What is the meaning of Job 22:5? Is not your wickedness great? Eliphaz opens his accusation by assuming Job’s pain must be proof of deep moral failure. Scripture itself records the scene so we can weigh his words against God’s assessment of Job. • Earlier, the Lord had declared, “There is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright” (Job 1:8). Eliphaz, therefore, is contradicting God’s own testimony. • At the end of the book God says to Eliphaz, “You have not spoken the truth about Me as My servant Job has” (Job 42:7), confirming that the charge of “great wickedness” was unfounded. • The assumption that suffering always points to sin is challenged elsewhere: Jesus corrects His disciples, saying a man’s blindness was “not that this man sinned or his parents” (John 9:3). • Yet Eliphaz’s words also remind us that real wickedness does exist and that it is very great in God’s sight (Romans 3:23). His error lies in aiming the charge at the wrong target and in ignoring the possibility of righteous suffering (Psalm 34:19). Are not your iniquities endless? Eliphaz doubles down, suggesting Job’s sins are so many they are without limit. • He proceeds to list imagined offenses (Job 22:6-9), but Job later answers, “Let God weigh me in honest scales” (Job 31:6). The narrative shows Job’s conscience is clear, even while he acknowledges humanity’s universal need for mercy (Job 9:2-3). • False accusation itself is a serious iniquity. Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of our brothers,” and Proverbs 17:15 warns that condemning the righteous is abominable to the Lord. • The idea of “endless” iniquity points forward to humanity’s true predicament: apart from God’s intervention our sins pile up beyond counting (Psalm 40:12). Only the Lord can remove them “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). • Job’s eventual intercession for his friends (Job 42:8-10) foreshadows Christ, who prays for those who wrong Him (Luke 23:34) and provides the only answer to boundless guilt (1 John 1:7). summary Job 22:5 records Eliphaz’s sweeping indictment, but the broader testimony of Scripture shows the charge is misplaced. The verse exposes the danger of assuming that every affliction is the result of great, endless sin, while at the same time underscoring the reality that sin is indeed grievous and must be dealt with. God vindicates Job, rebukes the accuser, and ultimately points us to the Redeemer who alone can cleanse all iniquity and uphold true justice. |
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