Job 22:1-30 - Attributing Evil to The Good

Job 22:1-30

Eliphaz Accuses Job of Wickedness

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 “Can a man be profitable to God,
Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?

4 “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
And enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great,
And your iniquity without end?

6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason,
And stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have not given the weary water to drink,
And you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 But the mighty man possessed the land,
And the honorable man dwelt in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty,
And the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

10 Therefore snares are all around you,
And sudden fear troubles you,
11 Or darkness so that you cannot see;
And an abundance of water covers you.

12 “Is not God in the height of heaven?
And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 And you say, What does God know?
Can He judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see,
And He walks above the circle of heaven.’

15 Will you keep to the old way
Which wicked men have trod,
16 Who were cut down before their time,
Whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us!
What can the Almighty do to them?’
18 Yet He filled their houses with good things;
But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 “The righteous see it and are glad,
And the innocent laugh at them:
20 ‘Surely our adversaries are cut down,
And the fire consumes their remnant.’

21 “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth,
And lay up His words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
You will remove iniquity far from your tents.
24 Then you will lay your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
And your precious silver;
26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty,
And lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to Him,
He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.

28 You will also declare a thing,
And it will be established for you;
So light will shine on your ways.

29 When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’
Then He will save the humble person.
30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent;
Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”

Eliphaz once more judges Job with bad counsel, yet some of the things he speaks still hold basic biblical truths, just ones that are misapplied since he does not see what is going on behind the scenes in heaven.  We cannot therefore dismiss all he says here or in other parts of this book simply because he does not understand it all; this is still God’s word with truths we need to live by in the correct context.  Some things are just wrong, however.  For instance, when Eliphaz begins by saying that a man cannot be profitable to God and that a man’s righteousness is not pleasing to God, he is incorrect in that our holiness in following His word does please God, but yet it alone does not appease Him.  It is true in the next verses that God corrects those with godly fear of judgment for a man’s sin such as the ones named in Job 22: 6-9 that are failures to keep the six commandments of how we are to treat one another on love as Jesus (Luke 10:27) summed up for us.  God is in the heavens above, out of our sight and above all creation and the creatures which He made in it.  God does know all and judges rightly as Eliphaz states truly here.  What is not right is how he applies these truths to judge the secrets of Job’s heart (Psalm 44:21, 1 Corinthians 4:5) as only the Almighty is able to do.  It is also a basic truth from verses 15-18 that some keep on the former ways of doing evil instead of turning from it to follow God’s word and even reject Him who gives them all things richly to enjoy.  The way Job’s counsel tells it to him appears to be an attempt to condemn Job as one of those people, since in his mind Job is obviously suffering for doing such evil according to these words of Eliphaz.  He continues with a diatribe on how the truly righteous and innocent man is glad to see evil punished as the adversaries are cut down by God.  There is no mercy or grace in this bad counsel, a warning for us not to repeat this error.  Then in (Job 22:21-22) the next verses he speaks a biblical universal truth, that we find peace with God as we get to know Him intimately and are teachable when we hear and read His words to us and lay them firmly in our (Psalm 119:9-11) hearts to have as guidance to our lives.  Repentance turns from sin to Him and is rewarded with good for our souls as we evict evil from the tents (houses) of our thoughts and works of our hands.  The Almighty is to be our treasure and not the material (Matthew 16:26, Philippians 3:7, Hebrews 11:26) mammon in our storehouses.  We are to find delight in Him as we lift up our faces in prayer and find His light shining on us for clarity in life and living.  He does save the humble man and even delivers those who are not innocent, a foreshadowing of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ who does not save us because we are innocent of sin, for nobody is righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:21-22, 23, 26) in His sight (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6) apart from faith in the only Righteous One who justifies the ungodly.  Union with Christ in His righteousness makes us innocent in His sight and purifies our hands to deliver us as Eliphaz prophetically stated here as he attempted to use this truth in a misguided attempt to discredit and accuse Job and call him to repent for what he assumed was the underlying cause of such suffering.  Not all suffering is a direct result of our sin.  God uses suffering to refine our faith to trust in His righteousness and calling us righteous (Job 1:1, 8) in His estimation as He reckons righteousness to us in Himself.  May we therefore not judge another before the time of His return by attributing evil to good. 

