DO YOU LISTEN IN ON GOD’S COUNCIL?

Job 15:1-35 / Keywords 15:8

Do you listen in on God's council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

 

Eliphaz

15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions

    or fill their belly with the hot east wind?

3 Would they argue with useless words,

    with speeches that have no value?

4 But you even undermine piety

    and hinder devotion to God.

5 Your sin prompts your mouth;

    you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;

    your own lips testify against you.

7 “Are you the first man ever born?

    Were you brought forth before the hills?

8 Do you listen in on God’s council?

    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

9 What do you know that we do not know?

    What insights do you have that we do not have?

10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,

    men even older than your father.

11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you,

    words spoken gently to you?

12 Why has your heart carried you away,

    and why do your eyes flash,

13 so that you vent your rage against God

    and pour out such words from your mouth?

14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,

    or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?

15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,

    if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,

    who drink up evil like water!

17 “Listen to me and I will explain to you;

    let me tell you what I have seen,

18 what the wise have declared,

    hiding nothing received from their ancestors

19 (to whom alone the land was given

    when no foreigners moved among them):

20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,

    the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.

21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;

    when all seems well, marauders attack him.

22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;

    he is marked for the sword.

23 He wanders about for food like a vulture;

    he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

24 Distress and anguish fill him with terror;

    troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

25 because he shakes his fist at God

    and vaunts himself against the Almighty,

26 defiantly charging against him

    with a thick, strong shield.

27 “Though his face is covered with fat

    and his waist bulges with flesh,

28 he will inhabit ruined towns

    and houses where no one lives,

    houses crumbling to rubble.

29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,

    nor will his possessions spread over the land.

30 He will not escape the darkness;

    a flame will wither his shoots,

    and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.

31 Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,

    for he will get nothing in return.

32 Before his time he will wither,

    and his branches will not flourish.

33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,

    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.

34 For the company of the godless will be barren,

    and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;

    their womb fashions deceit.”

1. Eliphaz is no longer sympathetic. Holding firm his thesis that the innocent never perishes (4:7), he rebukes Job. Job’s frank language towards God seems to offend Eliphaz (4-6), even though this was his previous advice (5:8)!

 

2. As one of the wise (2) and aged (10), Eliphaz is convinced his theological principles grant him special wisdom Job should follow. Eliphaz restates his conviction of the vileness of people in God’s sight (14-16), and how this results in rebellion (21-26) and a king’s impending judgment (24). He had previously stated that “man is born to trouble (5:7)”, but now states this trouble is self-conceived (35).

 

3. Eliphaz mercilessly ties Job’s tragic losses of wealth and houses (27-29) as well as his children (30, 32-33) to sin. We know this is not true: God has already declared Job righteous and upright (1:8; 2:3), in the very council Eliphaz alludes to (8)!

 

4. We humans are quick to apply theological principles and condemn yet cannot know the content of hearts. But there is One who does know (Jn 2:25), and he did not come to condemn but to save. The gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection, reveals God’s intention towards us: grace.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for letting us listen in on your council as we listen to Jesus. Help us apply the grace of the gospel to ourselves and others.

One Word Listen in to God’s Council