4.s. For affliction does not come from the earth

Job 5:1  “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple. I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling. His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them. The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

Isaiah 45:7   I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Lamentations 3:38    Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?

Matthew Henry;  Eliphaz here calls upon Job to answer his arguments. Were any of the saints or servants of God visited with such Divine judgments as Job, or did they ever behave like him under their sufferings? The term, saints, holy, or more strictly, consecrated ones, seems in all ages to have been applied to the people of God, through the Sacrifice slain in the covenant of their reconciliation. Eliphaz doubts not that the sin of sinners directly tends to their ruin. They kill themselves by some lust or other; therefore, no doubt, Job has done some foolish thing, by which he has brought himself into this condition. The allusion was plain to Job’s former prosperity, but there was no evidence of Job’s wickedness, and the application to him was unfair and severe.

Reap what you sow

“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him”

Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
You have plowed iniquity;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your own way
and in the multitude of your warriors,

Isaiah 45:6
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
“Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the Lord have created it.
“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,

Galatians 6:8
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Sowing to please our own flesh, striving with Him who formed us, and trusting in our own way all end up at the same place.  Do we really want to reap corruption, discipline and or punishment from God, or have no righteousness raining down on our lives?  Just because we are living in a time of  blessing and, for the most part, abundance does not mean we are living our lives to humbly serve, honor and glorify God.  It seems like we want benefits without any commitment.  How would a father feel if for some reason he had to be gone for an extended period of time and left instructions for his children to follow and the children chose to stop reading his instruction or remember to follow them?  How would the father feel if after he sent multiple people to speak to them of his desire for them to have fulfilling lives and they neglect and disregard what is being told to them?  How would the father feel if he reached out hundreds of times to his children and they turned a deaf ear to what he was trying to tell and show them?  What would you think of these children who treated their father with little to no respect?  Like me,  I am sure you think these children are very disrespectful and deserve what is coming to them.   We can always find reason for not to spending time reading God’s word for the purpose of knowing and understanding Him.  Choose this day whom you will serve.