Job 21:1-34 - Bad Counsel with Empty Words

Job 21:1-34

Job’s Discourse on the Wicked

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me that I may speak,
And after I have spoken, keep mocking.

4 “As for me, is my complaint against man?
And if it were, why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be astonished;
Put your hand over your mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am terrified,
And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power?

8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves without miscarriage.

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in wealth,
And in a moment go down to the grave.

14 Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
16 Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand;
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
18 They are like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that a storm carries away.

19 They say, ‘God lays up one’s iniquity for his children’;
Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.
20 Let his eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care about his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut in half?

22 “Can anyone teach God knowledge,
Since He judges those on high?
23 One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and secure;
24 His pails are full of milk,
And the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
Never having eaten with pleasure.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
And worms cover them.

27 “Look, I know your thoughts,
And the schemes with which you would wrong me.

28 For you say,
‘Where is the house of the prince?
And where is the tent,
The dwelling place of the wicked?’
29 Have you not asked those who travel the road?
And do you not know their signs?
30 For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;
They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.

31 Who condemns his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?
32 Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
And a vigil kept over the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him;
Everyone shall follow him,
As countless have gone before him.

34 How then can you comfort me with empty words,
Since falsehood remains in your answers?”

Job answered his bad counselors with a long speech about the wicked and their end.  He first asked them to hold their tongues until he had his say, saying that after he was finished they could go on mocking him if they wished.  He began by decrying the wicked who seem to love long lives and amass great worldly power as he pointed his friends to look on him who once had all those things and now appeared in an astonishing state of suffering and illness before them.  He told them about how the wicked seemed to have it all; many children, houses, prosperity — all without the discipline of God on them as it appeared was on Hob in stark contrast.  The wicked seemed to have it all (Psalm 73:3-5, 9, 12, 17-19, 27) until they suddenly died after telling God to leave them alone because they had no desire to know about Him or His ways from his word.  The wicked refuse to serve God or pray to Him, not understanding that their fleeting prosperity is solely in God’s hands and not their own as they imagine in their ignorance of pride.  These are like straw before the wind of the threshing floor (Psalm 1:4, Jeremiah 23:28-29, Matthew 3:12) whose lives are likened to the worthless chaff which is suddenly blown away by God for their rejection of Him.  These would rather allow their own children to suffer for their sins than face God while still living.  Job used these examples to illustrate how God is the only judge on high and we cannot teach Him or demand what others must face in judgment; only He can do that.  Job made it crystal clear that he knew what his companions were up to in their schemes to discredit him and blame his sins for his suffering as if they were his judge and jury.  He reminded them that God has reserved the wicked for judgment in His wrath on the day of reckoning, and all will die and then face Him (Hebrews 9:27-28) in the end to be held accountable to the Almighty.  He ended his diatribe with, “How then can you comfort me with empty words, since falsehood remains in your answers?”  Job reminded them that false accusations are held to account and no amount of bad counsel in many words can change that.  May we therefore be humble in our judgment of what we think we see and allow God to guide us to truly counsel according to the words of our Lord instead of our own preconceived notions since we cannot know the motives of the heart nor the heavenly purposes behind another’s suffering.  

Job 20:1-29 - Judgment of Hearts Belongs to the Lord

Job 20:1-29

Zophar’s Sermon on the Wicked Man

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

2 “Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.
3 I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

4 “Do you not know this of old,
Since man was placed on earth,
5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?

6 Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,
7 Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

8 He will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.

10 His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it will lie down with him in the dust.

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,
13 Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his mouth,
14 Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.

15 He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.
16 He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.

17 He will not see the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18 He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.
19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

20 “Because he knows no quietness in his heart,
He will not save anything he desires.
21 Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
22 In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of misery will come against him.

23 When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
24 He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
25 It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors come upon him;
26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
28 The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.

