Job 18:1

Job 18:1 says, Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,  Job had asked his friends to just be quiet if all they could do was condemn him, but Bildad, like Eliphaz felt that he had to continue to try to correct what he saw was Job's lack of understanding.  In verse two, Bildad says, How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.  Bildad wondered how long Job was going to continue to speak what he saw as empty words.  As we saw with Eliphaz, Bildad now becomes even stronger in his condemnation of Job.  I don't believe that either one had really listened to Job.  They had their minds made up that Job was a sinner and a hypocrite, so they were basically just waiting for Job to quit talking so they could point out how wrong he was.  When we are confronted with someone expressing an opinion we do not agree with, we too often fail to hear what they are saying.  We may hear their words, but often have dismissed them even before they are spoken.  Verse three asks, Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?  Bildad was basically accusing Job of calling his friends beasts, but he never had.  Job may have said that he felt that their reasoning was faulty, but he never said that they were as incapable of rational thought as were beasts, or animals.  We should not be surprised if someone who believes that we are wrong distort our words when they respond to what we have said.  Verse four says, He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?  Bildad may have been referring to Job's statement about tearing his flesh, but he was not referring to it with any understanding of what Job was saying.  We may repeat what someone said and use it out of context to prove our point, but we should listen to really understand what someone else is saying, especially if we disagree with them and want to correct the errors in their understanding.  Verse five says, Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.  Bildad now begins to try to show Job why he was wrong in what he had said.  There is a lot of truth in what Bildad tells Job, but it did not apply to Job.  We must be careful to never take general truths and claim that they apply in every situation, especially if we are using them to justify ourselves and condemn others.  Verse six says, The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.  Bildad was not speaking of a building, but of a person.  He was still saying that the wicked would die from their iniquity.  Yet, we know many very evil people who live long and prosperous lives.  Both good and evil people will die physically, but their spirits will live on.  Verse seven states, The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.  Bildad said that the steps of the wicked would ultimately be made straight and that they would be cast down by their own beliefs.  It is true that all sin will ultimately be done away with and that those who believe in anything other than God will be cast away, it doesn't mean that it will happen in this life.  Verses eight through ten continue to state the fate of the wicked for relying on their own strength and wisdom instead of God.  Verse eight says, For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.  Then verse nine, The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. Finally, verse ten, The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.  I believe that Bildad was saying that the sinner would be ensnared in his own trap.  We can be certain that sin does entrap people in its own net if they do not allow God to set them free by putting their faith in Him, but that does not mean that they will always be brought to destruction in this life.

Job 17:10

Job 17:10 says, But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.  Job asked why his friends were returning to him again, since he could find no wisdom in what they were saying.   He said that they should be listening to him instead of speaking foolishly against Him.  If we see someone suffering and can only speak to them in judgment, we are better off remaining quiet, or may need instead to listen to what they have to say.  Though the truth of God will never change, our understanding of God may, or we might say even should.  We are called on to grow in knowledge and truth about God.  If we approach our relationship to God feeling that we already know everything that there is to know, we are indeed fooling ourselves.  In verse eleven Job states, My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.  Job felt no hope of restoration in this life.  He felt that his usefulness was past and had no more hope in his heart.  It is impossible to say how we would feel if we were in Job's place, but we should always acknowledge that all things are possible with God, and if we remain faithful, He will never leave us without hope.  Verse twelve says, They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.  Job said he could find no rest at night, and that his suffering would soon end in his death, where there would be no light.  Verse thirteen says, If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.  Job felt that his only hope for release from his physical suffering was to make the grave his home.  He would rest, or sleep, there in darkness.  The grave, or death, is the only thing that we can be certain of for this mortal body if Christ does not return in our lifetime.   Verse fourteen says, I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.  I believe that Job was saying that he had accepted that suffering was all that was left for him in life.  Everyone else had abandoned or condemned him, so his suffering was all he had left in his life.  If we do find ourselves suffering in life, hopefully we will have better family and friends than Job did.  In verse fifteen Job asked, And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?  In this life, Job had no hope, but I believe that he still had faith in God, as evidenced by the question who would see his faith.  We know that no one can see our faith, except by our actions.  So, if we were to find ourselves in perpetual torment, who could see even evidence of our faith.  Verse sixteen says, They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.  I believe that Job was saying that his friends would come to his grave thinking that he suffered the ultimate punishment for his sins.  We must remember that his friends, and his wife, thought that material possessions and life itself was a reward for serving God faithfully, and that suffering, and even such a horrible death, were punishment from God.  They saw the grave as the end for Job, as they had no hope of his redemption due to his perceived lack of faith.

