#650 No Kindness Left

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,

and fill his belly with the east wind?

3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk,

or in words with which he can do no good?

4 But you are doing away with the fear of God

and hindering meditation before God.

5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

your own lips testify against you.

7 “Are you the first man who was born?

Or were you brought forth before the hills?

8 Have you listened in the council of God?

And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

9 What do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

older than your father.

11 Are the comforts of God too small for you,

or the word that deals gently with you?

12 Why does your heart carry you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

13 that you turn your spirit against God

and bring such words out of your mouth?

14 What is man, that he can be pure?

Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

15 Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones,

and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,

a man who drinks injustice like water!

17 “I will show you; hear me,

and what I have seen I will declare

18 (what wise men have told,

without hiding it from their fathers,

19 to whom alone the land was given,

and no stranger passed among them).

20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;

in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

and he is marked for the sword.

23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

24 distress and anguish terrify him;

they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God

and defies the Almighty,

26 running stubbornly against him

with a thickly bossed shield;

27 because he has covered his face with his fat

and gathered fat upon his waist

28 and has lived in desolate cities,

in houses that none should inhabit,

which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions spread over the earth;[c]

30 he will not depart from darkness;

the flame will dry up his shoots,

and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

for emptiness will be his payment.

32 It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not be green.

33 He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,

and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

34 For the company of the godless is barren,

and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil,

and their womb prepares deceit.” Job 15 ESV

Eliphaz answers Job again, and accuses him of empty words. He makes the claim that it is his own iniquity that teaches his tongue what to say, that he is lying, trying to convince them, but they are unmoved. Keep in mind this is your friend, who cannot sleep, who is covered in boils, lost his children and had his wife tell him to curse his God. The response of Eliphaz has hardened, he is probably sick of dealing with this, and like the Pharisees knew that Christ was cursed by God, so he knows this of Job, because of tradition. He is not a good listener though, for Job has not claimed to be sinless before God, only blameless in accordance with their own doctrines. Job is wrong as we all are in that he doesn't know, but he has not claimed any secret wisdom as he will be accused of doing. Are you the first man born? I asked my wife once, if she was the first woman to ever have a baby, and that did not go over well. Job is not saying he is the wisest man on earth, and there is a wisdom that comes with age, but this has not given the oldest there any more insight to Job's situation. They still think he needs to repent, and they have paid their dues by sitting with him, but they see themselves as the kindness of God before him. You won't listen to us because you despise God, but does he? They see his past state as fat, which represents wealth, but they see it as a lie, that it was not the blessings of a pious man, but rather bringing up of the wicked to tear down. They describe their friend, who struggles before God, speaking from hurt and depression, plus the madness of sleeplessness, as a man guilty of bribery, deceit and pride. They cannot leave their first impression, they name drop age, the tradition of the elders, but what if these things do not here apply? What if you are wrong about this, about Job, what if he loves God but is suffering something that neither he nor you can understand? I wonder, if it was you in his place, based on your ideals of religion, would you have already cursed God?

You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. 56Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see My day. He saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”… John 8: 55-57