Lecture 2 — Return to the Almighty

^22:15^ Do you want to follow the path of the world, which wicked men have trod?

^22:16^ They were snatched away before their time, and the river undermined their foundation.

^22:17^ They told God: Depart from us. They thought the Almighty could do nothing,

^22:18^ though he had filled their houses with good things. Let the opinion of these men be far from me.

^22:19^ The just will see it and will rejoice, and the innocent will mock them.

^22:20^ Has not their insolence been beaten down? And fire burned their remains.

^22:21^ Go along with him and be at peace, and you will bear the best fruit.

^22:22^ Receive the law from his mouth, and put his decrees in your heart.

^22:23^ If you will return to the Almighty, he will rebuild you, and you will put evil far from your tent.

^22:24^ He will give you flint in place of earth and golden torrents in place of flint.

^22:25^ The Almighty will fight against your enemies, and you will heap up masses of silver.

^22:26^ Then you will abound in the delights of the Almighty above, and you will raise your face up to God.

^22:27^ You will ask him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your promises.

^22:28^ You will decide on a matter, and it will come to you, and light will shine on your ways.

^22:29^ He who will be humbled will be in glory, and he who lowered his eyes will be saved.

^22:30^ The innocent will be saved, and he will be saved through the cleanness of his hands.

330. Do you want to follow the path of the world. In the words above, Eliphaz seems to have imposed the charge on Job that he did not believe that God had providence in human affairs. Now, as a consequence he seems to impose on him the effect of this lack of faith. For those who do not believe that God has care of human affairs usually follow their own will in all things, disdaining the fear of God, and so he says, do you want to follow the path of the world?, the conduct of those who believe in nothing but those temporal things which they see, and from this proceed to works of injustice. So he then says, which wicked men have trod? They are said to tread a path who frequent it, and intentionally and without hesitation wear it away. So those who do not believe in divine providence frequently, freely, and intentionally, do works of injustice. This does not happen to those who believe in divine providence, although sometimes they fall into injustice from weakness. Lest they appear to do this with impunity, he then says, they were snatched away before their time, because they died without completing their natural span of life, and he assigns the cause for this, saying, and the river undermined their foundation. The foundation of each man is that on which his hope principally rests. Such men do not place their hope in God, but only in temporal things, which are corrupted by the changing course of things, which he calls a river.

331. He explains what he means by path above when he says, they told God: depart from us, for in their affection they disdained both him and his spiritual goods. He describes their lack of faith in the intellect, saying, they thought the Almighty could do nothing, because if the care of human affairs does not belong to him, he can do nothing good or ill to man. This is contrary to the idea of omnipotence. To aggravate their fault he then speaks about their ingratitude, saying, though he filled their houses with good things, with temporal things which are given by God to men. To disprove their assertion he says, let the opinion of these men be far from me.

332. Lest it seem the just also are overturned, together with the wicked, Eliphaz excludes this, adding, the just will see it and will rejoice, and by this he wants to say that the just will not be ruined, but will live in joy. To show that they lack justice because they rejoiced over the ruin of others, he says, and the innocent will mock them, as if to say, “The innocent can mock them, safeguarding their innocence by the fact that they are undermined against their opinion.” In this they rejoice in divine justice. This action seems to answer what Job had said directly, after this, if it seems right to you, laugh (Job 21:3), where he seemed to complain that he was being mocked by them.

333. To answer any doubts that the river has undermined the foundation of evil men, he proposes this as something clear, in question form, has not their insolence been beaten down? For they seemed, from earthly prosperity, or also from their own pride, to grow high like a tree. But as the growth of a tree is suddenly interrupted by cutting it down, so also their being raised up suddenly ceases through the removal of these things. Sometimes when a tree is cut it does not grow higher, but still remains the same in length. If, however, it is burned, no trace of its past height remains. So, also, if a man who is a sinner has died or been cast down, his sons also perish, and his riches are taken away by the fire of adversity, and nothing will appear to remain of his former eminence, so he continues, and fire burned their remains, in the heat of tribulation, according to James, the sun rose hot and dried the hay (Jam 1:11). The remains of a man expresses his sons or whatever else remains of him.

334. Since he had said (Job 22:17) that this kind of ruin happens to the wicked because they struggled against God, and so that Job is able to avoid a similar overturning, he adds, go along with him and be at peace, as if to say, “You were agitated because you wanted to argue against him.” And in this, through that peace by which you will be reconciled with him, you will bear the best fruit, as if to say, “You will attain whatever can be best as the fruit of this peace.” He shows how he should find comfort in God in the next statement, receive the law from his mouth, as if to say, “Do not think that human affairs are not ruled by divine providence, but rather, you should dispose your life according to the law of his government.” Since some professed the law of the divine government but yet did not follow it in practice, he then says, and put his decrees in your heart, to meditate on his commandments and be disposed to keep them. He shows in what manner he will experience these best of fruits, saying, if you will return to the Almighty, to believe in his omnipotence and to submit yourself to him, he will rebuild you, as if to say, “The prosperity of your house which was destroyed will be restored.” He then shows how he should return perfectly to God, saying, and you will put evil far from your tent. Here if should be understood so that the literal text reads: if you will put evil far from your tent, he, God, will give flint in place of earth and golden torrents in place of flint. His saying, if you will put evil far from your tent, explains what he had said, if you return to the Almighty (Job 22:23). He does not say if you will put evil far from you, but from your tent, because he wants to insinuate that adversity happened to him not only for his own personal sin, but also for the sin of his family. To be sure, when he says, he will give flint in place of earth*, *flint refers to what he had said, you will be rebuilt, to indicate that there will be a restoration, but to something greater, so he can receive greater things in place of those he lost. Flint is more precious than the soil of the earth, and gold than flint.

335. He concludes and lists the character of these goods which he promises will be restored to him.

He places first security resulting from the protection of God when he says, the Almighty will fight against your enemies, so that they cannot destroy again what will be restored to you by God.

He places second the abundance of riches when he says, and you will heap up masses of silver. All riches are really meant by the name of silver because money is commonly made from silver.

Lest he seems to only promise corporeal goods, he adds spiritual goods, among which he places first that man might love God and enjoy him, and so the text continues, then you will abound in the delights of the Almighty above, when you have peace with him you will delight in him. Since each man looks with pleasure on what he delights in, he then says, and you will raise your face, that is, your mind, up to God, so you can contemplate him often. From this contemplation you will get confidence in having recourse to him, and so he then says, you will ask him. This will not be without result, and so the text says, and he will hear you. Those whom God has heard usually fulfill the promises which they made in praying. So he says, and you will fulfill your promises, as the sign that you have been heard. Then he promises success and prosperity in all his plans when he says, you will decide on a matter; that is, you will order by your own providence how something will be, and it will come to you, for your hope will not be in vain. Lest you hesitate about what should be decided, the means you should use will be clear to you, and so he then says, and light will shine on your ways; that is, it will appear clearly to you by what ways you should proceed.

336. He shows the reason for these promises, saying, he who will be humbled, by subjecting himself to God in his affection, will be in glory, which he will get from God. And he who lowered his eyes, to not, in his intellect, think something stupid and proud against God, will be saved, freed, from evils and made steadfast in good. Still, not only is interior humility of the affection and the intellect required for salvation, but exterior purity of works is also necessary, and so he then says, the innocent will be saved. He shows by what merit he will be saved, saying, he will be saved through the cleanness of his hands, that is, the innocence of his works. Consider here Eliphaz not only promises Job temporal goods, which can be common to good and evil (if he is converted), as he had already (Job 5:17–26), but also spiritual goods, which are proper to good men. But he still promises these only in this life.