Eliphaz’s 1st Response to Job

Job 4:2 | “Who can…?” – Amos 3:8

Considering the circumstances, it is understandable why Eliphaz felt constrained in the Spirit to speak up and rebuke Job for the filthy speech he just uttered (Job 4:2). Under compulsion, Eliphaz said, “…who can withhold himself from speaking?” (Job 4:2)! Clearly, Jeremiah and Amos can relate to Eliphaz in this feeling of compulsion (Jer. 20:9, Amos 3:8). Even if modern readers don’t think anything Job’s friends said during the discourse was inspired, it doesn’t stop the Patriarchs, Prophets, Kings, Priests, and Apostles of old from quoting their utterances as the Word of God, like Paul did with Eliphaz in 1 Corinthians 3:19 quoting from Job 5:13.

Howbeit, Eliphaz anticipates that Job will be “grieved” with what he had to say (Job 4:2; Prov. 15:10); but if Eliphaz didn’t share his heart in honesty and sincerity then their spiritual communion as brethren would have been forfeited (1 Jn. 1:5-7, Eph. 5:11, 1 Cor. 5:8). This is something Eliphaz simply would not allow (Gen. 4:9). Therefore, Eliphaz said to Job, “If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?” (Job 4:2; 2 Cor. 6:14-15).

Job 4:3-4 | “strengthened the weak hands…strengthened the feeble knees” – Isa. 35:3, Heb. 12:12; “instructed many” – Dan. 11:33

Job’s reputation preceded him wherever he went (Job 29). In preaching and teaching, Job’s “words” of instruction have been timely and consequential to help the needy saints of his community and the Church at large (Job 4:3-4). Therefore, Eliphaz hoped to invoke Job’s righteous nature in reminding him of such things (2 Sam. 12:5-6), if only Job could realize that he was unduly fainting at God’s rebuke which had now come upon him (Job 4:5). Of course, Eliphaz suspects that Job would agree that he had been secretly engaging in wickedness before God and therefore was now being judged for it. Why? Because both Job and Eliphaz (Job 4:6), with all the saints of the Early Church (Job 5:1), are confident that no such judgment as this had ever befallen an “innocent” man since the beginning of the world (Job 4:7-8).

Even so, should we be surprised to find that these everlasting doctrines continue to pervade the minds of the righteous in all generations? Harmoniously, Isaiah explicitly quoted from Job 4:3-4 in Isaiah 35:3, while Paul quoted both Isaiah and Job in Hebrews 12:12, as each man of God ministered to the saints of their own time when they suffered under various manifestations of divine rebuke.

Job 4:5 | Fainting at Rebuke / Chastisement: “But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest…” – Prov. 24:10, Prov. 3:11-12, Heb. 12:5-6, Job 5:17

While Eliphaz was persuaded that God is justly rebuking Job through this divine judgment (Job 4:5), and further shares his thoughts on the subject in Job 5:15, Job will go on to contest this by questioning the justice of God in the rebuke. Nevertheless, Job cannot deny that he is indeed suffering under a divine rebuke according to the doctrines of the Early Church. The propensity of godly men to “faint” while being rebuked by God can be observed in the Old Testament (Prov 3:11-12) and the New Testament (Heb. 12:5-6), and apparently this phenomenon was manifest universally among the saints in the Early Church during the eras of redemption that predated Abraham from Adam to Noah and Noah to Abraham (Ps. 90:1). Harmoniously, Solomon quoted Job in Job 4:5, 5:17, & 24:10 in Proverbs 3:11-12, while Paul quoted both Solomon and Job in Hebrews 12:5-6.

Job 4:6 | “thy confidence…?” – Rom. 2:17-20

Eliphaz’s argumentation was harnessed by the apostle Paul and leveled against the Pharisees, who unlike Job were erroneously confident as hypocrites by the standards which they professed themselves and preached to others (Rom. 2:17-20).

Job 4:7 | Cut Off: Job 4:7, 6:9, 11:10, 18:16, 21:21, 24:24, 36:20 (Cut Off: Ex. 31:14, Lev. 7:20-21, 25, 27, 17:4, 9-10, 18:29, 19:8, 20:3, 5-6, 17-18, 23:29, Num. 9:13, 15:30, 19:20; Put Away: Deut. 13:5, 17:7, 12, 19:19, 21:21, 22:22, 24, Judges 20:13, Lev. 20:14)

