If you think the worst of others, it may say more about your heart than it does about theirs.
Having denounced Job’s sincerity (Job 15:1-6), and disputed his veracity (vv 7-16), Eliphaz now describes Job’s duplicity (vv 17-35). Interestingly, like many who become wrapped up in the heat of an argument, Eliphaz completely ignores everything Job has just said. This section is pure argumentum ad hominem, the fallacy of logic that merely attacks the person, while never addressing the issues discussed. He believes his friend is in “the company of hypocrites” (v 34)—what you see is NOT what you get. Is a man presently living “in prosperity” (v 21)? It’s only a matter of time until the Destroyer gets him. Does he have chubby cheeks and a “waist heavy with fat” (v 27)? Don’t let this make you think God has blessed him. Does he have a nice home? It’s “destined to become ruins” (v 28). Is he rich? It’s all a mirage, “nor will his wealth continue” (v 29). In fact, says Eliphaz, I would warn a man like you: “Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, for futility will be his reward” (v 31). All the apparent blessing, he says, is like an “unripe grape” (v 33), showing great promise until it drops to the ground and never reaches maturity. Or perhaps, like an olive tree in blossom struck by extreme heat or cold, your hopes will never come to fruition. When you read this diatribe, you have to ask: Why such vitriol, Eliphaz? Have you been nurturing a heart of envy and jealousy against your friend? Listen to the Lord’s warning: “But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over…people…in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress” (Obad 1:12, BSB). God help us to learn to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).