Esther 4
Job 4 is the chapter in which Job’s friend Eliphaz begins speaking for the first time. After seeing Job’s great suffering, Eliphaz feels sorrow and carefully conveys his thoughts. He asks Job why, in the face of his own suffering, he has become discouraged, even though he has been the one who comforted others until now, and he shares his insights about the suffering of life and human weakness.
1verseNow when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly.
2verseHe came even before the king’s gate, for no one is allowed inside the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
3verseIn every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4verseEsther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth, but he didn’t receive it.
5verseThen Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.
6verseSo Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the city square which was before the king’s gate.
7verseMordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
8verseHe also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Susa to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king to make supplication to him, and to make request before him for her people.
9verseHathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
10verseThen Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai:
11verse“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
12verseThey told Esther’s words to Mordecai.
13verseThen Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews.
14verseFor if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
15verseThen Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,
16verse“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
17verseSo Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
The Structure of Eliphaz’s First Statement
- Verses 1–6: Eliphaz cautiously speaks to Job and mentions that Job has usually comforted many people. However, he points out that since it is now he himself who is going through suffering, he has been overwhelmed by fear and confusion.
- Verses 7–11: He reflects on why calamity has come, saying, “No innocent person has ever perished.” Eliphaz seeks to find the cause of suffering in human wrongdoing.
- Verses 12–21: Through visions and spiritual experiences heard during the night, he says that a person can never be righteous or clean before God. He emphasizes that all humans are weak and the need for humility that follows from that.
Key Message of Job Chapter 4
This chapter reveals the universal human tendency to look for the cause of suffering in human imperfection. Eliphaz recognizes the weakness of people standing before God and suggests that they examine themselves. At the same time, however, he also sees the limitation of not fully understanding the nature of suffering or Job’s situation.
Points to Ponder
- How does my attitude differ when I comfort others versus when I myself suffer?
- When I see someone else’s suffering, can I reflect on whether I’m judging the cause too easily or making assumptions?
- Reflect on the weakness of humanity before God and the place of humility.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- Instead of easily concluding reasons for someone else’s pain, I should approach them with careful and humble care.
- Among the hardships of my life, think about what kind of attitude is needed to maintain trust and resolve toward God.
- Acknowledge that I, too, am a weak person, and practice living each day humbly.
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