Job 22
Eliphaz jumps back into the fray and rather quickly indicts Job:
Is not your evil abundant?
Job 22:5-9
There is no end to your iniquities.
For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
The man with power possessed the land,
and the favored man lived in it.
You have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
On what basis does Eliphaz level these very serious and specific charges? We know Job is blameless, so Eliphaz cannot have any actual evidence, let alone proof. All he has is Job’s current suffering as “evidence” of God’s judgment against him for some unknown evil. So why these specific charges? My guess (and this is pure speculation on my part, so take it for what it’s worth…) is that these are things of which Eliphaz himself is guilty, and since he cannot conceive of anyone who is actually innocent he projects his own sins onto Job. (That’s just a theory, but I’ve seen similar things play out in modern life, so I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibilities. See Romans 2:1.)
Interestingly, what Eliphaz says in Job 22:17-18 sounds very similar to what Job said in Job 21:14-16. I am not quite sure what to make of that. Is Eliphaz just quoting/paraphrasing Job, sarcastically throwing his words back at him? Is he himself trying to claim that the counsel of the wicked is far from me, in contrast to Job’s claim? My guess is sarcasm, but I really don’t know.
To Eliphaz’s credit, he ends his speech (in Job 22:21-30) with a much softer tone than Bildad and Zophar. Although I am very doubtful of his sincerity, if we give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he really is concerned for Job and really does believe that Job is in the wrong, then he gives good advice to repent, offering encouragement that such repentance will lead to reconciliation with God and a restoration of prosperity. That may be somewhat of a misrepresentation of how things work (vis-à-vis “prosperity gospel”), but it is potentially well-motivated. Nevertheless, that “encouragement” still carries with it all the underlying accusations that he voiced earlier, so though softer, it is a bit of a mixed bag.
So what about us? Have you ever been falsely accused of something serious and specific, especially on the basis of false assumptions, with no evidence? How did that feel? How did those relationships work out? Or perhaps more importantly, have you ever falsely accused (or judged) someone without real evidence? Have you “projected” your own issues onto others? Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Mt. 7:1-2)
During their second round of discourses Job’s three friends spent most of their time talking about “the wicked”, in general, with sideways glances toward Job. Now Eliphaz drops all casual connections and, as John says, indicts Job fully. But we know, from God’s own words in Job 1, that all these charges are untrue. I think John is correct, that Eliphaz is looking in a mirror and casting his own shortcomings on Job.
John asked if any of us had ever been guilty of false assumptions. Well… Many of you know that Carol and I had a broken engagement for almost two years. Her parents did not think we were a good match. In particular, they saw me as being too much like Carol’s father and concluded that “my type” was not the person that Carol should marry. They were fundamentally wrong and in the end they did give their blessing. And truthfully, what was frustrating, difficult, and challenging for us during those two years has made for a much better marriage these past 38+ years.