JOB 15.15 (BEEBE)

BROTHER E. Moreland, of Tennessee, desires our views on Job xv. 15, viz: “Behold he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.” However correct or incorrect the declaration of this text may be, we certainly are not warranted to receive the testimony as a part of divine revelation, as that which is written by direct inspiration of God. 

The words were spoken by Eliphaz the Temanite, and addressed to Job, among other words which were not approved by God; for the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.” – Job xlii. 7. Still, although Eliphaz and his two friends were uninspired, and evidently mistook the case of Job, we must regard much of what they said as truth, because of its harmony with the inspired word. When Eliphaz told Job that an acquaintance with God would enable him to lay up the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brook, he spoke not according to the general experience of those who know the Lord, for they are generally poor and lay up but very little gold; but in this text, the declaration that God putteth no trust in his saints is in perfect harmony with every expression of divine revelation which God has been pleased to make of himself. It is the privilege of all his saints to trust in God, and they shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be moved, but we cannot conceive that God puts his trust in his saints; he relies alone upon himself, and is all-sufficient, independent, and supports all things.

That the heavens are not clean in his sight depends on what heavens are alluded to. If God’s throne be intended, it is clean, and from it proceeds a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal. – Rev. xxii. 1. The church viewed in her connection with Christ, washed in his blood, is clean, and

God will behold no spot in her. But if the declaration be applied to the heavens which are reserved to fire, which are to pass away, the words are true. Within the new heavens and the new earth dwelleth righteousness.

New Vernon, N.Y., May 1, 1845
Elder Gilbert Beebe Editorials Volume 2 Pages 552 – 553