29 This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”

Zophar did not appreciate Job exposing him and his friends in their unwise counsel based on assumptions and resulting judgments against their supposed friend.  He told Job that he heard the rebuke and just had to answer back as if he understood more than he was told in the rebuttal.  He began by saying that the man is evil and only has a short time on the earth to triumph before his hypocrisy catches up to him, an almost direct assault on Job for speaking in his own defense.  Zophar basically told Job that Job’s high and mighty attitude of knowing what was right more than he did was like dying in his own dung and he will die and nobody would even remember him of his life and wisdom.  He accused Job of being an evil person who hides lies like venom under his words that even upsets his own stomach so that his riches will come back up and be lost for defending himself as he had been doing.  He further attacked Job by saying he would not have his riches restored or get any enjoyment anymore from anything he did still possess, as one who oppressed the poor and taken someone else’s house for his own, something Job never did in his life always lived (Job 1:1, 8, 10) aboveboard in sincerity and integrity of truth to help others.  This friend took advantage of the suffering of Job to make it the reason for unsettling thoughts as proving he must be guilty without having the understanding of the real source of the circumstances coming from the adversary.  He told Job he would suffer even more loss and God’s wrath of judgment as destruction comes like an arrow or a fire or even darkness thrust on him by the Almighty to show Job his sins and loss as a result according to his misguided understanding of the situation and supposed consequences.  Zophar summed up his verbal assault by saying that these things Job suffered were the portion given by God as earned by a wicked man, Job.  He must have done something wrong and evil to suffer such a in his friend’s skewed estimation.  We are told that we do not know the hearts of one another, and are to leave such judgment until all hearts and thoughts are revealed (1 Corinthians 4:3-4, 5, Hebrews 4:12) in the end; may we learn from this to do this and not as the counselors of Job who was deemed righteous by the Lord.  Judgment of hearts belongs to the Lord, not us. 

Job 18:1-21 - The Accuser of God’s Children

Job 18:1-21

Bildad: The Wicked Are Punished

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “How long till you put an end to words?
Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.
3 Why are we counted as beasts,
And regarded as stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
Or shall the rock be removed from its place?

5 “The light of the wicked indeed goes out,
And the flame of his fire does not shine.
6 The light is dark in his tent,
And his lamp beside him is put out.
7 The steps of his strength are shortened,
And his own counsel casts him down.

8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
And he walks into a snare.
9 The net takes him by the heel,
And a snare lays hold of him.
10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him in the road.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side,
And drive him to his feet.

12 His strength is starved,
And destruction is ready at his side.
13 It devours patches of his skin;
The firstborn of death devours his limbs.
14 He is uprooted from the shelter of his tent,
And they parade him before the king of terrors.

15 They dwell in his tent who are none of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling.
16 His roots are dried out below,
And his branch withers above.

17 The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name among the renowned.
18 He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.

19 He has neither son nor posterity among his people,
Nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20 Those in the west are astonished at his day,
As those in the east are frightened.

21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Job’s third friend Bildad steeped in to accuse Job by telling him how the wicked are punished and ever taken away from them, a direct message that was veiled indirectly in judgment as I he knew the situation and Job’s heart and mind as only the Almighty is able to do.  He began by telling his friend to get some understanding before speaking to him and his fellow visiting friends whom he accused Job of calling stupid for all their unwanted counsel.  Bildad continued to describe the wicked as ones whose light will go out, in other words die, and his light will go out in his house as his strength fades with his own counsel of defense against these three.  He accused Job of setting his own trap by his defense to trap and ensnare himself along his life’s path and bring such terror of suffering and death.  He reiterated that Job lost his strength and faces certain consequences of destruction, just as his outward skin condition (Job 2:7-8) and loss of all property and possessions seemed to prove to Bildad.  This antagonist then told Job that others would take his house that he lost and burn it down in judgment while comparing him to a withering plant whose roots (in God and His declarations of Job’s righteousness in His eyes) and branches then dry up and die.  He told Job that nobody would remember him in his former glory among others (Job 1:1, 3) in the community and those memories would be chased away due to his present circumstances of loss and suffering that must be brought about by Job’s sin in the eyes of his advisors turned adversaries.  He would have no posterity since his children were all killed (Job 1:18, 19) and all would observe, being afraid and astonished at his demise.  Surely only the wicked man such as Job would suffer these things of loss because he really cannot know God.  Such is the judgment of the adversary whose followers imitate as adversaries in other’s adversity to slander and insult the children of God.  The accuser of God’s children will be himself judged and sentenced in the end (Zechariah 3:1, Revelation 12:10) for the true evil he has done and so we, like Job, hold to our integrity and standing declared by the Lord in our union with Christ and His righteousness until that day.  Our hope and endurance in the face of persecution, suffering, and loss it the great and everlasting gain (Philippians 3:7-8, 9, 10) we have in Christ our Lord of all.  We trust Him and what He declares about us over anyone else.  Amen! 

