Eliphaz speaks again, and foolishly explains the great extent of Job’s wickedness, followed by a call for Job to repent. We’ll focus on the latter.
“Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust… then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you… He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” (v21-27,30 abr)
Eliphaz has some solid wisdom in his theology of repentance – listen to God, agree with Him, remove any sin/injustice from your life, put off the things of this world (gold for example), and you will delight in Him and be delivered even though you were a sinner. What’s more, Eliphaz states that other sinners may be delivered by God’s work through Job, once he is right with God.
Scripture, especially in the NT, agrees with Eliphaz that once someone has been repentant, is forgiven by God and receives the Holy Spirit, others can be saved through the Spirit’s work in them. We still see this every day , and a great example in scripture was Paul: ” ‘For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” ‘ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” (Ac 13:47-48)
God clearly worked a miracle of forgiveness and transformation in Paul, and His Spirit worked powerfully through Paul to reach millions of people to this very day.
My encouragement for us today is to continue clinging to God in faith, growing deeper and deeper in our relationship with Him. Why? So we can receive eternal life? Well, that’s the icing on the cake, but I suggest there’s a nobler reason: so that we can be a witness to others, and the Spirit can work powerfully through us to deliver them from darkness. Do you have any friends, family, or acquaintances who do not love Jesus? They are the reason we should continue investing in our walk with God. If God can work through a horrible sinner like Saul, to save millions through a faithful servant like Paul, He can work through you and I as well.
Father God, our Sovereign King and Deliverer, great, mighty and holy is Your name. Just as the universe declares Your glory, so will we. We long to have a fully restored and reconciled relationship with You Father, so that we may be your faithful servants here on earth. Spirit please do a powerful work within us, and then through us, to reach and save the lost. Jesus please advocate for the lost, pleading their cases before the Father, so that they too may experience Your imputed righteousness. We praise, honor and glorify You Father, our Merciful and Gracious King, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training