Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 22:21 - 22:30

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Job 22:21 - 22:30


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An Admonition to Repent

v. 21. Acquaint now thyself with Him,
make friends with the Lord while there is yet time, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee, Job would again receive the blessing of the Lord if he would but repent of his wickedness.

v. 22. Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth,
the instruction from the mouth of God should guide him on the right way, and lay up His words in thy heart, he should keep them like a precious treasure from which he might draw at all times.

v. 23. If thou return to the Almighty,
coming close to Him once more by real sorrow and penitence, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles, for that must ever be the result of the true godly sorrow over sins.

v. 24. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust,
casting down the gold ore as it comes from the mines as so much worthless trash, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks, dropping it among the pebbles of the streams as possessing no lasting value.

v. 25. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense,
literally, "and shall become the Almighty thy pieces of gold," Job's one rich treasure, and thou shalt have plenty of silver, silver in bars or heaps, the greatest riches in the possession of God's mercy.

v. 26. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty,
since in Him is the greatest joy of the righteous, and shalt lift up thy face unto God, with the confidence of a favorite son.

v. 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him,
with a firm trust in God's willingness to hear, and He shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows, fulfilling the pledges which he had made in the event of his prayer's being heard.

v. 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing,
planning the doing of it, and it shall be established unto thee, it will surely come to pass; and the light shall shine upon thy ways, his labors would surely be crowned with success.

v. 29. When men are cast down,
or "when his ways led downwards," into trouble of any kind, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up, that is, Upward, arise! a call of encouragement; and he shall save the humble person, bringing salvation or deliverance to the man of downcast eyes. Job would, in turn, be able to comfort and inspire all men who might find themselves in trouble.

v. 30. He shall deliver the island of the innocent,
rather, "God will rescue him that is not guiltless"; and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands, God, on account of His high regard for Job, would be gracious even to others who were in need of atonement for their sins. In his zeal Eliphaz overshoots the mark, attributing to Job's conversion a power which it could never possess. It is the way of professional exhorters to make extravagant statements and to ascribe to men what God alone can perform, and that out of pure grace.