He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.
Near the end of his first speech, Eliphaz turns from rebuke to promise: God rescues His people from trouble after trouble. But Job's children are dead and his body is covered in sores — so can true words still be the wrong thing to say?
Eliphaz's Counsel
One commentator sums up where Eliphaz's appeal finally lands:
William KellyIn the end Eliphaz urges Job to submit to the correcting hand of God, who would surely deliver him from all evil and bless him with all good. And he says this not only in his own name, but in his friends' name too, counting confidently on their full agreement.
True Words, Wrong Target
Nothing Eliphaz says here is untrue about God. The problem is what he assumes underneath it:
William KellyEvery word may be true in itself. He says it all with great dignity and force. Yet he misapplies it, and it is one-sided, so in effect the whole thing is wrong. Eliphaz assumes that God is right now displaying His rule, measuring prosperity or hardship exactly by what people deserve. This is false ground, and it spoils the way he applies his words, especially to someone like Job.
The same words could have helped Job. What ruined them was the blame carried with them:
Leslie M. GrantEliphaz could tell him, "Therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty, for He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you." If Eliphaz had said this to Job in a kind and encouraging way, it might have helped him. But he was blaming Job for not gaining that blessing by admitting he was guilty of secret sin.
One Hand For Both
The promise of rescue follows straight after the picture of a God who wounds:
Samuel RidoutSo the relief also comes from the same blessed source: "His hands heal." How good it is to know that all the trial and the relief comes from Him.
The counting — six, then seven — points to trouble that keeps returning, not one crisis. Repeated blows call for neither contempt nor collapse:
Samuel RidoutHappy indeed is the one who receives correction from the loving hands of God. We are neither to despise it nor to lose heart under such dealings. However great or often repeated the afflictions are, deliverance will come in due time.
The Troubles Named
Eliphaz does not leave the number vague. He names the troubles, from public disaster down to the private wound Job was feeling at that moment:
Samuel RidoutEliphaz mentions the worst outward trials, famine and war, even to the point of destruction. He also mentions the inner, bitter pains Job was suffering at that very moment, caused by the biting tongue. No harmful animal can injure him, for when someone is right with God, He makes all things his friends… We can carry the view further, in the clearer light of the New Testament, and ask: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?"
The Outcome Eliphaz Never Expected
The strangest thing about this promise is that it came true. It did not come true on Eliphaz's terms, or because Job took his advice:
William KellyAnd the remarkable thing is that this was how it ended. Little did Eliphaz think that his words would come true in Job's case. It was more of a general sermon. He called on Job to apply it, but he had no idea that God would apply it, and that God would bring Job out more blessed than ever.
Summary
- One hand — the hand that wounds is the hand that heals. Trial and relief come from the same source.
- Six, then seven — the count says the troubles keep coming. No number of repeated blows uses up God's deliverance.
- Named, not vague — Eliphaz names them: famine, war, the biting tongue, wild animals. The promise covers public disaster and private pain alike.
- True but misaimed — Eliphaz assumes God measures prosperity and hardship by what people deserve. That false ground turns a true promise into an accusation.
- The end proved it — God, not Eliphaz's advice, brought Job out more blessed than before. Eliphaz never expected his own words to come true.