Job 22:17

A CLUMSY EFFORT TO REPLY TO JOB'S WORDS IN JOB 21:14

"Who said unto God, Depart from us;

And what can the Almighty do for us?

Yet he filled their houses with good things:

But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

The righteous see it, and are glad;

And the innocent laugh them to scorn,

Saying, Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off,

And the remnant of them the fire hath consumed."

"Who said unto God, Depart from us, etc." (Job 22:18). Eliphaz in this and the following verse quoted the words Job had spoken in Job 21:14-16. This is an elaborate and clumsy effort of Eliphaz to turn Job's own words against himself. Job had said that the wicked who said such things prospered; but Eliphaz here asserted that the generation which was lost in the Deluge had said exactly the same thing. He thus contradicted Job, saying, "On the contrary, it is those who come to ruin who have dismissed God."[17] It should be noted here that what Eliphaz attributed to the ante-diluvian generation was his own personal invention, as the Scriptures do not confirm the words he attributed to them.

It is tiresome to this writer, the manner in which so many make excuses for Eliphaz and Job's other friends. They were not merely mistaken; they were not free of guilt in their treatment of Job; they were not true and honest; THEY WERE SINNERS; ENGAGED IN SATAN'S WORK! This is a necessary deduction from the fact that God Himself ordered them to bring sacrifices and seek the prayers of Job that they might be forgiven (See Job 42).

"The righteous see it, and are glad" (Job 22:19). This is by far the nastiest thing any of his friends said. Driver gave the meaning here as, "The righteous see the fate which habitually befalls the wicked, and are glad."[18]

This was Eliphaz' declaration that he and Bildad and Zophar were happy to see Job reaping what he sowed, getting what he deserved, having his sins exposed, and his hypocrisy revealed!

Eliphaz ended with his plea for Job to confess his wickedness, and repent of it, assuring him, guilty as he was, that God would deliver him if he would only clean up his dirty and sinful hands.

We find it impossible to view this as any kind and thoughtful remonstrance on the part of Eliphaz. Having thrust a dagger into Job's heart with his sinful accusations against him, he here twisted it in these final words.