◄ Job 22:25 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Rich In God
Job 22:24, 25
W.F. Adeney
The idea of these verses seems to be that if a man will give up his earthly riches, his jewels and gold of Ophir, God will be to him a Defence, and as gold ore and silver in bars.

I. RENUNCIATION THE CONDITION OF TRUE WEALTH. We do not get the best riches by grasping, but by giving. Sacrifice, not selfishness, is the source of the highest prosperity. We must renounce in order that we may attain. This principle is exemplified in various ways

1. Typified in nature. The farmer must not store his wealth in his granary if he would increase it. He must commit the seed to the earth, cast it away and bury it, in order that he may receive more in return.

2. Practised in commerce. We rarely meet with the old-fashioned miser and his bags of gold. In our day the money-worshipper lays out his wealth so that, like Shylock, he may make it "breed."

3. Taught by Christ. Our Lord showed in his parables of the talents and the pounds that the gifts of God were to be used, expended profitably, and that they should have more who had traded with what they first received. He led to deeper truths when he told the young man who desired eternal life to sell all he had and give to the poor, promising that he should then have treasure in heaven (Mark 10:21), and when he promised his disciples that there was no man who had renounced home and family for his sake and the gospel's, but he should receive a hundredfold now in this time, and in the coming age eternal life (Mark 10:29, 30). Here we see that mere renunciation is not enough. It will not do merely to pour the money into the sea, nor to sell all one's goods and give to the poor, unless we also follow Christ.

4. Proved by experience. It is found with surprising gladness that to give up all for Christ is to be rich indeed, while to Cling greedily to earthly possessions is to be miserably disappointed in the end.

II. GOD THE SOURCE OF TRUE WEALTH. It is not that God will give us new riches in exchange for what we have given up. We shall find our wealth in God himself. He is to us all we need.

1. A defence. Riches are valued for what they will purchase. In the last resort they are chiefly prized because they can ward off evils. To keep hunger, pain, and death from their doors, men will give up any amount of wealth. Nations spend vast sums in their defensive arrangements. Europe is now an armed camp, with armies maintained at an enormous cost, simply in order that each country may be safe from invasion by its neighbours. Now, God is the true Defence of his people, better than any armaments that money can maintain.

2. A store of vast possibilities of good. Gold ore and silver bars are the precious metals in an elementary state. They thus represent value that may be employed in various ways. God is our most elemental wealth.

(1) He is as a treasure to the soul that possesses him, as gold and silver are precious in themselves. It is a great mistake to seek God only for what he gives, forgetting that he is better than all his gifts.

(2) Still, he is the Source of all other good, as gold and silver are means for purchasing innumerable things. Through God we may own all things. St. Paul says to Christians, "All things are yours." - W.F.A.

Biblical Illustrator
If thou return to the Almighty.
Job 22:23-30
Spiritual Reformation
Homilist.
I. THE NATURE OF A TRUE SPIRITUAL REFORMATION IS HERE SET FORTH.

1. Reconciliation to God. Men in their unregenerate state are out of sympathy with their Maker. There is an estrangement of soul.

2. Practical regard to the Divine precepts. "Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in thine heart." Put thy being under the reign of heavenly laws.

3. Renunciation of all iniquity. "Thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles." There is no reformation where sin is cherished, or where it is allowed to linger.

4. Estimating the best things as worthless in comparison with God. "Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brook. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver."

II. The ADVANTAGES of a true spiritual reformation, as here set forth. Eliphaz says that if Job would only act out his counsel he should, enjoy signal advantages. "Thereby good shall come unto thee." What is the good" he refers to? He specifies several things. —

1. Restoration of lost blessings. "Thou shalt be built up." All thy losses shall be repaired, and the breaches in thy fortune healed. How much Job had lost!

2. Delight in God. Job had been complaining of the Almighty; and his face was cast down in sadness.

3. Answer to prayer. Prayer is always answered where it leads to a submission to the Divine will; and true prayer always leads to this.

4. Realisation of purposes. Thou shalt form a plan or purpose, and it shall not be frustrated.

5. rower of usefulness. When men are cast down, thou shalt say, "Cheer up."

(Homilist.)

Standing right with God
G. Cubitt.
"Thou shalt have plenty of silver." But, first, the religion such a motive would produce would be worth little. Religion is not, in its nature, external. And the desire of the silver could only bring to an external conformity to the Divine commands. And, second, the motive cannot be urged. The statement of Eliphaz was grounded in a mistaken view of Divine Providence. Gold and silver are given and withheld as the sovereign Lord sees fit; and their distribution follows not the rules of holy obedience.

