Late morning at the gray ash heap outside a plain flat-topped wall: a hot wind drags a low veil of dust along the ground past a small wrapped man seen from behind and three men standing a little way off, under a pale, empty, white-hot sky.

The Book of

Job 15

Eliphaz speaks, round two. Job has asked God to answer him. Eliphaz, so careful the first time, has stopped being careful.

35 verses≈ 4 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–3The testBlameless, stripped of everything, and his cry
4–14Round oneThe friends speak; Job answers
15–21Round twoMy Redeemer livesChapter 15
22–31Round threeThen wisdom, and Job's last defense
32–37ElihuA younger voice
38–41The LORD speaksOut of the whirlwind
42The endJob prays and is restored

Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God

Eliphaz

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel

or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

Should he argue with useless words

or speeches that serve no purpose?

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Eliphaz

But you even undermine the fear of God

and hinder meditation before Him.

For your iniquity instructs your mouth,

and you choose the language of the crafty.

Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you;

your own lips testify against you.

Eliphaz

Why has your heart carried you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

so that you turn your spirit against God

and pour such words from your mouth?

Reflect

Spoken gently

Eliphaz calls his own words “even words spoken gently to you.” Job did not hear them that way. Think of someone in pain you have tried to help. What did they need from you, and what did you bring? Write it down.

Eliphaz

What is man, that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

If God puts no trust in His holy ones,

if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,

how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,

who drinks injustice like water?

Eliphaz

What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Job 15:14

Eliphaz

Listen to me and I will inform you.

I will describe what I have seen,

what was declared by wise men

and was not concealed from their fathers,

to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigner passed among them.

Question

Quick question

Where is he getting this?

Where does Eliphaz say his teaching comes from?

Eliphaz

Dusk over a bare plain: vultures wheel slowly high above while one small traveler in a plain robe walks a stony track far below, nothing on the ground around him, under a darkening empty sky.

A wicked man writhes in pain all his days;

only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

Sounds of terror fill his ears;

in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

He despairs of his return from darkness;

he is marked for the sword.

He wanders about as food for vultures;

he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

Distress and anguish terrify him,

overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

0:27

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Eliphaz

Eliphaz

For he has stretched out his hand against God

and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,

rushing headlong at Him

with a thick, studded shield.

Eliphaz

Though his face is covered with fat

and his waistline bulges with flesh,

he will dwell in ruined cities,

in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.

He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.

His possessions will not overspread the land.

He will not escape from the darkness;

the flame will wither his shoots,

and the breath of God’s mouth

will carry him away.

Eliphaz

Eliphaz

Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness,

for emptiness will be his reward.

It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not flourish.

He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,

like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

Eliphaz

Far off across a plain at dawn, the blackened poles of a burned tent camp stand with a thin line of smoke rising and a few scattered clay jars, nobody there.

For the company of the godless will be barren,

and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;

their womb is pregnant with deceit.”

Who is he describing?

Whiteboard

He calls it a portrait of the wicked, and line after line fits Job’s own life. The events are real. The cause he gives is wrong, and only the reader knows.

Pray

Thank God that He knows what we cannot see. Ask for words that heal and do not wound. Ask forgiveness for the easy answers you have given to people who were hurting. Pray for those being judged by their pain. Ask to fear God for Himself.

You’ve experienced

Job 15

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A verse to carry with you

What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Job 15:14

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