(Job 22:1-11)
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: “Can a man be profitable to God, Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless? “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you, And enters into judgment with you? Is not your wickedness great, And your iniquity without end? For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, And stripped the naked of their clothing. You have not given the weary water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry. But the mighty man possessed the land, And the honorable man dwelt in it. You have sent widows away empty, And the strength of the fatherless was crushed. Therefore snares are all around you, And sudden fear troubles you, Or darkness so that you cannot see; And an abundance of water covers you.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.1,Job.22.2,Job.22.3,Job.22.4,Job.22.5,Job.22.6,Job.22.7,Job.22.8,Job.22.9,Job.22.10,Job.22.11&version=NKJV
There is so much in the above passage, from Eliphaz’s accusations that I’m finding makes great sense to me. Not that I agree with them (I don’t), but rather I’ve experienced individuals where it seems that they may agree with thoughts similar to what Eliphaz expressed above, and as a result I have struggled with said persons. I don’t want to go into any further detail about the folks in my life where I experience this, but rather go line-by-line into what Eliphaz said to Job in Job 22:1-11 and counter his false accusations with what I know to be true about God and me:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: “Can a man be profitable to God, Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.1,Job.22.2&version=NKJV
Eliphaz may actually have a point. In short, this is what makes this so, so frustrating for me. Someone who I experience as a Pharisee is often technically correct in what they say, at least some of the time. But the thing about Pharisees is that even when they are technically correct in what they say, they often are wrong in their hearts when they say it. My study of the book of Job over the years has shown me that Eliphaz, along with his other two friends, are all wrongly motivated in trying to correct Job. Eliphaz opens up with a fair question for Job to consider. However, the next verse immediately shows the motivation of his heart, which I will display below.
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.3&version=NKJV
Um, the answer is “yes” to both of Eliphaz’s questions.
“Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you, And enters into judgment with you?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.4&version=NKJV
Eliphaz wrongly assumes that God is correcting job, when he hasn’t even checked the facts about what is going on. At this point, no one on earth except God and Satan knows what is going on or why all the sufferings come to Job. One of humanity’s most common missteps is that we tend to make assumptions about what is going on so as to fill the gaps in our mind. In my opinion, this is because, in our sinful nature, not knowing what’s going on makes us feel weak and vulnerable, which tends to be very uncomfortable for us. Moreover, also in our sinful nature, instead of being willing to trust God in our discomfort, our inclination is to find a way to identify what we think is the problem and come up with our own solutions.
As a result, we have record of Eliphaz’s idiocy, because he is trying to convince Job that God is correcting him because he fears Him. No, that is not God’s nature. God corrects His children because He loves them and wants to root out their sinful behavior and conform them to His good and perfect will. And as it is written:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Prov.9.10&version=NKJV
As such, the fear — and reverence — of the Lord is a good thing. God wants this. It would be contrary to His nature to correct us for fearing Him. Therefore, Eliphaz is wrong.
Is not your wickedness great, And your iniquity without end?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.5&version=NKJV
First off, we have no proof of this. Second, yes, Job is a sinner like the rest of us, but thanks to God’s Word we have the privilege of knowing why Job has been undergoing these trials. Again, Eliphaz simply assumes that Job did something wrong, or perhaps, has done many things wrong. But this is where someone who claims to “mean well“ and/or have “good intentions“ not only falls into sin, but also does everything in their power to drag the person they’re trying to “help“ down with them. Jesus addresses this:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.23.15&version=NKJV
Let us continue with Eliphaz’s soliloquy:
For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, And stripped the naked of their clothing.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.6&version=NKJV
Eliphaz, how do you know that this is true? It sounds like an empty accusation to me.
You have not given the weary water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.7&version=NKJV
Ditto.
But the mighty man possessed the land, And the honorable man dwelt in it.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.8&version=NKJV
Ditto.
You have sent widows away empty, And the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.9&version=NKJV
Ditto.
Therefore snares are all around you, And sudden fear troubles you, Or darkness so that you cannot see; And an abundance of water covers you.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.22.10,Job.22.11&version=NKJV
So, Eliphaz, Job basically “got what he deserved”, huh? No, you are just spouting nonsense because you like to hear yourself talk.
But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.23.5,Matt.23.6,Matt.23.7&version=NKJV
I have nothing of substance to add. Jesus made the above very clear. Eliphaz continues, of course, but I have no desire to continue picking apart every verse that he spoke to Job.
Jesus continues in his response to the Pharisees:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.23.25,Matt.23.26,Matt.23.27,Matt.23.28&version=NKJV
And what I find to be His defining point to them:
“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.23.31,Matt.23.32,Matt.23.33&version=NKJV
Even so, after God chastised Job and Job repented, God spoke this to Eliphaz afterward:
And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job.42.7,Job.42.8&version=NKJV
This is the power of spending time in God’s word: I began this post by stating my disinterest in reading through the book of Job this time around. But I am finding that more and more that when I do, God does unlock something else that I likely would not have otherwise considered.
I therefore close this post by stating that I am glad for the privilege of getting to read through the book of Job, including the uncomfortable parts. I teared up reading through the last Bible passage I quoted, particularly the line: “My wrath is aroused against you [Eliphaz] and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” God used this—and everything that I’ve been reading—to minister to the remaining pain and anger I realize I still hold regarding people that I experience as arrogant with Pharisaic spirits in them. The pain is due to the fact that their arguments often contain just enough truth to make me second-guess myself and whatever position that I was holding. The anger is due to the arrogance and selfishness I often have experienced them exuding even as they preach their “just barely true enough” statements. But God‘s presence trumps all. After all, unlike the Pharisees or Pharisaic-like individuals (including Eliphaz), God can back up any argument He makes. He created the universe. He (through Jesus) let Himself be subject to torture, humiliation, crucifixion, abandonment, and death, only to endure and win against all these things, and more.
If I can be proven wrong on my feelings about the book of Job, then it means I can always learn and gain something each time I read the Bible, even when I think I’ve gleaned all that I can glean. Praise God for that!