Job 22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Eliphaz is speaking in this passage to Job. Eliphaz has recently stated that Job had taken a pledge for his brother, took clothes from people, did not give water to those who needed it and withheld food from the hungry. Eliphaz thinks he knows what Job did wrong and he is accusing Job of sinning against God by cheating and taking advantage of those who were needy.

Eliphaz tells Job that he needs to get to know God better. If Job made his peace with God, then God would reward him with good. Solomon once said that there is nothing new under the sun. What Eliphaz is doing in this passage is no different then what we see being preached in thousands of churches around the world each week. Many people preach a gospel of prosperity. If you want to be rich and you want to be blessed with wealth, then you need to get to know God better.

Granted, there is nothing wrong with getting to know God better, but that does not mean that God is automatically going to bless you because you now spend five hours a day in prayer. Daniel was a man of righteousness yet he spent most of his life in captivity. Daniel had a close relationship with God and while Daniel would have probably told you he needed to spend more time drawing closer to God, he had a relationship with God that we would do well to aspire to.

The problem with most Christians today is that they do not understand what a blessing really is. When Solomon had the opportunity to ask for anything, he asked for wisdom to guide the people that God had entrusted unto him. Solomon did not ask for health or wealth, but God gave it to him. Solomon knew what God had called him to do and God blessed Solomon because Solomon sought to fulfill God’s purpose.

Jabez prayed a prayer asking God to bless him. When most of us read that passage, we think of financial blessings. However, that is not what Jabez was asking for. When Jacob stole the blessing from his brother Esau, he was not stealing the inheritance. No, Jacob received from his father Isaac a prophesy regarding what God was going to do through him in the future. Just because Jacob was blessed, it did not mean his life was changed forever. In fact, Jacob soon found himself running for his life and he discovered that there was a man who was even better than he was at deceiving others.

There is nothing wrong with you taking the time to draw closer to God. In fact, this should be a goal for each of us. However, we cannot have a goal of drawing closer to God if the only reason why we are doing that is so that HE gives us what we want. Yes, there are examples of those in scripture who were persistent in their prayers and they received the desires of their heart. However, you also need to remember all those who had to patiently wait for God to give them the desires of their heart. Joshua and Caleb did nothing wrong but they wondered in the wilderness for 40 years. All the persistent prayers in the world would not get them into the Promised Land before God was ready to let them enter.

Be patient and allow God to direct your steps. Do not pursue spiritual things to get ahead in this world. Instead, you should pursue spiritual things to get ahead in the life to come. You should patiently spend time drawing closer to God so that you sow on this earth spiritual seed which bears spiritual fruit. Do not mix the things of this world with the things of God.

Job 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

Eliphaz is speaking to Job and he asks a question that many of us should ask. It is easy for us to see how an accurate thrower is good for a football team, how a high jumper is good for a basketball team, how a fast runner is good for a soccer team. It is easy for us to understand how a good accountant is good for a corporation.

We see how when a person has certain skills and they use those skills in the right profession, they bring value to not only themselves but also to those around them. A fast swimmer will not necessarily do much good in a bicycle race. A good sales person would probably not be very valuable trying to trade stocks on the stock exchange.

A good writer writes good books. A good mathematician solves difficult problems. A good scientist will make new discoveries. Those who perfect their giftings will be profitable.

The question posed by Eliphaz is whether a man can be profitable to God. Did God need Moses to part the Red Sea? Did God need Elijah in order to bring fire down from heaven? Did God need David in order to kill Goliath? The answer to all those questions is no. God did not need those men, but God chose to use those men for HIS glory.

These men were profitable to God because they were willing to allow the power of God to flow through their lives so that God could be glorified through them. David may have received the praise for killing Goliath but David gave credit to God for enabling him to take out the enemies of the Lord.

Are you profitable to God? If you pray as hard as Hannah, does that make you profitable to God? If you win as many souls to the Lord as Peter, does that make you profitable to God? If you are a persistent writer like Paul and use your writings to disciple millions of readers, does that make you profitable to God?

