Job 22:21

Eliphaz now tells Job to acquaint himself with God and be at peace (v.21). He refused to believe that Job knew God at all, so he was sure Job needed to be converted before 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." He urged Job to receive instruction from God. It is right to lay up God's words in our heart. But accepting the words of Eliphaz as God's word is a different matter. Job had not left the Almighty, therefore to tell him to return was insulting (vv.22-23). Let us never treat a suffering believer as an unbeliever.

In truth Job was better acquainted with God than any of his friends. How painful to have the most serious of them speak in a way that charged him with worse than ignorance! … There are those to whom such a call would be loving and appropriate. Their mistake was about Job's state. The friends might have learnt much; they had presumed to judge, and they had judged wrongly. They had no right notion of God's gracious work with souls to humble them, breaking self down, and making His grace infinitely precious.

Once more, he turns preacher. He tells Job what to do, and what God will do for him if he takes his advice. But the exhortations, though all proper, do not fit Job at all. For if Job acted on this advice and repented as Eliphaz demanded, he would by doing so agree with the false and lying accusations of his three friends. He would admit he was the wicked man they had made him out to be.

The language is very beautiful, and we might well wish Eliphaz had used it in a worthier way. "Acquaint now yourself with Him, and be at peace: by this good shall come to you." This might well serve as a gospel text. Is it not eternal life to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent? And what peace this knowledge brings — "peace by the blood of the cross," peace preached and peace held by faith! What good flows from this acquaintance, for time and eternity! But he is speaking to a man who does know God… and so the apparent tenderness of his appeal turns to bitterness.

There is acquaintance with God that gives settled peace. Do not say it is too high for us, as if it were something reached by philosophy. It is not a matter of the mind. How do I begin to know God is love? Why, He loved me, a sinner. I begin at the lowest point.

He gives sweet evidence of His faithfulness to those who put their trust in Him. Why, then, are we so ready to doubt and hesitate every time something new happens? The answer is simple: we are not sufficiently acquainted with God. "Acquaint now yourself with Him and be at peace." This is true, whether for the unconverted sinner or for the child of God. The true knowledge of God, real acquaintance with Him, is life and peace… The closer our acquaintance with God, the more solid our peace will be, and the more our souls will be lifted above every dependence on created things.

How true, then, is the exhortation of Eliphaz in verse 21. The knowledge of God does lead to both peace and good in the end. But at first it leads to deep unrest and trouble, as Job had to find. Before he reached the good recorded at the end of the book, he had to go through the anguish of self-judgment.