Job 17:1-16 - Where is my Hope?

Job 17:1-16

Job Prays for Relief

1 “My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.
2 Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?

3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who will shake hands with me?
4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will fail.

6 “But He has made me a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
7 My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
8 Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
9 Yet the righteous will hold to his way,
And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

10 “But please, come back again, all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
11 My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the thoughts of my heart.

12 They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
13 If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
14 If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’

15 Where then is my hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
16 Will they go down to the gates of Sheol?
Shall we have rest together in the dust?”

As Job continued to suffer seemingly endlessly, he was broken and ready to die to send the constant physical and mental anguish and the reproaches of others.  He realized that these mockers who blamed his ill condition on sins they imagined, that these mockers who would not even shake his hand in friendship, they had their hearts hidden from understanding by God to whom Job continued speaking as he poured out his frustrations and grief and they were not to be commended by God for their efforts.  Job also realized all too well that he was seen as detestable and a subject of derision (Psalm 42:10, Isaiah 51:7) as we do (1 Timothy 4:10) now in Christ by the unbelieving who offer similar foolish advice, not knowing we suffer for the sake of Christ and the sake of righteousness in our faith in Him.  When we do suffer for Him or because we are His (Philippians 1:29, 1 Peter 2:20, 3:17, Revelation 12:17), we can be assured that as we hold to our righteous obedience that we can be stronger with clean hands than dirty ones as those who judge us have as Job confessed here (Job 17:9) for our encouragement.  Job told his companions that they were free to visit again even if no wisdom would be found in their advice since even their presence in his impending death was some com to him.  Where was Job’s hope then?  He tells God and us that his hope was as yet unseen and he might only find it past death in the grave with his friends as his suffering ends.  We have a more certain hope in Christ (Romans 5:5, Hebrews 6:19, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 1 Peter 1:3, 13, Titus 1:2) as we know Him now and are at peace with God (Romans 5:1) in union with Him and enveloped in His righteousness.  We know after the resurrection to life that we (1 Corinthians 15:19-20, 21-22, 25, 56), we will no longer face suffering (Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 5:2) from sin and the enemy nor even death itself.  Our hope then is that we will face no more tears of suffering (Isaiah 25:8, Revelation 21:3, 4) as we will stand perfected in Christ before His presence forevermore.  Where is my hope?  In Christ alone and forever! 

Job 16:1-22 - My Witness and Evidence are in Heaven!

Job 16:1-22

Job Reproaches His Pitiless Friends

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “I have heard many such things;
Miserable comforters are you all!
3 Shall words of wind have an end?
Or what provokes you that you answer?

4 I also could speak as you do,
If your soul were in my soul’s place.
I could heap up words against you,
And shake my head at you;
5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.

6 “Though I speak, my grief is not relieved;
And if I remain silent, how am I eased?
7 But now He has worn me out;
You have made desolate all my company.
8 You have shriveled me up,
And it is a witness against me;
My leanness rises up against me
And bears witness to my face.

9 He tears me in His wrath, and hates me;
He gnashes at me with His teeth;
My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.

10 They gape at me with their mouth,
They strike me reproachfully on the cheek,
They gather together against me.
11 God has delivered me to the ungodly,
And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.

12 I was at ease, but He has shattered me;
He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces;
He has set me up for His target,
13 His archers surround me.
He pierces my heart and does not pity;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
14 He breaks me with wound upon wound;
He runs at me like a warrior.

15 “I have sewn sackcloth over my skin,
And laid my head in the dust.
16 My face is flushed from weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
17 Although no violence is in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let my cry have no resting place!
19 Surely even now my witness is in heaven,
And my evidence is on high.
20 My friends scorn me;
My eyes pour out tears to God.

21 Oh, that one might plead for a man with God,
As a man pleads for his neighbor!
22 For when a few years are finished,
I shall go the way of no return.

