UNROLL
Late afternoon on the gray ash heap: a small wrapped man sits with his back to us and a tall white-bearded elder stands over him, one hand lifted, a walled town far off, under a calm, bare, pale sky.

The Book of

Job 22

Eliphaz speaks, round three. Job has said the wicked often prosper. The eldest friend stops being gentle.

30 verses≈ 3 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–3The testBlameless, stripped of everything, and his cry
  2. 4–14Round oneThe friends speak; Job answers
  3. 15–21Round twoMy Redeemer lives
  4. 22–31Round threeThen wisdom, and Job's last defenseChapter 22
  5. 32–37ElihuA younger voice
  6. 38–41The LORD speaksOut of the whirlwind
  7. 42The endJob prays and is restored

Eliphaz: Can a Man Be of Use to God?

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“Can a man be of use to God?

Can even a wise man benefit Him?

Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous?

Does He profit if your ways are blameless?

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Eliphaz

Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?

Eliphaz
Eliphaz
Night in a narrow wadi: a brown flood races between rock walls, foam pale in the dark, a loop of plain rope snare caught on a thornbush above it, no people.

Therefore snares surround you,

and sudden peril terrifies you;

it is so dark you cannot see,

and a flood of water covers you.

Charges and answers

Stripped thepoor22:6Warmed themwith fleece31:19–20Refused thehungry22:7Shared hismorsel31:17Sent widowsaway22:9Made the widowsing29:13

Whiteboard

Eliphaz names no witness and no day. He sees the suffering and works backward to the sin. Job will answer each charge before he is done.

Reflect

The right words, the wrong day

Much of what Eliphaz says is true, and he says it to a man on an ash heap. Have you ever been handed a true answer at the wrong moment? Or given one? Write down what you wish had been said instead.

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

Is not God as high as the heavens?

Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

Eliphaz

Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

Job 22:12

Eliphaz

Yet you say: ‘What does God know?

Does He judge through thick darkness?

Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us

as He traverses the vault of heaven.’

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

Will you stay on the ancient path

that wicked men have trod?

They were snatched away before their time,

and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

They said to God, ‘Depart from us.

What can the Almighty do to us?’

But it was He who filled their houses with good things;

so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

Eliphaz

so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

Eliphaz

The righteous see it and are glad;

the innocent mock them:

‘Surely our foes are destroyed,

and fire has consumed their excess.’

Question

Quick question

A charge with no evidence.

What does Eliphaz accuse Job of?

Eliphaz
Evening at the edge of the gray ash heap: a tall white-bearded elder bends down with one hand held out toward a small wrapped man who sits turned away, under a calm amber sky.

Reconcile now and be at peace with Him;

thereby good will come to you.

Receive instruction from His mouth,

and lay up His words in your heart.

If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.

0:14

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Eliphaz
Eliphaz

If you remove injustice from your tents

and consign your gold to the dust

and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

then the Almighty will be your gold

and the finest silver for you.

Eliphaz

Surely then you will delight in the Almighty

and lift up your face to God.

You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows.

Your decisions will be carried out,

and light will shine on your ways.

Eliphaz

When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’

then He will save the lowly.

He will deliver even one who is not innocent,

rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”

Pray

Pray

Ask for the patience to sit with the hurting before you explain them. Ask for words both true and kind. Pray for anyone being told their pain is their fault. Thank God that He knows the truth about each of us.

You’ve experienced

Job 22

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A verse to carry with you

Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

Job 22:12

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