Job 22-24
Job 20 may have been Bildad’s last shot at his humbled, grief-stricken friend, but now (Job 22) is Eliphaz’ turn. I really don’t want to be too hard Eliphaz’ words, nor on the others’ words—for that matter! With some exceptions, it’s not so much the words these three friends speak, as it is the assumptions they make, that put them in the wrong. In Eliphaz’ last speech, he speaks the truth: Even the best of us fall far short of God’s glory. All we need do is repent, “agree with God” (Job 22:21), and good will come to us.
Throughout all this, Eliphaz makes the false assumption that there is a direct connection between Job’s sin (After all, we all sin!), and Job’s predicament. Their rationale is our human tendency. We always want to know the “Why?” of things. “Why do bad things happen to good people?” we wonder. “They must not have been as good as we thought!” we answer. Or, conversely, “Why did this wonderful thing happen to me?” And, as Rogers and Hammerstein answered for Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, we think: “I Must Have Done Something Good.”
Of course, all such malarkey was put to rest in John 9, when the disciples assumed that sin helped cause the blindness of the man born blind, and Jesus said, “No.” But even here in Job 23-24, Job speaks in the very personal language of one who knows the general rules, but sees that his own situation does not fit. “I would lay my case before Him…I would understand what He would say to me.” (Job 23:4-5)
Take time to read Job 23:8-10a carefully. To sum it up, Job says, “Whichever way I turn, I cannot see the Lord. Though I can’t see Him, I know that He sees me!”
When it comes to others’ sicknesses and issues, they might be related to their sin; and they might not.
But’s always best NOT to assume.
Your brother in the Word,
Pastor Gary
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