An Exercise in Exegesis
Following in an excerpt from a book I am writing named Confronting the Wind.
Eliphaz
An Exercise in Exegesis
Job 22:28
“You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.”
“Decree a thing and it will be established for you” has become the emphasis of many ministries among Charismatics. I have witnessed whole conferences devoted to decreeing and declaring. To whom are they decreeing and declaring is a good question. For example, let’s say I need money to pay unexpected bills. If I believe there is creative power in my declaration and decree, then my actions will be to declare and decree into the heavens or into the atmosphere or to the devil or … to God. “Release money to me. I command that all my needs are met, in Jesus Name,” I will say. Now, of course, there are a great number of scriptures I can quote in my decree and declaration. But, is this the biblical pattern—to speak into the atmosphere? Is this what Jesus did? The apostles? If, however, my paradigm is that God is the keeper of all my answers, the One who hears all my prayers, and who meets all my needs, then I will, instead of declaring and decreeing into the atmosphere, simply ask.
In a meeting I attended, a leader’s message was on decreeing and declaring. The point the leader was making is that we can decree a thing, as the church or as an individual, and it will be established for us. So, in the meeting people decreed things they wanted done. Maybe even things God wanted done? Consider that if it is true that we can declare/decree a thing and it will be established, then something or someone is causing it to be established—for it will be established for you. Meaning, there is a silent agent in the scripture. We must conclude therefore that the silent agent is either God, the words themselves, man’s own resident supernatural power, some unseen unmentioned force, or the devil. Who or what is, in reality, empowering the words?
Think about it…
Getting back to the meeting… Since I already had a grid about declaring and decreeing things and the power of people’s words, the sermon did not set well with me. I went home and looked for “Decree a thing and it will be established for you” in the Bible. There it is in Job 22:28, spoken by Eliphaz the Temanite… oops… Let’s look at God’s opinion of Eliphaz and what Eliphaz had to say. God said to Eliphaz in Job 42:7, It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.” Therefore to use Job 22:28 in the way many do, as mentioned above, is completely against sound Biblical exegesis. We cannot pull from Eliphaz’s words to establish a doctrinal position any more than we could Satan’s words. For example, why is it that we never see cards with “Therefore if you worship before me, it shall all be yours”? Because of the source. It is Satan. He said this when tempting Jesus. We cannot build upon Eliphaz’s words any more than we can Satan’s. Both do not speak according to what is right. There is no difference.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