The Almighty was renowned for glorious acts of divine judgment in the Early Church whereby He “cut off” sinners from the earth according to the Adamic & Noahic Covenants (Job 4:7, 11:10, 18:16, 21:21, 24:24, 36:20), in the same manner Jehovah became famous hereafter in the Abrahamic, Mosaic, & Davidic Covenants (Cut Off: Ex. 31:14, Lev. 7:20-21, 25, 27, 17:4, 9-10, 18:29, 19:8, 20:3, 5-6, 17-18, 23:29, Num. 9:13, 15:30, 19:20; Put Away: Deut. 13:5, 17:7, 12, 19:19, 21:21, 22:22, 24, Judges 20:13, Lev. 20:14). Eliphaz’s point is clearly made because what he rhetorically asks Job was utterly undeniable: “…who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?” (Job 4:7). Any contrary opinion was outrageous and indefensible. For, it was God’s prerogative to perform such judgments in the Church without partiality (1 Pet. 4:17-18).

Job 4:8 | Spiritual Sowing & Reaping: Gal. 6:7-9, Hos. 10:12; That Ye May Know: Job 4:7-8 (I have seen), 5:3-5 (I have seen), 5:24-25 (thou shalt know), 11:5-6 (He would shew thee…know therefore), 18:20 (astonied at his day), 19:25, 29, 21:19, 22:19 (see it) 27:12 (seen it), 34:26-27 (in the open sight), 36:9 (he sheweth them), 36:24-25 (behold…see it…behold)

It’s no surprise that Eliphaz was confident that Job was suffering for his sins. Why? Because God is a just and righteous Judge. Furthermore, because no memory from Church History could be produced to prove that God ever allowed the “innocent” to perish (Job 4:7)! Therefore, if asked, no aged saint of any prior generation could ever “remember” a time when the LORD “cut off” the “righteous” in the heat of his anger (Job 4:7). Rather, all the saints “have seen” and can testify to the fact that God only and always judges men according to what they have done (Job 4:8).

Job 4:9 | “the blast of God…the breath of His nostrils…consumed” – Ex. 15:8, Job 1:19, 15:30, Isa. 11:4, 2 Thess. 2:8, Isa. 30:33 [El-esh-oklah] [Bodily Adoration]

What the Almighty did in glorious acts of divine judgment, He did it through being especially and immediately present in Person to do the judgment by a “blast” from “the breath of His nostrils” to “consume” the wicked (Job 4:9). The spiritual men of all generations were profoundly aware of these invisible realities. Believers beheld the unseen (Heb. 11:1). Spiritual men worshipped in the Spirit through a new birth (Gal. 4:29). Godly men became godly through coming to know God in vital reality (Jer. 9:23-24; 1 John 2:4-6).

Job 4:13-21 | Demonic Encounter: Job 4:13-21, 15:15-16, 25:4-5

In this encounter, the spirit was quoting the Word of God while making a wrong application in Job’s situation, similar to how the Devil quoted Scripture attempting to deceive Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:1-11. The Tempter can rarely succeed to ensnare godly men through outright immoral temptations, but through misinterpretations of Scripture or a misapplication of biblical truth he can deceive them by making them think they are doing the right thing. Even so, where Satan failed to deceive the Son of God in Matthew 4:1-11, he succeeded with Elipha in Job 4:13-21 – thus Eliphaz and his friends were preaching and promoting right doctrine with the wrong application in Job’s unique situation. Demonic encounters serve their purpose as a little nudge to push godly men forward in a wrong direction. Where Eliphaz was cautiously suspicious before, he then became confident and resolved thinking that he knew all that he needed to know about Job’s situation.

Job 5:1 | Sainthood: Jude 1:14, Job 15:15 (Deut. 33:2-3)

Eliphaz directs Job’s attention to the general assembly of the saints in the Early Church. Why? Because no one, not even Job and his friends, claimed autonomy and independence in how they interpret the judgments of God in doctrine or practice (Job 5:27, 6:10). That’s why Job’s friends continually certified their beliefs during the discourse through citing the sources by which they acquired these doctrines, namely the older and godlier men of their fathers and forefathers (Job 12:12-13), and especially the most aged and renowned men among them like Noah and Shem who lived in “the former age” before the flood (Job 8:8-10, 15:7-10, 17-19, 20:4). Can you imagine sitting under the teaching of Noah and Shem? These mighty men of God were the last of their kind.

Noah lived 600 years before the flood and 350 years after the flood, while Shem lived 98 years before the flood and 502 years after the flood. Therefore, Noah was directly discipled for over a hundred years by the pre-flood Patriarchs and Prophets, men like Enos (howbeit Enos only spent 86 years with Noah), Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech, all of whom spent hundreds of years being directly discipled by Adam (howbeit Lamech only spent 56 years with Adam). Also, Shem was directly discipled by Methuselah for 98 years and by Lamech for 93 years, while these two men spent 243 years and 56 years with Adam respectively in close discipleship. Consequentially, the network of Biblical Churches present in Job’s generation were so unified, no saint from anywhere could be called upon to support the idea that the calamities which befell Job could possibly fall upon a righteous and innocent man (Job 5:1).

