Enter Elihu

“For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.  He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.”  Job 33:14-18

Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were all finally finished speaking, and a younger man, Elihu, began to speak.  We know very little about Elihu, as we also knew very little about the other three visitors.  We are told that he was the son of Barachel, the Buzite, a descendant of Buz, Nahor’s second son (Genesis 22:21).  Nahor was Abraham’s brother thus Elihu was related to Abraham.  We don’t know how long Elihu had been listening in onto the conversation of Job and his three friends, but apparently, he was fed up with the entire conversation among the four.  He was “chomping at the bit” to make his opinion known.  Elihu was angry at all four of them, but especially at Job because he felt that Job had tried to justify himself rather than justify God in His punishment of Job.  Actually, he seems to have the same opinion as the other three men, that is, that Job was guilty, thus he should just go ahead and admit it.  However, he was angry at the other three because they accused Job of sins for which that had no evidence.  Therefore, Elihu was accepting neither Job’s defense nor the accusations by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.  Elihu considered himself to be the moderator who would try and sort truth from fiction and expose the facts of the situation.

Elihu’s speech covers Chapters 32-37 of the book of Job, thus this blog will just give a brief overview of what he had to say to Job and Job’s three visitors.  Elihu understood that he was younger than the other four men causing him to wait his turn, but after listening to the four of them, Elihu came to the conclusion that elders are not necessarily wiser than the younger folks.  He wanted Job to answer his questions honestly.  He was only there to help.  Elihu wanted to know why Job was striving against God and pointed out the error of his way in accusing God of being unjust to him.  He also emphasized the fact that God speaks to men and women, giving them instructions, usually more than once, but they don’t perceive what He says to them.  God even uses the time when men sleep to reveal His message to them in a dream or a vision because this is the time when things are quiet.  In this manner of speaking to men and women while asleep, they can’t be distracted or refuse to listen, in effect, a “captive audience”.  God speaks so that man can be kept from what would bring hurt or danger to him if he will only listen and obey.

In Job 33:23-24, we find a reference to Christ.  Elihu said that if a man who is undergoing suffering has one who can intercede for him to the LORD and convince the suffering one to confess his sins to God, then God will be gracious to him and keep him from hell because God has found a Ransom.  Job had earlier referred to this Ransom as his Redeemer (19:25) which gives us further proof that God intended to send a Savior to redeem His creation from the beginning of time.  Perhaps Elihu considered himself to be this go-between who could convince Job to repent, but all five of them were not aware of Satan’s challenge to God concerning Job.

Elihu asked what man is anything like Job who can sit in his misery, listen to charges made against him, and still refuse to admit that he is in the wrong?  He then accused Job of learning this kind of insolence from associating with evil men.  He continued by saying that God’s justice is pure and fair, and good works will be rewarded and evil deeds punished, reaping what we sow.  Elihu asked Job who gave God charge over the earth?  What if God decided to abandon earth?  We would all drop like flies.  Folks would cease to exist.  (Perhaps all the folks of our day who desire to eliminate God from the earth should think about that.  Unless they repent and believe in Christ, they will receive exactly what they desire along with the consequences of life with God, that is, eternal doom.)

Elihu had plenty more to say to Job concerning his opinion of why Job was in such a horrible condition.  Elihu said when he began to speak that “his hand would not be heavy” (33:7b), but, in some respects, he sounded just like Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, judgmental and harsh.  However, unlike Job’s three friends who were mostly concerned with Job’s assumed sins, Elihu was more concerned with the words that Job had spoken about God.  Elihu’s advice was simple:  repent unto God, acknowledge that His punishment was just, and promise to stay on the straight and narrow from that moment forward.

Elihu spent the remainder of his time to speak, as he said, on God’s behalf.  He, like the other three, maintained that the wicked always suffer in this life contrary to Job’s belief that sometimes the wicked don’t really suffer until they come before God after their death.  Elihu also believed that to repent and turn from sin results in prosperity and pleasures for a lifetime.  Perhaps he mentioned this, thinking that Job would reflect back on his former life when he was prosperous, causing him to finally repent.  (We know that true prosperity comes not from wealth, land, or possessions, but from a right relationship with the Lord.  God might bless the penitent with financial and material gain, but these are not the true treasures and were never meant to be.  One whose treasure is in the Lord will never be destitute.  God will always provide for those who love and serve Him.  That is the true treasure.)  I might be wrong, but it seems that all five of these men were too focused on righteousness and obedience to the LORD for personal gain rather than a life lived in service to Him.

Next time:  Job Finally Meets God