When Job answered his three friends come to comfort him in his suffering and found them to be miserable counselors, he asked them what provoked them to speak without understanding or compassion.  He told them straight up that if they had been in his position, he would not do as they had been doing, but instead he would find words to give them strength to endure and comfort in their agony.  He would not shake his head in judgment or speak many things against them as they had been doing.  Job would have acted as a true friend, like a brother even, with compassion and respect to understand and empathize instead of playing God and telling them their problems that resulted in their circumstances.  He told them that whether he remained silent or spoke his mind, he still was grieved in his suffering for unknown reasons and felt all alone in their company due to their approach to him.  He then spoke of his adversary, which could have meant them or even an inkling of the heavenly adversary who had been causing this agonizing suffering, but echoes the time Jesus suffered on the cross from the gospel accounts.  He spoke of the hatred and gnashing of the teeth (Matthew 26:65) of the adversary and of how they gaped with their mouths (Psalm 22:7, 13, Matthew 27:39) at him, as well as how they gathered together to strike him (Matthew 26:67, 27:30) on the cheek.  It seems that Job prophetically pointed to the adversary attacking Christ on the cross, not knowing, but perhaps wondering, that it was the adversary responsible for his own suffering.  He saw himself handed over to the ungodly and given into the hands of wicked men, just as Jesus would be.  Job further saw himself as a target with God allowing the attacks on his body and soul as he lay in repentant sackcloth and prayed pure prayers with tears in the midst of it all.  Above all and through this all, Job stated that he knew his witness was in heaven with God and the evidence sat with Him and not his friends who scorned him or even in himself.  He began to glimpse the grace of God to come in the righteousness found in Him alone and not himself or his own righteousness (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23, 10:3-4, Philippians 3:9) as he poured out his heart to his Maker.  Job pleaded with God and asked his friends to do so for him instead of their judgment, knowing he was headed towards death at the rate he was headed in his extreme suffering.  We may find good and godly friends who can sympathize with our suffering (Romans 12:15, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15), but even when we do not, we still have the assurance of our witness in heaven and accompanying evidence of the grace of God that our righteousness is in our union with Christ and our hope of vindication made certain by His promises.  My witness and evidence of imputed righteousness are in heaven in Christ Jesus, no matter how others judge me! 

Job 15:1-35 - The Foolishness of Wisdom

Job 15:1-35

Eliphaz Accuses Job of Folly

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Yes, you cast off fear,
And restrain prayer before God.

5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against you.

7 ”Are you the first man who was born?
Or were you made before the hills?
8 Have you heard the counsel of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not in us?
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you,
And the word spoken gently with you?

12 Why does your heart carry you away,
And what do your eyes wink at,
13 That you turn your spirit against God,
And let such words go out of your mouth?

14 “What is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
15 If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
16 How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
Who drinks iniquity like water!

17 “I will tell you, hear me;
What I have seen I will declare,
18 What wise men have told,
Not hiding anything received from their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no alien passed among them:

20 The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
For a sword is waiting for him.

23 He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.
25 For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
26 Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.

27 “Though he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,
28 He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.

29 He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth continue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
30 He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.

31 Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
And his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.

34 For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”

Eliphaz called Job foolish for trusting in God and his own righteousness in His eyes, seeing Job as having foolish wisdom.  We who are in Christ and possess the gospel truth can relate to being accused of foolishness when presenting the wisdom and power (1 Corinthians 1:18, 20-21, 22-23, 24-25) of the Lord to the accusers and mockers of every generation.  This friend Eliphaz answered the speech and sincere prayer of Job with accusations of folly in his words, telling Job that he must not really fear God as he said since he gave unprofitable words, empty of true knowledge and merely dry wind out of the east that can do no good for anyone.  He told Job that sin must be driving his mouth with craftiness and so Job’s words condemned him the the estimation of Eliphaz as he sat in judgment on Job.  He did not like what Job was saying and so accused him of ignoring the counsel of the LORD and presumptuously assuming his wisdom exceeded that of the elders of the people.  He told Job that he must have turned from God to say such things, because no man can be pure or righteous before Him as Job appeared to him to be saying.  He also told Job that God certainly puts no trust in His saints and so he could not have such wisdom as he just claimed in word and prayer recorded for us in the previous chapter.  Then Eliphaz began telling Job what he had been told by older and wiser men in his view.  He said that wicked men suffer pain in their lives, that destruction and death come on those who prosper, and that starvation and want accompany this kind of person as he obtusely described Job to be.  Such men are overpowered by God as they contend with Him in defiance against Him.  That is what Job’s friend accused him of in this harsh and unfounded judgment.  He said such men who suffer must do so for their sins against the Almighty in rebellion and would lose all their possessions as a result just as Job had lost everything.  He accused Job of being deceived and would only earn futility and unfruitfulness as a result of his hypocrisy and sin.  This Eliphaz imagined that guilt and punishment were the cause of Job’s suffering in the loss of (Job 1:9, 11, 2:4-5) his family, possessions, standing, and health.  He could not see from God’s perspective in heaven how these things were not earned, but were attacks of Satan to turn Job from trusting God even if he would be stripped of all he had and then slayed, but Job (Job 13:15-16) held in faith to the goodness of God as he wondered what he might actually have done to deserve these trials and tribulations of loss.  This patter of the accuser using the friends of Job declared righteous in God’s eyes (Job 1:8, 2:3) continues throughout this book until the truth comes out in the end, just as we cannot judge ourselves (1 Corinthians 4:3) until we face Him and the secrets of our hearts are revealed to all.  We must also hold to our own integrity like Job in our trials and tribulations as we likewise trust that we are seen by the Lord as righteous in Christ and mortify our real sins to prove the accuser wrong and the Lord right in these hidden secrets of the heart and mind and will.  This is the foolishness of wisdom in Christ.  Though He slay me, I will trust in Him. 

