Chapters 22 to 24 of Job record the first interchange in the third round of speeches between Job and his friends. Eliphaz speaks first in this round just as in the others (chapter 22), and the length of his speech is about the same as most of the others. But Bildad’s speech in this round is very short (see chapter 25) and Zophar does not speak at all. It is during this round that the friends decide that it will be impossible for them to persuade Job that his afflictions are due to his sins.
Eliphaz’s first point is that Job’s claim to righteousness has no value; God does not profit from man’s righteousness (vv. 2–3). He then repeats the point that the friends had been making all along: God is afflicting you because your sins are great (vv. 4–5). But Eliphaz makes explicit what Zophar had only implied in his last speech—that Job’s particular sin is that he has oppressed the poor. Zophar had talked about the wicked man and said of him, “He has oppressed and forsaken the poor, he has violently seized a house which he did not build (20:19).” Eliphaz says here to Job
You have taken pledges from your brother for no reasons, And stripped the naked of their clothing. You have not given the weary water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry (20:6–7). The word “honorable” in verse 8 (NKJV) really means “favored” (ESV). Job, probably as an elder in the city, had unjustly favored the powerful and thus enabled them to possess the land of the poor (v. 8). He had sent widows away empty and been responsible for the crushing of the strength of the fatherless (v. 9). Because of this God’s judgment had come on him (vv. 10–11).
Not only had Job oppressed the poor, but he had also persuaded himself that the Almighty was so highly exalted that he would not see what Job was doing: Job could sin with impunity (vv. 12–14). But Eliphaz knows that God does see and therefore asks Job if he will continue in the way of sinners who were destroyed by the flood of God’s anger (v.16). Using Job’s own words from chapter 21:14–16, Eliphaz repeats Job’s complaint about the wicked. They said to God, “Depart from us… (v.17).” Yet God filled their houses with good things. That counsel of the wicked was far from Job (21:16), and it is also far from Eliphaz (22:18). But the difference between Job and Eliphaz was that Job complained that God did nothing about this wickedness, while Eliphaz claims that the righteous see the judgment of the wicked and are glad (vv. 19–20). Perhaps Job cannot see this judgment because he is not among the righteous.
The rest of Eliphaz’s speech is a call to repentance that a preacher today might well use to present the call of the gospel. Eliphaz presents the call in three ways. 1) “Acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace (v. 21).” That is, Know God, who he is and how he works and make peace with him through confession of your sin. 2) Receive instruction from his mouth, and take his words to heart. Eliphaz probably means, listen to his word from us, your friends. 3) Return to the Almighty.
He also adds certain promises. Good will come to you (v. 21). “You will be built up; you will remove iniquity far from your tents (v. 23).” You will despise the gold of this earth because the Almighty will be more precious to you than any gold or silver could possibly be (vv. 24–25). You will delight in God and talk with him face to face (as Moses did at Mt. Sinai, v. 26). You will pray, he will answer, and you will pay your vows of thank-offerings (v. 27). He will establish all your counsels and fulfill all your purposes. Light will shine on your ways (v. 28).
Verses 29 and 30 are more difficult, and there is disagreement among translators and commentators about them. If we go with the NKJV with the exception of the italicized word “you” in the first line of verse 29, then the meaning seems to be that the wicked will cast others (probably the poor) down, but Job will bless them and pray for them, and God will hear him, deliver them and even forgive their sins. Strikingly, this is exactly what happened at the end of the book when God commanded Eliphaz and the three friends to ask Job to sacrifice for them and forgave their sins through that sacrifice.
So Eliphaz accuses Job of particular sins and calls him to repentance. Job’s answer to him is found in chapters 23 and 24. Chapter 23 is very personal, but chapter 24 is again about how God deals with the wicked.
Job has said at least twice before this that he wants to present his case to God himself. He repeats that desire here.
He is still very distressed (v. 2). The speech of chapter 21 had been calmer and more objective only because Job was strongly suppressing his feelings for the sake of making a more objective argument to his friends. That argument has failed, and so he turns back to God.
