Job 5:19

"He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven there shall no evil touch you" (Job 5:19 RSV).

Comment:

In the Book of Job, an ancient folktale, common to many eastern cultures, is expanded by an anonymous author into a searching debate on the relationship of God and Man, the justification for suffering and other concerns. Job 5:19 is from the discourse of Eliphaz, a friend of Job's. Job has insisted that his life is blameless, and therefore, there is no reason for his suffering. Eliphaz replies that no man is fully righteous before God, and Job should accept the dictates of a just and loving God. "Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty" (Job 5:17 RSV). In other words, the Lord may punish as necessary, but he also offers redemption. The promise of 5:19 is that the Lord will deliver Job from all his troubles if he will stop complaining and accept his suffering. Six is an incomplete number in numerology, while seven is a number of completion throughout the Bible—from the seven days of creation in Genesis all the way to the seven letters to seven churches in the Revelation to John. Eliphaz is promising there is no limit to the deliverance of the Lord, and there is no trouble that cannot be overcome. Metaphysically, we understand the Lord to be the Christ, the spiritual essence of our own being. Our human self may endure suffering as a result of negative choices, which produce negative consequences. When we choose from the Christ Mind that is our true identity, all troubles are dissolved in the Allness of the divine.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed