Job 22:26–30

Eliphaz now reaches his closing appeal, picturing the joys that await Job if he will only — admit that his false accusers are right! Then he will enjoy fellowship with the Almighty, standing in the sunlight of His face. His prayer will get its answer, and God will accept the vows he made while suffering. He will make plans that nothing will frustrate, and light will fall on all his paths.

Now Eliphaz paints a lovely picture of what lies ahead for the godly man, as an incentive to make Job repent. It is wonderful to have "delight in the Almighty" and to lift up one's face to God — to pray to Him with real confidence that He will hear.

He adds that "the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver" (v.25). This reminds us of the words of the Lord to Abram, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great" (Gen. 15:1). But it does not seem likely that Eliphaz himself was enjoying the blessing of knowing God Himself as his own true wealth. If he had been, he would not have misrepresented God so badly.

He has tried to make his case, mixing promises with condemnations. At times he seems to be predicting Job's recovery, but his wrong principle spoils it all, so in itself it is worthless. And yet there are many noble and beautiful sayings here. How important it is, then, to have the true point of view, so that what we open our mouth to say may be right.

Job's suffering was proof to Eliphaz that Job had departed from God... Job had not left the Almighty, so telling him to return was insulting. Let us never treat a suffering believer as an unbeliever.

From beginning to end they spoke as judges, and that spirit is always wrong... Job could not enjoy God, because he did not yet hold the key to his distress from His hand. He wanted God, and he was miserable at being far from Him in practice, with all these troubles coming in between and hiding His goodness from his soul. "When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold." He did not know how such testing could serve God's glory or his own blessing. But he was sure of one thing: no one could rightly charge him with hypocrisy.

"If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up." And so it was. Little did he know that this return was about to become plain for all to see, to the shame of the friends. "Then you will lay up gold as dust, and light will shine on your ways." And so it did, in the most wonderful way.

This may be divided into seven parts, a complete summing up from his point of view of the entire argument: (1) Job's sin in view of God's greatness (Job 22:1-5). (2) The direct charge (vv. 6-11). (3) All is known to God (vv. 12-14). (4) The way of the wicked (vv. 15-18). (5) Their just punishment (vv. 19, 20). (6) Final call to repentance (vv. 21-25). (7) Prophecy of a bright future (vv. 26-30).

Eliphaz now reaches his high point, picturing the joys that await Job if he will only — acknowledge that his false accusers are right! Then he will enjoy fellowship with the Almighty, basking in the sunlight of His face. Prayer will receive its answer, and the vows he has made in his affliction will be accepted. He shall make plans that will not be frustrated, and the light will fall on all his paths.

This seemed to Eliphaz to be needed and wise advice, no doubt, and in many a case it would fit well. But it was completely out of place for Job. To Job, gold or silver were like the dust on a balance, and the favour of God was everything... Hidden sin was not the question, nor therefore repentance of it, but a deep submission to God's will... There was no lack of practical righteousness in Job's ways, nor did his failure lie in neglecting kindness to others, or even prayer to God. But was he nothing in his own eyes?

Job had not left the Almighty, so telling him to return was insulting (vv. 22-23). Let us never treat a suffering believer as an unbeliever.

While the exhortations are all proper, they are completely out of place with Job. For if Job acted on this advice and repented as Eliphaz demanded, he would be agreeing with the false and lying accusations of his three friends. He would be admitting he was the wicked man they had made him out to be. What he says about restoration is almost prophetic of what would come to Job in blessing at the close of his trial.

It is remarkable, however, that the close of Eliphaz's speech was still to be proved true before the book ends. It came true in the power of Job's prayer for Eliphaz himself.

He did not merely turn their punishment away when Job prayed. He turned Job's own captivity when his heart went out on their behalf... His heart was active in grace. He had seen grace, and now he showed grace — and this for the very people who had wounded him most.

Eliphaz adds also, "You will pay your vows." If Job had made vows, he had likely paid them. Today, though, the Lord Jesus tells believers not to make vows at all (Matt. 5:33-37).

We must remember that the Book of Job is inspired, but the speeches inside it are not. It would be a big mistake to think they are. Satan's words were not inspired, yet the book records them too. Part of the value of the book is that it shows us where the speakers went wrong. Every one of the three friends was badly mistaken in what he said, and so was Job.

This does not mean that Job's words, or those of his three friends, were a revelation from God. It means God reported exactly what they said, even when they were wrong. At other times their words were right, but they applied the truth wrongly.

He refused to believe that Job knew God at all. So he was sure Job had to be converted before any good could come to him. At least he did not think Job's case was hopeless. But Job would have to take his advice and "return to the Almighty." … Job had never left the Almighty, so telling him to return was insulting. Let us never treat a suffering believer as an unbeliever.

No doubt this advice seemed wise and necessary to Eliphaz, and in many a case it would fit. But it was completely out of place for Job. To him gold and silver weighed no more than dust, and God's favour was everything. The trial had no answer yet. Hidden sin was not the issue, so repenting of it was not the issue either. What was needed was deep submission to God's will. God could use the enemy to bring out the patience of the sufferer, and use his friends to expose his impatience.

The appeals themselves are all proper, but they are completely out of place with Job. If Job followed this advice and repented as Eliphaz demanded, he would be agreeing with the false and lying accusations of his three friends. He would be admitting that he was the wicked man they said he was.

Words spoken in faith will have good results, and a believer's ways will be seen to be "in the light."

"If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up." And so it happened. Eliphaz had no idea that this return was about to be made openly, to the shame of him and his friends.

God blessed Job richly. He restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. He did this when Job had prayed for his friends — and not until then. … Yet God did not let that flood of blessing roll back over Job until Job had been deeply changed in spirit and character.

Eliphaz now reaches his closing appeal, picturing the joys that await Job if only he will — admit that his false accusers are right! He will make plans that are not frustrated, and light will fall on all his paths. If those paths should seem to take a downward turn (v. 29), Job will only need to say, "Arise," or "a lifting up," and all will be well. For he will be one of the humble whom God exalts.

If someone is cast down, yet stays confident that God will lift him up in the end, then God will save that humble person (v. 29). Eliphaz allows that a believer may be cast down, but he does not apply this to Job unless Job will take his advice to repent.

To Eliphaz this seemed necessary and wise advice, and in many a case it would fit well. But it was wholly out of place for Job. To Job, gold or silver were like dust on the scales, and the favour of God was everything. There was no solution to the trial as yet. Hidden sin was not the question, and so repentance of it was not the question either. The real need was a deep submission to God's will. God could use the enemy to bring out the patience of the sufferer, and He could use his friends to lay bare his impatience. Eliphaz did not so much as touch the true question. He misjudged Job, and would have made the illness worse instead of curing it.

The exhortations Eliphaz gives are all proper in themselves, but they are completely out of place with Job. If Job acted on this advice and repented as Eliphaz demanded, he would be agreeing with the false and lying accusations of his three friends. He would be admitting he was the wicked man they had made him out to be.

Yet the close of Eliphaz's speech was still to come true before the book ends. It came true in the power of Job's prayer for Eliphaz himself. "When they are dejected, then you will say, Lift up! And He will save the one with downcast eyes. He will deliver him that is not guiltless, and he is rescued by the cleanness of your hands."

The three friends of Job stood condemned. They had not spoken rightly. They had not humbled themselves as Job had, vindicating God and condemning themselves. They were told to go to Job, offer sacrifices, and ask him to pray for them — without doubt a deeply humbling thing for them. They had come to Job to sympathise and comfort him. But as the arguments went on, they began hurling accusations and reproaches at him, and they grew self-righteous as they did so. So, since they would not humble themselves as Job had done, God humbled them in front of everyone.

The Lord gives more grace. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). "He saves the lowly" (Job 22:29). He hears his desire (Ps. 10:17), revives his spirit (Isa. 57:15), beautifies him with salvation (Ps. 149:4), honours him (Prov. 15:33), guides him in judgment (Ps. 25:9), increases his joy (Isa. 29:19), blesses him, and gives him a sure inheritance (Matt. 5:5). None can praise grace like the humble soul.

This is God's way of acting. He never honours us when we are thinking that we are anything. Great blessing has often been preceded by our deep humbling, sometimes even a humbling in the eyes of others. We were brought low, and the Lord lifted us up.

There is a very old mistake in this verse. That word "island" is all wrong. The same Hebrew word means "island" and also "not." Take the name "Ichabod." There the "I" is used as an adverb meaning "not," for "Ichabod" means "not glory," or "the glory is departed." That is the word here. Translate it as a negative and you get the true sense — "him that is not innocent." "Island" only makes nonsense. No one has ever explained the old Authorised Version reading, and it is astonishing that it remains. Man lost his innocence and has never recovered it. Man gains holiness by the faith of Christ, but no recovery of innocence; that could not be.

There is no "island" expressed in either the Septuagint or the Vulgate, which removes one difficulty. But Schultens seems to have been the first to see that the word translated "island" is a negative, as in the name Ichabod.

He will even deliver — not the humble only, but the faulty.

This seemed wise advice to Eliphaz, and in many a case it would fit well. But it was completely out of place for Job. To him gold and silver weighed no more than dust, and the favour of God was everything. Hidden sin was not the question, nor repentance for it. The question was a deep submission to God's will. God could use the enemy to bring out the patience of the sufferer, and use his friends to lay bare his impatience. Eliphaz did not so much as touch the true question. He misjudged Job, and would have made the illness worse instead of curing it.

Eliphaz allows that a believer may be brought low, but he does not apply this to Job unless Job takes his advice to repent. If Job does repent, he tells him, he will be able to help others... In fact, Eliphaz was trying to do this very thing for Job. He thought the purity of his own hands would deliver Job, if only Job would repent.

They were the people who were "not guiltless"; they were guilty, they were "not innocent."… That came true in Job's three friends, little as Eliphaz expected it. God treated them as guilty towards their dear brother, whom they had so misjudged. They had accused him of all kinds of hidden evil, and made him out to be a hypocrite as well as a bad man. And Eliphaz here unconsciously utters words that came true.

"He shall deliver him that is not innocent," or "not guiltless" — that is the proper word — "and he shall be delivered by the pureness of your hands." God forced these three men to feel it: Job was more righteous than they were, and his hands were cleaner than theirs. They had dirtied their own hands by attacking Job so shamefully and so violently. They owed it to Job that God spared their lives.

They had to come to Him with a sacrifice, through the very man they had so badly misjudged… And His servant Job, whose prayers they had despised, would pray for them, so that God would not blot them out of the book of the living… Meanwhile favour and blessing crowned Job more than ever, and the Lord restored his fortunes when he prayed for his friends.