Job 17:1

Job 17:1 says, My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.  Job felt that his life was in such torment that even his breathing was corrupted.  The days when he had a purpose in life seemed to be extinct, or a thing of the past.  I believe that Job really felt that he was beyond physical redemption, so he was ready to go to the grave and a spiritual restoration with God.  We may at times feel that death is our only hope, but we need to remember what happened with Job later on.  As long as we have life, we should have hope.  In verse two, Job asks, Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?  Job was speaking of his friends and neighbors.  They were mocking his profession of innocence.  In their concept of God, the status of a person on this earth indicated their relationship with God.  Since Job had been very prosperous and was now reduced to torment, his friends ridiculed him for being a hypocrite.  I believe that Job was saying that the fact that he could still look them in the eye and proclaim his innocence provoked them to anger at him.  When we set ourselves up as moral judges and pronounce a person guilty of sin and they deny it, we tend to become angry at the person, and not the perceived sin.  We are not called to ridicule and provoke others, but to simply reach out to them with the love of God.  Verse three says, Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?  Job put his surety in God.  Like Job, our friends may fail us, but as followers of Christ we can put our surety in God.  When we are resting securely in God's hands, no one can take us away from Him.  Those around us might want to ridicule or even fight with us, but God is our defender.  In verse four Job declares, For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.  Job said that God had caused his friends to be blinded to the truth.  Since I do not believe that God hides Himself or His truth from certain people and reveals it to others, a more accurate statement would be that Job's friends refused to see the truth of God.  They were so certain that they knew the reason for Job's suffering that they were not listening to God.  In our relationship to anyone, we need to first listen to what God has to say.  Verse five says, He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.  I believe that Job was saying that those who only seek to flatter, or speak good things about only their successful friends, will ultimately fail even their families.  If they are basing God's will on material things, then they do not have a true understanding of God, and they will ultimately fail spiritually.  Verse six says, He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret. Job said that his friends were using him as an example of God's punishment of the wicked, whereas beforehand they had used him as an example of God's blessing on the righteous.  That is the problem with exalting people as great examples of faith based on material possessions.  Verse seven says, Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.  Job said that sorrow had dimmed his eyes and he was but a shadow of what he had been.  Still, he didn't believe that he had committed some great sin that was causing his suffering.  Verse seven says, Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.  Job declared that even the upright, those who were honestly trying to follow God, would be astonished by Job's words of innocence, and the hypocrites would be stirred to speak out against Him.  Sometimes, if God's truth seems to go against what we believe, we may be astonished that we are wrong.  If we have been and are being hypocritical, then we will naturally oppose this truth from God, because if we don't, then we have to acknowledge our own sinfulness.  Verse nine says, The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.  Job said the righteous, those that God had made spiritually clean, should hang on to their faith, no matter what.  If we keep our faith in God, we will grow stronger and stronger spiritually, no matter what our physical condition might be.

