Eliphaz's Ironic Prophecy

Continuing a Bible study of Job, one of Job's friends speaks again:

(Job 22:1) Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, (2) "Can a man be profitable to God, as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?"

A man's wisdom may be an advantage to himself and to other men, perhaps, but it is of no advantage to God.

(3) "Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect? (4) Will He reprove you for fear of you? Will He enter with you into judgment?"

Paraphrased, "Do you really help God out by being so righteous? Does He reprove you because He is afraid of you? Will He argue His case with you?"

(5) "Is your wickedness not great, and your iniquities infinite?"

We can assume that Eliphaz means that in the way all men are evil and fall short of the glory of God, so Job must see that he himself does, too.

(6) "For you have taken a pledge from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. (7) You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry."

However, as a godly friend of a righteous man, it seems to me that Eliphaz goes too far when he accuses Job of these actions. Eliphaz truly believes that Job's afflictions must have come as a result of his wickedness, therefore Job must have been unfair in his dealings that resulted in oppression of the poor, and he surely must have neglected the weary and the hungry.

(8) "But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it."

It seems Eliphaz may be speaking of a respectable man, a man of wealth, stating that Job was a friend to the rich and great, while he was an enemy to the poor and needy.

(9) "You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken."

My, but that Job is a wicked fellow, seen only through this description by Eliphaz!

(10) "Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you, (11) Or darkness so that you cannot see; and abundance of waters cover you."

Therefore, as a result of Job's unfair and oppressive dealings, Eliphaz concludes that troubles have now come upon him.

(12) "Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!"

Eliphaz creates an image of God as high up on a tower, higher than the stars, looking down upon men and able to see everything.

(13) "And you say, 'How does God know? Can He judge through the dark cloud? (14) Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks in the circle of heaven.'"

Eliphaz accuses Job of thinking that God does not see his actions.

(15) "Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? (16) Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood; (17) Who said to God, 'Depart from us! And what can the Almighty do to us?'"

Eliphaz throws another accusation to Job, and likens him to the evil men in the days of Noah who lived ungodly lives and were destroyed before their time.

(18) "Yet He filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked is far from me."

Eliphaz admits that God did prosper the wicked, at least for a time. Interestingly, he uses Job's very words that he in no way is to be an advocate for the wicked. He probably means this sarcastically with reference to Job as he believes he has proven Job is not unlike the wicked who prospered, whom Job had previously described.

(19) "The righteous see it and are glad, and the innocent mock them; (20) Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the fire consumes the remnant of them."

Eliphaz means that the righteous and innocent are glad when the wicked are destroyed, as indicated by the next verse when he draws a distinction between the wicked who are cut down, and himself and the other righteous men who are not cut down.

(21) "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. (22) Receive, I pray thee, the law 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."

Eliphaz insinuates Job has been living apart from God and His ways, and encourages him to return to His Lord, and then peace and goodness will come to him.

(24) "Then you will lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. (25) Yes, the Almighty will be your gold defense, and you will have plenty of silver."

Then, Eliphaz says, when Job has returned to the Lord, he will have treasures in abundance. The word I have transcribed as "gold defense" is "betser" and it does indeed mean "gold defense", according to Strong's. The same word is used in verse 24 and transcribed as "gold" there, while it is transcribed as "defence" in verse 25 in the KJV. I conclude it more completely means a gold defense, a stock, a security.

(26) "For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God. (27) You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows."

Eliphaz continues his theory that if Job will only return to the Lord, God will hear his plea, answer him favorably, and Job will happily offer the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving which he had undoubtedly promised in his pleas to God.

(28) "You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you; and the light will shine on your ways."

Paraphrased, "Your plans will be fulfilled and God will give you the light of His direction in all your ways."

(29) "When men are cast down, then you will say, 'There is exaltation', and He will save the humble person. (30) He will deliver the island of the innocent; and it is delivered by the pureness of your hands."

Eliphaz continues that when Job returns to the Lord, he will uplift those who are cast down. Specifically, he will uplift the humble, meaning either those who humble themselves before the Lord, or it could mean when they have been cast down by trials and affliction, he will tell them there is hope.

The last verse is a little more difficult. The KJV is as I have transcribed above, except for shall/will and thine/your. But what is the island of the innocent? The NKJV translates the verse, "He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands." Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries show the original word "iy" can mean "island", but it also suggests that it is "probably identical with 'ay' (through the idea of a query)" and means "not". "Ay" means "Where? Which? When? or How?" Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions also gives the meaning of the word "iy" as "not". The theologian Albert Barnes explains it a little further:

"The word rendered island (iy) commonly means, indeed, an island, or a maritime country...It is, however, used as a 'negative' in 1 Samuel 4:21, in the name 'I-chabod' (iy-kabod). 'And she named the child I-chabod (margin, that is, "where is the glory?" or, there is "no glory"), saying, the glory is departed from Israel.' This sense is frequent in the Rabbinic Hebrew, where it is used as connected with an adjective in a privative sense, like the English 'un'. It is probably an abbreviated form of 'ayin', 'not, nothing'; and is used here as a 'negative' to qualify the following word, 'He shall deliver even him that is not innocent.'"

Therefore, the sense of the last scripture is that when a man returns to God and becomes a friend of God, he will be able to intercede for the not-so-innocent and save them from the punishment they deserve. Albert Barnes pointed out, in his study on this scripture, that unbeknownst to Eliphaz, his words are rather ironically prophetic. Since I have not yet come to this part of my study of Job, I will quote Albert Barnes, until I reach the scripture he quotes in my in-depth study and form my own thoughts.

"The sentiment, also, had a beautiful illustration, though one which Eliphaz did not here think of, in his own case and that of his friends, where this very Job, to whom he was giving this counsel, was directed to intercede for them; Job 42:7-8. The sentiment, indeed, is found every where in the Scriptures, that the righteous are permitted to pray for others, and that they are thus the means of bringing down important blessings on them. In answer to those prayers, multitudes are saved from calamity here, and will be brought to eternal life hereafter."