22:1ff This is Eliphaz’s third and final speech to Job. When he first spoke to Job (chapters 4–5), he commended Job’s good deeds and gently suggested that Job might need to repent of some sin. While he said nothing new in this speech, he did get more specific. He couldn’t shake his belief that suffering is God’s punishment for evil deeds, so he suggested several possible sins that Job might have committed. Eliphaz wasn’t trying to destroy Job; at the end of his speech he promised that Job would receive peace and restoration if he would only admit his sin and repent.
22:12-14 Eliphaz declared that Job’s view of God was too small, and he criticized Job for thinking that God was too far removed from earth to care about him. If Job knew of God’s intense, personal interest in him, Eliphaz said, he wouldn’t dare take his sins so lightly. Eliphaz had a point—some people do take sin lightly because they think God is far away and doesn’t notice all we do. But his point did not apply to Job.
22:21-30 Several times Job’s friends showed a partial knowledge of God’s truth and character, but they had trouble accurately applying this truth to life. Such was the case with Eliphaz, who gave a beautiful summary of repentance. He was correct in saying that we must ask for God’s forgiveness when we sin, but his statement did not apply to Job, who had already sought God’s forgiveness (7:20, 21; 9:20; 13:23) and had lived closely in touch with God all along.