He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
He is laid low on his bed with severe pain that seizes his bones and fills his whole body, until he loathes food, wastes away with flesh consumed and bones protruding, and draws near to death and the grave. Pain is God's louder final appeal when man does not perceive His earlier speaking by word and dream and by a messenger sent to show him his error. This chastening does not come by chance but under God's knowing rule, to open dull ears, hide pride from man, and turn him from his own purposes back to the right path. It brings his life near the destroyers in order to keep him from the pit, prepare him for the interpreter who shows God's uprightness, and restore him to be enlightened with the light of the living. Such affliction is the loving discipline of a Father to His children and the trying by which he comes forth as gold for his good, not by itself proof of sin or of God's displeasure.
Context and Wording
The verse belongs to the instructive discourses of Elihu in Job 32 to 36, also reckoned as chapters 32 to 37. Those discourses are distinct from the speaking of the Lord out of the storm-cloud in chapters 38 to 41. They form the third of the four parts of the book of Job, coming after the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31 with its three circles of speeches, and before the speeches of the Lord and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17. The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book come down.
The verse portrays a sick man chastened with severe pain upon his bed, with strong pain in the multitude of his bones affecting the whole body. He loathes food and loses appetite. He becomes emaciated with flesh consumed and bones sticking out. He draws very near death and the grave.
The pain is God's louder, third and final voice, spoken though man does not perceive it. God first speaks directly by His Word and by visions and dreams to show man the error of his way. He speaks a second time through another sent to advise him to show the folly of his course, yet man does not perceive it. God does not then cast him aside but extends probation and makes a final appeal through affliction, using pain and disease as His language. Pain and illness thus serve as a louder warning when quieter warnings have gone unheard.
God's Corrective Purpose
The chastening with pain upon the bed does not come by accident or chance but under God's reign and control for correction. In such affliction the sufferer is dealing with God Himself, who acts with perfect knowledge of the person's circumstances and needs.
His object is to open ears that are dull of hearing, to withdraw man from his own proud purposes and bring him to God's purpose, and to turn him back to the path of right. This work is to hide pride from man by changing him from pride to humility, from his own purpose to God's purpose. It is the last of three distinct opportunities given to recognize the need for transformation of character, after God has spoken once to show the error of the way and a second time to show the folly of the course, yet man has not perceived it.
The chastening is sent to mold man after the divine likeness and to teach truth that was not learned in prosperity. The affliction is allowed to teach the person more truth, even more truth beyond what prosperity taught. It corrects spiritual dullness caused by fullness of bread and indulgence in dainty meat, and it turns man from physical digression that leads to spiritual ruin.
The pain takes away appetite and brings the soul near the grave and the life near the destroyers, in order to preserve man from destruction by bringing back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living. This near approach to death prepares the way for a messenger and interpreter, one among a thousand, who shows man God's uprightness and kindness in both prosperity and affliction. That ministry leads to grace and deliverance from the pit through a found ransom, followed by confession and by restoration of flesh and youth.
Doctrine and Daily Life
The sick man chastened with pain upon his bed and strong pain in his bones loathes food, loses appetite, grows emaciated with flesh consumed and bones sticking out, and draws very near to death and the grave. The nearer the man comes to death, the nearer his soul comes to the grave, and had he died his soul would have gone into the grave with him. The soul therefore can suffer and die and go down into the grave, is not kept out of the grave at death, and is not immortal.
Severe bodily pain that affects the whole body can come as chastening and as discipline rather than as punishment for sin. Such pain and sickness can be a family rod by which God chastens His children, and such suffering does not by itself prove that the sufferer is under God's displeasure, for the Lord chastens those He loves. Job was afflicted on his bed so that, after being tried, he might come forth as gold.
Sickness that weakens the flesh can help strengthen the spirit, expose the vanity of worldly desires, and draw a person aside to rely on God. It teaches that patient suffering can glorify Him as well as active service, and when borne in trust it serves the sufferer's good. Pain is God's voice working oftentimes with man to turn him from physical digression that leads to spiritual ruin and to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living, though man does not perceive that God is speaking. It is therefore not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with coal-tar products such as phenacetin and acetanilid.
