LIVE: "I Would Order My Cause Before Him" (Job 22:26-23:4), Part 1/5

Eliphaz sounds confident, spiritual, and even biblical, but his message lands like a trap: repent, and God will make you rich, safe, and successful. We slow down in Job 22 to examine what’s really being offered, why it resembles the prosperity gospel and name it and claim it teaching, and how easy it is to turn prayer into a transaction. When faith becomes a formula, we start reading suffering as proof of guilt and blessing as proof of favor, and we end up defending our theory instead of caring for the person in pain. 

From there we step into Job 23, where Job’s voice shifts the whole room. His grief is bitter, his “stroke heavier than my groaning,” and he longs to find God and lay out his case. We talk about what it means to feel unheard, how accusations can compound suffering, and why Christians need categories for lament. We also unpack the difference between happiness and joy, because joy is not pretending everything is fine, it’s trusting God’s faithfulness when circumstances stay hard. 

Job’s question “Where is God?” becomes the thread that ties it together. We wrestle with God’s omnipresence, the felt distance believers experience in affliction, and the danger of speaking true principles that don’t apply to the situation in front of us. If you’ve ever been judged for your hardship or tempted to believe suffering automatically signals sin, this study of the Book of Job offers a steadier, more biblical lens. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest question you’re still carrying.