God could have used anyone but HE chose to use those who were willing to be vessels in HIS hands. God did not need these people as HE could have used no one and the same things occurred. However, God made this world and HE put mankind into this world for HIS pleasure. God allows us to make our own choices, but there are great rewards for those who chose to serve HIM.

Pretend you were Henry Ford and you made 1,000 cars. What if only 5 of them worked? Would you consider it a success that five cars worked the way you designed them or would you consider it a failure that 995 cars did not work? Henry Ford would have considered that a failure. God created a perfect world and 100% of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When we do right, it does not make up for the fact that we have sinned. When we do right, all we are doing is what God created us to do from the very beginning.

Do not be proud of yourself when things appear to be going well for you. Instead, you need to understand that all you are doing is your duty. Be patient with the difficult circumstances in your life because they are designed by God to draw the world’s attention to HIM. Do not gloat when you do something right, instead, praise HIM for HIS mercy to enable you to do something that gives HIM the glory even though you have sinned in the past and violated HIS perfect law.

Job 15:4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

This is the second time that Eliphaz is trying to give advice to Job. Eliphaz is one of Job’s friends who came to comfort him during Job’s extreme trials. During this second conversation that Eliphaz has with Job, he starts out by stating that Job has lost his fear of the Lord. In Eliphaz’ mind, because Job is not admitting that he has sinned, Eliphaz has determined that Job does not even know what sin is or he does not care what is a sin against God.

Eliphaz has determined that there is no way that Job could be suffering so much absent he first sinned against God. Because of Eliphaz’ mistaken belief, he is setting himself up to give some faulty advice. Job has refused to admit that this trial he is facing is a result of some secret sin.

Eliphaz is trying to be Job’s conscience. However, Eliphaz has not actually seen Job do anything wrong and he is simply seeing a mess and assuming that it is Job’s fault. This is akin to a car being smashed between two semi-trucks and a driver who comes by the accident 30 minutes later gets out and tells the driver of the car that it is all his fault. Maybe it is the driver of the automobile’s fault, but then again, maybe it is one of the trucker’s fault.

There are those out in the world who are so committed to their secret sin that they refuse to acknowledge that the activities they are doing is sin. Maybe you have met a Christian who claims that it is permissible to commit fornication because both parties are consenting. This individual has lost any fear of the Lord because they are willing to determine for themselves what is a sin and what is not.

Job is not this super sinner that Eliphaz has made him out to be. Eliphaz has drawn a wrong conclusion which has resulted in him making a very strong accusation that Job does not fear the Lord. It would be one thing to ask Job how his relationship with the Lord is, it is a completely different matter to accuse Job of not living in the fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we live in the fear of the Lord, we understand that God is watching us and HE knows our every thought, word, and deed. When we fear the Lord, we understand that God is going to judge us one day and we change our actions to live in conformity with how God desires us to live.

Are you living in the fear of the Lord? It is not easy to allow the things of God to direct your every step. Nonetheless, if you want to be living a life that is totally pleasing to God, you will make decisions that God desires you to make.

Think of a young couple who are deeply in love. This couple will do just about anything to cause the other individual to love them. They will wear certain clothes, they will eat certain food, and they will go to certain events just to demonstrate how much love they have for their partner. That is the attitude we should have towards God; we should study God and understand what is important to HIM and then do those things that are pleasing to HIM.

The world will try to distract you with all sorts of interesting things. Nonetheless, you should keep your eyes on the things of God and allow HIM to direct your paths. It will not be easy putting the things of God first, but if you are patient, it will not be too long before you will experience the rewards of living in the fear of the Lord.

Job 6:30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

Job had lost his wealth, his health, and his family. As a result of the suffering of Job, three of his friends came to comfort him. These friends remained silent for seven days and after Job spoke about how he wished God would take his life, Eliphaz spoke.

