Elihu: Some Angry Words (Job 32–37)
With Job';s three friends now reduced to silence — and Job still left wondering why he';s being tormented — a younger voice speaks up to talk about the situation. Elihu, who is identified as the “son of Barakel the Buzite,” is angry and he wants to have some words with Job.
Elihu challenges Job';s notion that he is innocent of all sin and that God had counted him as an enemy. He speaks up and defends the justice, the goodness, the mercy, and the righteousness of God — all of which he believes that Job has wrongly maligned, and he tells Job that he has sinned by speaking ignorantly about God (Job 34:1–35:36).
Elihu pointed out something important to Job, namely that God could have been speaking through his suffering: “God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings” (Job 33:14–16).
Elihu goes to great pains to proclaim the majesty and greatness of God (Job 36:24–37:24), and he encourages Job to, “stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!” (Job 37:14). At the end of his speech, Elihu tells Job, “We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty, yet he is so just and merciful that he does not oppress us. No wonder people everywhere fear him. People who are truly wise show him reverence” (Job 37:23–24).
Elihu has verbally chastised Job, has tried to correct his notions of the goodness and justice of God, and has tried to remind him that God is a powerful, merciful Creator who doesn';t try to harm or oppress His people. While Elihu, like Job';s other three friends, wasn';t perfect in his scrutiny of Job';s situation, it may well be that he prepared Job to hear from the One who could give him the answers he needed — although they weren';t necessarily the answers he would have sought.
Study Questions
Reread Job 32:3. What was wrong with the counsel Job';s three friends had given him?
Read Job 33:8–33. How does Elihu believe Job should see his suffering?
