Hello everyone! Welcome to today’s Bible study on Job 22 – Eliphaz accuses Job of wickedness. 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 22 in your Bible. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and study Job 22 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 21, we read about Job’s discourse on the wicked. Well, in this Bible study on Job 22, we will read about Eliphaz accusing Job of wickedness. As I have already mentioned before, most of the chapters of the book of Job are conversations between Job and his friends. They go back and forth. They might seem monotonous, however, all chapters are important, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the Holy Bible.
Without any further delay, let us read and see what is Job Chapter 22 about, shall we?
Job’s Righteousness Does Not Profit God
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “Can a man be profitable to God,
Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
In Verses 1-3 of Job 22, Eliphaz answers Job in response to Job’s discourse on the wicked in Job 21. He questions Job on how could a man be profitable to God. A wise man is profitable only to himself. According to Eliphaz, the Almighty has no pleasure in Job’s righteousness and The Lord has nothing to gain in Job’s blameless ways.
Eliphaz Accuses Job Of Wickedness
4 “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
And enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great,
And your iniquity without end?
6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason,
And stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have not given the weary water to drink,
And you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 But the mighty man possessed the land,
And the honorable man dwelt in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty,
And the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
10 Therefore snares are all around you,
And sudden fear troubles you,
11 Or darkness so that you cannot see;
And an abundance of water covers you.
In Verses 4-11 of Job 22, Eliphaz tells Job that God does not correct him because He found that he (Job) has the fear of God and He does not judge Job to correct him. Instead, according to Eliphaz, He punishes Job because he is wicked. Eliphaz accuses Job of breaking his promise with his brother (also means neigbours) without any reason and having stripped them of their clothing. He accused Job of not feeding the hungry and the thirsty. The mighty man (Job) possessed the land and well-known and rich men dwelt in the land which Job owned whereas the downtrodden and the poor such as the widows and their children were sent away empty handed and were oppressed.
Hence, as a result of all the evil that Job did God has set up snares and fear all around him to trouble him. He cannot see because of the darkness around him and waters cover him from which he cannot swim out or escape.
Eliphaz Assumes Much
12 “Is not God in the height of heaven?
And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 And you say, ‘What does God know?
Can He judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see,
And He walks above the circle of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way
Which wicked men have trod,
16 Who were cut down before their time,
Whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us!
What can the Almighty do to them?’
18 Yet He filled their houses with good things;
But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
In Verses 12-18 of Job 22, Eliphaz continues to accuse Job. He told Job that he does wicked things thinking that God who is on high cannot see his deep darkness. He said that Job assumed his darkness and dark deeds were beyong God’s scope of vision. Eliphaz assumed that Job thought ‘God cannot see through the thick clouds and He walks above the circle of heaven’. Eliphaz questions Job if he would continue to follow in the footsteps of the wicked who were cut down before their time and whose foundations were swept away by a flood. The wicked asked God to depart from them because they did not see any profit in praying to Him. Despite their wickedness, God filled their houses with good things, according to Eliphaz. Therefore, he shuns the counsel of the wicked.
Observation
Eliphaz is telling Job that despite his wicked deeds, God blessed him and that he didn’t earn anything by himself or his righteousness or loyalty before God. Eliphaz blamed Job of many things and claimed that he had done wrong to many people and this is the cause behind his extreme trial and suffering.
The Wicked Perish
19 “The righteous see it and are glad,
And the innocent laugh at them:
20 ‘Surely our adversaries are cut down,
And the fire consumes their remnant.’
In Verses 19-20 of Job 22, Eliphaz says that the righteous are glad that the wicked are punished and the innocent people laugh at the wicked man’s punishment. Surely, God cuts down (punishes) the enemies of the righteous and fire consumes their household and their descendants.
Eliphaz Asks Job To Repent And Turn To God
21 “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth,
And lay up His words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
You will remove iniquity far from your tents.
24 Then you will lay your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
And your precious silver;
26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty,
And lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to Him,
He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.
28 You will also declare a thing,
And it will be established for you;
So light will shine on your ways.
29 When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’
Then He will save the humble person.
30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent;
Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”
In Verses 21-30 of Job 22, Eliphaz advices Job to listen to God so that good could come to him. He asks him to receive God’s instruction and put His words in his heart. If Job returned to God, then he would be built up by God and He will remove all iniquity from his household. He would not have to store up gold and precious stones because God will be his gold and silver and he would delight in The Lord. He instructs Job to lift up his face to God and He will hear him. Job then shall declare a thing and it would be established to him so there will be light in all his ways.
When people cast him down, he can boldy say that his exaltation will come because God saves the humble. He (God) shall even deliver a sinful man through Job’s prayers and the purity of his hands (hands that do not sin).
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of the bible study lesson on Job 22. Eliphaz directly accuses Job of sin here. There is no indirect speech. He wants to see Job delivered from his destruction. I hope you learnt something from this free bible study and found it helpful in your Bible study journey.
If you have any comments or questions for me, kindly leave them in the comments box below. I highly appreciate it. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Until Next Time!