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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 4
Eliphaz reproves Job, asking such questions as: Are the righteous cut off? and, Shall a man be
more pure than his maker?
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1 THEN aEliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Behold, thou hast instructed
manya, and thou hast strengthened the weak
hands.
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
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3a thou hast instructed many Job appears
to have been a leader and instructor of his people, a pillar of the community in the
Lord. But Job's 'friend' considers that Job has now 'stepped down' from that position
because of his aflicted condition, which he considers Job to be suffering due to some
inperfection, some transgression of God's commandments. The mentality is cause and effect,
that is if Job is suffering, he has caused it to come upon himself. 'Bad things just do
not happen to 'good' people is the manner of thought being imployed.
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1a
Job 2:11;
D&C 121:10 (7-11)
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5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Is not this thy fear, thy
aconfidence, thy hope, and the buprightness of thy
ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being
ainnocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and
asow wickedness, reap the same.
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6a
Prov. 3:26
b
Job 1:1
7a
1 Cor. 10:13;
1 Ne. 22:19
Alma 14:11
8a
TG
Harvest
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9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and
the ateeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
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10a
Ps. 58:6
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12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
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15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an
image was before mine eyes, there was asilence, and I
heard a bvoice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more ajust than God?
shall a man be more pure than his maker?
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16a
Hel. 5:30-31;
D&C 85:6-7
b
1 Kings 19:12 (11-13)
17a
TG
Justice
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18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of
aclaya, whose foundation
is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
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19a them that dwell in houses of clay
Here it speaks of man, or the spirit and intelligence of man that dwells in that which
is but the physical elements of the earth. It is this natural creature of dust and dirt
that we are to learn to subject to the spirit and our intelligence. The sin is when the
creature and its creature desires and wants govern the mind and spirit of man. This God
does not trust in. We are to learn to 'service' and maintain this tabernacle of clay,
but we are not to serve it after the lust and desires of the flesh. We are to control it
as a means to an end of righteousness and not as an end in itself unto sin and wickedness.
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19a
TG
Man, Physical Creation of
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