Job 22

Eliphaz

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 "Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise man benefit him?

3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4 "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?

5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?

6 You demanded security from your brothers for no reason;
you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,

8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.

9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.

10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,

11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.

12 "Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!

13 Yet you say, 'What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?

14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'

15 Will you keep to the old path
that evil men have trod?

16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.

17 They said to God, 'Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?'

18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

19 "The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,

20 'Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.'

21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.

26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.

28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.

29 When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!'
then he will save the downcast.

30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

Side Notes:

Here we have Eliphaz’s third and final speech to Job. When he first spoke to Job (chapters 4 & 5), he commended Job for his good deeds and only suggested that there may be some sin Job needed to repent. While nothing new was said in this speech, he did get a little more specific. He could not shake his belief that suffering is God’s way to punish evil deeds, so he suggested several possible sins that Job might have committed. Eliphaz wasn’t trying to destroy Job; at the end of his speech he promised that Job would receive peace and restoration if he would only admit his sins and repent.

Vs 12-14 Eliphaz declared that Job’s view of God was too small, and he criticized Job for thinking that God was too far removed from earth to care about him. If Job knew of God’s intense, personal interest in him, Eliphaz said, he wouldn’t dare take his sins to lightly. Eliphaz had a point – some people do take sin lightly because they think God is far away and doesn’t notice all we do. But his point did not apply to Job.

Vs. 21-30 Several times Job’s friends showed a partial knowledge of God’s truth and character, but they had trouble accurately applying this truth to life. Such was the case with Eliphaz, who gave a beautiful summary of repentance. He was correct in saying that we must ask for God’s forgiveness when we sin, but his statement did not apply to Job, who had already sought God’s forgiveness (7:20, 21; 9:20; 12:23) and had lived closely in touch with God all along.