Job 22 Eliphaz’s Third Response to Job
“Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: “Can a person do anything to help God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him? Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?”
In every group, there’s always one person who has no idea when to quit and who keeps trying to make his point from different directions. Eliphaz is already frustrated with Job because Job has refused to agree with Eliphaz that he is a horrible sinner who deserves all the suffering he is enduring. So now, Eliphaz approaches Job from a different direction: Does human righteousness, i.e., Job’s righteousness, help God or give God any gain? Obviously, Eliphaz is still trying to bring Job down, but he’s simply opening up a new angle of attack. Eliphaz is literally hell-bent on proving that Job is really a worthless human being, but why? Allegedly, Eliphaz is one of Job’s friends; however, no true friend would behave like this.
“Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you? No, it’s because of your wickedness! There’s no limit to your sins.” Say what??? Where is Eliphaz getting his information, or are these accusations merely the product of an over-active imagination? Skilled pathologic liars don’t need truth; they can fabricate all kinds of slanderous accusations with no basis in truth whatsoever. Now Eliphaz opens up with broadside bombardment.
“For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone. You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry. You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it! You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans. That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears. That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you.”
These accusations are patently ridiculous! Obviously, Eliphaz has grandly proceeded into Job’s community and has immediately begun jumping to conclusions without asking local citizens for information. In previous chapters, Job has mentioned his long history of charitable works, but Eliphaz has been so occupied with dreaming up slander that he hasn’t paid any attention. Certainly, it shouldn’t take much effort to verify Job’s reputation. There are no secrets in a small town.
“God is so great—higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars. But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness? For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’ “Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked? They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away. For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’ Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.”
Ho hum! Eliphaz is back to the same accusations he has made before. Lying statements that are cloaked with fatuous statements about God remain lies, no matter how they are disguised. Poor Job! At least Job can scrape at his sores with pottery shards and get some relief; however, getting rid of Eliphaz is a much bigger challenge.
“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in contempt. They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’ At this point, Job is likely tempted to reply, “So what!” Having expended huge amounts of energy and verbiage on trying to break Job’s spirit, now Eliphaz is trying to claim moral high ground he never occupied in the first place.
“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—so clean up your life. If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river, the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!” Oh heavens! Now Eliphaz is accusing Job of not submitting to God, not listening to His instructions, and living a sinful life. Not content with those accusations, Eliphaz also claims Job has lusted for money and still has great wealth despite all his losses. Which parallel universe has Eliphaz been inhabiting? Job has lost everything, including his family. Job WANTS God to be his treasure; however, Job isn’t so sure God still agrees.
“Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you. If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them. Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”
Eliphaz stands there, healthy, whole, and presumably wealthy; after all, he has sufficient resources to travel to visit Job. Clearly, Eliphaz either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care about the destructive force of his criticisms on Job. Prior to all the disasters that have stripped Job of possessions and family, Job was taking delight in the Almighty and looking up to Him. Job was praying constantly for those around him and was helping them.
As I am writing these studies, tributes are pouring on Facebook for the victims of the July 4th Guadeloupe River floods. At the same time, there are also critics accusing these innocent people for not having built their cabins further away from the river or not having done something else that would have saved them. The spirit of Eliphaz is alive and well and active on Facebook!
The flooding in Texas took place due to unprecedented amounts of rainfall in a very short time, something over which nobody, apart from God, had control. One haunting video shot from a bridge shows the beginning of the flood with the Guadeloupe River meandering around several islands full of trees. The water level is at least 50 meters below the bridge. Forty-five minutes later, those islands are covered, many of the trees are being washed away, and the water level has nearly reached the bridge floor. Emergency service personnel who have lived along that river their whole lives have stated that they could never have imagined flooding of this magnitude. Even a month later, there are still a few people unaccounted for.
When the floods hit, they washed away those who believed in God and served Him faithfully along with those who did not. Water doesn’t care. Now survivors continue to deal with the wreckage and try to rebuild in better locations if possible.
Reading the criticisms of Eliphaz and his colleagues, I find myself wishing I could just drop large rocks on all their heads! Then I realize that not only did God allow Satan to strip Job of his belongings, his family, and his health, but Satan also used Job’s alleged friends to further torment him. Too bad Job can’t scrape Eliphaz and company away with a broken piece of pottery!
Throughout all the religious malarkey from supposed friends and throughout all the other losses, Job remains steadfast. We can learn a great deal from Job, for he actually gives these men a fair hearing, even though they are doing nothing but tearing him down. Many of us wouldn’t be nearly as patient but would simply dismiss such people. “There’s the door and don’t let it hit you on the way out!” But there’s also another aspect to the situation.
How many of us are guilty of behaving like Job’s friends? How many times have we pontificated, lectured, advised, and even brow-beat close friends who have deserved nothing but love and compassion? It’s easy to hate Eliphaz and his cohorts, but how many times have we done something similar? Lacking any experience of suffering, we have blithely forced our way into situations we have not understood, offering advice that nobody wants. God never forces Himself upon people; however, people readily try to forced their judgments and opinions on others. I can think of several instances in my own life where I should have remained silent and I didn’t. In some cases, my ham-handed attempts at giving advice have accomplished nothing apart from permanently destroying relationships. May God help us, so that we remain kind, compassionate, loving, and-when necessary-silent!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to listen four times as much as we speak and to remember that people need our compassion far more than they do worthless advice. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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