He is laid low on his bed with severe pain that seizes his bones and fills his whole body, until he loathes food, wastes away with flesh consumed and bones protruding, and draws near to death and the grave. Pain is God's louder final appeal when man does not perceive His earlier speaking by word and dream and by a messenger sent to show him his error. This chastening does not come by chance but under God's knowing rule, to open dull ears, hide pride from man, and turn him from his own purposes back to the right path. It brings his life near the destroyers in order to keep him from the pit, prepare him for the interpreter who shows God's uprightness, and restore him to be enlightened with the light of the living. Such affliction is the loving discipline of a Father to His children and the trying by which he comes forth as gold for his good, not by itself proof of sin or of God's displeasure.
Context and Wording
The verse belongs to the instructive discourses of Elihu in Job 32 to 36, also reckoned as chapters 32 to 37. Those discourses are distinct from the speaking of the Lord out of the storm-cloud in chapters 38 to 41. They form the third of the four parts of the book of Job, coming after the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2 and the debate between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 to 31 with its three circles of speeches, and before the speeches of the Lord and the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17. The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and the oldest poetical book come down.
The verse portrays a sick man chastened with severe pain upon his bed, with strong pain in the multitude of his bones affecting the whole body. He loathes food and loses appetite. He becomes emaciated with flesh consumed and bones sticking out. He draws very near death and the grave.
The pain is God's louder, third and final voice, spoken though man does not perceive it. God first speaks directly by His Word and by visions and dreams to show man the error of his way. He speaks a second time through another sent to advise him to show the folly of his course, yet man does not perceive it. God does not then cast him aside but extends probation and makes a final appeal through affliction, using pain and disease as His language. Pain and illness thus serve as a louder warning when quieter warnings have gone unheard.
God's Corrective Purpose
The chastening with pain upon the bed does not come by accident or chance but under God's reign and control for correction. In such affliction the sufferer is dealing with God Himself, who acts with perfect knowledge of the person's circumstances and needs.
His object is to open ears that are dull of hearing, to withdraw man from his own proud purposes and bring him to God's purpose, and to turn him back to the path of right. This work is to hide pride from man by changing him from pride to humility, from his own purpose to God's purpose. It is the last of three distinct opportunities given to recognize the need for transformation of character, after God has spoken once to show the error of the way and a second time to show the folly of the course, yet man has not perceived it.
The chastening is sent to mold man after the divine likeness and to teach truth that was not learned in prosperity. The affliction is allowed to teach the person more truth, even more truth beyond what prosperity taught. It corrects spiritual dullness caused by fullness of bread and indulgence in dainty meat, and it turns man from physical digression that leads to spiritual ruin.
The pain takes away appetite and brings the soul near the grave and the life near the destroyers, in order to preserve man from destruction by bringing back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living. This near approach to death prepares the way for a messenger and interpreter, one among a thousand, who shows man God's uprightness and kindness in both prosperity and affliction. That ministry leads to grace and deliverance from the pit through a found ransom, followed by confession and by restoration of flesh and youth.
Doctrine and Daily Life
The sick man chastened with pain upon his bed and strong pain in his bones loathes food, loses appetite, grows emaciated with flesh consumed and bones sticking out, and draws very near to death and the grave. The nearer the man comes to death, the nearer his soul comes to the grave, and had he died his soul would have gone into the grave with him. The soul therefore can suffer and die and go down into the grave, is not kept out of the grave at death, and is not immortal.
Severe bodily pain that affects the whole body can come as chastening and as discipline rather than as punishment for sin. Such pain and sickness can be a family rod by which God chastens His children, and such suffering does not by itself prove that the sufferer is under God's displeasure, for the Lord chastens those He loves. Job was afflicted on his bed so that, after being tried, he might come forth as gold.
Sickness that weakens the flesh can help strengthen the spirit, expose the vanity of worldly desires, and draw a person aside to rely on God. It teaches that patient suffering can glorify Him as well as active service, and when borne in trust it serves the sufferer's good. Pain is God's voice working oftentimes with man to turn him from physical digression that leads to spiritual ruin and to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living, though man does not perceive that God is speaking. It is therefore not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with coal-tar products such as phenacetin and acetanilid.