The Eliphaz Doctrine
The Prosperity Doctrine permeates American churches, and has even begun to spread its disease throughout the world, with its twisting of Scripture to feed fleshly whims and lusts. It is all about the earthy and temporal, and not at all about the spiritual, unless it relates to the supernatural obtaining of health and wealth.
It reminds me of Eliphaz--Job's "friend". I suppose at one time, he had been a faithful friend to Job; when times were good, and Job wasn't experiencing any hardship. When the chips were down, though, Eliphaz became Job's judge; insisting that Job must have done something wrong to be in that conundrum. People still live with that mindset--they did when Jesus lived, too--and He quickly corrected them. When Jesus came upon the blind man in John 9, "His disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" The assumption was that if this man was blind, the cause was automatically sin. If the effect = pain, illness, death, loss, hardship, lack, etc. the cause must absolutely be= sin, right? Wrong. Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." How about that--it had NOTHING to do with the man or his parents, they were the tools God was about to use for HIS glory. Apparently, like Job, He counted that man worthy to bear that blindness until His purpose was revealed in him--He knew he could handle it, and allowed it to be so. Some of us, are considered able, and some of us aren't. Job was.
Eliphaz' doctrine (and so many others, too) goes something like this:
21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” (NIV)
By the way, verse 28 in the King James Version says, " Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways." Sounds like it comes right out of the Prosperity Doctrine Handbook, doesn't it? Actually, I heard a prosperity preacher, preach from this verse to make the case that we must decree "and speak into existence" those things that we desire. Are you beginning to see the problem? The truth is, in this fallen world, God "sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The requirement for His children remains the same, whether the sun shines, or we find ourselves in the center of a raging storm--"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven..."
For God to be right about Job, Eliphaz had to be DEAD WRONG about Job. If Eliphaz is wrong about Job, his argument is way off-base; besides that, it is in opposition to the words of Jesus. God said, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Meanwhile, Job had lost all of his children, his health and his wealth and his wife wanted him to give up. So much for the Eliphaz Doctrine...and the Prosperity Doctrine, too.
It reminds me of Eliphaz--Job's "friend". I suppose at one time, he had been a faithful friend to Job; when times were good, and Job wasn't experiencing any hardship. When the chips were down, though, Eliphaz became Job's judge; insisting that Job must have done something wrong to be in that conundrum. People still live with that mindset--they did when Jesus lived, too--and He quickly corrected them. When Jesus came upon the blind man in John 9, "His disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" The assumption was that if this man was blind, the cause was automatically sin. If the effect = pain, illness, death, loss, hardship, lack, etc. the cause must absolutely be= sin, right? Wrong. Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." How about that--it had NOTHING to do with the man or his parents, they were the tools God was about to use for HIS glory. Apparently, like Job, He counted that man worthy to bear that blindness until His purpose was revealed in him--He knew he could handle it, and allowed it to be so. Some of us, are considered able, and some of us aren't. Job was.
Eliphaz' doctrine (and so many others, too) goes something like this:
Eliphaz
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11 why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16 They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” (NIV)
By the way, verse 28 in the King James Version says, " Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways." Sounds like it comes right out of the Prosperity Doctrine Handbook, doesn't it? Actually, I heard a prosperity preacher, preach from this verse to make the case that we must decree "and speak into existence" those things that we desire. Are you beginning to see the problem? The truth is, in this fallen world, God "sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The requirement for His children remains the same, whether the sun shines, or we find ourselves in the center of a raging storm--"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven..."
For God to be right about Job, Eliphaz had to be DEAD WRONG about Job. If Eliphaz is wrong about Job, his argument is way off-base; besides that, it is in opposition to the words of Jesus. God said, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Meanwhile, Job had lost all of his children, his health and his wealth and his wife wanted him to give up. So much for the Eliphaz Doctrine...and the Prosperity Doctrine, too.
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