CHAPTER 22

(1520 B.C.)

ELIPHAZS THIRD SPEECH

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²Can a man be profitable unto God, as he who is wise may be profitable unto himself? (Eliphaz, annoyed by the introduction of inconvenient facts, becomes abusive and, whereas in his first two speeches he only hinted at Jobs alleged evil conduct, in this, his last speech, he directly accuses Job of wickedness and wrongdoing.)

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? or is it gain to Him, that you make your ways perfect? (In reply to Jobs facts, Eliphaz advances the theory that mans goodness does not add to, nor mans badness take from, Gods economy; therefore, God does not prosper some and afflict others for His Own advantage. The cause, therefore, of such action must be found in men themselves, so Jobs calamities clearly prove his guilt.)

⁴Will He reprove you for fear of you? will He enter with you into judgment? (In other words, the fact of your reproof is sure evidence of the fact of your guilt.)

⁵Is not your wickedness great? and your iniquities infinite?

⁶For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry (he now openly accuses Job of the worst types of sin).

⁸But as for the mighty man, he had the Earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it (Job, this man says, favors the mighty and oppresses the poor).

⁹You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken (when friends conduct themselves in this fashion, the truth is, this has been in their hearts all along).

¹⁰Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles you;

¹¹Or darkness, that you cannot see; and abundance of waters cover you (judgment covers you, and rightly so!).

¹²Is not God in the height of Heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! (Eliphaz now brings God into his denunciation of Job.)

¹³And you say, How does God know? can He judge through the dark cloud? (Job had never said any such thing, but it suits Eliphaz purpose to malign and misrepresent Job.)

¹⁴Thick clouds are a covering to Him, that He sees not; and He walks in the circuit of Heaven.

¹⁵Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trod? (Now Eliphaz puts Job into the seed of Cain before the Flood, who corrupted their way [Gen. 6:12].)

¹⁶Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood (Noahs flood):

¹⁷Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? (Eliphaz places Job among the most evil, whom God had to destroy with a flood.)

¹⁸Yet He filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me (even though those particular wicked prospered, Eliphaz says, I will not have any part with them, thereby holding himself up as pious).

¹⁹The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn (in other words, it is righteous of me to condemn you!).

²⁰Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumes (I am blessed, Eliphaz says, and you are severely cursed, which proves my statements).

JOB IS FURTHER INSULTED

²¹Acquaint now yourself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto you (Eliphaz implores Job now to repent).

²²Receive, I pray you, the Law from His Mouth, and lay up His Words in your heart (for Job to be insulted by Eliphaz in this manner must have been a bitter pill to swallow).

²³If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall put away iniquity far from your tabernacles.

²⁴Then shall you lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks (youll get rich again, Eliphaz says, if you will only repent; so, judgment was equated with poverty, while blessing was equated with riches).

²⁵Yes, the Almighty shall be your defence, and you shall have plenty of silver (reduced to poverty, Eliphaz says, proves, Job, that God is against you).

²⁶For then shall you have your delight in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face unto God (its interesting that Eliphaz placed the entirety of his theology on riches and poverty; how so much like some presently).

²⁷You shall make your prayer unto Him, and He shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows (if youll repent, God will hear you).

²⁸You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you: and the light shall shine upon your ways.

²⁹When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up; and He shall save the humble person (continuing to imply that Job has oppressed the poor).

³⁰He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of your hands (little did Eliphaz realize that shortly Job would deliver these friends from the wrath of God by his intercession [42:79]).