Job 16:11

Job 16:11 says, God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.  Job was feeling that if God was not directly behind his suffering that God had at best turned him over to the ungodly and wicked.  I believe that we could say that this was true, but not for the reasons that Job may have understood.  I believe that Job was saying that God had done this because He felt that Job was guilty of some great sin and was punishing Job.  We need to understand that as followers of Christ that if we are suffering in life and we are living for God as faithfully as we can that God is not going to cause the suffering, but He may allow the suffering to come.  We can never look at our relationship with God from our physical or material standing in the world.  Verse twelve adds, I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.  Job said that when he was at ease, his world was destroyed.  He had lost his wealth, his friends, his family and his health.  These were all blessings from God, and Job held God directly responsible for his lose of them.  When we, as followers of Christ become too at ease in the world, it is quite possible that our world can be shaken apart, but we need to make sure that we never become angry at God because of it.  Job felt that God was treating him unfairly, but we can be sure that God will never be unfair in His relationship with anyone, especially those His followers.  Verse thirteen continues, His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.  I believe that Job felt that God had in effect placed him in a place where everything and everyone seemed to be against him.  If we were to find ourselves in the same situation as Job, we might feel just as defeated as Job did.  Verse fourteen states, He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.  Job felt that God was continually punishing him and that he was helpless before God.  Though we are certainly helpless before God, once we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we can be just as certain that God is never going to set out to destroy us.  If trouble comes into our lives, we need to remain even more faithful to God.  Verse fifteen adds, I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.  I believe that Job was saying that he had repented and humbled himself before the world and God.  Even though Job knew he had done nothing to deserve what he saw as punishment from God, he did not stand in self-pride and defy God.  We should always be willing be the same way in our relationship to God.  In good times or bad, we need to humbly submit to God.  Verse sixteen continues, My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;  Job was truly heartbroken over his condition, because he felt separated from God.  I am sure the physical pain was great, but the spiritual pain was greater.  Verse seventeen says, Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.  Job said that his repentance and tears were not because he had done any injustice, but because he still realized his position in relationship to God.  Verse eighteen adds, O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.  I believe that Job was basically saying that nothing in the earth could point to injustice on his part.  He might never be seen as guiltless in this life, but that wasn't where his hope was.  Verse nineteen continues, Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.  Job knew that his ultimate judgment was not in this world and the things of this world, but in heaven, where he knew he had a witness to the fact that he had been true to his faith in God.  We as followers of Christ know that He is our witness in heaven, and that the judgment of this world does not matter.  Verse twenty states, My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.  We, like Job, may be scorned by our friends, but our repentant hearts must always cry out to God.  Verse twenty-one adds, O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!  We know that we have an Advocate with God if we have accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Job was looking ahead to the coming of that Advocate, but we know that He has already come, and we can put our faith in Him.  Verse twenty-two continues, When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.  Job knew that his time on this earth was limited and that when he died he would never return again.  We do not come back as something or someone else.  When the body dies, the spirit returns to God forever.  We just need to realize that it doesn't matter if we have accepted Christ or not, the soul lives on.  The souls of the saved and the sinner will go to be judged by God.

Job 16:1

Job 16:1 says, Then Job answered and said, After listening, Job now responds.  He did not feel the need, or at least give in to the urge, to interrupt.  Verse two adds, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.  Job certainly had a point here.  His friends were indeed miserable comforters.  Basically, everything they said pointed to Job being a hypocrite and a sinner.  If we go to some who is suffering today, especially a Christian, we need to hope that we will be better at comforting them.  We really need to pray that we won't go to them condemning them as hypocrites or sinners.  Verse three continues, Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?  Job asked his friends if there would ever be an end to their vein, or empty and meaningless, words.  Job recognized that there was no truth to their words.  I believe that he knew this because he knew that his relationship with God was true.  If we are going to recognize when people are not speaking the truth about God, we must first have a relationship with God.  Job also asked why they felt emboldened to speak to him this way.  I believe that Job knew that what they were saying was not based on God's authority, so he wondered why they felt that they should so boldly condemn him.  If someone comes to us today condemning our actions as being sinful, especially if it is based on material things, we need to ask them by what authority they feel free to speak.  If we know that we are in a right relationship with God, then no one else has the authority, or right, to question it.  Verse four states, I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.  Job said that if the roles were reversed, he could speak to them as they did to him.  He did not say that he would, but only that he could.  We need to recognize that we have the ability to judge people based on what we see going on in their lives, but we need to pray that we don't judge them based erroneous knowledge of their relationship with God.  Verse five adds, But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.  Job told his friends that if he did speak to them if they were in his condition, that he would offer words of hope and encouragement to lessen their grief.  We need to feel the same way about those that we see in need.  As followers of Christ, we are not called to condemn, but to comfort and offer the hope of Christ to those we reach out to.  Verse six continues, Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?  Job said that talking about and even just enduring the pain brought him no relief.  Things are easier to endure if there is hope that they are going to get better, but Job had no such hope.  Verse seven declares, But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.  Job still saw God as the direct cause of his problems, saying that He, or God, had made Job weary.  Job also said his friends had made him desolate, being condemned by them instead of being offered hope.  If someone today, especially a fellow believer, is feeling that somehow God has abandoned or is punishing them, we need to offer them encouragement and hope and not look for ways to question their faith.  Verse eight adds, And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.  Job said that his physical condition might seemingly bear witness against him, but he maintained that it did not mean that he was spiritually impure.  Not only should our friends not judge us based on our physical condition, neither should we judge ourselves based on physical, or material, things.  Our relationship with God, or the spiritual, is all that matters.  Verse nine continues, He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. I believe that Job felt that he was being torn apart by God's wrath on him.  He also felt that what his friends were doing was like gnashing at him in his misery.  Verse ten concludes, They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.  Job said that basically his friends were looking at him with reproach instead of empathy.  We need to be better friends to those around us who are suffering, looking to comfort and not to condemn.