Eliphaz told Job that the reason why he was going through this trial was because he had sinned against God. Eliphaz looked at the suffering of God and he figured that there was no way that a man as righteous as Job would be suffering so much absent he had sinned and God was punishing him. Eliphaz was of the mistaken belief that a loving God could not cause so much pain.

Eliphaz had not taken the time to question Job and ask him if there was something he had done that would have caused God to punish him. Instead, Eliphaz simply accused Job of sinning against God.

Job is now responding to the words of Eliphaz. Job tells Eliphaz that if he had sinned, he would have known it. Job was a man who feared God and hated evil. Because of his hatred of evil, Job could not have accidently sinned against God. Job would have known that he had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Job’s hatred of evil would have kicked in had he gotten even close to sinning against God.

We have all seen little kids who do not want to eat something that is healthy for them. It does not matter what their parents say, the kids refuse to eat the food. Even if their parents are tricky enough to get them to open their mouths so that the spoon full of food is put inside, the stubborn kid will quickly spit it out.

This picture of a kid refusing to eat something his parents have prepared is similar to how Job responded to evil. Job would not allow evil to get close to him. Job could not accidently sin against God because just the mere presence of evil would cause him to react. If Job had sinned and allowed a lose word to flow from his mouth, Job’s ears would have heard the words and Job’s conscience would have caused him to repent very quickly.

Job is not having any part of the concept that his trial was a result of his sinning against God. Eliphaz had slandered his character and Job vigorously defends his relationship with God. Job was not going to sit by and allow his friends to think that maybe there was some truth in the fact that Job had sinned and this suffering was a result of that sin.

Job did not know why he was suffering, but he did know that his relationship with God was such that it was not because he had sinned. Job gave his friends some leeway to speak their mind, but he was not going to allow them to think that this trial was a result of sin. Job was a sinner, but Job had a practice of keeping a short list with God; when he sinned, he confessed his sins and renewed his relationship with God.

We need to follow the example of Job and know what our relationship with God is like. We should instantly know that when we face a trial whether the trial is a result of sin or is a result of God refining HIS character in us. We should be patient and take the time necessary to have a close enough relationship with God that we know whether or not we have sinned against HIM.

Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

Eliphaz a friend of Job is speaking. Eliphaz has seen the suffering of Job and has concluded that Job is suffering because Job has sinned against God. Job is miserable because of his suffering and in this passage; Eliphaz is telling Job that he needs to rejoice because God loves him so much that he would not let Job disobey him.

Eliphaz does not know what Job has done wrong but he has determined that Job must have sinned against God. Eliphaz is right that while no one desires to be disciplined, one who is disciplined by God should rejoice. The reason one should rejoice is because it means that God loves them too much to let them continue living their life of sin.

The fact that God loves you when he disciplines you is hard to understand. It is hard to understand just as it is hard to understand when you were a child your parent telling you that the discipline they are administering to you hurts them more than it hurts you. How many young kids thought that if it hurts their parents so much, why do their parents discipline them?

As a child, you do not understand a parent’s love. However, as a parent, you can understand what Eliphaz is saying here. If a parent does not love their child, they will let their child do whatever they want. The parent will create no boundaries and soon the parent sees that their child is out of control and they want little to nothing to do with that child.

A parent who loves their child is a picture of God’s love for us. A parent who loves their child will not sit around and let their child do what they want, when they want. A parent will establish rules for their child and these rules are designed to protect the child. When a child disobeys, that means that the parent must discipline the child so that when they are old, they will not depart from the ways of God.

Eliphaz was right that if this were punishment from God, Job should be happy that God loved him this much that HE did not let Job get away with some serious violation. However, Eliphaz was wrong. Job was not being disciplined, and rather than patiently waiting and ask questions of Job, Eliphaz jumped to conclusions and made assumptions that were not right.

