Job XCII

 Even though the words Eliphaz spoke were delivered as criticism of Job, one can’t help but notice that for a man who did not have the benefit of Scripture, the written Word, or a theological seminary, there was much wisdom and a right understanding of who God is, and what He can do.

If not for the presupposition that Job was being punished rather than tested, Eliphaz’s words would have been uplifting, encouraging, motivational, steeped in truth, and quotable enough to make their way onto a piece of driftwood for sale at Marshal Goods. It doesn’t bode well for the contemporary church when a man with no formal training or the Bible as a source of wisdom has a better grasp on the nature, justice, and sovereignty of God than most mega-church pastors today.

How can this generation be more ignorant of God’s word with all the available resources than an individual who grew up in the plains, living in a tent, without the benefit of any of the things we take for granted? We’re not even talking about lay people; we’re talking about men who see themselves as shepherds of the sheep.

Consider that during the time of Job, the laws of Moses hadn’t even been delivered, never mind the revelation of Christ, His life, death, burial, and resurrection, yet Job and his friends retained enough of a knowledge of God to conclude such profound truths as to leave modern-day scholars scratching their heads in befuddlement.

Throughout time, God has revealed Himself to those willing to see His hand at work. It didn’t take workshops or stuffy classrooms; it just took a desire to know, see, and press in. Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes have been readily visible and understood by the things that are made. That’s okay; we fixed it, though. We came up with our pea-brained theory of a big explosion that set everything in perfect order in our attempt to explain away His eternal power because it meant we wouldn’t have to contend with the reality of a sovereign Creator who rules and reigns supreme over His creation.

It’s not that one is easier to believe over the other. Between believing that a guiding hand was responsible for molding the universe, creating man from the dust and the earth, and setting everything in its proper place, and a big bang that made something out of nothing, it’s far easier to accept the reality of a Creator, than an accident that brought about everything we see today. It’s not that His attributes are not plainly seen; it’s that mankind refuses to see them because of the underlying implications.

If there is a God over all, then I am accountable for my actions. I must own the consequences of whether I believe or not and one day answer for my rejection of Him. It would mean that I am not the master of my destiny, that I don’t dictate terms, and that I must be subservient to the One who breathed life into me.

Romans 1:18-21, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

If men are ignorant of God today, it is willful ignorance. It’s akin to a man walking into the noonday sun, putting a sack over his head, and insisting that there is no sun. It’s all darkness, all dread; the sun does not exist to them, even though their action is what caused them to be ignorant of it. Does this mean the sun ceased to be? Just because they covered their faces and shut their eyes, does the sun now bow to their denial and blink out of existence? No, it doesn’t, and though they may deny the existence of the sun, those around them will attest to the reality that it exists; it burns bright and lights the world with its warmth.

Men’s god complex and rebellious hearts are keeping them from knowing the one true God, even though since the beginning of creation, His invisible attributes are clearly seen. Eliphaz and his two friends understood that there was something more than themselves, had seen the hand of God at work in their lives, and it is the undeniable reality they lived. They likewise knew Job was a man of faith, one who was faithful and upright, but the one thing they couldn’t reconcile is how so horrible a thing could happen to one who retained his integrity and uprightness.

Eliphaz even went so far as to give in to the whispers of the enemy, who insisted that Job’s faithfulness had to be some sort of pretense since a mortal could not be more righteous than God and a mortal could not be more pure than his Maker. But that’s not something Job ever claimed, nor was it something God ever said about Job. That’s what the enemy does. He twists the truth to sow doubt and subverts it to transform the meaning of something clear into a bog of confusion.

What God said about Job wasn’t that he was more righteous than his Maker, but that he was a blameless and upright man who feared Him and shunned evil. The devil knew this to be the case, but that didn’t stop him from speaking lies and half-truths to the point that the three friends who had sat with Job in silence for seven days were now on the warpath, trying to ferret out what hidden sin he harbored in his heart that had brought the wrath of God upon his head. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.