Job 15:1-35

Eliphaz once again takes his turn at replying to Job and rebuking him for his words and accusing him of bringing this travesty upon himself.  He is correct in pointing out the arrogance in Job’s words.  However, he is wrong about his assumptions about the cause of Job’s sufferings.  There are simply too many words spoken in this book.  It is very hard to keep silent in certain circumstances and we often feel the need to correct error when we hear it.  Both Job and his friends are guilty of feeling like they must respond to and correct each other’s errors and wrong thinking.  In reality, they would have been better off simply staying silent.  There is wisdom in being able to hold one’s tongue even when errors are being made.  If the hearer is not prepared to listen, a wise man will not waste his time talking.

ELIPHAZ ACCUSES JOB OF LACKING WISDOM: Eliphaz has listened to and analyzed Job’s words and has decided that Job’s words lack wisdom and fear of the Lord.  He is right; Job’s words have not been wise and have been disrespectful to God in many ways.  He resents the fact that Job considers himself to be wiser and have greater understanding than he and his friends.  This is a pointless discussion that keeps going back and forth with each party claiming to have wisdom that exceeds the other.  There is much more wisdom in admitting that the Lord’s ways are higher than ours and that there are times when we simply will not fully understand His actions.  We do a disservice to ourselves when we compare our wisdom with that of one another.  We must be willing to admit that we do not understand the ways of God and humbly admit that we lack the wisdom to understand His ways completely.  Humility is likely the greatest demonstration of wisdom.

ELIPHAZ ACCUSES JOB OF BEING WICKED: Eliphaz then takes up the same argument that his has stated before about the character of Job being wicked because of the circumstances he faces.  He states that the wicked man writhes in pain all his days.  This is simply not true.  There are many wicked men that experience great prosperity and face very little suffering.  By stating this assumption, Eliphaz implies that Job is wicked and uses suffering as his proof.  These are wrong assumptions that are too often made.  Suffering is not a proof of sinfulness and prosperity is not a sign of righteousness.  This is a simplistic view of life and suffering.  Circumstances are not a valid means of determining the righteousness of a person.  God is in control of circumstances and He uses them as He sees fit.  We must not allow our circumstances to discourage or to justify ourselves.  We must simply worship the One who controls our lives no matter what circumstances we are called to face.