22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
Eliphaz (the spiritist) gave his third and final discourse. This chapter identifies the philosophy of a spiritist who does not know the one true God.
22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit? Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?
Who does Job think that he is? Does God really care what little Job thinks?
22:3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty that you should be righteous, or is it any gain to him that you make your ways blameless?
Why should God care if you are righteous or unrighteous? He has more important things to do than to worry about little Job.
22:4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you and goes to judgment with you?
Job, do you think that you are so pious that God is going to personally tell you so to your face?
22:5 Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity?
Job, are not you just a guilty sinner who has committed terrible sins? This is why God is judging you!
22:6 “For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked.
Job, God is punishing you because you stole money from your countrymen and you stripped clothing from the poor. In Middle Eastern culture (and later in the Mosaic Law), a debtor was allowed to keep his cloak at night so that he could stay warm. Eliphaz was accusing Job (without any evidence) of taking the cloaks from the poor, causing them to freeze to death during the cold nights.
22:7 You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food.
Without any evidence, Eliphaz accused Job of refusing to give food and water to the poor.
22:8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land, an honored man living on it, 22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you crushed.
Without any evidence, Eliphaz accused Job of crushing widows and orphans.
22:10 That is why snares surround you, and why sudden fear terrifies you, 22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.
Since Job mistreated others, then terrible snares, fears, darkness, and divesting floods have been sent upon Job.
22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? And see the lofty stars, how high they are!
Since God is above the stars, how can Job questions God’s motives?
22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such deep darkness?
Eliphaz is accusing Job of claiming that God cannot judge correctly, because God is in deep darkness and He cannot see as well as Job.
22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven.’
While Job is experiencing a severe satanic attack, Eliphaz is twisting Job’s words. Job commented that God does know the reason for the calamities, but He has chosen not to reveal the reasons to him.
22:15 Will you keep to the old path that evil men have walked— 22:16 men who were carried off before their time, when the flood was poured out on their foundations?
Without any evidence, Eliphaz accused Job of following the path of the wicked antediluvians who drowned from Noah’s flood.
22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
The antediluvians wanted God to leave them alone. They did not think that God could do anything to them. Job is just like these antediluvians.
22:18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things—yet the counsel of the wicked was far from me.
Even though God was blessing the antediluvians, they still wanted to be left alone. Eliphaz sarcastically added that it is he (not Job) who has rejected the counsel of the wicked by rejecting the counsel of the wicked Job!
22:19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice; the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,
The righteous rejoice when the wicked are slain. Since Job is wicked, then Eliphaz will rejoice when Job is slain.
22:20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed, and fire consumes their wealth.’
The innocent will mock the wicked when they are destroyed. Since Eliphaz thinks that he is innocent and Job is wicked, then Eliphaz will mock Job until and after his death.
22:21 “Reconcile yourself with God, and be at peace with him; in this way your prosperity will be good.
Job was to reconcile himself to God by making peace with God. If he did so, God would prosper Job.
22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart.
Job was to study the Word of God and store the information in his personality. Job was already doing this. He was considered one of the three most righteous men in the world. The attack was coming upon him, because he did study and apply Bible doctrine.
22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
If Job returns to God and removes his wicked behavior, then God will build him up.
22:24 and throw your gold in the dust— your gold of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines—
The gold of Ophir was Arabian gold. Job had lost all of his gold so he had no more wealth to throw in the dust.
22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold, and the choicest silver for you.
If Job would throw away his gold, then God would be his gold.
22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face toward God.
If Job would do these things in which Eliphaz suggested, then he would delight in God once again.
22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.
If Job will do these things which Eliphaz suggested, then God will listen to Job’s prayers.
22:28 Whatever you decide on a matter, it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
If Job would do these things which Eliphaz suggested, then light would once again shine upon Job.
22:29 When people are brought low and you say ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast;
If Job will encourage others who have been brought low, then God will bless Job. It is interesting to note that Eliphaz was not following his own advice.
22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, who will escape through the cleanness of your hands.”
If Job will pray for others, then God will once again bless Job, even if he is guilty.
Eliphaz did not have enough Bible doctrine to discern the spiritual warfare which Job was experiencing He also did not have enough Bible doctrine to know how to encourage Job and lift him up in prayer. His lack of Bible doctrine caused Eliphaz to be used by Satan as an instrument of attack on a godly believer.