Job 5:3-5 | The Prosperity of the Wicked because of a Delayed Sudden Destruction: Job 5:3-5, 9:24, 12:6, 20:5, 21:5-16, 22:10, 24:1-25, 27:16-17 (Ps. 37:35-36, 73:11-12, 17:14, Jer. 5:27, 12:2-3, Mal. 3:14-15, 1 Thess. 5:3); That Ye May Know: Job 4:7-8 (I have seen), 5:3-5 (I have seen), 5:24-25 (thou shalt know), 11:5-6 (He would shew thee…know therefore), 18:20 (astonied at his day), 19:25, 29, 21:19, 22:19 (see it) 27:12 (seen it), 34:26-27 (in the open sight), 36:9 (he sheweth them), 36:24-25 (behold…see it…behold)

The unsaintly sinners of the earth (Job 5:1) are such because they are alienated from the life of God as the posterity of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15, Eph. 4:17-19), and being such they are void of the knowledge of God as it pertains to the doctrines of the Church (Prov. 22:3, 27:12). Accordingly, such men were categorically marked by Eliphaz as “the foolish man” or “the silly one” (Job 5:2).

However, in speaking of such, Eliphaz was implying that Job had foolishly engaged in wickedness before God and was suffering for it in the exact same way that he had seen many times. Eliphaz was pointing the finger at Job as an interpreter, and so he began to trace the contours of Job’s destruction as a witness against him (Job 1:13-19). For, apparently, Eliphaz had seen many foolish men taking root and prospering in their livelihoods, just like Job, in things pertaining to their “habitation”, “substance”, and “harvest” for the safety of their “children”, and all such like things, when “suddenly” they were destroyed in an outbreak of divine judgment (Job 5:3-5)! Eliphaz was describing how the wicked are sometimes allowed by God to prosper for a time, but then they are suddenly destroyed in the judgment of God; so even when the judgment of God is delayed in executing justice, when it finally comes it is sudden and renownedly destructive to the astonishment of the onlookers (Job 18:20-21).

Job 5:4 | Judgment upon Children: Job 5:4 (hereditary judgment), 8:4 (dying for their own sins), 8:6 (hereditary judgment), 17:5, 18:19, 20:26, 21:19, 31:8 (hereditary judgment), 27:14, 29:5 (the blessing of God), 30:1-15 (the slaughter of the fathers, & the children follow; like father like son) [Job 21:11, 24:5 - the delayed destruction of the children of the Wicked]

Job 5:8-27 | Noahic Covenant: Job 5:8-27, 12:7-25, 18:4, 20-21, Matt. 5:43-48 (Messianic Interpretation)

While the delayed but sudden destruction of the wicked is the universal expectation of the Early Church, according to Eliphaz (Job 5:1-5), the ongoing great and marvelous judgments continually employed by God to deglorify sinners and exalt the saints are impossible to innumerate (Job 5:8-9). Nevertheless, one divine judgment among the innumerable multitude is greater and more marvelous than all the rest: THE FLOOD (Gen. 6-8)! Eliphaz alludes to this in Job 5:10-11 to complete the thought he began in Job 5:8-9. Also, this is the first mention of “rain” in the book of Job (Job 5:10).

When you think about rain, you should be thinking about the Noahic Covenant. For, rain was used by God to ceremonially make possible the Noahic Covenant like a Baptism (1 Pet. 3:18-22). Not only because it had never rained before until the worldwide flood (Gen. 2:5-6, 7:4, Heb. 11:7, Job 38:8-11), but because through this mighty deluge of water the Almighty delivered the Church from sin and declension (Gen. 6:1-22); and now, lo and behold: the Old World is passed away and the New World is come (2 Pet. 2:5; 2 Cor. 5:17). Or, in the words of Eliphaz, the Almighty gave “rain” and sent “waters” to “set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted” (Job 5:10-11).

“Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.” - Job 5:10-11

Eliphaz certainly isn’t invoking the memory of an early afternoon drizzle that cooled the day in the sweet repose of the New World. This delightful scene would be visibly accompanied with a rainbow to underscore God’s intent in showering the earth with rain. Namely, that the rain hasn’t come to destroy mankind in bringing an End to the World (Gen. 6:6-7). However, that’s exactly why it began to rain for the first time ever (Gen. 7:4)! Therefore, Noah, as a new paternal head of mankind, was a standalone Tribulation Prophet in the End of the World (“a Preacher of Righteousness” – 2 Pet. 2:5) only that God might usher it into a new beginning. Literally, the rain and floodwater drowned the wicked, while those in the Ark were “exalted to safety” and “set up on high” as inheritors of the New World beyond the flood (Job 5:10-11). “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5).

