The document explores the dialogue of Eliphaz the Temanite from the Book of Job, emphasizing his misguided judgments regarding Job's suffering, which he attributes to personal sin. It critiques the errors in judgment presented by Eliphaz, including the assumption that poverty equates to punishment and a lack of compassion for the hurting. Ultimately, it underscores that not all suffering is a direct result of divine chastisement, indicating that true understanding of suffering may only come later in life or after death.

1. Eliphaz the
Elite
I. Right to Judge
A. Wisdom/Age
Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered
and said,
Gen 36:15 These were dukes of the sons of
Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son
of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke
Zepho, duke Kenaz,

2. Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD
had spoken these words unto Job, the
LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My
wrath is kindled against thee, and against
thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of
me the thing that is right, as my servant
Job hath.
Jer 49:7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the
LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in
Teman? is counsel perished from the
prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
Right to Judge
A. Wisdom/Age
B. Experience
His expertise rests on a mysterious
experience.

3. Job 4:12-16 12 Now a thing was secretly
brought to me, and mine ear received a
little thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the
night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the
form thereof: an image was before mine
eyes, there was silence, and I heard a
voice, saying,
Did a spirit ever pass before Job's face?
Did Job's hair of his flesh ever stand up?

4. Then let Job be meek while the superior
as Eliphaz declares the causes of Job’s
misfortunes.
Eliphaz says many true things but he
remains hard and cruel, a dignitary who
must be heard because of one
remarkable experience.
I. Right to Judge
A. Wisdom/Age-
B. Experience
II. Errors in Judgment
A. Poverty equals punishment
Job 4

5. 7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever
perished, being innocent? or where were
the righteous cut off?
David-
Ps 71:20 Thou, which hast shewed me
great and sore troubles, shalt quicken
me again, and shalt bring me up again
from the depths of the earth.
Messiah-
Isaiah
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of
men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our faces
from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not.

6. Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Daniel
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for
himself: and the people of the prince that
shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with
a flood, and unto the end of the war
desolations are determined.
Jesus
Mark 9:12 And he answered and told them,
Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all
things; and how it is written of the Son of
man, that he must suffer many things,
and be set at nought.

7. Paul-
Acts 28:4 And when the barbarians saw
the venomous beast hang on his hand,
they said among themselves, No doubt
this man is a murderer, whom, though
he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance
suffereth not to live.
2Cor 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken;
cast down, but not destroyed;
2Cor 6:9 As unknown, and yet well
known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as
chastened, and not killed;
The godly often suffer while the wicked
prosper.

8. Cain/Abel
Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his
brother: and it came to pass, when they
were in the field, that Cain rose up
against Abel his brother, and slew
him.
Gen 4:10 And he said, What hast thou
done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground.
In Job’s day
Job 12:5-6 5 He that is ready to slip
with his feet is as a lamp despised in the
thought of him that is at ease.
6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper,
and they that provoke God are secure;
into whose hand God bringeth
abundantly.

9. Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live,
become old, yea, are mighty in power?
In David’s day
Ps 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish,
when I saw the prosperity of the
wicked.
Ps 73:12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
who prosper in the world; they increase
in riches.
Saints at times are “killed all the day
long,” and their “blood shed like water”.
Ps 44:22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all
the day long; we are counted as sheep for
the slaughter.

10. Ps 79:3 Their blood have they shed like
water round about Jerusalem; and there
was none to bury them.
Heb 11:36 36 And others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of
bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the
sword: they wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted,
tormented;
II. Errors in Judgment
A. Poverty equals punishment
B. No compassion for the hurting
Job 4

11. 7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever
perished, being innocent? or where were
the righteous cut off?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow
iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the
same.
Dan 11:33 And they that understand
among the people shall instruct many: yet
they shall fall by the sword, and by flame,
by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
Proper scripture but wrong application:
Prov 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
Isa 59:5 They hatch cockatrice' eggs,
and weave the spider's web: he that
eateth of their eggs dieth, and that

12. which is crushed breaketh out into a
viper.
Jer 9:5 And they will deceive every one
his neighbour, and will not speak the
truth: they have taught their tongue to
speak lies, and weary themselves to
commit iniquity.
Isa 33:1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and
thou wast not spoiled; and dealest
treacherously, and they dealt not
treacherously with thee! when thou
shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be
spoiled; and when thou shalt make an
end to deal treacherously, they shall
deal treacherously with thee.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity: he that killeth