Transcript

Setting The Scene In Job 22

SPEAKER_06 0:00

Job chapter 22. We're going to be beginning in verse 26, but for background, I want to look at Job 24 and 25, which I did read last evening, but I think I need to read again so that we can establish the continuation of what we were discussing in the narrative. So in Job 22, verses 24 and 25, it said this. Yes, the Almighty shall be your defense, and you shall have pity, or you should have plenty of silver. Excuse me. So what was happening is that Eliphaz is giving his perspective on Job's situation, and Job and his friends have determined that Job was in the situation that he was in because of some scandalous sin he had been engaged in. And we know that that is not true. And yet they continue to believe that it is true. And no matter how defiant Job is in trying to explain that he has not turned his back on God, he has not vouchsafed his faith. He has not gone back to the world. He has not lost his salvation. Job continues to maintain his integrity. And this frustrates his friends. It frustrates them. They want to be right. They simply want to be right. And the fact of the matter is, they're wrong. They're simply wrong. So in the previous verses leading up to where we are now, Eliphaz has counseled Job and told him that if he would just simply repent, then he would find the favor of God that he so desperately needs. That he so desperately needs. And so what's happening is that Job continues to tell his friends, you're misunderstanding the situation. You're misunderstanding the situation. And they are unwilling to believe it, and they would rather be right in their assessment, in their assertion as it pertains to Job. So in Job 22, you see his friends telling him, Job, you need to just repent. You need to just repent. And so they tell him, acquaint in verse 21, acquaint now yourself with him, God, and be at peace. Thereby God shall come unto you. Receive, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. And if you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall be put, and you shall put away iniquity far from your tabernacles. And then in verse 24, and Job, you will lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir you will lay up as the stones of the brooks. Yes, the Almighty will be your defense, and you shall have plenty of silver. So here's what we have: we have the situation where Job's friends are telling him now, Job, you need to repent of your sins. You need to repent of your sins. This is the problem. And what they say are the advantages of repentance are true. But the fact is, Job has nothing to be repentant of, at least as far as the estimation of his friends are. But God has told us plainly that Job was an upright and perfect man. He eschewed evil and he reverenced God. And so Job had no reason to repent in the sense that they are suggesting that he would, in order that he might obtain favor with God. Job never lost favor with God. And this is what needs to be understood in this chapter. So they tell Job, they say, Listen, if you would repent, notice what they say in verse 24. Job 22, verse 24. Notice what they say. If you repent, verse 24, then you, Job, shall lay up gold as the dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of brooks. Yes, the Almighty shall be your defense, and you shall have plenty of silver. Now, here's what I'm gonna say. He's telling Job that if you will repent, you will have an untold fortune of gold. Repent, turn to God, and God will defend you on top of giving you all this gold. And when you read it, you might look at this and go, This is no problem. This is this just makes a lot of sense. But this right here is evidence of this preaching and proclamation whereby men tell other men that if you would do this and do that as it pertains to God, you will be materially enriched. What Elifaz is teaching is a health and wealth gospel message. That's what they're preaching. Look at Job chapter twenty two and verse twenty one again. Acquaint now yourself, Job, with God. Acquaint yourself with God. First, assuming that Job is not acquainted with God. But he says, acquaint yourself with God, and then you will have peace, and then good will come unto thee. Receive, I ask you, I beg of you, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. And then he says in verse 23, If you return to the Almighty, if you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall put away iniquity from your tabernacles, and then shall you lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Basically, what he's saying, turn to God and you will be rich. That's what he's saying. Turn to God and you'll be rich. You will have gold, and the gold that you will have will be as the dust. You will have so much you can't outspend it. And yes, the Almighty will defend you and shall have, and you will have plenty of silver. Job, turn to God, and when you do so, you will have gold, and you will have silver, and you will have God to be your defense. He will be your security force. This is what he's talking about. This is what he's talking about. So now let's get into our text for the day, verse 26 and verse 28. Eliphaz continues in this line of reasoning with Job, and he says, This that if you turn to God and you get the gold and you get the silver and all this stuff, he says, Then, for then you shall have your delight in the Almighty. And you will lift up your face unto God. You shall make your prayer unto him, and he will hear you, and you shall pay your vows. You will also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee, and the light shall shine upon your waves. Notice this you shall decree a thing. Job, they're telling Job, if you find the favor of God, you will be able to decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you, and the light shall shine upon your ways. When I was growing up as a Christian, we used to call that name it and claim it. Name it and claim it. That's what Job's friends are telling him right now. Repent to God, get your gold, untold fortune. God will be your defense because he protects obviously those who have good fortune. And then they go on to tell Job, You shall decree a thing. You will make a decree, or make decrees, and it shall be established unto thee. You'll make a decree, and it shall be performed. And then the light shall shine upon your ways. And what they're doing here is saying that the fruits of reconciliation continue to unfold. Delight in God replaces fear, and it replaces alienation. Confidence, confidence in approaching God will be restored so that one can lift his face up without shame. Your prayer, Job, your prayer will become effective, and your vows are fulfilled in gratitude. Even one's purposes prosper under divine favor. As God orders and blesses the ways of the obedient, light signifies guidance, and light signifies success, contrasting with earlier darkness of distress. What do we learn in these verses? They're telling Job, basically, if you turn to God, you will be materially blessed. This is all that they're saying. And it's amazing to read this in light of circumstances that are predominant in the world today, especially in pulpits today, and to realize that what we're reading was written several millennia ago. Several. Six, seven, eight, nine thousand years. We don't know, but it's been a very long time. And these guys are telling Job that if you will repent, God will bless you with riches. He will bless you with riches, health and wealth. Wealth. In verse 29, Eliphaz continues, and he says, When men are cast down, then you will say, There is lifting up, and he shall save the humble person. He shall deliver the island of the innocent. And it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. The final promise here extends beyond personal restoration to now being useful to other people. And so what they're saying is one who is restored becomes an encourager to those who are cast down. And they speak hope of God's power to uplift and to lift people up. God's regard for the humble is emphasized. He saves those who are brought low in spirit. And listen, the words of Eliphaz here, they're good words. They're good words. And we see also here that the righteous person becomes an instrument of blessing, even as others are delivered in connection with his integrity and intercession. So repentance not only restores the individual, but makes him a means of good and a means of blessing to others. What is being said here by Eliphaz, they are true. And all of it having an effectual result that is pleasing to God is based on this perspective that Job is not right with God. And Job is right with God. So they're saying things that are true, they just don't apply, they just don't apply to Job. So we have the responsibility to look at the perspective of his friends and to look at the perspective of Job, and more importantly, to look at the perspective by God Himself. By God Himself. And so when it says here in verses 29 and 30 of Job 22, Elipha says, When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up, and he shall save the humble person, he shall deliver the island of the innocent, and it is deliverance, or it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. And in this chapter, which closes with these exact words that I just read, we leave off from listening to what Eliphaz has to say. And now we begin chapter 23, and Job begins to speak again. So before I begin dealing with the words of Job, I'd like to get opening remarks from my brethren on the panel. I'll start with you. Sister Sean, how are you doing? And good evening. Opening remarks.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Yeah, I'm doing uh well, thank you. Uh just looking at this um regarding my former statement I made, they are preaching this prosperity um gospel, as you said, and this is a dangerous thing because I mean we could look at the health, but what if God doesn't restore wealth? And so you kind of make a false promise in a way when you do these things. But um, I'm just ready to uh get into the study. It's been a minute, but I'm grateful.