Job 5:9 | “Great & Marvellous” – Rev. 15:3

Eliphaz used the words “great” and “marvellous” to describe the glorious acts of the Almighty to bring an End to the World through the flood (Job 5:9-11), while the saints of the Last Days will use these words to describe the glorious acts of Jesus Christ in the End of the World of the near future at the outpouring of the Vials (Rev. 15:3).

Job 5:10-11 | “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matt. 5:5; Divine Reversal: Job 21:22, 22:29, 24:24, 41:34 (1 Sam. 2:7-8, Ps. 91:14, Ps. 107:41, Lk. 1:52-53, Isa. 40:2-11)

The beatific blessings of the Ancient Times were salvation. The beatific blessings of the Patriarchs were salvation. The beatific blessings of the Law delivered through the prophet Moses are salvation. The beatific blessings of the Messiah are salvific blessings. The Messiah’s words in Matthew 5:5 harmonize with the ancient doctrines found in Job, from which all the Patriarchs, Prophets, Kings, and Priests quoted up until the New Testament

When judgment is flourishing in the days of Covenantal Idealism, no divine reversal is necessary. The Church Officers enforce the judgment so that the proud are brought low and the meek are exalted. However, the times of apostasy in tribulation periods are met with the same judgments. The enterprise of the wicked is a problem in every generation. However, when God is especially and immediately manifest in the Kingdom of God, lo and behold: “He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.” (Job 5:12, Ps. 33:10-11).

Job 5:13 | “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness…” – 1 Cor. 3:19, Ps. 7:15-16, 9:15-16, 35:7-8; 1 Cor. 1:19-20

Job and his friends were so wise, godly, and full of the Holy Ghost, even a discourse of sharp disagreement amongst themselves was packed full of doctrine and endowed with divine inspiration. Those who have such a low view of Job’s friends need to reckon with the fact that the apostle Paul quoted Eliphaz in 1 Corinthians 3:19, saying, “it is written”, affirming it to be the unbreakable and eternal Word of God uttered by Eliphaz as he preached to Job in Job 5:13.

Job 5:14 | “meet with darkness…grope at noonday” – Deut. 28:29, Prov. 4:19, Ps. 35:6, Isa. 59:10

Job 5:15 | “saveth the poor” – Matt. 5:3, Lk. 6:20, 1 Sam. 2:8, 17:47, Ps. 7:10, 34:18, 107:19, 144:10

Job 5:16 | “So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.” – 1 Sam. 2:1-10, Ps. 107:42

Job 5:17 | “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty” – Ps. 94:12, Prov. 3:11-12, Heb. 12:5, Jas. 1:12, Rev. 3:18

Job 5:18 | “For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” – Deut. 32:39, 1 Sam. 2:6, Ps. 147:3, Hos. 6:1, Isa. 30:26

Job 5:19 | “six…yea, in seven…there shall no evil touch thee” – Ps. 91:3, 1 Jn. 5:18, Prov. 6:16

Job 5:20 | “redeem thee from death” – Hos. 13:14, Jehovah-Goalek

Job 5:21 | “hide” & “neither…afraid” – Ps. 31:20, 91:1, 5-7

Job 5:24-25 | “know…as the grass of the earth” – Ps. 72:16, 92:6-8; That Ye May Know: Job 4:7-8 (I have seen), 5:3-5 (I have seen), 5:24-25 (thou shalt know), 11:5-6 (He would shew thee…know therefore), 18:20 (astonied at his day), 19:25, 29, 21:19, 22:19 (see it) 27:12 (seen it), 34:26-27 (in the open sight), 36:9 (he sheweth them), 36:24-25 (behold…see it…behold)

Job 5:27 | Evidence of a Unified Church: Job 2:10, 11-13, 4:3-7, 5:1, 8, 27, 6:10, 25, 8:8-10, 9:2, 12:2-3, 9-10, 12-13, 13:1-2, 15:7-10, 17-19, 16:2, 4, 8, 17:2, 4, 8-10, 18:3-4, 20-21, 19:3-5, 7, 20:2-4, 21:29-31, 22:15-17, 24:1, 27:12 (Laws of Perpetuity: Deut. 32:7-8, 4:32, Ps. 44:1, 77:5-12, 78:1-8, Ps. 119:52, Isa. 46:9, 63:11, Joel 1:2-3)