I. THE HORTATORY PORTIONS OR THE TEXT.

1. The belief of Eliphaz was, that Job was a great sinner; and he therefore urges the necessity of returning to God. He was mistaken in his particular views of Job.

2. Returning to God, we shall "acquaint ourselves with Him, and be at peace." The expression implies knowledge and intimacy.

3. Thus standing right with God, a two-fold duty devolves on us.(1) Due preparation for practice. "Receive the law from His mouth." Acknowledge Him as supreme Lord.(2) Practice itself. "Put away iniquity," — have nothing to do with it personally: "from thy tabernacles," — allow it not in the circle which thou governest.

II. BLESSINGS SHALL COME FROM THIS BETTER THAN GOLD AND SILVER.

1. "Good shall come unto thee." God's favour, the light of His countenance, — all that makes the true eternal good of the soul.

2. "The Almighty shall be thy defence": against all real danger. A complete oversight and protection shall be granted thee.

3. "Thou shalt delight in the Almighty": in the thought of what He is in Himself, and to thee; and in His consciously possessed favour.

4. Thou "shalt lift up thy face unto God." Thou shalt not now be ashamed. Thou shalt have a holy, humble, but firm and joyful confidence. Sin makes the man afraid.

5. "Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He will hear thee." There is permission to enjoy this highest privilege. Pray, — be heard.

6. Thy path shall be truly happy. "The light shall shine on thy ways." Even providential obscurity shall make spiritual light more visible.

(G. Cubitt.)

Returning to God by conviction and progress
W. D. Horwood.
In the return of a human soul to God there is decision arising from conviction, — a conviction forced upon the conscience, and will, and reason, and feelings of the heart and mind, from the unanswerable compulsory power of circumstances. With regard to religious conviction as a necessary step to our returning to the Almighty, we may steel our minds against it from many causes; one, say, from the formal custom of hearing sermons. For blended with this kind of hearing may be a self-comparison with the religious teacher himself, and the self-satisfaction which may arise from this comparison. There may stand in the way of this conviction the strong bias of early impressions, of local customs, and of deeply-rooted habits of thought and conception. We may look at religious duties through not only very limited mediums, and therefore partial, but through certain party-coloured ones, and so mistake the broad expansive and glorious character of God's truth by the disfiguring and narrowing influence of bigotry, intolerance, and prejudice. When a man, however, steadily and fixedly sets the eye of his faith upon the Almighty, as the all-absorbing and exclusive end of his religious convictions and decisions, he returns to Him in the spirit of the prodigal. He returns to God with a humble heart, a humble faith, and a humble prayer. As a result of the return of the soul to the Almighty, it shall "be built up." This points to a progress of religious life and experience. There is a power exerted, on man's behalf above and independently of himself. It is "Thou shalt be built up," not "Thou shalt build thyself up." The spirit of man assuming the form of a building, in a moral and religious sense, becomes so after the manner of all other structures. It has its foundations in Christ; its gradual rise in the piling up, so to speak, of one virtue upon another, as stone upon stone. But as the earthly building is dependent upon the genius of the architect, so is the spiritual building dependent upon the wisdom and power of the Almighty. We may go where the castle or palace or temple once stood in noble splendour, in proud dignity, and in great strength, but now a crumbling ruin with wails gray with age, battered by the hand of time, or made spectral-like by fire, axe, and sword. But its remaining walls and columns and arches may be restored, strengthened, replenished, and built up again. So with the human soul, its original beauty and grandeur might be defaced by sin, and all its former promises of endurance might be broken by disobedience; but by the grace and mercy of God it may be built up once more.

(W. D. Horwood.)

