How will Job’s friends comfort him? Showing his rank among the three, Eliphaz was the first to speak (in 42:7 God spoke to Eliphaz, who represented the other two, indicating how God saw the three). After introductory remarks (v. 1-6) – without one syllable of kindness, tenderness, love or concern about the loss of ten children or Job’s painful boils– Eliphaz laid out the prosecution’s case. He stated his sowing and reaping philosophy (“You are getting what you deserve Job.” v. 7-11). Then Eliphaz, the high Brahmin of orthodoxy of the Good Ole Boys’ Theology Club – the self-appointed spokesman – launched into a dream-revelation (reported in v.12-21), which protected their wealth and position against the riff-raff. Attributing divine authority to this dream, Eliphaz was unaware that satan sent it.
What indicates this dream-revelation is from the evil one?
1. Two Conflicts As author Mike Mason points out, structurally Job is built on the parallel of two major conflicts: God vs. satan and Job vs. EliBilPhar (a combination of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar). The latter conflict mirrors the former; the earthly mirrors the celestial. Satan went underground (last mention is 2:7) because EliBilPhar were capably handling the prosecution’s case.
2. Wrong Proportions Eliphaz used as many verses to describe how the dream came to him (vs. 12-16) as to share the content of the dream (vs. 17-21). This is not on par with legitimate, Holy Spirit revelations.
3. Wrong Atmosphere In revelations from the Holy Spirit, often fear was assuaged first (Luke 1:13, 30, Daniel 10:7-11). But in this revelation, satan made Eliphaz afraid, paying him in the coinage of his realm. A form stood … a spirit glided past my face (vs. 15) … my ears caught a whisper (v. 12) … a hushed voice (v. 16) – is not God’s way of communicating. Whispering is satan’s style. A revelation from God is not, I could not tell what it was (v. 16).
4. Wrong Content Can a man be more righteous than God? asked Eliphaz. He was really saying, “Job, if you claim that you don’t deserve what you are getting, you are making yourself more righteous than God” (v. 17 paraphrased). This question was designed to make it look like Job was claiming to be more righteous than he was actually claiming to be. The goal was to raise a standard so high that Job could not attain it, resulting in him condemning himself. But that was not the issue. That was not the bet.
Eliphaz and His Demonic Dream Revelation, based on Job 4, is day 7 in Eight days with Job
Other Posts in This Series:
Job: Spiritual Sushi (Eight Days with Job, #1)
Balance (Eight Days with Job, #2)
The Bet (Eight Days with Job, #3)
Lessons from Job 1 (Eight Days with Job, #4)
Round Two (Eight Days with Job, #5)
A Few Good Men (Eight Days with Job, #6)
Satanic Terrorism (Eight Days with Job, #8)
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