Job 15
Today Eliphaz returns to the conversation and is quick to reject everything Job has said. He does not bother weighing Job’s words, parsing out what might be right and what might be wrong. Eliphaz tosses out Job’s words entirely, because he considers Job to be abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water. (v. 16)
Although Eliphaz claims wisdom well beyond Job’s, look at what he says: The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. In Job 15:20-35, Eliphaz gives a description of how bad life is for the wicked — a description that frankly fails to pass the laugh test. Think for a moment and consider real-life examples of “the wicked”: mafia dons, drug lords, dictators, etc. Do they “writhe in pain all their days”? Do they wander about, begging for bread? (v. 23) No! Such people live in luxury, with pleasures of every sort at their fingertips. Some may eventually land in prison or meet an “untimely demise” at the hands of their rivals, but many do not, or at least do not for a very long time.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am certainly not advocating such careers, nor am I saying that God does not ultimately bring judgment upon the wicked. But casual observation of present realities should be sufficient to refute Eliphaz’s statements. And that is what I like about this book — it confronts life as lived in the real world and breaks through the platitudes that one might otherwise land on.
Verses 9-11 struck me today: What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father. Eliphaz is dismissing Job entirely. But we read about Job’s righteousness and wealth in the first chapter. Where was Eliphaz before this malady came upon Job? And are any of these three older than Job’s father, or are they simply appealing to ancient conventional wisdom as it is known to them? Finally, in verse 11 Eliphaz says Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? Is Eliphaz suggesting that his words are directly from God? That alone is ridiculous – but then he goes on to suggest words spoken gently to you. But he is making a mockery of gentleness!! These second speeches of these three friends get more and more frustrating to us modern-day readers!
John points out that the entire last half of today’s chapter is Eliphaz talking about the wicked (vv. 20-35). Is he casting Job among the wicked? That’s so wrong! As I noted earlier, if he is any kind of friend, where was he before these events and this sickness came upon Job?