JOB LESSON 22
We will begin this lesson in Job 22:1 "Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered and said," Job 22:2 "Can a man be profitable unto God, as he
that is wise may be profitable unto himself?"
Eliphaz had begun another ruthless attack of Job. God does not
look to man to profit Him in any way. Man has nothing that is worthy
of giving God, except his love and faithfulness.
Job 22:3 "[Is it] any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art
righteous? or [is it] gain [to him], that thou makest thy ways
perfect?"
Job's friend was insinuating that Job was depending on his own
righteousness. He thought that Job wanted to be perfect to assist God.
This had never been what Job had said, or even implied. Job knew the
righteousness that he had, had been given to him by God. He knew that
he was not perfect, but redeemed. He stated in chapter 19, that his
Redeemer liveth.
Job 22:4 "Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter
with thee into judgment?"
Eliphaz would not accept the fact that anyone would suffer the
things that Job had suffered, if it was not a reproof from God for the
evil he had done. He kept on telling Job that this suffering was a
judgement on him from God.
Job 22:5 "[Is] not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities
infinite?"
The answer to that is no. Job's wickedness was not great. In
fact, quite the opposite. Many ministries today try to relate problems
Christians are having with sins in their lives. This book proves
beyond a shadow of doubt, that problems that come to Christians are
not always because of sin. Sometimes, Satan is afraid of the good
example the Christian is leading in their community, and tries to stop
him, before he wins others to Christ by example.
Job 22:6 "For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for
nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing."
This had to be a custom of the land long before the law of Moses
was given. A person could hardly afford to pledge his clothing, which
kept his body from the harsh temperatures he lived in. Of course, this
was a lie. Job had not done this. Human decency, besides the teachings
of God, would not allow a person to do such a thing.
Job 22:7 "Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and
thou hast withholden bread from the hungry."
Eliphaz had thought up some of the most evil things he could
think of, and that was what he accused Job of. Of course, his
accusations were untrue.
Job 22:8 "But [as for] the mighty man, he had the earth; and the
honourable man dwelt in it."
Job was being accused, here, of being a respecter of persons.
Eliphaz was, also, calling Job the mighty man. Much of what he said to
Job was from his jealousy.
Job 22:9 "Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the
fatherless have been broken."
We will find, of all the accusations that Eliphaz made, Job would
find the sending of the widows away was the most offensive to him. He
had done exactly the opposite. The last of that was an accusation that
he made the fatherless even more weak than they had been. Perhaps,
Eliphaz was judging Job on his own failures.
Job 22:10 "Therefore snares [are] round about thee, and sudden
fear troubleth thee;" Job 22:11 "Or darkness, [that] thou canst not
see; and abundance of waters cover thee."
Job did fear God, but not for the reasons Eliphaz mentioned. Job
feared that he might have unknowingly displeased God. It did seem as
if Job was living in darkness, and was covered over with water from
his tears. This darkness was brought on by Satan, and not God.
Job 22:12 "[Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the
height of the stars, how high they are!"
Yes, God is in the high heaven, but he is everywhere. He is
omnipresent. He is everywhere all at the same time.
Job 22:13 "And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge
through the dark cloud?"
Job was fully aware that God knew everything that happened in the
darkest place. He was not trying to hide his sins. He knew it would
have been impossible to hide them from God, even if he had something
to hide, which he did not.
Job 22:14 "Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth
not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven."
This is just not true. God is spoken of as the "All Seeing Eye".
There is no darkness great enough to hide from God. The Light of God
can penetrate the darkest place. Eliphaz was making a lot of untrue
statements.
Job 22:15 "Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have
trodden?"
Eliphaz was accusing Job of walking on that wide path that evil
men in the past had walked. He believed Job would walk there to his
own destruction.
Job 22:16 "Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was
overflown with a flood:"
There are two flood marks around the world, that speak of two
catastrophic floods. This Scripture alone, would not date Job after
the flood of Noah. We do know that in the time of Noah, the wicked
were judged of God, and God repented that he had made them. Noah was
the only one God spoke of as finding favor in His eyes. His family of
8 including him were the only survivors of that flood.
Job 22:17 "Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the
Almighty do for them?"
This was a question of the evil men, and certainly had not been
asked by Job.
Job 22:18 "Yet he filled their houses with good [things]: but the
counsel of the wicked is far from me."
Eliphaz was trying to prove he knew God, as well as Job. True, it
was God that filled their houses with good things, because all good
gifts come down from heaven from God.
Job 22:19 "The righteous see [it], and are glad: and the innocent
laugh them to scorn."
The righteous see the wicked prosper in this life. They had
better enjoy their earthly pleasures, because if they do not change,
they will not have pleasure after the death of their bodies.
Job 22:20 "Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant
of them the fire consumeth."
In the end, the fire would consume the wicked.
