Day 1,143: Job 22- Spiritual Manipulation

​Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2     “Can a man be profitable to God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
3     Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4     Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
and enters into judgment with you?
5     Is not your evil abundant?
There is no end to your iniquities.
6     For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7     You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8     The man with power possessed the land,
and the favored man lived in it.
9     You have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
10    Therefore snares are all around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11    or darkness, so that you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
12    “Is not God high in the heavens?
See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13    But you say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the deep darkness?
14    Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
15    Will you keep to the old way
that wicked men have trod?
16    They were snatched away before their time;
their foundation was washed away.
17    They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18    Yet he filled their houses with good things--
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19    The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent one mocks at them,
20    saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left the fire has consumed.’
21    “Agree with God, and be at peace;
thereby good will come to you.
22    Receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
23    If you return to the Almighty you will be built up;
if you remove injustice far from your tents,
24    if you lay gold in the dust,
and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
25    then the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver.
26    For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.
27    You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28    You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29    For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;
but he saves the lowly.
30    He delivers even the one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
 
 
Meditation
Spiritual manipulation is when the good things of God are used to influence someone for a person’s personal agenda.  I once visited a small church where they took up the offering twice, the second time looking at me- the only person (I guess) who did not put money in the plate (I had left my wallet at home). I have seen “altar calls” extend enormous amounts of time, enough for anyone to doubt salvation or feel condemnation. Elphaz joins manipulation by using God’s gracious invitation to repent as a weapon to prove his (wrong) point.
 
Beginning with accusation, Elphaz emphasizes the reason Job is suffering is for his sin (1-11). After a litany of falsehoods, Elphaz says, “Therefore…” Job is suffering (11). Self-righteous structure to see a fallen world is insufficient to explain suffering.
 
Elphaz rightly stresses that God will punish sinners (12-20) and beautifully articulates the benefits of repentance (21-24, noting repentance restores God’s presence, empowers prayer, produces prosperity, and promotes deliverance). Elphaz wrongly tries to manipulate Job to repent. Job has already repented, pleading with God to take away the trash of his sin (Job 14). To push for a penitent person to repent more is to press them to compromise integrity and promote an agenda.
 
Jesus is a greater example of a target for manipulative accusations, pressed to confess (John 8:46) yet totally without sin. Christ went to the cross to suffer in the place of those who do sin, offering all who come in faith to receive His righteousness and begin again (2 Corinthians 5:21).
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about Elphaz’s spiritual manipulation?
 
-Where have you experienced spiritual manipulation? How did it feel?
 
-How does the reality of the gospel, Christ taking our condemnation on the cross, empower us to love and serve others in suffering rather than judge or manipulate them?
 
Key Verse
10    Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you…