Eliphaz, possibly the eldest and much older than Job, began. In time, the other two followed suit. In general, we might say that they sheepishly followed the lead of Eliphaz. Some of what those men said might have seemed harmless, as they spouted spiritual-sounding platitudes about God being lofty, punishing bad people, and rewarding the good. From the first, though, there was an undercurrent of unkindness. Eliphaz used simplistic logic to suggest that if God is good and he punishes the bad, and Job was clearly being punished, then what must be true? Must not Job himself be bad in some way?—Job 4:1, 7, 8; 5:3-6.

In his opening speech, Eliphaz described an eerie encounter with an unseen spirit. The conclusion that Eliphaz drew from that demonic experience was poisonous: God “has no faith in his servants, and he finds fault with his angels.” By that reasoning, mere humans can never please God!