Job 14:1-22 - Job’s Lamented Loss of Hope

Job 14:1-22

1 “Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.
2 He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

3 And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one!

5 Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
6 Look away from him that he may rest,
Till like a hired man he finishes his day.

7 “For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,
9 Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.

10 But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?

11 As water disappears from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dries up,
12 So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens are no more,
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.

13 “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.
15 You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.

16 For now You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my iniquity.

18 “But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,
And as a rock is moved from its place;
19 As water wears away stones,
And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
So You destroy the hope of man.

20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;
You change his countenance and send him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
22 But his flesh will be in pain over it,
And his soul will mourn over it.”

Job was tired of suffering for something he could not understand to have done, and he began lamenting his sorry state as a condition of all men since everyone seemed destined for doom in the end as he saw it.  People according to him appeared to be born for trouble and just fade away into death in the end, a view that missed the purpose and glory of God in each of us.  Job wondered why God did not spy with His eye the suffering in innocence of Job while seeing the plight of others and helping them who he seemed to think less worthy.  God set limits on the lives of men (Genesis 6:3, Deuteronomy 34:7) and we just go on until we are so tired that we accept death as our rest according to Job in this soliloquy of sorrow.  He had also lamented that no good comes from an unclean thing, which we all are, seen as a shadow of the revelation clarified in Romans 3:23 and other places later.  Job lamented how trees are cut down and regrow from mere stumps, yet not so with people.  Man simply dies and is put in the ground where nothing grows back, and he asked “where is he?”  Job contemplated the afterlife here as he pondered if man truly laid to rest in the grave stayed there.  He was suffering so that he begged God to hide him in such a grave until the wrath of the Almighty was past and he would be remembered at last.  He asked again if man dies, will he live again.  He would wait for the change if it were to come, the beginning of his later thoughts in Job 19:25-26, 27 on the resurrection to life where he would see God face to face (Psalm 17:15) at last when the wrath of God on his sin had passed.  We know now that in Christ this promise is fulfilled, for the wrath of God is taken away in the sacrificial death of the Passover Lamb of God (1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Peter 1:19) slain for us at His own hand as our High Priest who was compared to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:3, 15-17, 19), who has no beginning or end, as God Himself alone is able to forgive and raise us up on the last day to meet Him face to face (Revelation 22:4) at last!  God desires the work of His hands, the elect chosen like Job and we who are in Christ, that we might come before Him forever with His wrath on our sin forever forgiven.  Job seemed to have a prophetic inkling of these truths here.  Until then, he continued to lament the hope of man seemingly destroyed by suffering as he mourns over the pain in body and soul apart from Him.  Job lamented the seeming loss of hope, yet had glimpses of true and everlasting hope after death in a way he could not yet imagine.  We have that certain hope (Hebrews 6:11, 19, 1 Peter 1:3, Romans 15:4, Titus 1:2) that wipes away our tears of temporal pain and suffering with this promise (Hebrews 11:1) by faith in the those promises in Christ and takes away our lament to replace with joy.  

