Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—June 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

June 10, Job 15

"Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.”

- Eliphaz, Job 15:31

I like books, and I like to read. I enjoy different kinds of books. Sometimes I do not like a book’s general message or the writer’s style. But even in books I do not like, I can usually find some sentences and ideas that get my attention and make me think.

For Job and the people of God reading the book of Job, there's very little to like or appreciate about what Job's friends told him or how they said it. God will tell Job, his friends and us, in the last chapter of this book, that Job's friends had said things that were not right about him. We should be very careful as we read and listen to Job's friends about the things they thought Job needed to hear.

Chapter 15 contains the second speech of Eliphaz, which begins the second round of debate between Job and his malicious accusers. His second speech is similar to the first one. But this second speech has a sharper, more accusative tone. Eliphaz again spoke in sweeping generalities that did not fit Job's case. He accused Job of talking too much. He said Job was doing away with the fear of God. He charged Job with iniquity and craftiness. His tone was sharply critical of Job, and he was both cruel and rude in some things he said. He accused Job of thinking he was the only wise one, but then spoke with stuffy arrogance about his wisdom and the fathers of generations past who said the same things.

It's a challenge to find something to like about such a hateful speech. But in his eloquent manner, Eliphaz said some good things for us to ponder and remember. Let's focus on three of them.

First: “Should he argue with unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?" Eliphaz was talking about Job, but it would have been good advice for Eliphaz to give to his

mirror. He argued with the same kind talk he ascribed to Job. He used words that did harm instead of good. We should remember these words and apply them to ourselves first as we interact with others. It's much easier to see and hear others' words and criticize them than to carefully examine our own to see if we are guilty of the very thing we're talking about.

Then, this: ”Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?" Eliphaz accused Job of being a complainer, a grumbler about what God had given him and done for him. That's what people do when they are not satisfied with their blessings and complain more than they give thanks about what they have. He said that Job had rejected or ignored gentle words of correction. He may have suggested that Job ignored warnings before the disasters struck him. But he may also have meant that the first round of admonition from his friends should have broken Job’s heart and driven him to his knees in humble confession. Whatever Eliphaz meant, you and I need to examine ourselves to see if either of the things Eliphaz talked about are true of us. Are we dissatisfied with what God has given us? Does it take a harsh word of rebuke before we pay attention to correction?

Finally: "Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.” The words seem to fit Eliphaz better than Job. He accused and pronounced Job guilty as charged on the basis of old traditional wisdom handed down through the generations from the ancient fathers. His source was flawed, so his arguments were empty. When we make work, pleasure, possessions or anything besides God our god, we are repeating Solomon's exercise in futility he described in Ecclesiastes. He tried all those things we are tempted to pursue, only to find them empty and meaningless. Solomon’s example and Eliphaz’s words remind us that when we invest ourselves and our resources in emptiness, our return on the investment will be more emptiness.

Eliphaz was wrong about Job, but he said some things that were true and right in themselves. So even though we found very little to like or appreciate about this speech, these statements (removed from the hateful context where we found them) are worth marking, remembering and putting to work in our own lives.

Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.