Job 15:16

Job 15:16 says, How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?  Eliphaz was continuing to point out how sinful people were.  God has created Adam and Eve as perfect, but they chose to give in to iniquity, and so had everyone since, except for Christ.  I don't believe that Eliphaz saw himself as abominable and filthy spiritually, but he certainly did see Job that way.  Verse seventeen adds, I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;  Eliphaz was saying that he had an insight into God's will and His working in the world that Job did not have.  We need to be wary of anyone who says that they have a special knowledge of God that other Christians cannot possess.  Verse eighteen continues, Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:  Eliphaz said that what he was saying was what wise men had always known.  We must remember once more that just because something has been taught for years does not make it true.  There have been many things done in the name of Christianity that were never based on God's word.  Verse nineteen states, Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.  This was another way of saying that those that follow God are blessed materially.  God gave His people a great land.  There was no need to fear the strangers around them, because God was the source of their strength.  We know that God does not just deal with His people materially, but that He deals with them spiritually.  Verse twenty adds, The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.  Eliphaz equates suffering with disobedience to God.  He was again equating material blessings with God's blessings.  We should be careful that we do not teach the same thing.  Verse twenty-one continues, A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.  Eliphaz states that the wicked will have their prosperity destroyed by God, and thus would imply that this is what happened to Job.  We cannot claim that material loss comes from a direct action of God.  Verse twenty-two says, He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.  I believe that Eliphz was saying that the sinner is without hope of being restored to prosperity, and that Job should accept this as his condition.  These next few verses speak of the condition of the sinners, those who do not follow God's will for their lives, or in some cases even acknowledge His existence.  Verse twenty-three adds, He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.  Though Eliphaz was making these statements based on material wealth, we can say that from a spiritual perspective that this is true.  Materialism will never satisfy the soul, and with God we wander in spiritual darkness.  Verse twenty-four continues, Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. Trouble and anguish will certainly make people afraid when they stand to be judged by God, but that does not mean that the wicked will always suffer defeat in this life.  Sometimes, the wicked do flourish.  Verse twenty-five states, For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.  There are people today, some very prosperous, who deny that God even exists or that He has any power in this world.  They may feel that they are stronger than God, but a rude awakening awaits them.
Verse twenty-six adds, He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:  Verse twenty-seven continues, Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.  I believe that Eliphaz was saying that those who do not follow God saw their riches as a sign that they were correct.  We can never base the truth of God's blessings on materialism.  Verses twenty-eight through thirty-three continue to express the idea that God will punish the wicked materially in this world.  Verse twenty-eight says, And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. Verse twenty-nine adds, He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.  Eliphaz was saying that the riches of the wicked would not endure long.  Verse thirty continues, He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.  We do know that those who do not follow God's will in their lives will ultimately be cast into darkness, but that does not mean that they will not prosper in this life.  Verse thirty-one states, Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.   Those who do not believe in God are certainly deceived, and what they believe in is certainly vanity, or nothing.  Verse thirty-two adds, It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.  Verse thirty-three continues, He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.  Ultimately, sinners will not prosper, but they may amass a lot of wealth in this life.  In the life to come though all that they have amassed will be shaken off.  Verse thirty-four says, For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.  Eliphaz had accused Job of hypocrisy, and I believe here that he was telling Job that Job should have expected this fate.  In verse thirty-five, Eliphaz adds, They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.  Eliphaz was still speaking about hypocrites in this verse.  Though this is true of the everlasting life that we await, it does not always work that way now.  Sometimes the wicked prosper and those faithful to God suffer.  We cannot judge a person's spiritual relationship with God by any material standard.

