Job

Job Chapter 22

Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great

Job 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

They never seem to give up. I wonder what their motive is to continually brow beat Job in this manner. What profit is it to them? Do they really care whether or not Job acknowledges any sin they think he has and repents? Now about his words about God. I don't see God that way. I believe God grieves when we sin. It is not His will that any perish. God is longsuffering, kind and slow to bring judgment. He waited in the days of Noah a long time before bringing that flood upon the earth. God is grieved when we sin and delights to see us live right. We see that all through the bible.

Job 22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

Now this guy is really getting heavy handed with his accusations. He accuses Job of robbing his own brother, not giving the hungry or thirsty any substance, refused to help widows and denied help to orphans. This is the assumption of Eliphaz. He claims that the reason Job is suffering is because he did evil else he was be blessed not cursed.

It is true that God blesses those that trust Him but that doesn't mean the life here is a bed of roses. All the apostles of Jesus suffered heavy persection. Most of them died for their faith in Christ. There have been many to suffered for the sake of the gospel. In spite of that God does bless nations that honor and serve Him. We don't know why some are rich and some are poor in this life but we do know that this life is temporary. If we do evil and never repent, our eternity will be horrible. Now is the time to repent but to assume Job is evil because his was suffering is wrong.

Some are rich and prosper in this life that are very wicked but when they die, it is all for nothing. They can't buy their way into heaven. Their riches are gone. This has been an assumption for ages though that when bad happens it is because we've done something wrong. Sometimes that is the case because of the law of reaping what we sow but there are innocent people that suffer and we do not know why. We are to show compassion, not have a judgmental spirit toward them.

I see this on social media a lot. People will say things about people that they believe to be true and accuse them of many things but they don't always give the reason for their statements. They are only going about what they hear from the news media. They make assumptions about preachers, political opponents and others without really knowing for sure what they are saying is true. I guess at times all of us are guilty of repeating things that may not be true.

Job 22:11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

He has to be referring to the flood in Noah's day comparing the sins of Job with those that lived before the flood and were so wicked. God destroyed them all except for Noah's family. Oh my how cruel this must be to lay these words upon Job at this time.

Eliphaz was a son of Esau who was the brother of Jacob, so he would have heard of the flood from his father who was the son of Isaac, son of Abraham.

Eliphaz was from the wife of Esau who was Adah the daughter of the Hittite. So even if he is coming on strong against Job, he being a descendant of Abraham would have heard of the creation, the flood and all about God. Some of his words may be truth in part but like I've written before, it is misapplied to the wrong person.

Job 22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

He may have been right when he says that those before the flood asked God to depart from them. He may have been mocking Job though when he says God filled their houses with good because Job tried to say before that the wicked also prospers.

Job 22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Still Eliphaz continues to accuse Job of sin and tells him to repent saying good will return to him if he just would turn to God and repent.

Job 22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

He continues to tell Job things to bring about his repentance. Saying God will prosper him and whatever he asks God for, God will answer. "Just repent and pray to God Job." This would not be bad words if they were true but in Job's case as we can see in the beginning of the book of Job, God calls Job righteous when he was speaking to Satan. These three friends of Job would not have known that conversation between God and Satan but they should have known Job was not a bad person who sinned by neglecting the poor, robbing someone of their property and many other things they accused him of. They are really in error of their accusations and are not really friends, I would want. DC

Job Chapter 23