Sayre Woods Bible Church

“What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous? If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!”  (Job 15:14-16)

Eliphaz now gets his second chance to speak to Job. Unfortunately he hasn’t gotten any more compassionate in his assessment of Job’s life and in his interpretation of Job’s suffering. Eliphaz is convinced that someone going through Job’s level of suffering has to be on God’s bad side for a reason. Eliphaz’s world is simple and clear cut–the wicked suffer, the righteous are blessed. Job is suffering so he must be wicked.

As you read Eliphaz’s words in 15:14-16, it is clear that he had a firm understanding of the sinfulness of mankind. He is right. No man is pure before God. No man is righteous. And at the core of humanity is a sinful, deceitful, depraved heart. But Eliphaz seems to be more conscious of Job’s “sin” than his own. That is his problem. He is the classic example of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. Don’t worry about the speck in your brother’s eye until you have removed the plank from your own (Matthew 7:5). 

As I read Eliphaz’s words and the words of Job’s other two friends, most of what they say is correct. But somehow they missed the heart of the matter. Their correct doctrine on God’s sovereignty and man’s sinfulness somehow made them more arrogant rather than more humble. How can that be? I think they focused on the correctness of their doctrine more than the content of their doctrine. They were glad they aced the test rather than thinking about what they learned in the class. After spouting out his views on the sinfulness of man’s heart, Eliphaz should have stopped and considered, “Hey, that’s my heart too. Perhaps I need to be a little less certain that I have it all figured out and a little more humble in this situation.” But that’s not what he thought. He thought, “You are sinful Job! Stop trying to wiggle out of this circumstance and just admit your sin, whatever it is!”

The next time I start getting irritated or agitated at another person’s supposed sin in my eyes, I need to stop and consider my own heart. It doesn’t mean that I don’t confront sin, but it does mean that I must do it from a standpoint of a fellow sinner, seeking to help a brother/sister grow in their faith as I grow in mine.

Lord, deliver me from the attitude of Eliphaz, seeing everyone’s sins except my own.

You will call and I will answer you; You will long for the creature Your hands have made. Surely then You will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; You will cover over my sin. (Job 14:15-17)

In Job 14, Job continues to waver back and forth between faith and doubt, hope and despair. What was interesting to me was the thing that gave Job some hope. You will long for the creature Your hands have made. Job’s hope was rooted in the heart of God and in His love for His creatures. To be honest, I had never really stopped and considered that God would long for me because I am His creation. Sometimes I forget what it means to be a creation of God, to be crafted by God’s hands, to be precious in His sight because I am His offspring and live and move in His very presence (cf. Acts 17:28). God longs for me. Wow. I can’t fathom that. The Creator of the universe longing to have relationship with me. I can only catch a glimpse of that thought by thinking of my own children. I did not create them but they are a part of me. Somehow in God’s miraculous design, I had a hand in their existence. And I long for a strong, deep relationship with them. I shudder at the possibility of their future rebellion, of them using their free will to reject everything I taught them, to be ungrateful for what I provided for them, to take advantage of me, or to, God forbid, even seek to hurt me by willfully living a life in opposition to my desires. How those same kind of actions by us must grieve the heart of God.

Job held onto the hope of restoration and forgiveness because he firmly believed that he was a precious creation of God. He was God’s child. And as His child, Job could not believe that God would abandon Him forever. Indeed, Job believed that God longed for him and could not reject His own. Such is the hope of the child of God.

Lord, thank You for creating me and loving me.