“Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it. Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face; the hair on my flesh stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice…”

Am I the only one picturing a man attempting to fall asleep in a graveyard, next to a tall, dead, oak tree; clouds gliding over the eerie, pale, yellow moon as a spirit glides past his face? These words sound like the beginning of a scary movie, but they are actually found in the Bible – Job 4:12-16 to be exact. Eliphaz, one of Job’s 3 friends, had come in attempt to comfort him in his distress, and to sympathize with him, and I’d like to take a look at how that worked for him.

For those of you who don’t know the story of Job, I’ll try to summarize the first 5 books quickly.

Job was a very wealthy man, and also an upright man who feared the Lord. He was a man of integrity who helped lift others up when they were in a time of need. Eliphaz the Temanite, (friend #1), said of Job,

“Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees,” (Job 4:3-4).

Job was there for those around him, displaying the character and nature of God through his words and actions. Job was so tight with God, that when the “sons of God” and Satan came before the Lord, the Lord asked Satan,

“Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8).

We know the devil goes around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), and I believe that’s exactly what Satan had been doing when he said he had been “going to and fro on the earth,” and “walking up and down on it.” He was scoping out the place, examining things, making observations and plans. Satan understood that Job was under God’s protection, and that he wasn’t allowed to lay a finger on Job because God had him hedged in on every side; God’s hand was upon Job, and what God blesses, the enemy cannot curse (Numbers 23:8). God literally had to give Satan permission to touch what belonged to Job. In Job 2:3, God said,

“He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason,” (emphasis added).

Long story short, Satan destroyed all of Job’s children and property, but despite the trauma of it all, Job “did not sin or charge God with wrong,” (Job 1:22). Satan wasn’t happy about this, so he went back before the Lord and asked to touch Job’s body. Permission was granted, and Satan struck Job with sores all over his entire body. Job was feeling pretty miserable at this point, but still did not sin with his words.

Here’s where I want to start talking about Eliphaz, Job’s friend. As I said previously, he was the first friend who came to try and comfort Job. After sitting with Job for a while, and listening to Job’s rant on how he wished he had never been born, Eliphaz thought he’d speak up and interject his point of view, and also relay a message he had received during the night hour.

Oftentimes, we may see others going through what looks like hell on earth, and assume, through our own experiences and viewpoint, that the person has sinned greatly, or is under the influence of the devil. We fail to recognize that the person is under attack and needs someone to come alongside of them to help lift them up and remind them of who they are in Christ, and what God says about them.  Failure to recognize the spiritual attack, prevents us from being the body of Christ and coming alongside the person to help them fight the battle that is raging against them. Eliphaz is a great example of this.

“As I have seen,” said Eliphaz. We can reword this to fit our common vocabulary and say, “In my experience…” It’s great to want to help others from our own experiences, and God uses our experiences to help others. That’s why we go through things! However, there are times when our experiences simply don’t fit the bill. Just because we have seen things happen in other’s lives because of certain actions or attitudes, doesn’t mean that’s how it will happen for everyone, or why the same things are manifesting in their lives. Eliphaz had seen that “those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” Through the lens of experience, Eliphaz accused Job of sinning in a roundabout way. God had said Job turned away from sin, meaning the things that had come upon Job were not a result of sin, but a result of what he was doing right, and a result of who’s he is – the Lord’s.

Eliphaz then went on to give Job a “word” he received in the night hour. How many of you know we can have dreams and visions that are from God, and also dreams and visions from the enemy? It’s important that we are close with the Lord, so that we can properly discern what is being revealed from His heart and mind, and what is coming from the enemy. The word Eliphaz received was brought to him “stealthily” or secretly. It was “whispered” in his ear. Can we all agree that when the Lord speaks, He reveals things, or uncovers things? He doesn’t only tell one person something, but when He reveals things, it’s to more than one person. Amos 3:7 says,

“Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.”

This passage doesn’t say that he reveals His plans to a servant, or a prophet, but to servants and prophets plural. God is not one to hide things unless it’s something He wants us to search out, that will eventually be revealed. Luke 8:17 also says,

“For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.”

Why am I saying all this? I’m saying this to show you that the one who was speaking to Eliphaz was not God, nor an angel of the Lord. Let’s look at a few other ways we can tell.

“Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up,” Job 4: 13-15.

Notice the words and phrases I’ve highlighted and italicized. Do they sound like an appearance of the Lord, or an appearance of a demonic spirit? It sounds similar to the feelings one would experience entering into a haunted house. When the Lord enters the room, there’s peace, not dread, and there’s a holy reverence that comes. We may tremble under the presence of God, or sense an angel in the room, but it’s a vastly different experience. This man was shaking from fear, and he saw a spirit glide past his face. His hair was standing on end!

What was spoken by the spirit is interesting. I’ve read this passage hundreds of times before, and it just hit me that perhaps Eliphaz was hearing the inner conversation or heart of the enemy. As I reread Job 4:17-21, I perceived a grumbling and complaint of the enemy. Satan cannot figure out how mortal man can be right before God, or how we can be pure. It’s beyond his realm of understanding. He was grumbling because he and many of the angels were kicked out of heaven, and cast to the earth (Revelation 12:7-12; Ezekiel 28: 13-19). “Even in his servant he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error,” (Job 4:18). At that time, Jesus had not yet come, but since His death, burial, and resurrection, we have been made holy, pure, and blameless before the Lord. We were brought back into right standing with the Lord, not because of what we do or don’t do, but because of Who lives within us and because of what Jesus has done for us. It’s a permanent thing now, vs something we have to maintain through works like in the past. We no longer have to make sacrifices to be forgiven of our sins and to be right with God; Jesus was the last sacrifice, and the perfect sacrifice.  In Job’s day, he was making sacrifices on behalf of his children just in case they had sinned or cursed God in their hearts. Job did what it took in his day to be in right standing with God, and pure in heart. So, the enemy was mad because Job was in better standing with God than he.

Instead of Eliphaz discerning that perhaps he was hearing the heart and mind of the enemy toward Job and not the voice of God, and realizing that the enemy was out to destroy Job, Eliphaz joined in on the enemy’s attack. Eliphaz came to the conclusion that Job must be engaged in sin, and that he’s a fool. The NLT says it like this, “Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster,” Job 5:2-3.

Allow me to remind you that Satan is no longer standing before God accusing us, (he has been cast down to earth), however, he does come and accuse us to our faces, and he will bring accusation against us before others. If we believe the accusations, we join forces with the enemy and begin working against the one he’s accusing, which oftentimes includes ourselves.

I’d like for us to realize today, that we need to stop and really think about what we’ve seen, what we’ve heard. How did those thoughts come to us; did they come secretly, did we feel fear along with it, or did it come with a peaceful knowing, and line up with God’s perspective? Oftentimes, God will allow us insight to the plans of the enemy. We may see the things the enemy is attempting to bring upon a person; we may see the demonic spirits that are attempting to influence someone, and we have been given the power and authority through Jesus to come against the plots and plans of the enemy. We can help others get through their battles a lot quicker by praying, and by upholding them with God’s Word. We can choose to view them from God’s perspective, and realize they’re actually the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus and are experiencing an attack of the enemy. It’s not necessarily that the person has sinned; they may be on the right track, making great progress in the Kingdom, and the enemy simply isn’t happy. Pray for those people. Bind the demonic spirits that are coming against them, and remember to treat them the way in which you would want to be treated in the face of an attack. You too may need someone to come alongside you one day.