Job 22:21 "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace:
thereby good shall come unto thee."
Eliphaz had been accusing Job of sins that he had not committed.
He, now, changed his pace a little, and tried once more, to get Job to
repent, and perhaps, God would remove these calamities from him.
Job 22:22 "Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay
up his words in thine heart."
This was speaking of the law of God. This speaks of the spoken
Word of God, because it came from His mouth. The following Scriptures
are the exact thing that Eilphaz was trying to say. Psalms 119:11 "Thy
word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Job had already done this.
Job 22:23 "If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built
up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles."
Eliphaz, and Job's other two friends, were all convinced that Job
was out of fellowship with God. Eliphaz believed that Job could still
return to the LORD God Almighty, if he would. He did not realize that
Job had not left God.
Job 22:24 "Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of
Ophir as the stones of the brooks."
Eliphaz was teaching that prosperity automatically went with
being in right standing with God. Eliphaz might have thought that was
important, if he came to God. Job was not caught up in things of this
world, and that was not important to him. He came to God, because he
worshipped Him, not as a get rich quick scheme.
Job 22:25 "Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt
have plenty of silver."
Silver, in the spiritual sense, means redemption. The Almighty
does redeem all who will dare to believe. He will be our very present
help in trouble. It does not automatically bring good times to serve
God, however.
Job 22:26 "For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty,
and shalt lift up thy face unto God."
He was telling Job to put his trust in the Almighty and all of
his problems would be over. There was just one thing that was unusual
about that. Job had already put his trust in the Almighty. This was
not an attack from the LORD, but was from Satan.
Job 22:27 "Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear
thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows."
Again, Eliphaz, was sure that Job had not prayed. He was assured
that Job had promised God, and then did not follow through with his
vows.
Job 22:28 "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be
established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways."
We must still remember, that this was Eliphaz speaking. He still
related being in right standing, with God with having everything going
right in your life. We mentioned earlier, if things are going right in
your life, it could mean that you are no threat to Satan. In verse 28,
above, Eliphaz had gone so far as to say, that if Job would get right
with God, anything he spoke with his mouth would happen. The last
part of this is true. The Light of God does shine on those who are
His. He shines that Light in good times, and in bad.
Job 22:29 "When [men] are cast down, then thou shalt say, [There
is] lifting up; and he shall save the humble person."
When a person was cast down and Job prayed and asked God to lift
him up, he would be lifted up, was what this Scripture was saying. In
all of the Bible studies, we have discussed how we must examine who is
speaking, and to whom he is speaking, before we decide whether that
Scripture is doctrine for all, or not. This friend was saying, in a
sense, that Job would be lifted up, because of Eliphaz's position with
God. We will find this was not true at all.
Job 22:30 "He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is
delivered by the pureness of thine hands."
God will sometime, deliver the island of the innocent. Again,
this is not automatic. In a sense, Eliphaz was prophesying that Job's
prayers to God would deliver Eliphaz. At this point, Eliphaz did not
realize he had done wrong, so he did not say this on purpose.
Job 22 Questions
1. God does not look to man to ________ Him.
2. The only thing man has to give to God, is his ________ and his
____________.
3. What was Job's friend insinuating in verse 3?
4. What did Job know about himself, that was the opposite of what
Eliphaz said?
5. What did Eliphaz keep on telling Job about the problems he was
having?
6. How do many ministries today remind us of what Eliphaz is doing to
Job here?
7. What 2 sins did Eliphaz specifically mention in verse 6?
8. Had Job really done this?
9. What 2 additional sins did he mention in verse 7?
10. Who was the mighty man, in verse 8, supposed to be?
11. Which of the accusations that Eliphaz made were the most offensive
to Job?
12. Job did fear God, but not for the __________ Eliphaz mentioned.
13. The darkness that seemed to surround Job was from __________ and
not from _______.
14. Where did Eliphaz say that God is?
15. What does omnipresent mean?
16. Can God judge through the dark cloud?
17. _________ ________ are a covering to Him.
18. Where did Eliphaz believe that God walked?
19. What did Eliphaz believe about the path that Job was walking?
20. Why does the author say that the flood, in verse 16, is not
necessarily speaking of the flood of Noah?
21. Who survived Noah's flood?
22. The question, in verse 17, was of ________ men.
23. In verse 18, Eliphaz was trying to prove what?
24. The righteous see the ________ prosper, and that discourages them.
25. In the end, the ________ would consume the wicked.
26. What suggestion was Eliphaz making to Job in verses 21 and 22.
27. What did Eliphaz promise Job, if he would repent?
28. In verse 24, Eliphaz was speaking that _________ automatically
went with being in right standing with God.
29. What does "silver" mean spiritually?
30. What was Eliphaz saying in verse 29?
31. What did Eliphaz say prophetically unknowingly?
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