Job 15

Here in chapter 15, we see Eliphaz pick up the same argument he used during the first round of exchanges with Job. Once again he is arguing that the wicked suffer in this life, not the righteous. He is more direct, and honestly, more angry sounding this time. He even begins his assault by accusing Job of a few things:

1. Job has no fear or reverence for God
2. Job is controlled by his sin, and is being willfully deceptive, covering up the wickedness in his life
3. He can no longer reason, his ability to think has been destroyed
4. He has turned against God

Once again, we see that Eliphaz speaks from a place of comfort, not going through what Job is going through, he concludes that Job must be guilty of some HEINOUS sin. The problem with Eliphaz is that the world he thinks he lives in and the world he really lives in aren’t the same place. In Eliphaz’s world, if you do wrong punishment comes swiftly, and if you do good reward follows. There is no injustice, the good men are blessed and the evil men are cursed. To Eliphaz, anyone suffering like Job has obviously gotten what was coming to them.

The world isn’t like that, and the reason is simple. SIN. Just three little letters, but they massively changed the world from the glorious masterpiece God created into what we see today. Today innocent children are born with AIDS, women kill there unborn babies for convenience sake, holy men are abused and trampled down by the world while unrighteous men are exalted and made to prosper. WHY? Because this world is under the control of Satan, who loves to Kill, Steal, and Destroy. Though it is true that nothing happens that God doesn’t allow to happen, it is also true that this world looks nothing like what God wants it to. Because he loves us, He allows us to make our own choices, and sometimes those chooses hurt others. Sin doesn’t take place in a vacuum. It is true that Job’s suffering was a by-product of SIN… just not the kind of personal wickedness his friends thought. There is no force on earth more destructive than sin. That is why GOD HATES IT.

Eliphaz is right about some things, but he is dead wrong in thinking that suffering only affects the “wicked”. It rains on the just and the unjust alike. His accusations are baseless and his views are totally faulty… but they are the logical by-products of his presupposed ideas of how things worked. Lets learn a lesson here… don’t think you have it all figured out. There are times when the best thing we can say is, “I don’t know what is happening”. Guess what… God always knows!