13. with the sword must be killed with the
sword. Here is the patience and the faith
of the saints.
Matt 7:2 For with what judgment ye
judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you again.
Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment
without mercy, that hath shewed no
mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against
judgment.
II. Errors in Judgment
A. Poverty equals punishment
B. No compassion for the hurting

14. C. Assumes he knows the cause and
conclusion of Job’s problems
Job 4
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by
the breath of his nostrils are they
consumed.
Eliphaz preaches to convict Job and identify
him with the “wicked”. Truth misapplied
assumes the effect of error.
Job 4
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of
the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young
lions, are broken.
“Lions” are used in Scripture as the symbol
of cruel men.

15. Ps 57:4 My soul is among lions: and I lie
even among them that are set on fire,
even the sons of men, whose teeth
are spears and arrows, and their tongue
a sharp sword.
Jer 1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy
loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
that I command thee: be not dismayed
at their faces, lest I confound thee
before them.
Zeph 3:3 Her princes within her are
roaring lions; her judges are evening
wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the
morrow.
Nero-

16. 2Tim 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord
stood with me, and strengthened me;
that by me the preaching might be fully
known, and that all the Gentiles might
hear: and I was delivered out of the
mouth of the lion.
Job 4
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,
and the stout lion's whelps are scattered
abroad.
The lion’s whelps give illusion to the death
of Job’s children as a cure on Job’s life from
God.
Job 4
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the
hair of my flesh stood up:

17. 16 It stood still, but I could not discern the
form thereof: an image was before mine
eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice,
saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than
God? shall a man be more pure than his
maker?
This is the cconstant aim of Job’s “friends,”
to bring him down from his perfection,
because then a simple answer can be
found. (Psa. 62:4)
Ps 62:4 They only consult to cast him
down from his excellency: they delight
in lies: they bless with their mouth, but
they curse inwardly. Selah.
II. Errors in Judgment
A. Poverty equals punishment

18. B. No compassion for the hurting
C. Assumes he knows the cause and
conclusion of Job’s problems
III. The final Word
Job 42
7 And it was so, that after the LORD had
spoken these words unto Job, the LORD
said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is
kindled against thee, and against thy two
friends: for ye have not spoken of me the
thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
1Kgs 4
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and
understanding exceeding much, and
largeness of heart, even as the sand that is
on the sea shore.

19. The difficulty with Eliphaz lay in the fact
that he did not know all the truth. Sin and
wickedness will surely be visited with
chastisement; but it is wrong to say that all
suffering is the result of God's chastening
hand.
In John 9, the question was asked by the
disciples concerning the man born blind,
"Who hath sinned, this man or his
parents?" They had the same idea as that
expressed by Eliphaz. Job was suffering,
because Job had sinned.
Some of God's choicest saints suffer the
most.
If Eliphaz had been able to look behind the
scenes he would have found that God,
through the trials of Job, was vindicating
His own righteousness and also
substantiating the faithfulness of Job.

20. If the disciples had been able to look
behind the scenes, they would have known
that the man had been born blind; in order
that "the works of God should be made
manifest in him."
One thing is sure--when we do not know
the reason for our suffering and our
sorrows, we can "trust and not be afraid."
"Not now, but in the coming years,
It may be in the better land,
We'll read the meaning of our tears,
And up in Heaven we'll understand.
"We'll know why clouds instead of sun,
Were over many a cherished plan,
Why hopes were crushed, when scarce
begun,

21. 'Tis there in Heaven we'll understand.
"God holds the key, He leads the way,
He guides us with unerring hand,
Sometime, with tearless eyes we'll see,
Yes, up in Heaven, we'll understand."
Don’t be...
Eliphaz the Elite
1Kgs 4:29 And God gave Solomon
wisdom and understanding exceeding
much, and largeness of heart, even as
the sand that is on the sea shore.
I. Right to Judge
A. Wisdom/Age-
B. Experience

22. II. Errors in Judgment
A. Poverty equals punishment
B. No compassion for the hurting
C. Assumes he knows the cause and
conclusion of Job’s problems
III. The final Word