Job spent 24 chapters debating with his friends. Then in chapters 29-31, we heard Job present and sign his formal statement of innocence to God. He then stopped speaking, and is waiting to see if God will appear to judge his case and adjudicate between him and his friends.
God will appear eventually. But first, there is an unexpected interruption. A man called Elihu suddenly jumps in and presents himself as the judge for the case.
32:1 So these three men refused to answer Job further, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 With Job’s three friends he was also angry because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty. 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because the others were older than he was. 5 But when Elihu saw that the three men had no further reply, he became very angry.
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up:
“I am young, but you are elderly;
that is why I was fearful
and afraid to explain to you what I know.
7 I said to myself, ‘Age should speak,
and length of years should make wisdom known.’
8 But it is a spirit in people,
the breath of the Almighty,
that makes them understand.
9 It is not the aged who are wise,
nor old men who understand what is right.
10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me.
I, even I, will explain what I know.’
11 Look, I waited for you to speak;
I listened closely to your wise thoughts, while you were searching for words.
12 Now I was paying you close attention,
yet there was no one proving Job wrong,
not one of you was answering his statements.
13 So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom.
God will refute him, not man.’
14 Job has not directed his words to me,
and so I will not reply to him with your arguments.
15 “They are dismayed and cannot answer anymore;
they have nothing left to say.
16 And I have waited. But because they do not speak,
because they stand there and answer no more,
17 I too will answer my part;
I too will explain what I know.
18 For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me constrains me.
19 Inside I am like wine that has no outlet,
like new wineskins ready to burst!
20 I will speak, so that I may find relief;
I will open my lips, so that I may answer.
21 I will not show partiality to any person,
nor will I confer a title on anyone.
22 For I do not know how to give honorary titles;
if I did, my Creator would quickly do away with me.
33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,
and hear everything I have to say.
2 See now, I have opened my mouth;
my tongue in my mouth has spoken.
3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart,
and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely.
4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Reply to me, if you can;
set your arguments in order before me
and take your stand.
6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;
I too have been molded from clay.
7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,
nor should my pressure be heavy on you.
8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing
(I heard the sound of the words!):
9 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean and have no iniquity.
10 Yet God finds occasions with me;
he regards me as his enemy.
11 He puts my feet in shackles;
he watches closely all my paths.’
12 Now in this, you are not right—I answer you,
for God is greater than a human being.
13 Why do you contend against him,
that he does not answer all a person’s words?
14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,
the second time in another,
though a person does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, a night vision,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they sleep in their beds,
16 then he gives a revelation to people
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 to turn a person from his sin,
and to cover a person’s pride.
18 He spares a person’s life from corruption,
his very life from crossing over the river.
19 Or a person is chastened by pain on his bed
and with the continual strife of his bones,
20 so that his life loathes food
and his soul rejects appetizing fare.
21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his bones, which were not seen,
are easily visible.
22 He draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death.
23 If there is an angel beside him,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness,
24 and if God is gracious to him and says,
‘Spare him from going down
to the place of corruption,
I have found a ransom for him,’
25 then his flesh is restored like a youth’s;
he returns to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 He entreats God, and God delights in him;
he sees God’s face with rejoicing,
and God restores to him his righteousness.
27 That person sings to others, saying:
‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,
but I was not punished according to what I deserved.
28 He redeemed my life
from going down to the place of corruption,
and my life sees the light!’
29 “Indeed, God does all these things,
twice, three times, in his dealings with a person,
30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,
that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 Pay attention, Job—listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
32 If you have any words, reply to me;
speak, for I want to justify you.
33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
We are only a third of the way through Elihu’s judgment of Job’s case. I won’t comment much until we reach the end. But in the meantime, the question to ask yourself is: Does Elihu bring the true wisdom that Job and his friends were lacking, or is this yet another case of someone speaking without knowledge? Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
