Hello everyone! Today’s Bible study is on Job 15 – Eliphaz Accuses Job Of Sin. According to Bible scholars, the events of the book of Job took place approximately before 2100 B.C.
I encourage you to turn to Job 15 in your Bible. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and study Job 15 with me. I mention this in all the Bible Studies because it is through the Holy Spirit that we get fresh revelation and knowledge to understand the word of God. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know. All the scriptures that you find highlighted in purple in this post are from the NKJV.
In the Bible Study on Job 14, we read about Job speaking of life’s woes. Well, in this Bible study on Job 15, we will read about Eliphaz, accusing Job of sin again. Most of the chapters of the book of Job capture the conversations between Job and his friends.
Without any further delay, let us begin the Bible Study on Job 15, shall we?
Eliphaz Answers Job
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Yes, you cast off fear,
And restrain prayer before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against you.
In Verses 1-6 of Job 15, Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends, answered Job. In chapters Job 12, 13 and 14, Job answered his friends, who rebuked him and urged him to repent, and defended himself. They (Job’s friends) were convinced that Job’s trial was a direct result of his sins. In Job 15 (Today’s Bible Study), Eliphaz begins to accuse Job again. He reprimands Job and tells him that he answers with empty knowledge and unprofitable talk which produces no good. He told that Job does not fear God and his own mouth condemns him. And because of his arrogance he does not repent before God.
Observation
After, Job’s loss of property, wealth, children and health, Eliphaz was the first to accuse Job in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5. Now, he is accusing Job again. If Eliphaz were any righteous than Job then he would be justified in speaking in such a way to Job. However, as I have mentioned many times in the chapters before, Job’s friends have no idea of the wager between satan and God that occured in Job Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
Eliphaz Questions Job
7 “Are you the first man who was born?
Or were you made before the hills?
8 Have you heard the counsel of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not in us?
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you,
And the word spoken gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
And what do your eyes wink at,
13 That you turn your spirit against God,
And let such words go out of your mouth?
In Verses 7-13 of Job 15, Eliphaz further questions Job about wisdom and knowledge. He tells Job that he was neither the first man to be born on the earth nor the first creation. Therefore, he could not claim wisdom. He asks Job what does he know that they (his friends) do not know. And, he further said that there are people much older than Job’s father among them and Job, obviously, couldn’t be wiser than them. Eliphaz accused Job of being carried away with his own thoughts and turning his spirit against God. And, to Eliphaz this was the reason behind Job’s answer to them in Chapters 12, 13 & 14.
God Does Not Blindly Trust Men
14 “What is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
15 If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
16 How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
Who drinks iniquity like water!
In Verses 14-16 of Job 15, Eliphaz said that no man born of a woman could be pure or righteous. He also said that God tests even His angels after what lucifer did. Hence, according to Eliphaz, God cannot blindly trust a man who is abominable and filthy.
Observation
Yes, a man earns God’s trust by His obedience. But it does not make man abominable and filthy. One must never forget that man was created in God’s image. Hence, calling a man as abominable and filthy is a direct insult to God. Eliphaz, in my opinion, is wrong here about God. Also, Eliphaz intends that angels are of a higher rank than a human. However, that is not the truth. Angels minister to men and angels serve men.
A man by himself is not pure/righteous. Remember this was the old testament and the old covenant. The new covenant with Jesus and His blood makes us righteous in and through Him before God Almighty.
A Wicked Man Suffers Pain
17 “I will tell you, hear me;
What I have seen I will declare,
18 What wise men have told,
Not hiding anything received from their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no alien passed among them:
20 The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
In Verses 17-20, Eliphaz talks about the wicked man’s pain. He tells that wicked men suffer pain and writhes in pain all his days. A wicked man hears dreadful sounds in his ears constantly and when he is prosperous the destroyer comes upon him. Eliphaz is referring and speaking to Job calling him a wicked man. In Verse 20, when he talks about wicked man writhing in pain all his days he is referring to Job because Job was writhing in pain from illness.
Eliphaz Calls Job A Wicked Man
21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
For a sword is waiting for him.
23 He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.
In Verse 21, he tells that when Job was prosperous the destroyer came upon him because he was a wicked man. He continues in Verse 22 telling Job that he will not return from darkness if he continues in his ways. And, if he does return to light, a sword will be wating for him to kill him. In Verses 23-24 of Job 15, Eliphaz tells that wicked men like Job wander around for food and they know that darkness is waiting for them everyday. Trouble and anguish overpower wicked men.
Why Does A Wicked Man Suffer
25 For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
26 Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.
In Verses 25-26, Eliphaz explains why does a wicked man suffer. He says that wicked men stretch out their hand against God and rebel against God by running against Him with their strong embossed shield. Job was already tormented physically and mentally. To add, agony to his woes, Eliphaz accused and condemned Job harshly for a sin that he did not commit. Just because Job didn’t listen to his friends does not make him a bad man.
Job’s friends lacked knowledge about the reason for Job’s suffering and they refused to console him. Their words were harsh and would have created more mental agony for Job. In an effort to help Job get deliverance from his illness they tried to urge him to repent of his sins. According to them, any suffering is a direct result of sin. In most cases yes. In some cases, it could be different. One could never know everything.
A Wicked Man Shall Not Prosper
27 “Though he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,
28 He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.
29 He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth continue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
30 He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
31 Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
And his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
Verses 27-33 of Job 15 are all about Eliphaz’s discourse on the wicked man’s future. Even though the wicked man is rich, he has no place to rest. He dwells in desolate cities and houses. A wicked man’s wealth will not continue and darkness would follow him. If a wicked man trusts in futile things, then futility will be his reward.
Eliphaz Calls Job A Deceived Hypocrite
34 For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”
Eliphaz, again, in talking about the wicked man was directly referring to Job. Job was once the richest man in that entire region. However, he lost everything and when his friends (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar) came to console him, they found him sitting in the pit scraping his boils off with a potsherd. Eliphaz calls Job a hypocrite in Verse 34-35. He tells that hypocrites like Job would not have any friends nor company. A hypocrite conceives trouble and brings forth futility and is deceived.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of Job 15. Eliphaz spoke harshly against Job in an attempt to make him repent. Eliphaz’s discourse about the wicked man and his future is true. However, Job is innocent. He is not the wicked man here. Let us read Job 16 to find out what happens next. I hope you gained something out of this bible study on Job 15. When people have trouble, most often, it is the ones closest to them who would condemn them instead of consoling them. What are your thoughts on this? If you have any comments, kindly leave them in the comments box below. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Until Next Time!