Job 15:1

Job 15:1 says, Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,  Job may have thought that he had quieted the accusations made by his friends, but he hadn't.  Eliphaz, who had earlier implied that Job might have been hiding some unknown sin, says here that basically he knew Job was guilty of sin, especially hypocrisy.  We may think that our friends will really listen to us with an open mind, but often they may have already condemned us as hypocrites even before hearing what we have to say.  If we challenge what they believe to be the truth, they may become even more vocal in pronouncing condemnation on us.  Verse two adds, Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?  Eliphaz was basically using rhetorical questions to attempt to show Job how wrong he was.  Eliphaz had noted that Job was known for being wise before all the sufferings came upon him, so now he was asking how a wise man like Job could proclaim such empty words.  Eliphaz said Job's defense of himself was just empty air.  Those who have already made up their minds about anything will often refuse to listen to anyone who disagrees with them.  Verse three continues, Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?  Eliphaz was basically asking Job if he thought presenting his defense would accomplish anything, since Eliphaz saw Job's speeches to be of no value.  Eliphaz truly believed that he knew more about the will of God than Job did.  We need to be certain that what we proclaim as God's word really is His word, and if anyone becomes upset by what we say, we still need to stand firm in our faith.  Though Eliphaz was firm in his beliefs, his beliefs were not based on a true understanding of God. Verse four states, Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.  Eliphaz accused Job of no longer fearing, or being in awe of, God.  Once more, Eliphaz was assuming to know more about Job's relationship with God than Job himself did.  He was basically saying that Job was being hypocritical about claiming that he had done nothing to bring this suffering on himself.  Verse five adds, For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.  Instead of being convinced by Job's words, Eliphaz said that what Job had just been saying was uttered in iniquity and was an attempt to prove his innocence by crafty words, or made up defences.  When someone disagrees with us about what God's word teaches, we cannot assume that we are right and they are wrong.  We need to go back to the source, to God Himself, and pray that He will show us the truth.  Eliphaz was so certain that he was right that he became his own proof.  He did not want to honestly consider what Job had been saying.  Verse six continues, Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.  Eliphaz basically accused Job of lying, or at best presenting ideas that were not true even if not deliberately.  This assumed that Eliphaz knew more about God and His will than Job did. We must be careful to not assume that our own thoughts and ideas are God's thoughts, especially when dealing with another Christian.  Verse seven asks, Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?  I believe that Eliphaz was asking Job if he had lived long enough that he had a closer relationship with God than anyone else, as did Adam before sin came into the relationship.  Verse eight adds, Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?  This is a continuation of the same idea.  Eliphaz was asking Job if he thought he had heard some secret of God and that he had kept that wisdom to himself.  Though we would do well to question someone who professes a belief about God that we do not agree with, we should not do it with derision of their beliefs as Eliphaz was here.  Verse nine continues, What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?  Job had disagreed with his three friends, and here was asked how he thought he knew more about God than the three of them did.  The numbers who believe something does not always make it right.  Sometimes we simply have to stand firm in our faith in God no matter how many people may say we are wrong, but we must be sure that what we believe is really the truth of God.  Verse ten says, With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.  Eliphaz told Job that there were older and wiser men who agreed with them, and that simply by the fact that they were older they knew more.  Just because a person has been a follower of Christ longer than someone else does not mean that they have a greater knowledge of God.  Often throughout history there have been great numbers of Christians who followed the wisdom of the world instead of the wisdom of God.  Verse eleven add, Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?  I believe that Eliphaz was basically asking Job if he was allowing some secret sin to keep him from the consolation of God.  Verse twelve continues, Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,  Eliphaz continued to question Job's relationship with God, asking why he allowed his heart to turn him away from God as he winked at, or discounted his unconfessed sins.  Eliphaz was still equating physical suffering with the spiritual relationship one has with God, but we know we cannot do this.  Sometimes the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper.  Verse thirteen states, That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?  Eliphaz said that Job had turned against God in his spirit and was speaking against God with the words that he proclaimed.  Verse fourteen adds, What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?  These are very good questions that we need to ask today, but not for the purpose of declaring that we have a greater understanding of God than someone else may have.  These questions applied to Eliphaz as well as to Job, but I don't believe that Eliphaz saw it that way.  Verse fifteen continues, Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.  Eliphaz states that God does not put His faith in His people to always do the right thing.  We know that Christ was the only One who God could put His faith in to bring deliverance to the world.  Many of the angels had rebelled and people had sinned, so a Redeemer was necessary.