Job 22
McGeeCHAPTER 22THEME: The third discourse of EliphazHere we come to the third inning, if you please. This is the third time that these men get into the arena to battle an intellectual battle. This kind of thing is not so attractive today. We had debate teams and that type of contest when I was going to college, but it was no more popular then than it is now. Today we build bigger and better stadiums all over this country. It is a mighty poor city that doesn’t have a gleaming, multi-million dollar stadium for athletic events. However, very little money goes for the intellectual and even less for the spiritual exercise. Here in Job it is an intellectual battle and a spiritual battle. You know, very few of us have ever been out on the football field carrying the ball or charging or blocking. Very few of us have ever gone up to bat in a major league, but all of us are out in the arena of life in a spiritual battle.
This does not seem important to most people. They would rather go and sit in the bleachers and watch somebody else carry the ball. Well, my friend, you and I are fighting a spiritual battle. Paul tells us that we are wrestling and that the wrestling match is going on right now. This kind of intellectual and spiritual battle excited the people in that day. We think they were uncivilized then. We are the ones who build the multi-million dollar stadiums for physical combat and fail to emphasize the intellectual combat. You will remember that Eliphaz is the man who had the remarkable experience. He had a strange and mysterious vision. He is a spiritualist. He is the one who says, “I have seen.”
Job 22:1
The very nature of the question reveals that a man cannot be profitable to God. He is asking, “Job, you sure think a lot of yourself, but what do you suppose God thinks of you?” He thinks Job is acting as if God might derive some benefit from his behavior and that if God were not restraining him, he might become too strong for Godthat God is holding Job back for this reason. Well, Eliphaz is certainly off target. And it is certainly not comforting to a man who at this moment does need help and light from heaven. Eliphaz’ question applies to some church members I have known who think they are profitable to God. Some folk seem to think they make a real contribution to God down here and that He is rather fortunate to have them on His team. They seem to think that when they get to heaven, heaven will really be improved because of who they are. We need to recognize that man is not profitable to God. We are all unprofitable, which means we are like a bunch of spoiled fruit. Jesus told a parable about service and He concluded, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luk_17:10).
Job 22:3
These men do sense a little chink in the armor of this man Job. It will be glaring and apparent in just a few chapters. The trouble is that they do not really make a correct diagnosis of the man, and they certainly do not know the remedy. They are not able to comfort him and bring him help as they should. The fact that Job claims to be a righteous man doesn’t cause God to jump up and down with glee and throw His hat in the air. I have a feeling that there are a great many professing Christians who rest so much upon themselves and who they are that they really are not trusting Christ. Let me emphasize that we bring no pleasure to the Almighty because we have been good little Sunday School boys and have pins for perfect attendance. A great many folk think that the Lord is delighted with that sort of thing. I don’t think so. We need to recognize who we are, and we need to recognize our utter dependence upon Godour great need of Him. We are to be looking to Him instead of trying to impress Him with who we are and what we are doing.
Job 22:4
Eliphaz asks Job, “Are you so righteous and so perfect that God has to be afraid to deal with you?” We need to understand that when God says Job was “perfect” it means he stood in a right relationship with God through sacrificewe know he offered sacrifices for his sons and daughters. And certainly God was not afraid to deal with Job. Obviously, this man is having a very rough time.
Job 22:5
Eliphaz is indulging in a very mean thing here. Unfortunately there are some Christians today who indulge in this same type of thing. You see, when this tragedy struck Job, it caused many people to say, “I wonder what it is in his life?” Since they weren’t able to pinpoint anything, the gossip began. Folk began to manufacture reasons. Before long they could spin quite a yarn out of a little piece of thread. That is exactly what Eliphaz is doing. He has already accused Job of acting as if God might derive some benefit from his good behavior. Now he turns around and tells Job that his wickedness couldn’t be greater. Eliphaz thinks he had just better tell Job all the things of which he is guilty. He is guessing, because none of these things are true. It is pure gossip. But look at the accusations he levies against Job. Such treatment cannot help Job. It puts Job on the defensive. Instead of leading Job to defend God, it leads Job to defend himself. If Job becomes convinced that he is not guilty of these false accusations, then it leads him to think that God certainly must have made a mistake and that there is something wrong with God. That is the alternative way of thinking about it. The accusations of Eliphaz lead Job to this kind of defense. Listen to the stories the gossips tell about Job. They make him sound like a real Mr. Scrooge!
Job 22:8
Eliphaz implies that these are the things Job has done, and now the word is getting out. He goes on to warn Job that God is on high and takes note of all these things.
Job 22:12
“Job, you have been doing these things as if God doesn’t see you, but God does see you. Although you thought you were getting by with it, it is obvious now that you didn’t get by with it.” The entire argument rests upon the premise that Job has some secret sin in his life which nobody knows but God, and now God is dealing with him in judgment. This is the explanation for his illness and all the tragedy that has happened to himaccording to the argument of Eliphaz. He thinks Job conceives of God as One who does not know what is going on.
Job 22:13
“Job, you don’t see Him, but He sees you and knows about you.”
Job 22:15
It is always the same old argument which we heard at the beginning. He rests everything upon some experience that he has had. He can say, “I have seen the wicked.” Now Eliphaz gives a gospel plea here, but it is something which Job didn’t need, because he occupied a redeemed relationship. He could say, “I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job_19:25).
Job 22:21
That is a marvelous, wonderful invitation, but it does not apply to Job. It is like many of the invitations given in churches todaythere sits a congregation of redeemed folk (at least they think they are saved), and an invitation for salvation is given. It is almost meaningless in such circumstances and borders on the ridiculous. To ask Job to accept Christ is not the answer to his problem. “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace” is a gracious invitation and a good invitation. It is the invitation which God gives to us. The Lord Jesus said the same thing in the New Testament, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat_11:28). Eliphaz said this was the way to have peace with God. Also Paul says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom_5:1). “Thereby good shall come unto thee” is true also. However, we must remember that “good” means what will be good for us. Sometimes that means discipline when we need it.
Job 22:22
These men just keep harping on the one theme: “Job, there is some secret sin in your life. Deal with it and turn to God.” They are treating him as if he is not even related to God at all.
Job 22:24
Eliphaz is assuming that God is Job’s enemy, but God is not Job’s enemy. This is an attitude which is still one of the greatest deterrents in the preaching of the gospel. Men are sinnersthis should be made very clearbut God today is not at enmity with this world. God is reconciled to this world. You and I don’t need to do anything to reconcile God; Christ did this for us. God is reconciled and has His arms outstretched to a lost world, saying, “You can come to Me, but you must come My way.
You must come by the One who told you ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.’” If you come His way, you can come with boldness into the presence of God. God will meet you with a great welcome and abundance of spiritual blessing. Eliphaz is not representing God accurately, as you can see. Neither is he any help or comfort to Job.