Job 13:1-28 - Speaking to and Reasoning with the Almighty

Job 13:1-28

1 “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
My ear has heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But I would speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to reason with God.

4 But you forgers of lies,
You are all worthless physicians.
5 Oh, that you would be silent,
And it would be your wisdom!
6 Now hear my reasoning,
And heed the pleadings of my lips.

7 Will you speak wickedly for God,
And talk deceitfully for Him?
8 Will you show partiality for Him?
Will you contend for God?

9 Will it be well when He searches you out?
Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?
10 He will surely rebuke you
If you secretly show partiality.

11 Will not His excellence make you afraid,
And the dread of Him fall upon you?
12 Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes,
Your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 “Hold your peace with me, and let me speak,
Then let come on me what may!
14 Why do I take my flesh in my teeth,
And put my life in my hands?
15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
16 He also shall be my salvation,
For a hypocrite could not come before Him.

17 Listen carefully to my speech,
And to my declaration with your ears.
18 See now, I have prepared my case,
I know that I shall be vindicated.
19 Who is he who will contend with me?
If now I hold my tongue, I perish.

Job’s Despondent Prayer

20 “Only two things do not do to me,
Then I will not hide myself from You:
21 Withdraw Your hand far from me,
And let not the dread of You make me afraid.
22 Then call, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, then You respond to me.

23 How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do You hide Your face,
And regard me as Your enemy?

25 Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro?
And will You pursue dry stubble?
26 For You write bitter things against me,
And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
27 You put my feet in the stocks,
And watch closely all my paths.
You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

28 ”Man decays like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Job had enough of the bad advice from his friends and finally said, “I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God” after hearing all their arguments and reasoning so far to blame his sin as the cause of his suffering.  He called the friends liars and bad doctors whose only reason would be found with their mouths closed due to such erroneous assumptions and misguided prescriptions for Job’s spiritual and physical health.  He asked them point blank if they were contending with God instead of Job as they spoke wickedly and with such well-meaning deceit.  He asked them if they were ready to face Him when caught by Him in their mockery and partiality of opinions of His judgment seen by the suffering of His righteous one in the end.  He reminded them of God’s excellence as a reason to fear Him and that they had no defense against His judgment in their empty platitudes they had been giving Job all this time.  Finally, he told them to hold their peace and listen carefully to what Job had to say to them and to God.  He told them that even if God slayed him, Job would still trust in His sovereign goodness and accept whatever came his way from the hand of the Almighty.  He would still defend his ways as attempts to do what was righteous in God’s eyes, knowing only the LORD was able,to deliver and save him.  That is faith in the grace and goodness of God whose character we know far better now as revealed in Christ.  He had thought these things through carefully and was prepared to address God with them in their hearing, so he told them to listen carefully as he was vindicated, knowing if he kept quiet that he would certainly perish before God and man.  He prayed primarily for two things and he would not hide from God.  First, for God to take His hand away from Job to ease his suffering, and secondly to keep Job’s fear of the Almighty from overwhelming him.  He would then listen as God called to talk with him and hear his answers, as well as hear him talk and hear God’s answers to Job.  He desired a prayer of communication with God, which real prayer truly is.  He asked what his sins were that he might understand the depth of them instead of being kept in the dark and wondering why the LORD was hiding from him as if his enemy.  He wanted to know why God was allowing these things to happen to limit him and keep him from fear and bitterness of what he had done against Him.  Job understood and confessed that all men are rotten in their deeds with holes in their holiness and so deserved divine justice of judgment due to them (Romans 3:20, 23, Hebrews 9:27-28), yet seemed to be asking for mercy through understanding to be reconciled with the LORD as he desired to walk in righteousness once more in God’s eyes (Job 1:1, 8) as we know this is a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ whose righteousness makes us holy and whose Spirit in us enables us to walk out that holiness (1 Peter 1:15, Ephesians 3:16, Romans 8:4-5, 9-10, 11, 12-13) with Him.  As we read and consider these truths, may we also speak and reason with the Almighty when we face adversity with trust in His promises of providence and protection (John 17:15, Galatians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 John 5:18b) from the adversary until we are with Him in the resurrection (John 5:29, 2 Corinthians 5:4, Romans 8:11) to life.  We trust Him in the face of our accusers with the hope that He calls us holy and righteous in his Son and we live confidently before His face until we see Him so (Revelation 22:4) forever.