Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
The promise stands among Eliphaz's assurances to the man whom God corrects, belonging to the wider pledges of deliverance and care in Job 5:17-24. It is to be hid from the scourge of the tongue, that is to be protected from slander and slanderous speech and verbal reproach, and to be without fear of destruction when it comes amid danger and distress.
What was spoken was generally true but misapplied in Job's case, for the friends' statements were often true in principle yet wrongly turned against him. The promise expresses God's wonderful ultimate care for His own, most blessed and precious, and it has been proved true many times by God's people in the past, for God gives His chosen people extraordinary help in extraordinary times. Adversity and suffering do not prove a man is under God's displeasure, for whom the Lord loves He chastens for his good, and the promises do not mean that every sufferer will be spared calamity.
Verbal reproach as the scourge of the tongue is a comparatively small trial beside imprisonment and other persecution. In suffering for Jesus, Christ can stand by His people and strengthen them.
The promise stands among Eliphaz's assurances to the man whom God corrects, belonging to the wider pledges of deliverance and care in Job 5:17-24. It is to be hid from the scourge of the tongue, that is to be protected from slander and slanderous speech and verbal reproach, and to be without fear of destruction when it comes amid danger and distress.
What was spoken was generally true but misapplied in Job's case, for the friends' statements were often true in principle yet wrongly turned against him. The promise expresses God's wonderful ultimate care for His own, most blessed and precious, and it has been proved true many times by God's people in the past, for God gives His chosen people extraordinary help in extraordinary times. Adversity and suffering do not prove a man is under God's displeasure, for whom the Lord loves He chastens for his good, and the promises do not mean that every sufferer will be spared calamity.
Verbal reproach as the scourge of the tongue is a comparatively small trial beside imprisonment and other persecution. In suffering for Jesus, Christ can stand by His people and strengthen them.