SPEAKER_06 18:31

I'm grateful you hear you here, Sean. And you're right. It's like these guys, they they're insistent on having this formulaic process that they use to say, well, do these things and you'll be right with God. And we see this even today. So many people in the Christian faith, they believe that there is that salvation and obedience and the rewards that we get from God, that somehow there's a process to follow. There's a formula. And when you have a formula, it relieves you of having this idea, uh, which is true, which is that God functions however he feels, and it's not formulaic. God, you you and what what Job has been trying to explain is this. You can't look on the outside and make and say, well, this person is suffering. This means that they did this or they did that. Job has been arguing that is not the case. You and I both know is what Job tells his friends. You all and I, we all know that there are many people who prosper, who are powerful, who are wealthy, who live long life, who are who live long, healthy lives, who have many children and grandchildren, they leave legacies behind, and they leave, they lead lives that, for all intents and purposes, from the standpoint of the world, they live flawless lives. And Job has tried to explain that just because, or even if they die, having no apparent retribution to seize upon them and to be showered upon them by God, but Job is saying that they will never get away with it. Even if their whole lives is such that they will live forever or live a long time in this world, don't think that they will escape God's justice. And so Job is pointing out there is no formula. Stop looking for this pattern. Stop looking for this this rule, this scientific rule. And this is what so many men chase after. This is what so many people chase after, even in terms of biblical precision. They start looking at things and saying, well, these are the steps. See, we live in a society where everything is based on formulas and steps and and laws. But God doesn't comply with what man devices of his own. God does what he wants, when he wants, with whomever he wants, however he wants. Sister Lisa, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 21:49

Well, my my first thought on these things is this is this here is more of an indication that these men um are not of God. Um, they remind me of many people call themselves Christian today who know of God. They know of God's power, and what makes sense to them is the God that they believe in. Um, they're preaching a prosperity um gospel, basically, do this. It's all transactional. There's no relationship in in anything that they speak of. You know, they speak of if you do this, this is the result. And um it just reminds me, and the thing that pound that keeps pounding into my mind is this is exactly what's happening today with the Christians, um especially all over this app, um, who want to preach the loudest, but they don't know the, they don't know God's heart. They don't know God, they know of him, they know he's mighty, they know he's they'll say he's sovereign, yet they would will take him off the throne and put themselves on the throne when it comes to um their own salvation and so forth. So I can't wait to get in and hear what Job has to say in this in this next chapter. Um, it's just this indicates to me um focus on the relationship here between the wheat and the tares as they grow up together and how God responds to each. So I'm really learning a lot from these guys. So the tares, the tares here. So that's my first thought. I just had to say that it came to my mind, and I needed to pop it out before I forgot.

Job Speaks From Bitter Grief

Joy Versus Happiness In Suffering

SPEAKER_06 23:40

I'm glad you did. So now so now we enter into Job chapter 23. And now in Job 23, Job himself begins to respond to Eliphaz. And he says, and it says here in verse 1, verse 1 and 2. Then Job answered, and he said, Even today is my complaint bitter. My complaint is bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. My situation is worse than I'm making it sound, is what he's saying. And the response that Job has here begins with a renewed expression of grief that he wants his friends to understand. His grief continues to regurgitate itself. Every time these guys speak, Job is wounded further. And so the complaint, it's not a light complaint, it's not a passing complaint, it is a deep complaint, a pressing complaint. Job is overwhelmed, and he doesn't feel that anyone is listening or heeding or understanding what he's going through. And that perhaps includes God to a degree. The affliction that he feels is greater than can be expressed in words, and that's what he's saying here. He's saying, you don't understand my complaint. It is bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning, it's worse than you know, it's worse than words can articulate. I wish I knew how to make you understand and get a sense for how I actually feel. You're not willing to invest in trying to understand what I'm going through. You rather believe I'm this wicked, sinful man, this awful man who treats the widows and the orphans poorly and caters to the rich and the powerful and the oppressor. Job is saying that is not me. And the fact that you are accusing me of me of this aggravates my situation. It aggravates it. It makes it worse. And this shows that suffering may be real, suffering may be intense. Even when the words fail to convey the full weight of what is going on. Job is overwhelmed. We live in a society where we are always trying to avoid dealing with the reality of true suffering. We're always trying to find ways to be happy. Happiness, brethren, is circumstantial. Happiness is not lasting. Lasting. Happiness has to do with current circumstances at the moment. There's a difference between happiness and joy. Two different things. You can be flooding. You can be, you can, your whole life can be characterized by by frustration and suffering, humiliation and mockery, trial, persecution. You can be going through all of that, but the Christian can go through all of that and yet his life be characterized as one that lives under the banner of joy. Joy. Joy is not a goofy, sloppy happiness. Joy is something that rests in faithfulness to God, knowing that regardless of the outcome of what things take place in this life, God is with you and will never forsake you. That brings joy. So even in speaking of these things, there is still an appeal to be heard, which is not a rejection of God, but a desire for relief and a desire for understanding. Job in verse 3. In verses three through five, he says this. Oh that I knew where I might find him. Oh that I knew where I might find him. That is the Lord. God. Oh that I knew where I might find him. Christians, think about this. Job is saying, I wish I knew how to find God. I wish that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat. I would order my cause. Verse, listen to this. I would order my cause before him. If I could find the Lord, I will come to his seat. And I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. What is Job asking for? What is he asking for?

