For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.
Eliphaz has just accused Job of hidden crimes. Now he turns to promise. Repent, he says, and Job will find his joy in God and lift his face to Him without shame. The words are beautiful. But the man speaking them has misread everything.
Where the Verse Sits in the Speech
This verse opens the closing part of Eliphaz's speech. One writer traces its shape, and points out the price attached to the promise.
Samuel RidoutEliphaz 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.
What the Promise Offers
Taken on its own, the picture Eliphaz paints is a fine one. Lifting up your face to God, here, means praying with confidence that He hears.
Leslie M. GrantNow 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.
What Makes the Delight Possible
The word "then" points back to what Eliphaz has just said — that the Almighty Himself would become Job's gold and silver. Delight grows out of having God as your wealth. One writer doubts that Eliphaz had tasted it.
Leslie M. GrantHe 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.
Fine Words Built on a False Premise
Eliphaz ties this promise to a repentance Job did not owe. That one wrong principle drains the worth out of everything else he says.
Samuel RidoutHe 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.
Behind the mistake lay a simple reading: Job suffers, so Job must have left God. The lesson another writer draws is blunt.
Leslie M. GrantJob'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.
What Job Already Wanted
Eliphaz dangles delight in God as a reward. It was already what Job ached for. Eliphaz also promised him gold, while Job expected to come out of the testing as gold himself.
William KellyFrom 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.
The Promise Came True Anyway
The end of the book proves Eliphaz's words true and his reasoning wrong. He said more than he knew.
William Kelly"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.
Summary
- The prize — Delight in God and a face lifted to Him: real joy, real confidence, prayer that expects an answer.
- The source — This delight rests on having God Himself as your treasure, not on getting back what you lost.
- The flaw — Eliphaz sells that delight as payment for a repentance Job did not owe. One wrong principle ruins all his fine words.
- The warning — Suffering is not proof that someone has left God. Never treat a suffering believer as an unbeliever.
- The outcome — Job longed for God and could not reach Him. In the end light shone on his ways: the promise came true, but not on Eliphaz's terms.