Eliphaz’s Third Speech and Job’s Reply

BY Andrea Lucado

In Eliphaz’s third and final speech, he accuses Job of wickedness. Grasping for a reason behind his friend’s suffering, Eliphaz must believe his friend has done something to deserve this. If he hadn’t, surely God would not have allowed this amount of suffering to befall him.

How quickly our faith reduces to a formula when in crisis. If I do good works for God, God will bless me, right? Job knew that no matter what he did or did not do, God “is unchangeable, who can oppose Him? He does what he desires” (Job 23:13). Which leaves us wondering, if the outcome will always be the same, why even bother with trying to do good?

I recently moved into a house with a newly remodeled kitchen. It is neat and pristine on the surface, but I have learned that the pipes beneath it are not. Previous owners committed the cardinal sin against sinks. They put grease down the drain, and now I’m dealing with a clog.

As several different plumbers have come in and out of my home, I have learned that a beautiful kitchen is worthless if the pipes are bad. When it comes to kitchens, it is only what’s beneath the surface that allows everything to function, flow, and thrive. When it comes to us, it is the same.

To the church in Galatia, Paul wrote, “For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh” (Galatians 6:7–8). For whatever a man puts down the drain, he will also see it come up again.

God cares about our good works, not because they affect His will—He is unchangeable, who can oppose Him?—but because they affect who we are. As Paul continues, saying, “the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit” (v.8).

We must not get tired of doing good, not because our good deeds will lead to good circumstances, but because sowing goodness leads to a life of trusting in the Spirit—the type of life that can withstand trials with faith.

Job seems to have the opposite problem of my kitchen. His life is in shambles, his kitchen a disaster zone, but the plumbing is clear. He is asking why, as we all would, but he is also asking a better question: where? Where is God in the struggle? “If only I knew how to find him,” he pleads, “so that I could go to His throne” (Job 23:3).

Through our great High Priest Jesus Christ, we have direct access to the throne room Job seeks. Because of this, although we can’t always be confident of the why, we can be confident of the where. Where is God in our suffering? Right there with us in the midst of it.

Whatever suffering befalls you today, know that God is near. And His Spirit is allowing you to do good, so that even if your physical life is in shambles, you can be confident the life inside of you is eternal.