A Situation of Perplexity (God will make a way, where there seems to be no way) Job 36:1-16

Chapter 34 began, “Then Elihu continued and said…”
Chapter 35 began, “Then Elihu continued and said…”
Chapter 36 begins, “Then Elihu continued and said…”

Someone needs to signal the sound booth to cut Elihu’s microphone.

Elihu, suddenly aware of his long-windedness, noticed that the gathered throng was beginning to fidget.  As a result he pleads in verse 2, “Wait for me a little, and I will show you that there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf…” The King James Version puts it best, “Suffer me a little…”  Believe me Elihu, they were! Writes Spurgeon, “Assuredly, short and pointed addresses are more likely to reach the heart than long and dreary sermons.”  Elihu’s marathon sermon had a good beginning, a good ending, but a meandering middle.  So much so that some in the congregation began counting the ceiling tiles.

36:2 “Wait for me a little, and I will show you that there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.  3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. 4 For truly my words are not false; One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.”

Misinterpreting Job’s strenuous defense, Elihu gives the impression that he wants to counteract Job’s assertion that he (Job) is more righteous than God.  Again, the brashness of this young preacher causes the three comforters to roll their eyes, because when he says “I will fetch my knowledge from afar,” Elihu implies that this knowledge is coming direct from God and is only available to him. 

In the first part of verse 4 Elihu seems to assert that his words are beyond contradiction or rebuttal.  And although commentators differ on the interpretation of the second part of verse 4, when the young preacher declares, “One who is perfect in knowledge is with you…” he appears to be speaking about himself.  Writes FI Anderson, “It seems as if Elihu is giving himself a certificate of genius!” 

36:5 “Behold, God is mighty but does not despise any; He is mighty in strength of understanding.”

The second half of the verse is literally, “He is mighty in heart.”  We often think of God as being “mighty in power,” but “mighty in heart?”  Writes Poole, “He is truly magnanimous, of a great and generous mind or heart, and therefore not unrighteous; for all injustice proceeds from littleness or weakness of heart…”

36:6 “He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives justice to the afflicted.  7 He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; but with kings on the throne He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.”

Trapp reminds us that a deluge of calamites may simply be the precursor to a season of blessing.  On the ash heap, with maggots as his kingdom, Job will soon be elevated out of his prison of pain and restored to his previous estate.  In our trials it is at times hard to see through the tears and beyond the present circumstances, but remember that God NEVER takes His eyes off the righteous!  There is an intensity to His care – He is so lost in love for the crushed and the poor that they are constantly in His thoughts.

36:8  "And if they are bound in fetters, and are caught in the cords of affliction, 9  then He declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.”

God doesn’t give up on us; He has a goal for our lives.  And if we stray or tend to let the flame of our passion for Him begin to ebb, then His love seems to take the form of a “gentle severity.”  We should never forget the words of Hebrews 12, “No discipline for the moment seems to be joyous, but grievous.”  We may one day find that when we look back on the “Job Episode” in our lives that this time was of the greatest benefit to us. 

Seasons of difficulty tend to focus our priorities and make us think about eternal things.  Writes Trapp, “By these sharp waters he clears up their eyesight...”  In a pivotal episode in the life of the prodigal son (Luke 15), in my minds eye I picture the younger brother, on his way to feed the pigs on a gloomy Monday morning, tripping and falling face down in the mud with the slop spilling all over him.  At that moment the Bible says “he came to his senses.”

36:10 “He opens their ear to instruction, and commands that they return from evil.”

“He opens their ears” is literally “He uncovers their ears.”   Sometimes it takes a covering of pig slop for our ears to become uncovered!

The NLT puts it “He gets their attention.”  As a kid I remember our dad sneaking up the stairs into our bedroom and suddenly grabbing the end of the bed and shaking it.  We had apparently been goofing around instead of going to sleep.  A suddenly-shaking-bed tends to get your attention.  The conclusion I am trying to draw is obvious…God can shake our beds and get our attention!

