Job 22
SIBImagining that Job had accused God of injustice, in suffering the wicked to prosper and the righteous to be afflicted, Eliphaz, in great anger, replied, 2. Darest thou imagine that God is a gainer by our virtue, as we ourselves are, and so bound to reward us for it?
Job 22:3
Can it add any thing to his joy or profit that thou art ever so righteous and perfect?
Job 22:4
Dost thou imagine that he corrects thee out of reverence to thee, or for fear thou shouldst hurt him? Will he, for fear of thee, either punish thee, or give thee an account of his conduct?
Job 22:5
Are not thy own monstrous and unnumbered iniquities the true cause of thy fearful sufferings?
Job 22:6
For without any just cause thou hast taken pledges from thy very brethren, and hast in the cruelest manner deprived the poor of their small remains of the preservatives of life
Job 22:7
Most inhumanly thou hast withheld, from the weary and starving, the most cheap and common supports of their life
Job 22:8
But the man who was high born, wealthy, and honoured, was thy favourite, and had thy land and estate at his service, and was sure to carry his cause at thy tribunal
Job 22:9
Thou hast spoiled widows of their just property, and cruelly oppressed, broken, and crushed, the orphans, depriving them of all their supports and comforts
Job 22:10
Therefore entangling troubles and dangers are every where round about thee; and sudden fears and terrible judgments affright thee
Job 22:11
Fearful troubles and perplexities so overwhelm thee, that thou hast neither a comfortable sense nor hope of relief left; and multitudes of afflictions have with violence burst forth upon thee. 4 12. Is not God higher in place and dignity than the loftiest stars which thou observest? 13, 14. But, like an Atheist, you seem to think that God cannot know, or doth not care, what is done upon earth, but merely amuses himself in walking round the heavens
Job 22:15
Hast thou not eagerly followed, rather than prudently observed, the conduct or fate of those companions of vanity and wickedness who lived before the flood: 16. To whose horrid impieties God put a stop, by destroying them before their time, and carrying them off the earth by an overflowing deluge
Job 22:17
Who, in the most insolent manner, wished to have nothing to do with God, and imagined that nothing he could do for them could really profit them?
Job 22:18
Yet it was he who granted them their whole prosperity. But God forbid that I should ever join in either principles, purposes, or practices, with such abandoned wretches
Job 22:19
The righteous shall with pleasure behold the destruction of such men as a vindication of the honor, holiness, and justice of God; and shall deride their folly in taking such courses as issue therein
Job 22:20
While the estates of such as are truly pious and virtuous remain unhurt by the providence of God, those, who imitate these ancient sinners, are consumed by thunder, lightning, or some other fearful judgment. 2. But, since God hath not entirely consumed thee, try, without a moment’s delay, to get the spiritual knowledge of God; accustom thyself to him by repeated supplications; receive peace from him; and quietly submit to him, by an unfeigned repentance. Thus shall all manner of blessings, temporal and eternal, come to thee
Job 22:22
Receive, and duly meditate on, the instructive revelations which he may be pleased to afford thee
Job 22:23
If by a true faith and sincere repentance thou turn to the Lord, thou shalt be again advanced to thy former honours and prosperity; and the punishment which thy sins have brought upon thee shall be removed far from thee, and whatever belongs to thee
Job 22:24
Then shalt thou lay up gold, and fine gold, in such amazing plenty, and with such ease, as if they were the most common things
Job 22:25
For the all-sufficient and almighty God shall be thy portion, and the protector of thy treasures; and thou shalt have astonishing heaps of silver
Job 22:26
Thou shalt delight thyself in the enjoyment of God’s love and favour; and shalt with confidence and comfort present thyself at his throne of grace, and hope for his eternal felicity
Job 22:27
With sweet pleasure shall he hear thy prayers; and thou shalt pay thy vows of gratitude to him with the warmest affection
Job 22:28
Whatever thou hast purposed shall be accomplished; and divine direction, success, and comfort, shall attend all thy proceedings
Job 22:29
When wicked men around thee are distressed or destroyed, thou shalt confidently expect honour and felicity; and God shall bring to eminent and extensive happiness the person who is cast down in his own eyes
Job 22:30
Nay, at thy request he shall marvellously deliver, not only many innocents, but even the guilty, and their country, by means of thy prayers, piety, and virtue
REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. XXII.—Nothing can be more absurd than to imagine that we can make God our debtor by any thing which we can do. We have nothing good in us, or done by us, but what is God’s gift. None are too great for God to humble. And, if he spare the wicked, it is not for fear of them, but in patient pity towards them. Even good men, from a pretended regard to God, are apt to charge their neighbour with things which he heartily abhors. But, if God’s greatness, omniscience, and equity, should deter men from crimes, they should also deter us from unjustly charging our neighbour with them. He that condemns the righteous is an abomination to the Lord. How tremendous are the judgments of heaven, and happy they who can safely rejoice amidst them; or who, in a Christian manner, take warning from them! Through ignorance of, and enmity against, God; through neglect and contempt of his word; and through obstinate continuance in sin; men lose the greatest blessings, and incur the greatest evils. But O the delight in God, the bold confidence towards him, the intimate fellowship with him, the satisfaction even in managing outward affairs, the safety in times of common calamity, and usefulness towards others,—that knowledge of and peace with God, spiritual improvement of God’s word, and sincere repentance, do produce!