Eliphaz’ doctrine was correct that a loving God will discipline those who are called by HIS name. However, Eliphaz applied the wrong doctrine to the situation of Job because he was not patient enough to discover what God was doing in the life of Job. It would have been one thing if Eliphaz had asked Job if this suffering was because of sin, but that is not what Eliphaz did. Eliphaz simply proclaimed Job as guilty and did not take the time to fully search out the matter. Eliphaz may have been a good friend, but because of his presumption, he ended up sinning against God. Eliphaz wrongfully judged Job by saying he sinned but because he was judging, it was him who was in sin.

It does not matter if we have the scriptures memorized backwards, forwards, or upside-down; if we do not properly apply the truths of scripture to the situations around us, we will be the ones who fail. Just because we know the truth, that does not always mean we have the right application. Be patient with those around you and seek the face of God that the words that you speak will be the truth.

Job 4:7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?

Eliphaz, a friend of Job is speaking to Job. Eliphaz is about to make a huge mistake by assuming that the only reason Job is suffering is because he has done something wrong. Eliphaz is under the mistaken belief that the only reason someone suffers is because they are being punished by God.

Eliphaz is not the only person in the Bible who made this mistake. Jesus once healed a man who was born blind. The disciples asked Jesus who sinned, the man born blind or his parents that he was born blind.

It is easy to assume that when someone has suffered, it must be because they have sinned. If a person touches a hot stove they will be burned. So likewise, if someone is suffering a lot, the reason must have to do with how they have behaved in the past. However, as Jesus illustrated many times, some people were not sick because of sins that they committed, they were sick so that God could receive the glory.

Many Christians are like Eliphaz and have a hard time with the concept that God cannot allow bad things to happen to good people. However, these same people understand the concept that just because someone has burnt their hand, it does not mean that they touched a hot stove. Most of us know someone who was killed by a drunk driver. They were doing nothing wrong and because someone was drunk, they lost their life.

We need to understand that God has a bigger plan than us humans can ever understand. Just because someone is suffering, it does not mean that the person is experiencing judgment from God. Rather than cast more judgment upon someone who is suffering, maybe we need to stop and listen to God and see what God is telling us about this person.

Maybe the person is suffering as a result of some secret sin that is in their life. We must remember that Jesus told us to judge not lest we be not judged. Before we go off and tell someone who is suffering that they are in some deep sin and they need to repent, we need to spend several hours on our knees asking God if we are the ones that HE has chosen to give this message. If someone needs to know that they need to repent, God is good at finding a person to do the job just as he had Jonah confront the people of Nineveh and Elijah to confront King Ahab.

There is something sadistic about most of us that we love judging others. We love to point out the faults of others. Even if we do not know what others are doing wrong, it is not very hard to find fault with others. However, this should not be our mind set. We need to be patient and hold our tongue and look to God to see what HE desires us to say. Eliphaz may have patiently waited seven days before he confronted Job, but he would have been much wiser had he waited another seven days and received wisdom from God that Job’s suffering was not because of sin but it was because God desired to receive the glory from the life of Job.

The next time you want to open your mouth and say something judgmental about someone else, stop and ask God if that is the right thing to say. It is amazing what God will show you if you will only patiently wait and ask God to give you the right words to say. Eliphaz may have been a good friend but he could have been an even better friend had he been a little slower to speak.

Job 4:4-5 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

Eliphaz was the first to respond to Job after Job opened his mouth and prayed that God would just take his life away. Job had lost his health, his wealth, and his family and Eliphaz came with two of Job’s friends to comfort Job. For seven days they patiently mourned with Job not saying a word. Finally, when Job opened his mouth, he just wanted the whole problem to be over.

Eliphaz started out by reminding Job how when things were good for Job, Job was a man who instructed many. Job was a counselor and he would encourage others to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord. Job would see those who were weak and he would strengthen them.

Eliphaz is reminding Job how it is much easier to encourage someone to do right then it is to actually live a life pleasing unto the Lord. Job may have been a great encourager to many people, but it is much harder to live through his own trials.

