FRAMEWORKS:
Job 22: Eliphaz (3:3): Accusations & Challenges
[Preliminary
Comments: This is Eliphaz's final speech. He maintains
that God is impartial [v.1-3] and as God is obviously dealing
with Job that must be a sign of his great wickedness [v.4,5].
He accuses Job [possibly unjustly] of a variety of sins in his
old life [v.6-9] and says this is why he is feeling as he does
[v.10-14]. He challenges Job to learn from the past [v.15-20]
and lays down a prolonged suggestion that repentance is the path
back to restoration [v.21-30]. Again it is based on the erroneous
assumption that Job is a guilty sinner and yet the early chapters
– and last ones – challenge that assumption. His accusations of
Job appear unwarranted and unkind.]
v.1
Eliphaz asks what benefit God gets from Job being righteous?
v.1
Then
Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
v.2
“Can
a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?
v.3
What
pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What
would he gain if your ways were blameless?
v.4,5
The fact that God seems to be rebuking him infers Job is wicked
v.4
“Is
it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against
you?
v.5
Is
not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?
v.6-9
He accuses Job of a variety of sins
v.6
You
demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped
people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
v.7
You
gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,
v.8
though
you were a powerful man, owning land— an honoured man, living
on it.
v.9
And
you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the
fatherless.
v.10-14
This is why, he says, God is dealing with you
v.10
That
is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,
v.11
why
it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers
you.
v.12
“Is
not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest
stars!
v.13
Yet
you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
v.14
Thick
clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the
vaulted heavens.'
v.15-20
Learn from the wicked in the past who felt secure but God took
v.15
Will
you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?
v.16
They
were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away
by a flood.
v.17
They
said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?'
v.18
Yet
it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand
aloof from the plans of the wicked.
v.19
The
righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them,
saying,
v.20
‘Surely
our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.'
v.21-30
Repentance is the path to recovery where God can use you again
v.21
“Submit
to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come
to you.
v.22
Accept
instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.
v.23
If
you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove
wickedness far from your tent
v.24
and
assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks
in the ravines,
v.25
then
the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
v.26
Surely
then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your
face to God.
v.27
You
will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfil your
vows.
v.28
What
you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
v.29
When
people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!' then he will
save the downcast.
v.30
He
will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered
through the cleanness of your hands.”
[Concluding
Comments: Yet another demonstration of how the apparently
righteous can misjudge a person and a situation!]
So
to summarize, what
Has Eliphaz been saying?
He
•
asks how God benefits
by Job being declared righteous [v.1-3]
•
says his plight
seems to indicate his guilt [v.4,5],
•
he accuses him
of a variety of sins [v.6-9],
•
and concludes
with is why God is dealing with him like this [v.10-14],
•
says Job should
learn these things from the past [v.15-20],
•
says repentance
is surely the path to recovery [v.21-30].
As
said above, some good principles but being unable to be applied
to Job means a wrong assessment.]