Title: You Can Have Peace and Prosperity
Scripture: Job 22:1-30
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Message
Today we don’t just have regular stress, we’ve got cyber stress.
Emails multiply like rabbits.
Turn your cell phone off for even a couple of hours and when you turn it back on, it has gained ten pounds from the influx of recent voice mails.
Then we have hyper stress.
Go to the grocery store and see how much small talk you get from the cashier whose speed and efficiency is being tracked by a computer as he or she electronically scans your groceries, calls out your total, and digitally sweeps you out the door.
In a five-year study of three thousand salaried and hourly employees, 88 percent said they work ‘very hard.’ Sixty percent said they ‘still don’t get all their work done.’ And 71 percent said they felt ‘used up.’
Even ministers aren’t immune.
Almost half eventually resign, and when asked why, 80 percent cited the negative effect of pastoral ministry on their family lives.
So what’s the solution to our stress?
Peace!
And where can you find peace?
The Bible tells us, ‘Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.’
Here’s how it works:
When you know that God loves and accepts you unconditionally, it sets you free to do the same for yourself.
As a result you’re no longer driven by a need for acceptance, acquisition, and achievement.
Yes, when you live by the principles clearly laid down in the Bible, you can have peace and prosperity!
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Reflection: (Job 22:1)
This is Eliphaz’s third and final speech to Job, he commended Job’s good deeds and gently suggested that Job might need to repent of some sin.
While he said nothing new in this speech, he did get more specific.
He couldn’t shake his belief that suffering is God’s punishment for evil deeds, so he suggested several possible sins that Job might have committed.
Eliphaz wasn’t trying to destroy Job; at the end of his speech he promised that Job would receive peace and restoration if he would only admit his sin and repent.
When he first to Job (Job 4-5)
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
Reflection: (Job 22:12-14)
Eliphaz declared that Job’s view of God was too small, and he criticized Job for thinking that God was too far removed from earth to care about him.
If Job knew of God’s intense, personal interest in him, Eliphaz said, he wouldn’t dare take his sins so lightly.
Eliphaz had a point – some people do take sin lightly because they think God is far away and doesn’t notice all we do.
But his point did not apply to Job.
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Reflection: (Job 22:21-30)
Several times Job’s friends showed a partial knowledge of God’s truth and character, but when they had trouble accurately applying this truth to life.
Such was the case with Eliphaz, who gave a beautiful summary of repentance.
He was correct in saying that we must ask for God’s forgiveness when we sin, but his statement did not apply to Job, who had already sought God’s forgiveness (Job 7:20-21; 9:20; 13:23) and had lived closely in touch with God all along.