Job 23 Job’s Eighth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
Job 23:1-6 “Then Job spoke again: “My complaint today is still a bitter one, and I try hard not to groan aloud. If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court. I would lay out my case and present my arguments. Then I would listen to his reply and understand what he says to me. Would he use his great power to argue with me? No, he would give me a fair hearing.”
Eliphaz and his colleagues continue to orate at Job, mouthing meaningless platitudes about a God whom they don’t know. But Job knows God, has known Him for years, and has prayed continually. What’s frustrating Job is that suddenly there seems to be a big disconnect between God and him. Whereas in the past, Job could speak to God and God would place His answers in Job’s heart and mind, now God isn’t saying anything. Job is frustrated and afraid. Has Job really done something to offend God so seriously that God will never speak to him again?
23:7-9 “Honest people can reason with him, so I would be forever acquitted by my judge. I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed.” While Job knows he is a sinful man, he remains certain that God is a reasonable Being who does not judge unjustly. This affirmation is one of the things that sets Job apart from his self-styled comforters. Job knows God and these others do not.
Job 23:10-13 “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.” But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does.”
Despite all Job’s suffering and losses, he continues to have faith that God knows everything about him and that he will pass God’s tests because he has remained on God’s paths. At the same time, Job humbly realizes that God is sovereign and can do anything he wants. Many times, when facing tragedies, we fail to remember what Job has so eloquently expressed. And we don’t know the end from the beginning.
July 2025 marked the 70th anniversary of a tragedy: my beloved father had gone to a neighboring town to collect parts to repair his combine when he was struck and nearly killed by a drunk driver. Dad’s life hung in the balance, and he even had a near death experience in which he stood at the edge of heaven and saw his grandparents and great-grandparents and others who had gone before him. Dad recovered from that accident to live another 56 years; however, it was only quite recently that I belatedly recognized one of the many benefits of that accident.
Dad suffered from chronic depression at a time when such things carried enormous social stigma. At that point, the only treatment for depression was shock therapy. One of the things about which Dad repeatedly remarked was that he had no idea how many people in our small community loved him. The evidence of that love was plastered on Dad’s hospital wall, for his hospital room was completely papered with “Get well” cards. There were so many flowers and plants that Mom had to share them with other patients. Was Dad on the brink of suicide? As a stoic Swedish American, Dad would hesitate to confess such a thing; however, the love the community poured out for us convinced him that he was a person of worth. That fall, to adad’s amazement, local farmers harvested our crops while Dad could only get around on crutches. In retrospect, I feel that accident prevented my dad from committing suicide.
23:14-17 “So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny. No wonder I am so terrified in his presence. When I think of it, terror grips me. God has made me sick at heart; the Almighty has terrified me. Darkness is all around me; thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.”
Oswald Chambers, the famous Christian writer, authored a book entitled The Shade of His Hand. This book contained Chambers’ talks on Ecclesiastes and was produced just as he was falling sick with appendicitis. One of the chapters is entitled “The Discipline of Discouragement.” One fallacy into which many Christians like to buy is the idea that once one becomes a Christian, there will be no more problems and everything will be smooth sailing. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
The second we become Christians, Satan begins searching out ways to discourage us and convince us that we have made a terrible mistake. And God allows Satan to do this. God is not a deity who produces good things when we press the right buttons or pray the right prayers or attempt to manipulate Him in some other fashion. True, God is good; however, God’s ways are far higher than ours and His aim is to perfect us in His image. That process of perfection is never easy. The Book of Job tells the story of how God perfects one man who already is a believer and who is already praying, sacrificing, and doing good works.
Job speaks truly when he asserts, “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.” What Job does not realize is the process by which God is refining the gold in Job and removing the dross.
One of the problems even the best of us has is that we assume we really are pretty good and just need a few adjustments around the edges. The last thing we want to believe is that we are really sinful people who only deserve hell unless we are cleansed spiritually by the Blood of Jesus. God has all kinds of ways and means of refining the gold in us, and only He knows what will work. And while we are in the refinement process, all we can see is darkness.
I have friends who both had active careers in medical technology until they fell sick. The husband nearly died with cancer and underwent years of treatments that have resulted in other health problems. The wife developed such severe problems that she required nursing home care for several years before recovering sufficiently to return home. On the face of it, my friends should be complaining bitterly about the loss of their careers and their health; yet, these people are two of the most loving individuals you will ever meet. When you are with them, you don’t hear complaints, but only stories of the goodness of God. God has refined my friends into “pure gold people.”
Perhaps today you are stuck in a dark place and you can’t understand why God is not changing your situation. Take heart! God only allows such darkness to advanced saints whom He trusts. God knows the way you will take. And when the darkness lifts, you will come out as pure gold.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to stubbornly trust You, even when things are difficult and we don’t understand. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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