I have spent the last few months teaching through the book of Job. This book is a must read, but it must not be a casual read. To get the full picture of this book, as most books of the Bible, you must go through it slowly and purposely.
Several of the Scripture passages that really caught my attention are found in a conversation between Eliphaz and Job.
You see Eliphaz was the “spiritual” one. He was the friend who had built his theology on his personal experiences. The things he had seen, heard, felt, and experienced. He was about the goosebumps and the spiritual high…
He was the one who claimed to “know” God’s will and ways because he had been “moved by the spirit”.
Now a word was brought to me stealthily,
And my ear received a whisper of it.
“Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
Dread came upon me, and trembling,
And made all my bones shake.
“Then a spirit passed by my face;
The hair of my flesh bristled up.
“It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, then I heard a voice:
Job 4:12-16
This was one of Eliphaz’s experiences and he uses this experience and others to convince himself and to try and convince Job that he has some kind of “special” and “secret” relationship with God that makes him an authority on what is going on in Job’s life right now.
Eliphaz took his experience and measured and decided what truth was by his personal experience, when what we are called to do is take Truth and measure our experiences by the Truth of the Word of God and if our experience does not line up with the Word… well then it simply was not of the Spirit and it was not of God.
I must admit I was nervous about coming to the book of Job to study it…
because I knew that Job’s friends did not speak right to Job,
but the tricky part was that they spoke some truth…
however it was misguided, out of context, and used to condemn not exhort.
We do this quite often in Christendom. We take what little truth we know and twist it and distort and misuse it and teach others to do the same. We are living in a day where the Eliphaz’s are all around us. We are living in a day where a lot of those who confess Christ base their relationship with Him on whether or not they feel Him or have been moved by His Spirit… yet they are completely ignorant of His Word because it requires effort to actually seek Truth. It’s a lot easier to act on a gut reaction… or be led by a goose-bump.
We live in a day where those who confess Christ would rather decree their will then actually submit to God in prayer and seek His will. A loved one has cancer… well they will just decree it gone. A child is dying… well they will decree he lives. They are struggling with their finances… well we will just decree ourselves to have wealth… etc.
Many believe that if we will just be good Christians and give enough of our money to the “church” and get excited enough over God and muster up enough joy over Him and speak confident and positive things, then God will do whatever we say.
Yield now and be at peace with Him;
Thereby good will come to you.
“Please receive instruction from His mouth
And establish His words in your heart.
“If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent,
And place your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
Then the Almighty will be your gold
And choice silver to you.
“For then you will delight in the Almighty
And lift up your face to God.
“You will pray to Him, and He will hear you;
And you will pay your vows.
“You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you;
And light will shine on your ways.
“When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence,
And the humble person He will save.
“He will deliver one who is not innocent,
And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 22:21-30
Yes, this was the words of Eliphaz to Job.
Here is Job’s response:
But He knows the way I take;
When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
“My foot has held fast to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
“I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
“But He is unique and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.
“For He performs what is appointed for me,
And many such decrees are with Him.
“Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;
When I consider, I am terrified of Him.
“It is God who has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty who has dismayed me,
But I am not silenced by the darkness,
Nor deep gloom which covers me.
Job 24:10-17
Job lets Eliphaz know that God is very much aware of every thing in his life and God knows that he has not committed some awful sin that he is hiding and refusing to repent of. Job knows God is up to something… he just can’t figure out what or why. But he lets Eliphaz know that he has held fast to the path of God and he has held on to the Word of God. Job knows that God is going to do what God is going to do.
Job lets Eliphaz know that God performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him. Job is not going to decree anything… he believes that is God’s place… not his.
Job also says that he will not stand before God and speak confidently. He says I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him.
Ummmmm hello? GOD!
There is not one recorded encounter with God in His glory by man that man has even been able to stand in His presence, much less speak confidently before Him… they all fall down like dead men. I believe that I would too… I cannot even pray without bowing my head and falling to my knees in acknowledgement of His glorious majesty… I cannot fathom standing before Him and pointing with my finger and decreeing a thing that I know not all the facts about.
So whose position is right?
Should we as believers and those righteous by the blood of Christ be able to decree our will and expect God to do our bidding? Or should we be willing to trust that God knows exactly what is going on and that He is up to something and we should wait and know that He will accomplish His will in us and focus our prayers on Him revealing His will to us?
Let’s see who God says is right…
It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job,
that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite,
“My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends,
because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.
Job 42:7
It doesn’t get much clearer than that.
Here’s the thing… as a believer I have authority. I have authority over sin in my life. I have authority to declare that if someone has believed the gospel and become obedient to the faith from the heart by grace through faith in Christ and have called on His name to save them I can declare them saved… on the authority of God’s Word.
I have authority to come before the throne of grace anytime I want and speak directly to my God through the name of my Jesus… not my own.
I have authority to declare what the will of God is… when the Scripture says, “this is the will of God, that you…”
However, I do not have the authority to decree God’s will in another’s life concerning His purpose for their life. I have not the knowledge to make such decrees. All I know is Romans 8:29 and the truth that God saved us to conform us into the image of His Son, how He conforms us… that’s all Him.
Job’s friends thought Job was a wicked secret sinner and that’s why he was going through what he was going through… but that was not the case.
Yet they had not been there in the heavens when God spoke with Satan and God Himself said that Job was blameless and a man of integrity. God Himself called Job His servant. God knew Job. God had a purpose for Job. God was at work in Job’s sufferings… Job did not suffer in vain and he did not suffer as some punishment for a hidden sin. Job was walking through the refining fire of our God.
Therefore as a believer in Christ, I personally will not be one who will decree things over another. I will not decree wealth on a person struggling in their finances… because I do not what God is up to in their lives. I will not decree health over a person whose body is sick because I do not know what God is up to in their suffering. I will not decree peace when there is no peace.
I will however, seek Him in His Word and see if there be a promise from God to help them hold on to as they walk through the refining fire of our holy God. I will pray for strength and endurance. I will pray for perseverance. I will thank God for His provision, His grace, His mercy, His everlasting love, His goodness, His sovereignty.
I will get on my face before Him and cry out my confusion concerning the suffering.
I will seek Him for peace and comfort.
I will pray…
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying,
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Matthew 26:39
Job’s suffering was not for punishment… it was for purity of heart.
Job’s suffering was not for wickedly committed deeds… it was for the sake of righteousness.
Job’s suffering was not God moving away from him…
it was God making the way for Job to be able to walk closer with Him
Job’s suffering was not God hiding from him… it was God teaching Job a whole new revelation of Himsel so that God could bless Him with more of Himself. Job was blameless, he was a man of integrity, he was a great man, but Job had not yet arrived… he still had much to learn about his God… as do we… as do I.