Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God
“Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind? Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose? But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? Do you listen in on God’s council or limit wisdom to yourself? What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father. Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen, what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers, to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them. A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him. He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword. He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack. For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, rushing headlong at Him with his thick, studded shield. Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh, he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to crumble. He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land. He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward. It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish. He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms. For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery. They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
WOW! With friends like Eliphaz, Job certainly doesn’t need any enemies! Even though Eliphaz has allegedly come to mourn with Job, it is now quite apparent that Eliphaz has had a far different agenda all this time. Eliphaz has been sitting in the background just WAITING for the chance to dump on Job, and now he’s dumping with a vengeance.
“But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.” Even though Job has continued to honor God despite his frustrations with Him, Eliphaz now accuses Job of unbelief and lies about God. It’s almost as if Elphaz hasn’t listened to a thing Job has said but has been structuring his attack all the time he has been with Job.
“What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.” Eliphaz wants to believe that he has tapped into ancient wisdom while Job has not; meanwhile, Job has worshiped God for years while Eliphaz’s knowledge is all second – hand.
“Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?” What consolations and what gentle words are we talking about? So far, Job’s friends have engaged in a lot of verbiage devoid of either consolation or gentleness. Now Eliphaz is mounting an attack that is anything but gentle.
“What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?” One might well ask, “Who is Eliphaz, that he should be pure or righteous? And then Eliphaz continues to give gory details about all the suffering of the wicked, implying that Job must be suffering because of his wickedness. But Eliphaz is very wrong. Most of us can think of prominent wicked people who appear to enjoy a luxurious life style, not the deprivation Eliphaz is describing. Again, Eliphaz appears to have been envying Job for a long time. Now that Job has lost everything, Eliphaz chooses to believe that God is punishing Job for secret sins, and frankly Eliphaz is thrilled. It’s almost as if Eliphaz is hoping that Job will suffer even more.
APPLICATION: Of all the so-called friends who have come to sympathize with Job, Eliphaz is by far the hardest – hearted. Eliphaz accuses Job of things Job never said and beliefs Job never held. Eliphaz also has a very high opinion of himself, perhaps because he is the oldest in the delegation. (Note the references to “men much older than your father.”It’s as if Eliphaz views Job as a cockroach that God is attempting to eliminate. Eliphaz believes Job to be harboring secret sins; meanwhile, Job actually has been found blameless before God and it is that purity that has attracted Satan’s attention.
Sadly, we encountered someone with an Eliphaz spirit in a church prayer ministry. We had just returned from our first mission term, a grueling two-year mission assignment. We had reservations about the project before we started, and every one of those reservations had been proven true. We had been under intense spiritual and physical attack and had received little or no encouragement from our fellow missionaries or from the group that had sent us in the first place. When we reported problems that had existed long before we arrived on the mission field, our sending agency blamed us. Now we were in a large church with a prayer ministry, hoping for some comfort and relief. Imagine our despair when the leader of the prayer ministry immediately informed us that we should take full responsibility for everything that had gone wrong.
We were devastated! This woman failed to get any details from us before reaching this conclusion and we could only assume that she was angry that the project hadn’t turned out to be a text book success. There might also have been another thing in play as well. Since our first term, we have encountered a number of people within the Christian community who have probably been called to do something and who have refused that call. Such people are incredibly resentful of those of us who have answered the calling God has placed on our lives. Such people rejoice when they see a missionary suffer because that validates their refusal to respond to God.
We learned two things from this disaster: never trust someone who has not been a full – time missionary for several years to understand problems on a mission field. Short – term missionaries may easily come back with their rose – colored glasses firmly in place. The second thing we learned was to thoroughly investigate any group offering counseling before trusting ourselves to that group. Blessedly, we later counseled with Rick Fowler at Minrith Meier Clinic in Dallas. Rick succeeded in undoing much of the damage the first group had done, but he had a difficult time. (Rick grew up on a mission field.) The time spent in Dallas was helpful for a number of reasons and eventually led to a great deal of healing.
What can those of us who counsel the grieving learn from Eliphaz? Try as much as possible to really listen to someone, rather than simply biding your time until you can jump in with your pre-conceived notions. And above all, be genuinely kind. Don’t blather on about gentleness while you are lacerating someone’s feelings. God hates liars.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be sensitive to the hurting so that we bring healing and not more damage. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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