Job 5:4

4 His children [ben] are far [rachaq] from safety [yesha`], and they are crushed [daka'] in the gate [sha`ar], neither is there any to deliver [natsal] them. KJV-Interlinear

4 'His sons are far from safety, They are even oppressed in the gate, Neither is there a deliverer. NASB

Eliphaz has been around a long time. We assume that he is similar in age to Job, and we have presumed that Job, given that he had ten children, is near the age of a hundred years, give or take.

When folks back in those first generations following the flood, lived into their several hundreds of years, then they will see a lot of life's examples of human interaction. Living long lives allowed for the migration of populations out of Mesopotamia to the Far East, to the South, to the North and West. Long lives would also help populations separated by geography, to keep in touch to some extent, by means of trading routes.

If you know anything about archeology, recent satellite imagery has discovered ancient trade routes long since covered by the blowing sands of time, and stretching across the Middle East into and across India.

Anyway, Eliphaz has some years on him. He has a good deal of learning by means of life's examples which he had seen personally or heard from travelers. And he applies that learning in his speech to Job.

One thing that Eliphaz does wrong, is in his interpretation of Biblical principles in his matching them up with life's examples. And that is something that you will discover in life. People will take Biblical principles and life's examples and force them into a match.

In our passage, Eliphaz states three principles. First, that the children of the sinner, are made to pay the price for the sinner parents' sins, second, which we will cover in tomorrows study, that the poor of the land will take from the sinners' wealth because of the sinner's greed, and third, that robbers will take from the sinners' wealth, because of the sinners' oppression.

In other words, for the rich man, if he is a sinner, then it is he who is responsible for the suffering or actions of others. It is his sins which cause others to be as they are.

This kind of thinking runs contrary to the principle of self-responsibility and self-accountability for the thoughts, motives, and actions of the individual.

Eliphaz is speaking to Job. Job was wealthy. Job is now under some serious suffering. Job lost his children to a storm, and his wealth to thieves.

Eliphaz states flat out, that a sinners burdens will be visited on his children in the gates of the city. The gates of the city is where much of the political and legal activities of the ancient world, were held. Therefore, Eliphaz implies that the burdens of the sinner will result in judicial actions against even his children. The source of all judicial actions in the spiritual realm, is God.

Once legal action has been initiated against the sinner, then the beasts of the jungle of this world will begin their picking apart of the sinners estate. Like scavengers, the world then attacks ruthlessly and removes the sinners wealth, right down to the last penny. Con artists move in, lawsuits are initiated, the door is opened to all sorts of chicanery.

With all of this happening to the sinner, with the world and God being against him, then that leaves no one to help. The sinner is on his own.

In one respect, Eliphaz is right. A sinner, anyone who ignores his spiritual life, is on his own. God will not support a sinner, and the world will not support a sinner. Choose a life apart from God and a legitimate spiritual life, and you are indeed on your own.

However, the actions of the sinner, do not necessarily have an impact on others.

In this case, Job's children.

Recall that the children had parties on a regular basis. And who was it that held the necessary confession offerings? Job.

Job held the offerings in behalf of his children.

Who is responsible for making confessions? Each individual believer. So the children should have taken it upon themselves to make their own offerings, but they did not. Job did.

Job was more concerned for the well being of his kids, than they were for themselves.

The children all died, and why? Because God took their lives. And why? Because in each of their individual situations, for whatever reason, God had decided that their time on this earth, was now up.

Job was described as 'blameless and just.' Hardly the basis for causing the death of his children.

God took the lives of the children because of the nature of each of their lives, not Job's.

Each individual stands on his own, when it comes to the spiritual life. Each individual makes their own decisions from within their own soul as to what they believe or do not believe. Each person is responsible for and is held accountable for their own thoughts and actions in life.

You are not punished for my sins and I am not punished for yours. Of course, if we are both on the same airplane and a terrorist blows it up, are we punished for his sins? No. The terrorist is simply the means of the termination our life in this world.

When God decides to take you out of this world, He can use food for you to choke on, or something more dramatic. Your life is between you and God, and no one else.

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