seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Job 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Now his buddies seem to be saying "you don't need anything....you have God". It seems to me his buddy is telling him that God will "lift him up".This is from Bibletrack.org.
Eliphaz says in Job 22:5, "Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?" That sort of sets the stage for the comments of Eliphaz regarding Job in this chapter. He takes some cheap shots at Job in verses 6-9 - accuses him of abuse and neglect of his fellow man. He does not know these accusations to be necessarily true, but he's looking for some type of wickedness to pin on Job; this will do. Eliphaz’s tone had been more positive and sympathetic than the others, but here he seems to turn a little vicious. So then he spends the balance of his monologue challenging Job to turn to God through repentance. Take a look at Job 22:23, "If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles." It's the conclusion of Eliphaz that Job is absolutely guilty of wickedness and needs to "return to the Almighty."
Many people, as they read the Book of Job, make the same recommendations as did Job's friends. Since we all have some area in our Christian living that needs improvement, why not just confess that, ask for forgiveness and gain restoration? I know that seems to make sense, but let's go back to Job 1 for some perspective here. God himself described Job to Satan by saying, "...there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" Based upon that, an admission to guilt where no guilt exists would be what? ...an attempt to fool God? The Book of Job shows us that conventional wisdom about God's nature failed - miserably failed! No one, including Job himself, could cite a substantive example of sin in Job's life or character. And...that's why Job did not feel it would be appropriate to confess sin that simply didn't exist.
Let's talk a moment about scripture abuse. Many Christians quote scripture way out of context and think nothing of it. I have often heard people quote Job 22:28 as a promise for Believers, "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways." It's one of those name-it-and-claim-it verses that goes with the prosperity-giving message that is often taught by preachers and teachers trying to bolster the financial giving of their audience. In fact, this verse does say, in essence, "Declare it, and it will happen just as you claim it." Here's the catch to this verse: Eliphaz is the one who said it, and he was wrong about nearly everything; he lacked a knowledge of the nature of God. He and his friends were rebuked by God himself for their bad counsel in Job 42-7-9 (see notes). So...when Christians quote scripture out of context as they do this verse, one might very well come away with a very skewed impression of the nature of God.
Isn't there a list of Bible verses people are supposed to use during visitation. There's a verse for comfort, encouragement, redemption..... and so forth. In this book, it seems that Job's "friends" are there for a visitation..... Job lost his children in a horrible incident..... I don't think those three thought they'd have to sit in the ashes and watch Job scrape boils on his body with a shard of clay for a whole week. What makes it worse on the "visiting" friends.... Job keeps saying he's innocent.... that he covered all the sins with sacrifices..... and his friends are, IMHO, running out of Bible verses.Volunteers who visit the sick and forlorn deserve our respect. I can talk to just about anyone online.... but a face to face with someone who is grieving is just not something I am good at. Hey after sitting for a week in ashes with someone..... I might accuse them of being cruel to me.....
I do believe there are a lot of preachers who are preaching the feel good messages just to keep their jobs. They know all the "perfect" verses for any situation..... they spew them in the kings English so people will think their knowledge is sublime.... when really... they might as well have written them on their cuff to read while the trusting soul they are supposed to be helping has their eyes closed.
These three visitors were not preachers..... these men were everyday guys like me who were doing their best...... it's just that their best is a shining example of abuse. One of the reasons I don't talk in scripture away from my computer is..... I don't know scripture to quote..... I don't know prayers to quote.... I really don't know anything that would contribute to the "scripture readers" society. As a matter of fact.... my lack of interest in learning specific passages might have caused a big problem for one of my own children...... there was a little girl who told my daughter that if my daughter didn't learn the scriptures word for word, then she was not a Christian. My daughter is like me..... we don't memorize.... we google it..... I'm not about to spew off a verse out of context just to show my "godliness".
