Job 34 Elihu Accuses Job of Arrogance
Then Elihu said: “Listen to me, you wise men. Pay attention, you who have knowledge. Job said, ‘The ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.’ So let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good. For Job also said, ‘I am innocent, but God has taken away my rights. I am innocent, but they call me a liar. My suffering is incurable, though I have not sinned.’
“Tell me, has there ever been a man like Job, with his thirst for irreverent talk? He chooses evil people as companions. He spends his time with wicked men. He has even said, ‘Why waste time trying to please God?’
Oh no! Elihu is at it again! Have you ever confronted a pathologic liar? No matter what you say, such individuals will twist your words to accuse and convict you, claiming you have said things you have never even thought of. At no point has Job been keeping bad company, nor has he spoken irreverently. Job is frustrated and upset, but not irreverent.
“Listen to me, you who have understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong. He repays people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve. Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice. Did someone else put the world in his care? Who set the whole world in place? If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.”
“Now listen to me if you are wise. Pay attention to what I say. Could God govern if he hated justice? Are you going to condemn the almighty judge? For he says to kings, ‘You are wicked,’ and to nobles, ‘You are unjust.’ He doesn’t care how great a person may be, and he pays no more attention to the rich than to the poor. He made them all. In a moment they die. In the middle of the night they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.”
Here Elihu is lecturing Job about God’s nature when Job knows more about God than does Elihu. Poor Job! He’s likely sitting there wondering how much longer he will have to endure this stuff.
“For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes. We don’t set the time when we will come before God in judgment. He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone, and he sets up others in their place. He knows what they do, and in the night he overturns and destroys them. He strikes them down because they are wicked, doing it openly for all to see. For they turned away from following him. They have no respect for any of his ways. They cause the poor to cry out, catching God’s attention. He hears the cries of the needy. But if he chooses to remain quiet,
who can criticize him? When he hides his face, no one can find him, whether an individual or a nation. He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to the people.”
Having insulted Job, Elihu now tries to redeem himself by generic expressions of belief in God. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with what Elihu is saying, why is he saying this? What’s the point of lecturing Job when Job knows these things as well or better than Elihu does?
“Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned, but I will sin no more’? Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me. If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?” The point is that sometimes people DO repent and they DO turn back to God. Obviously, Elihu has no experience with people who are repentant.
“Must God tailor his justice to your demands? But you have rejected him! The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead, share your wisdom with us. After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, ‘Job speaks out of ignorance; his words lack insight.’ Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked. For you have added rebellion to your sin; you show no respect, and you speak many angry words against God.”
Great, Elihu! Now you’re accusing Job of rebellion in addition to all your other charges. If Job had truly rejected God, he wouldn’t be voicing his concerns about God but would be simply sitting there silently suffering. Job speaks out because despite all his suffering, he still believes that God is there, that God is listening, and that God truly is just. What’s frustrating Job is that he feels confused because God appears to be acting against everything Job knows about Hi
Isaiah 49:2 tells us, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword; He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a polished arrow; He hid me in His quiver.” Sometimes God hides us as He is perfecting us. We might feel as if we are under a cloud and cannot see anything; meanwhile, God is working out greater purposes than we can possibly imagine. At this point, Job is in that cloud and it’s too early for him to understand what God is doing in his life.
The problem for us is simple: most of the time when we enter God’s clouds, we are confused, angry, frustrated, and questioning everything we have ever learned about God. At the same time, somehow, there’s always an Elihu to confront and accuse us, even though he/she remains clueless about God’s perfect will for our lives. May God help us, so that we continue to trust where we cannot see and hang on to what we know about God, despite all evidence to the contrary.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives, especially in the times when we feel covered by Your cloud. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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