VIII. Eliphaz’s Third Speech and Job’s Response (Job 22:1–24:25)

VIII. Eliphaz’s Third Speech and Job’s Response (22:1–24:25)

22:1-30 Job’s comforters started a third round of speeches, but Zophar wouldn’t speak a third time. Instead, Elihu—a man from whom we have not yet heard—would take over and give a lengthy speech (33:1–37:24).

This time, Eliphaz said that man adds nothing to God, and that God receives no benefit from man (22:2-3). That’s good theology. God does not need you or me. We need him, but God is sufficient, complete within himself. He does not need anything in his created order to make him feel better about being God.

Eliphaz wasn’t content to leave things on that truth, however. He took his accusations against Job to a new level, mentioning a long list of the sins and crimes he was sure Job had committed. He accused Job of evils such as ripping off his brothers, even if it left them naked (22:6). He claimed that Job refused to give water to the thirsty and food to the famished, despite the fact that he was a powerful man who owned a lot of land and could have done something about such needs (22:7-8). Further, Eliphaz asserted that Job also mistreated the two most helpless segments of society, widows and the fatherless (22:9). And if such charges against Job had been true, it was no wonder Eliphaz was convinced that Job was suffering justly. He was simply getting the sentence a righteous and holy God had handed down.

Eliphaz, therefore, issued an altar call of sorts to Job, calling on him to come forward and repent (22:21-30). All Job had to do was admit that everything his friends said about him was true. Then, Eliphaz was sure, God would restore and forgive him.

23:1–24:25 When it was his turn to speak, Job continued to insist that if a trial were held in heaven’s court, God would pay attention to his case and declare him not guilty (23:3-7). The problem, Job had decided was that he didn’t know where to find God (23:8-9). Yet, even though he was frustrated in his desire to get a hearing, Job was confident that God knew his heart. He was sure that when God had tested him, he would emerge as pure gold (23:10).

When you experience trials, you often won’t be able to make sense of things. You won’t get answers to all of your why questions. And that’s why it’s crucial that you grasp this truth and don’t let go: God is in control. He’s not only in control of the blessings, he’s also in control of the messes. Like Job, you may not be able to figure out where God is, but he knows where you are (23:8-10). We worship him because of what we know that he knows.

I have not departed from the commands of [God’s] lips; I have treasured the words from his mouth more than my daily food (23:12). Believers who aren’t regularly feeding on God’s Word are malnourished. It’s not enough just to be under the teaching of the Bible weekly in church. We also need to be in the Word daily. When we want to hear from God in his Word more than we want to eat, we are on the way to developing healthy spiritual lives. In this way, Job is a model for us in his hunger for the commands and words of God’s mouth. And he foreshadows the one who would one day say, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

Job had his own list of injustices committed not by him but by the wicked against the poor and needy (24:2-12). Yet, he concluded, God [paid] no attention to this crime (24:12). Murderers, thieves, and adulterers just seem to have their way (24:13-16).