Job 5:9

5:6-16 Eliphaz reminds Job, that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be placed to second causes. The difference between prosperity and adversity is not so exactly observed, as that between day and night, summer and winter; but it is according to the will and counsel of God. We must not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they are from God; nor our sins to fate, for they are from ourselves. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. There is nothing in this world we are born to, and can truly call our own, but sin and trouble. Actual transgressions are sparks that fly out of the furnace of original corruption. Such is the frailty of our bodies, and the vanity of all our enjoyments, that our troubles arise thence as the sparks fly upward; so many are they, and so fast does one follow another. Eliphaz reproves Job for not seeking God, instead of quarrelling with him. Is any afflicted? let him pray. It is heart's ease, a salve for every sore. Eliphaz speaks of rain, which we are apt to look upon as a little thing; but if we consider how it is produced, and what is produced by it, we shall see it to be a great work of power and goodness. Too often the great Author of all our comforts, and the manner in which they are conveyed to us, are not noticed, because they are received as things of course.

In the ways of Providence, the experiences of some are encouragements to others, to hope the best in the worst of times; for it is the glory of God to send help to the helpless, and hope to the hopeless. And daring sinners are confounded, and forced to acknowledge the justice of God's proceedings.

Job 5:9 . Which doth great things and unsearchable — Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection of God’s nature and works; which he does as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God, Job 5:8 , because God was infinitely able either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him, or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him: and that, by a representation of God’s excellence and glory, and of that vast disproportion which was between God and Job, he might convince Job of his great sin in speaking so boldly and irreverently of him. Marvellous things — Which (though common, and therefore neglected and despised, yet) are matter of wonder to the wisest men. The works of nature are mysteries: the most curious searches come far short of full discoveries; and the works of Providence are still more deep and unaccountable.

9 . This description of God as great in power and wonderful in working supports the implied exhortation in Job 5:8 . Eliphaz in Job’s place would commit his cause, or exactly as we say colloquially, his case , unto God, for He, being great and wonderful in His ways, is capable of dealing with it, perplexed and mysterious though it be. A touch of humanity seems here almost to get the better of the moral and religious severity of Eliphaz.

Verse 9. - Which doeth great things and unsearchable . These are reasons why Job should "seek unto God." "Great things are those which he has done." There is none like unto him. His ways are "unsearchable;" no one may think fully to search them and seek them out (comp. Job 9:10 ; Job 37:5 ; Psalm 145:3 : Romans 11:33 ). It may be that, if Job will appeal to him, a result will follow that at present seems impossible. For he doeth marvellous things without number (comp. Psalm 40:5 ; Psalm 72:18 ; Psalm 77:14 ; Psalm 136:4 ). Eliphaz proceeds to mention some of them. Job 5:9

Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection and greatness of God’s nature and works; which he doth partly as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God , Job 5:8 , because God was infinitely able, either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him, or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him; and partly that by a true representation of God’s excellency and glory, and of that vast disproportion which was between God and Job, he might both convince Job of his great sin in speaking so boldly and irreverently of him, and prevent his relapse into the same miscarriage. Unsearchable; either such things as we may not boldly and curiously search into, Deu 29:29 Romans 11:33 Colossians 2:18 ; or such as by searching we cannot find out, Job 11:7 ; such as we cannot thoroughly understand, either the works themselves, or God’s way and manner of doing them, or God’s designs or ends in doing them. And therefore, O Job, thou art guilty of great impiety and folly to censure the ways and works of God as unreasonable, Job 3:11,20 , because thou dost not fully understand the nature and use of them. Marvellous things; which (though common, as the following works are, and therefore neglected and despised, yet) are just matter of wonder even to the wisest men.

Which doeth great things - The object of this is, to show why Job should commit his cause to God. The reason suggested is, that he had showed himself qualified to govern the world by the great and wonderful acts which he performed. Eliphaz, therefore, proceeds to expatiate on what God had done, and thus states the ancient belief in regard to his sovereignty over the world. This strain of reasoning continues to the end of the chapter. There is great beauty and force in it; and though we have, through the revelations of the New Testament, some more enlarged views of the government of God and of the design of affliction, yet perhaps there can be found nowhere a more beautiful argument to lead people to put confidence in God. The reason here stated is, that God does "great things," and, therefore, we should commit ourselves to him. His works are vast and boundless; they are such as to impress the mind with a sense of his own immensity; and in such a being we should confide rather than in a feeble creature's arm. Who, when he contemplates the vast universe which God has made, and surveys the starry world under the light of the modern astronomy, can doubt that God does "great things," and that the interests which we commit to him are safe?

And unsearchable - Margin, "There is no search." Septuagint ἀνεξιχνίαστα anecichniasta) - "whose footsteps cannot be traced." The Hebrew word חקר chêqer means searching out or examining; and the idea is here, that it is impossible fully to search out and comprehend what God does. See Job 11:7. This is stated as a reason why we should look to him. We should expect things in his administration which we cannot understand. The argument of Eliphaz seems to be, that it was a matter of indisputable fact that there are many things in the government of God which are above our comprehension; and when he afflicts us, we should feel that this is a part of the doings of the incomprehensible God. Such mysterious dealings are to be expected, and they should not be allowed for a moment to shake our confidence in him. Marvellous things - Things that are wonderful, and are fitted to excite amazement. See the notes at Isaiah 9:6. Without number - Margin, "Until there be no number." The sense is, that it is impossible to estimate the number of those things in the universe over which he presides which are adapted to excite admiration. If the view of the universe entertained in the time of Eliphaz was fitted to overwhelm the mind by its vastness and by the number of the objects which were created, this astonishment is much greater now that the telescope has disclosed the wonders of the heavens above to man, and the microscope the not less amazing wonders of the world beneath him.