He begins quite hopefully (vv. 3–7). He will present his case, God will answer him and he will be able to receive and understand the answer. God will not simply overwhelm him by his power (as Job had feared in 9:4), but will listen, and Job will win his case.
But the problems begin in verses 8-9. Job is ready, but he cannot find God (see also 9:11). He goes back and forth, to the right and to the left, but, though God is working all around him, Job cannot see him. He cannot come to his presence to make his case.
Nevertheless, he asserts his confidence in the justice of his plea (vv. 10–12). God knows his way and, testing him, will find no impurities in him. He has walked in God’s way and treasured God’s word more than his necessary food.
Again he wavers. God is unique. There is none like him in heaven or on earth. No one has any influence on him to make him change his decrees. He does whatever he pleases (v.13). He does with Job what he has appointed for him, and he performs many similar works with others (v.14). Therefore, Job is terrified. The Almighty has robbed him of courage and has not kept Job from the darkness (vv. 15–17). Job ends this part of his speech in despair.
In chapter 24 Job becomes much less personal and takes up again the argument with Eliphaz and his other friends. The substance of his argument here is that God does not do to other oppressors of the poor what he has done to Job. If Job has sinned in this way, why should he be treated differently than all the others? And why do the righteous not see God executing his judgment on such wicked men (24:1)?
In verses 2–4 Job describes what some wicked men do. They remove landmarks, thus robbing others of their land by fraud. They seize flocks. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox as a pledge. They push the needy off the road and force the poor into hiding. The result is that the poor have no land and no harvest and must go out to the wilderness to find food for themselves and their children. They gather fodder in the field and glean in the vineyard for their oppressors. They spend the night naked, cold, wet with showers and huddled around the rock because they no other shelter (vv. 5–8).
The oppressors of the poor snatch the fatherless from the breast of the mother, take a pledge from the poor, cause the poor to go naked and take sheaves from the hungry (vv. 9–10). And the result is that the poor have to work for these wicked men without any hope of reward and die because they lack the necessities of life (vv. 11–12). Yet (and this is the key point) God does not charge their oppressors with wrong (v. 12c). They get away with it, month after month, year after year.
They are people who love darkness and hate light (vv. 13–17). They are like a murderer who rises with the light to kill the poor and needy. Some commentators believe, and it seems likely, that Job is speaking ironically when he says in verse 14 that the murderer rises with the light; the darkness is to the him like light is to others. They are like adulterers who wait for the twilight when no one will see them and even then hide their faces so that no one will recognize them. They are like thieves who at night break into houses which they have marked for themselves during the day. The morning terrifies them as if it, and not darkness, were the shadow of death. If they recognize it, they are in terror of the shadow of death, or they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness (see ESV).
Verses 18–25 are difficult. I prefer the translation of the ESV here. It prefaces verses 18–20 with the words “you say.” Job is quoting his friends who say that the wicked (who prey on the barren and do no good for the widow, v.21), perish quickly. Job’s view is different (vv. 22–24). Again, I prefer the ESV. God prolongs the life of the mighty, so that, on the verge of death, they rise up. He gives them security and keeps a kindly eye on their ways. Even in death they suffer no pangs or troubles; they die like any others who have not done the wickedness they have done.
Job concludes with a challenge: “Who will prove me a liar?”
Eliphaz has charged Job with oppressing the poor, and has explained his affliction as just judgment of God for his sin. Job says in reply, “Consider what God does with other oppressors of the poor. Why should I be different?” He says things that he should not have said, as he himself will be forced to admit later.
After all this discussion, then, there has been no movement on either side. Job’s friends still believe that Job’s afflictions are due to gross sin. Job’s replies to them are 1) You are wrong. 2) In fact, God doesn’t judge the wicked like you say. They often prosper in the world. 3) I don’t want you to judge me. Let God be my judge. He will find me innocent. The friends have become more specific in their accusations, but Job remains emphatic that he has done no wrong that would explain his suffering.
The friends now recognize that there is nothing more to be said. They must leave it to God or others to convince Job of his error. Bildad makes one more brief and feeble attempt (chapter 25), before Job makes his last and longest defense (chapters 26 to 31).