Most of us have had the opportunity to counsel someone to do the right thing. However, even though we have encouraged others to do the right thing, that does not make it any easier to do the right thing when we find ourselves in the middle of a trial. Life can be very difficult at times. Even though we know how God desires us to live our lives, we still find it a great temptation to do that which is expedient rather than that which is right in the eyes of God.

Eliphaz is simply reminding Job that he already knows the answers to his problem. The thing is, Job is so caught up in his problems that he is failing to understand how he is supposed to respond. On this point Eliphaz is correct, however, from here, Eliphaz continues and he draws the wrong conclusions. Eliphaz assumes that Job must have sinned against God and that Job needs to repent in order to make all his problems go away.

Eliphaz made a very interesting observation in this passage that we all can learn from. It is easier to tell others how to live their lives properly then it is to actually live according to the perfect will of God. When we face difficult times that shake our faith, this is the time that we need to return to our foundations so that we will do that which we preach.

Job’s life was about the fear of the Lord and hating evil. Job’s hope was in God and living a life that was pleasing unto HIM. Just because Job was facing a difficult time, that did not mean that Job did not know how he was supposed to act. As much as Job desired all his problems to be over by God simply taking the life out of him, Job knew that this was not God’s perfect plan for his life.

The next time you are discouraged, remember that God has a perfect plan for your life. What would you tell someone who came to you with the same problem? How would you encourage them to do the right thing? Remember that just because things are difficult, that does not mean that you should give up on God.

Be patient with God and understand that just as God has used you to encourage others when they have gone through difficult times, so also God must grow you and use others to encourage you when you go through difficult times. No one is immune from going through trials. Keep your eyes upon God and allow HIS strength to direct your paths.

Job 2:11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Ternanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

Job had just lost his wealth, his health, and his family. However, although he had lost so much, he still had three friends who desired to still be with him even though he had lost all. These friends could not expect a lavish dinner in the house of a prince. These friends were not treated to royal treatment because they were friends of Job.

Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal Son. In that story, the prodigal son has many friends as he spends his father’s wealth. However, once his wealth was wasted, the friends were no more. Solomon tells us that a rich man has many friends. Even though Job had lost everything he owned, even though his face was not easy to look at, these three men put it on their schedule to come and visit Job at an appointed time to help mourn with Job his great demise.

When these friends reached Job, so great was his boils that they did not even recognize him. For seven days and seven nights they sat by him and kept their mouths shut because they could see how great the grief of Job was. For seven days, these friends were wise beyond their years because they simply kept their mouths shut and just simply remained friends with Job.

While we know that these men did eventually give miserable advice to Job, there is much that they did do that we fail to give them credit for. How many of us would travel a great distance to see a friend who was going through a difficult time? How many of us would spend seven days sitting outside not saying a word to our friend? Most of us would not waste 30 minutes before we would start lecturing our friend on how we saw their problem.

We are all guilty of it; we all have imposed our view of what is happening to someone. We are not different than Job’s friends. Sometimes we need to learn to be patient and allow God to speak through us. Rather than jumping to conclusions, maybe seven days of not saying a word might just open our eyes to what really is going on around us.

God had blessed Job with three friends who did not turn their back on Job. These friends were willing to remain silent and simply mourn with Job as he suffered through his grief. When someone is grieving, we do not have to always offer an explanation as to what is going on. While Job’s three friends were wise for a period of time, when they did open their mouths, they created all sorts of problems for themselves that they never needed to create.

There are many wise proverbs about keeping your mouth shut. However, we must always remember that when God tells us to open our mouths, that is not the time to exercise patience and keep our mouth shut. Do not be in a hurry to open your mouth and offer advice to others, instead, be patient and allow God to develop the right words to come out of your mouth.

You will never know all the circumstances about why God allowed something to happen to a friend. Learn to be slow of speech when it comes to giving advice to others. Job was going through a special set of circumstances and your friends may also experience difficult trials that they are not able to understand. It is in these difficult times that you must rely upon the wisdom from above and allow God to guide your mouth.