Bible in 365 days Part 4: Job's conversation with Eliphaz

I am a little behind on my blogging so I have decided to try and condense my posts in Job a bit. I thought that it would be interesting in looking at each of the three friends that go to visit Job as 3 separate conversations.

Quick background on Job. Job was a successful man in his region with seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 5 hundred donkeys and many servants. He was a righteous man who was in the practice of making burnt offerings for his kids in case they may have sinned not necessarily because he knew that they did.

Job is a great example of bad things happening to good people since God lets Satan take everything away from Job eventually including his health in order to try to get Job to rebel against and curse God. So all of Job's animals were stolen or killed, his kids died in a horrific natural disaster, and he developed boils all over his body in a test to see if Job would curse God.

Under this background three friends of Job -- Eliphax, Bildad, and Zophar went to him to try to comfort him. They actually didn't recognize him because of all the boils and just sat with Job for a week not knowing what to say before the conversation started. Job starts the conversation by saying that he wished that he was never born.

The first friend mentioned is Eliphaz. He starts by saying how Job has been wise in the past and looked at his success as proof. He reminds Job that he has been a very devout but that no one can live up to God's standard. The last part of that message being delivered to him possibly in his dreams by some sort of spirit or angel in Job 4:12-21.

Eliphaz presses Job to take his problems to God and reminds him that God is just and that Job will eventually be restored. However he does mention that Job must have done something to bring on his current condition.

Job's replies how depressed he is and that he is still longing to die. Job also calls Eliphaz out for possibly being worried that he will ask Eliphaz for support from him. Job also asks Eliphaz what he did wrong to deserve what happened to him. Job is a little sarcastic towards Eliphaz when he calls him a "Watcher of humanity" and asks him to leave him alone.

The second time Eliphaz speaks and tells Job that he is being verbally manipulative and that he should be more fearful of God. He comes back at Job asking what he understands that the rest of his friends don't. You can see some arrogance in Eliphaz in chapter 15:11 implying that he and his friends are acting on God's behalf to console Job.

Eliphaz goes on to describe how a wicked man will never find rest that he and his family will eventually perish because of acting out against God. He asserts that bad things will happen to people because of their rebellion against God.

Job replies calling out his friends for being lousy comforters. The it is easy for them in their position to assert that Job did something wrong and that he is just getting his just reward. He goes onto say that he would actually try to bring a encouragement to help his friend rather then tear them down. Job does feel that God has turned against him and in Chapter 16 verse 17 he makes it clear that he has done nothing wrong to deserve his sudden turn of events.

Job is a reminder that we are not people's judge and jury and that it is up to God to allow people to flourish or not independent of what they do to be righteous.

In 16:18-22 Job foreshadows the role of Jesus in heaven interceding on our behalf by his faith that someone must be able to bring his case before God. Even though Job is still very depressed in Chapter 17 Job somewhat goes along with his friends line of thought when he says that "the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger"-- Only to throw that logic back at them to try again in giving good counsel.

When Eliphaz speaks again in Chapter 22 he accuses Job of being a loan shark, withholding the necessities of life of someone who was desperate, and not providing for widows and that is why Job is having all the trouble he has. Eliphaz seems to be and OG Pharisee in how rulelistic his logic seems. In 22:30 Eliphaz goes as far to say that God will rescue others at your request because of how pure you are. While this does happen later on in the story of Abraham saving Lot, here Eliphaz is essentially saying all you have to do is be pure and you will be able to command God.

Job begins to answer Eliphaz talking about how distant God feels to him despite recognizing his omnipresence and wishing that he could argue his case in front of God. Job again reinforces the fact that he has done nothing wrong and that he is afraid for what may be next for him. He then goes on to address how people are treated unfairly yet God seems to allows it to occur without the same judgement that is being passed against him.

Job also lays out what the characteristics of a wicked person is who despises the light and is destructive so that Eliphaz can compare what he is accusing Job of to what he actually is. At the very end of his speech he challenges his friends to prove that he is lying about some unconfessed sin that they are assuming that he has.

Next in the speeches is Bildad.

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