People
Eliphaz, Job, Ophir
Places
Ophir, Uz
Topics
Almighty, Choice, Choicest, Defence, Defense, Gold, Heaped, Mighty, Ore, Plenty, Precious, Ruler, Silver, Strength, Teaching, Treasure, Yea
Outline
1. Eliphaz shows that man's goodness profits not God
5. He accuses Job of various sins
21. He exhorts him to repentance, with promises of mercy

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Job 22:22-26

     8287   joy, experience

Job 22:23-25

     4333   gold
     5591   treasure

Library
December 29 Morning
Understanding what the will of the Lord is.--EPH. 5:17. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.--Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.--This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.--We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Knowledge and Peace
'Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.'--JOB xxii. 21. In the sense in which the speaker meant them, these words are not true. They mean little more than 'It pays to be religious.' What kind of notion of acquaintance with God Eliphaz may have had, one scarcely knows, but at any rate, the whole meaning of the text on his lips is poor and selfish. The peace promised is evidently only outward tranquillity and freedom from trouble, and the good that is to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

What Life May be Made
'For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 29. When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, ... lifting up; and He shall save the humble person.'--JOB xxii. 26-29. These words are a fragment of one of the speeches of Job's friends, in which …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Whether all Things are under Divine Providence
Whether All Things are under Divine Providence We proceed to the second article thus: 1. It seems that not all things are under divine providence. For nothing that is ordained happens contingently, and if all things were provided by God, nothing would happen contingently. There would then be no such thing as chance or fortune. But this is contrary to common opinion. 2. Again, every wise provider, so far as he is able, preserves those in his care from defect and from evil. But we see many evils in …
Aquinas—Nature and Grace

Whether God is Everywhere by Essence, Presence and Power?
Objection 1: It seems that the mode of God's existence in all things is not properly described by way of essence, presence and power. For what is by essence in anything, is in it essentially. But God is not essentially in things; for He does not belong to the essence of anything. Therefore it ought not to be said that God is in things by essence, presence and power. Objection 2: Further, to be present in anything means not to be absent from it. Now this is the meaning of God being in things by His …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Everything is Subject to the Providence of God?
Objection 1: It seems that everything is not subject to divine providence. For nothing foreseen can happen by chance. If then everything was foreseen by God, nothing would happen by chance. And thus hazard and luck would disappear; which is against common opinion. Objection 2: Further, a wise provider excludes any defect or evil, as far as he can, from those over whom he has a care. But we see many evils existing. Either, then, God cannot hinder these, and thus is not omnipotent; or else He does …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Doctrine of God
I. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD: (Vs. Atheism). 1. ASSUMED BY THE SCRIPTURES. 2. PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. a) Universal belief in the Existence of God. b) Cosmological:--Argument from Cause. c) Teleological:--Argument from Design. d) Ontological:--Argument from Being. e) Anthropological:--Moral Argument. f) Argument from Congruity. g) Argument from Scripture. II. THE NATURE OF GOD: (Vs. Agnosticism) 1. THE SPIRITUALITY OF GOD: (Vs. Materialism). 2. THE PERSONALITY OF GOD: (Vs. Pantheism). 3. THE UNITY …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

The Case of the Christian under the Hiding of God's Face.
1. The phrase scriptural.--2. It signifies the withdrawing the tokens of the divine favor.--3 chiefly as to spiritual considerations.--4. This may become the case of any Christian.--5. and will be found a very sorrowful one.--6. The following directions, therefore, are given to those who suppose it to be their own: To inquire whether it be indeed a case of spiritual distress, or whether a disconsolate frame may not proceed from indisposition of body,--7. or difficulties as to worldly circumstances.--8, …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Bands of Love; Or, Union to Christ. "I Drew them with Cords of a Man, with Bands of Love: and I was to them as they that Take Off the Yoke on their Jaws, and I Laid Meat unto Them. " --Hosea xi. 4.
BANDS OF LOVE; OR, UNION TO CHRIST. SYSTEMATIC theologians have usually regarded union to Christ under three aspects, natural, mystical and federal, and it may be that these three terms are comprehensive enough to embrace the whole subject, but as our aim is simplicity, let us be pardoned if we appear diffuse when we follow a less concise method. 1. The saints were from the beginning joined to Christ by bands of everlasting love. Before He took on Him their nature, or brought them into a conscious …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity: Or, an Exhortation to Christians to be Holy. By John Bunyan.
Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.'--[Psalm 93:5] London, by B. W., for Benj. Alsop, at the Angel and Bible, in the Poultrey. 1684. THE EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This is the most searching treatise that has ever fallen under our notice. It is an invaluable guide to those sincere Christians, who, under a sense of the infinite importance of the salvation of an immortal soul, and of the deceitfulness of their hearts, sigh and cry, "O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Epistle xxxix. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). But what can be good news to me, so far as concerns the behoof of holy Church, but to hear of the health and safety of your to me most sweet Holiness, who, from your perception of the light of truth, both illuminate the same Church with the word of preaching, and mould it to a better way by the example of your manners? As often, too, as I recall in …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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