SPEAKER_01 31:31

His comforter.

SPEAKER_06 31:40

Anybody else? Sister Sean, what is he asking for? He says, I will order my cause before him. I will fill my mouth with arguments. What is he asking for, and what does he want to do if he is answered? Brother Jeffrey, go ahead. Jeffrey.

SPEAKER_05 32:04

Yeah, I'm right here, Jonathan. Uh I I think he's asking for to know that he has God's attention in his prayers. Okay, he feels like, to me, Job feels like he has lost God's attention, or God is not paying attention to him. He keeps getting more drivel and nonsense from his three friends who still haven't, after 22 and chapters and some odd verses, still haven't figured out he has not sinned yet. And so Job is trying to explain to them here. I wish I could just get God's attention so I could speak to him. So he could tell me where where I went wrong, or I could lay out before him what my heart is telling me. That's what I hear Job saying right here. I may be wrong. But as reading this, that that's kind of what I'm I'm hearing.

SPEAKER_06 32:56

All right. Brother Pat, what do you think?

SPEAKER_04 32:59

You ever got a uh a ticket and and it's a bad ticket. You didn't do it, and there's a phone number on that number, and they set you up a day in court, right? And you cannot wait for that day in court. Joe wants his day in court. I think that that's what he's asking for. I want my court date. Let me know when it is, because I can't wait.

SPEAKER_06 33:23

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 33:24

Amen.

SPEAKER_06 33:25

Sister Candy, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Just longing for a conversation with the Lord. He just longing for that conversation, and I say the comforter, because you know, the comforter is the one that we're blessed to have that that speaks the word that's spoken to him to give to us, you know what I'm saying? The way the Bible words it. But yeah, it's just that that I'm gonna say fellowship. He's not getting the fellowship from his friends in a godly manner, perspective, mindset, and that's what he's seeking for. It's what he's seeking, it's what he's longing for. Yeah, I mean, goodness, he he's been through all this, and by all means, he's not even really getting to grieve what he's going through. He's grieving what his friends are accusing him of and not considering the real situation at hand.

SPEAKER_06 34:15

Amen. Amen. Amen. Two witnesses. What do you think? Job asks, Job says, Oh, that I knew where I might find the Lord. That I might that I might come to his seat, and he says, I will order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments. What is he saying?

SPEAKER_02 34:37

I I I really wonder, you know, if he's uh being sarcastic. I wonder if he's actually like saying this as talking to God or or only answering to his friend, because his friend just told him, uh, repent, right? Come close to God, uh uh like come near to him and he will hear you, right? So and he what what he's pretty much saying is well, where is he? Where is he that that I might do what you're telling me to do? That he might hear and he will hear me, right? He's he's saying this like, and he will hear me, and and I I I'm gonna hear him because he's gonna answer me. So I don't know if uh he's being sarcastic. I couldn't uh recognize that, but he certainly once once his his court day, like the other brother says.

Where Is God When It Hurts

SPEAKER_06 35:30

Brother, two witnesses. I'll I'll tell you something. I'll tell you something. I I I don't believe he's being sarcastic, but I think that your your thinking process is right. I I think that the way you're thinking is correct, but I don't think he's being sarcastic. I think this right here, this is one of those situations as we talked about last night that Job is going to be dealt with by God for. Because look, this is what he says. He says, Oh, that I knew where I might find him. Has God, does God ever leave us? Is there ever a situation or a time where God is distant from us so far that we don't know where he is? Is that even possible? Remember, we talked last night about the fact that what what does God rebuke Job for later? I believe this is one of those things. Because Job says, Oh, I knew, I wish that I knew where I could find him. Well, the scripture teaches us that the word of God is always near. God is always near. He never leaves us, he never forsakes us. This didn't just happen in the New Testament. This is the way God is. He is always with his people, as my sister Lisa says. And Job says, Oh, I wish I knew where he was. And if I knew where he was, I would come to his seat. And what and what and and he's and what we need to understand is that God is everywhere at once. Like Sister Mariah says, He fills everything always at once, all the time. There is never a time where we have no access to God. And Job is acting like that in this particular situation, that no, he's not around. I don't know where he is. Somebody please tell me where my God is. That's what he's saying. Where is my God? And here's what I believe. If any of us today ever find ourselves in a situation where we're saying, Where is God? I'm sure that if we know the Lord, it won't be long before we realize that God's answer will be the question is not, where am I? The question might be, where are you? Where are you? God is like, I'm here, I'm there, I'm there, I'm below, I'm everywhere. Where are you? The word of God is near you, even in your mouth. That if you confess your sins, he is faithful to forgive. God never leaves his people, never, and we know that for we know that because all of us today have the benefit of reading the scriptures and knowing.