Lenten Study Job Ch 22
Eliphaz once again entreats Job to turn from some secret path of evil. The friends don’t know that Job has done anything wrong, but they cannot conceive of God punishing someone the way He has punished Job without reason. There is a reason, but no one but God and Satan knows what it is.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Caption
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
2 “Can a vigorous man be of use to God, Or a wise man be useful to himself?
Job 22:1-2 (NASB)
“Can a wise man be useful to himself?” Yes, but that’s not Eliphaz’s point. The wisdom of the wise isn’t necessarily for the people who possess it but for those who seek out their council. It is mostly for other people because the wise person has learned that lesson; thus, it is wisdom.
3 “Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, Or profit if you make your ways perfect?
Job 22:3 (NASB)
I’m not sure I understand Eliphaz’s point with this one. Yes, God is pleased if we do things His way. Yes, we benefit from moving our lives closer to the path God would like to see us walking. I absolutely believe that. However, this verse is supposed to be similar to verse two. The only thing I can gather on this is that how we live our lives demonstrates our wisdom as an example for others, which is very much like verse two.
4 “Is it because of your reverence that He reproves you, That He enters into judgment against you?
Job 22:4 (NASB)
Eliphaz says that God doesn’t do things without a reason. That is true in Job’s case, too, though not why Eliphaz and the rest think. God does have a reason for why Job is going through all this. No one knows it but God and Satan, but there is a reason.
5 “Is not your wickedness great, And your iniquities without end?
6 “For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause, And stripped men naked.
7 “To the weary you have given no water to drink, And from the hungry you have withheld bread.
Job 22:5-7 (NASB)
These are not the acts of a righteous man, which we all know Job is. I am hopeful Job addresses these individual accusations in his next exchange, but I don’t remember if he does. What Eliphaz might be hinting at here is that we all miss or fail to help people sometimes. We all might mistreat someone without being aware of it occasionally. Eliphaz might mean that Job has unwittingly done something wrong. This would be in keeping with their previous statements to Job.
8 “But the earth belongs to the mighty man, And the honorable man dwells in it.
Job 22:8 (NASB)
God does not believe in “toxic masculinity.” He is not concerned with the timid or hesitant. We as a people, as Christians, men and women need to strive to be bold. We need to be confident in our Lord and our God that He is who He said He is, that He will do what He said He would do. God does not change, and He keeps His promises. We need to walk in that knowledge to make our decisions setting broad delineations between the light and the darkness, the Christian path, and the Worldly ways. To do otherwise is to reject our inheritance as His children.
9 “You have sent widows away empty, And the strength of the orphans has been crushed.
Job 22:9 (NASB)
This is more stuff from Eliphaz that does not sound like Job at all. Again, I am hopeful that either Job answers these specific accusations or that Eliphaz’s point is Job makes mistakes and misses stuff sometimes.
10 “Therefore snares surround you, And sudden dread terrifies you,
11 Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And an abundance of water covers you.
Job 22:10-11 (NASB)
Essentially, your life recently has been what it has been.
12 “Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!
13 “You say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness?
14 ‘Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; And He walks on the vault of heaven.’
Job 22:12-14 (NASB)
This is the crux of it. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar all know God sees all and knows all, yet Job’s words seem to indicate that somehow God doesn’t fully understand Job’s life. The friends are certain Job is either hiding something or has unwittingly done something God doesn’t like, so all the things happening to him are just punishments from God.
15 “Will you keep to the ancient path Which wicked men have trod,
16 Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundations were washed away by a river?
Job 22:15-16 (NASB)
The wicked tend to hide their iniquity from sight because they are ashamed of it. They know normal people do not approve of what they do, so they hide it in the darkness lest the light of day reveals their shameful deeds. Eliphaz is certain Job is hiding something and admonishes him to reveal what he is doing because that path never ends well for the people who walk it.
17 “They said to God, ‘Depart from us!’ And ‘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.
Job 22:17-18 (NASB)
We see this today when worldly people prosper, and we wonder why God allows that? It isn’t our place to question why does or does not do anything. Our place is to trust His judgment on what does or does not need to be done based on His view of the Big Picture.
19 “The righteous see and are glad, And the innocent mock them,
Job 22:19 (NASB)
“The righteous see and are glad….” When people who are not Christians prosper, there is no reason for Christians to complain. On the contrary, we should be happy when good things happen to anyone. They are good things. Those are people who do not need our attention from the standpoint of a helping hand. Perhaps some people who do not know God can receive a blessing they did not expect, which can turn their face to the Creator in thanks. However, if they receive condemnation and animosity from Christians because some think they don’t deserve the blessings, that certainly will not move them closer to God.
20 Saying, ‘Truly our adversaries are cut off, And their abundance the fire has consumed.’
Job 22:20 (NASB)
Eliphaz is referencing the counsel of the wicked being far from the righteous. We do not join hands with those who do not walk the ways of God when they advise us to walk away from His ways. When someone wants us to move away from God, regardless of who it is, we need to distance ourselves from that person. They need to understand we do not agree with their advice in the hopes they will wonder why and inquire.
21 “Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you.
22 “Please receive instruction from His mouth And establish His words in your heart.
Job 22:21-22 (NASB)
These are encouraging words from Eliphaz. He wants Job to give up whatever secret evil he is practicing and return to the paths of righteousness again.
23 “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent,
24 And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
25 Then the Almighty will be your gold And choice silver to you.
Job 22:23-25 (NASB)
It is a common theme in scripture that when we do what is pleasing to God, He rewards His children. Eliphaz reinforces that belief in the hopes that he can remind and convince Job to come back to the fold. The problem is Job never left the fold.
26 “For then you will delight in the Almighty And lift up your face to God.
27 “You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows.
28 “You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.
29 “When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will save.
30 “He will deliver one who is not innocent, And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 22:26-30 (NASB)
I’m not sure if Eliphaz is aware of how close he is to the mark on this one or not? “…and the humble person He will save.” Job’s one big failing coming out in this situation is his pride. He is becoming filled with himself as he picks over his life and realizes he has done everything the way it is supposed to be done. No, Job is not perfect. He has made mistakes and sinned. However, Job has attentively and dutifully made all the correct sacrifices at the right times to wash away his sins. He has done it all right, and the more he realizes this, the more he is filled with himself. That knowledge causes him to step into a prideful position as he argues with his friends recounting how righteous he has been. God will correct that later, but for now, it is in place, and I wonder if Eliphaz is making this realization or is just tossing those words into the mix to help make his point?