Religious folks, who fancy themselves sent by God, hardly ever consider their own words from the point of view of the listener. That is, whether their words and tone are gentle or harsh. So, they are always pure in their own eyes. They see themselves as the servants of God, bringing his word to the lost, vis-à-vis those who are under the judgment of God. They sincerely believe they represent the Lord in everything they say and do, as that pertains to reaching out to these lost souls. In our present context, Eliphaz sees himself and the other friends as the messengers of God, sent to Job to recover him from his wicked ways and restore him to a repentant condition. In doing so, they would enable him to walk righteously before God.
From the very beginning, the friends had come to comfort Job (Job 2:11). Yet, when they saw him, they were astonished to see the condition he was in. It was completely unexpected, and they almost didn’t recognize him (Job 2:12). It was then that they came to believe that Job had, obviously, fallen under the judgment of God. Moreover, and, according to what they had believed and taught, Job’s suffering couldn’t be caused by anything other than unrepentant sin. While they had understood him to be a righteous man, this had to be only apparently so, and he must have been covering up a secret, wicked way of life (Job 4:7; 8:11-13; 11:14).
Each of the friends had spoken to Job and offered their advice, which was to repent and permit the Lord to restore him to his former glory. Eliphaz understood both his and the words of the other friends, as words of consolation from the Lord (Job 15:11). However, due to Job’s response to their advice, Eliphaz wondered, if Job thought the word of God (as spoken by the friends) was of little value, even though the words spoken were gentle and should have comforted him.
Therefore, Eliphaz asked Job why he was turning his heart away from God. More specifically, why was Job repudiating the words of the friends, and why was he rolling his eyes at their advice (Job 15:12)? They came as the Lord’s messengers. To reject them was to reject God, which, clearly, Job had done, as is understood in his response to each of the friends (Job 15:13).
Next, Eliphaz repeated his former argument about man’s corruption (cp. Job 4:17-19), this time alluding to Job’s own admission that no man born of woman could be just before God (Job 15:14; cp. 14:1, 4). Indeed, Eliphaz argued that the Lord doesn’t even put trust in his heavenly creatures, for not even angels are pure in his sight (Job 15:15). If this is so, then how could man be righteous, when he drinks in wickedness, as though it were water? In other words, if the heavenly angels aren’t perfectly righteous, how could man be so, when his natural state is to be wicked (Job 15:16)?
The problem with Eliphaz’s argument is that the Lord has, indeed, entrusted man with his creation (Genesis 1:26-31). Moreover, in mankind’s present state, he trusts him to govern himself (Genesis 9:5-6), to provide for the needy and even to give birth to children and care for them, until they can care for themselves. If God truly loves man, then this demands that the Lord wouldn’t believe mankind (as a race) was evil (Job 15:16; cp. 1Corinthians 13:5). In fact, the love of God would never fail to believe and hope in the ultimate faithfulness of man to God’s original purpose (1Corinthians 13:7-8; cp. Genesis 1:26-31). Understanding this to be so, clearly indicates that the friends, however well-intentioned they may have thought themselves to be, could never have been the messengers of God, sent by him with words of comfort. That is to say, their words, were not the Lord’s words (cp. Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, Eliphaz and the other friends misrepresented God in declaring they had been sent by him to correct Job and get him to repent. Clearly, no matter what they thought of Job’s behavior or their own good intentions, they were not sent by the Lord with a message from heaven.
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3 responses to “Claiming to Be the Lord’s Representative!”
Hi Eddie. Coming from 35 years in a Charismatic church, I learned that most or the ‘words from the Lord’ were at best opinion, at worst soothsaying. The ‘words’ would not specifically contradict scripture as they understood it. But it yielded folks tuning into their own thoughts and assuming it was the Holy Spirit speaking to them. Not much has changed!
Good Morning Dave, and thanks for your comment. Lord bless you.
There was some of that going on in the church I most recently attended, but not a lot. Personally, I don’t see that as very harmful. What I think about is what church leaders say and do in the name of Christ. Some have blamed earthquakes and hurricanes and flooding on otherwise innocent folks, innocent in the sense that they weren’t as great the sinners the “man of God” made them out to be. They were folks like you and me, but perhaps lacking a good education in Christ. So, they were blamed, because they were different. Where’s the Gospel in that? 9/11 was also blamed for certain sinners, not too different than you and me. These “leaders” of churches and other Christian institutions will appear before the Lord one day. I don’t want to dwell on how that might turn out.
Lord bless you, Dave, and thanks again for your continued attention to my studies.
Let me explain why it is harmful. Our pastor once years ago was given a word that his ministry would be very lonely. Guess what? That prophesy was self-fulfilling. A few years ago he was given a prophesy that 4 young couples would soon be added to the church and that they would assist him. He’s still waiting for that one and as a result has refused to retire at 75 years old. He is vital, but he runs the same programs as he did 45 years ago. I think some of the words I have received have been legit, as they were confirmed in other ways independent of each other. But it is never good to accept these blindly.
Thanks for the discussions, and God Bless!
Dave