that human life is sin. The cause of sin is in human nature. A person cannot be holy because he is made of mud. Why? Because he says that the concept of holiness is often associated with nature. Is that so? You know that an angel is always brighter than a person. The enemy that says: any person, since he is made of mud, since he lives in a temple... Then he says: 

20They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;

unnoticed, they perish forever. 21Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’ 

The death of a person is the reason that he is not able to attain wisdom. Man lives little and therefore will not reach God. But, here is the answer, actually what? Job gives the answer, he says that I myself am here with my own eyes…. It is the devil who teaches such wonderful words, how can we, we are not saints…. This is devilish humility, which is worse than pride. Further Eliphaz says, proceeding from this revelation, builds his theory:

1“Call out if you please, but who will answer?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.