36:11 “If they hear and serve Him, They will end their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures.”

The goal of God’s dealings with us is to make us sweet and pleasant.  Our heavenly Father doesn’t want His kingdom populated with crabby and ungrateful children.  The phrase “end their days” emphasizes that He has a desire to bring the process to completion.  The word “prosperity” carries the idea of the well-being of a servant with a good master; “pleasures” is used to describe David’s anointed music upon the lyre or the taste of bread; its also used in Psalm 16:11, “…at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

36:12 “But if they do not hear, they shall perish by the sword and they will die without knowledge.”

Writes Barnes, “They shall die without knowledge…That is, without any true knowledge of the plans and government of God, or of the reasons why he brought these afflictions upon them. In all their sufferings they never “saw” the design. They complained, and murmured, and charged God with severity, but they never understood that the affliction was intended for their own benefit.”

Do not refuse to see the blueprint that the Grand Designer has for you!  Believe that God has a wonderful plan for your life even though you cannot see one right now.

36:13 “But the godless in heart lay up anger; they do not cry for help when He binds them.”

Note the phrase “lay up anger.”  Various versions of the Bible translate it this way: “heap up anger”…”store up wrath”…”cherish anger”…”pile grievance upon grievance”…”harbor resentment.”  And the word “anger” is literally “flaring nostrils.”  (I recently read somewhere that back in Bible times a teenager put a dent in his father’s camel while learning how to drive.  The next day at school he told his buddy Ishmael, “Wow were my dad’s nostrils flaring last night!”)  

Are you harboring or piling up anger in your life?  Are you so angry at God that the song your heart used to sing is silent?  The problem may not be your circumstances, but your heart.

36:14-16 "They die in youth, and their life perishes among the cult prostitutes.  15 He delivers the afflicted in their affliction, and opens their ear in time of oppression. 16 Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress, instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; and that which was set on your table was full of fatness.”

Do you see the word “oppression” in verse 15 and the word “distress” in verse 16?  Both are used in the story of Balaam and the donkey in Numbers 22:25-26, “When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall, so he struck her again. And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.”

The word “oppression” is the same as “pressed” in Numbers 22:25.  One writer says of this word, “…no more graphic word picture of the meaning of “lahas” (oppression/pressed) can be given than that of Balaam’s donkey squeezing up against the wall and thereby crushing or “oppressing” Balaam’s foot.”

And the word “distress” is the same as “narrow” in Numbers 22:26.  It’s the Hebrew word “tsar” and refers to something that confines or hampers or hinders.  It conveys the pressure and anxiety that is felt when our circumstances have hemmed us in. Balaam and his donkey had come to a “tsar” place, a place where one could only travel in one direction: there was a wall on the left, a wall on the right and an angel with his sword drawn (that only the donkey saw) directly in front of him. Simply put, there was no where to go!   

Those two words aptly describe Job’s condition:  he was oppressed or crushed (lahas) and thus felt as though he was trapped in a “tsar” place because he didn’t see any way out.

I realize I am getting a little Elihu-ish with this section of chapter 36 and these manifold word pictures and definitions, but if you could bear with me for just one more.  The Amplified Version puts verse 16 this way, “Indeed, God would have allured you out of the mouth of distress into a broad place where there is no situation of perplexity…” “Perplexity” comes from two words: “per” meaning "completely" and “plexus” meaning "entangled or entwined. The picture is that of a ball of twine so utterly entangled that one despairs of ever making something useful of it again.  A tangled, complicated and confused situation.  At this juncture that describes Job’s life perfectly.  But while Job battles through his befuddlement (and pain), the One Who is able to “un-perplex” is swiftly approaching.        

God will make a way where there seems to be no way!  Listen to this song by Don Moen: God Will Make A Way!

His Mercies in Disguise (A Divine Vending Machine) Job 35

Upon hearing Chuck Swindoll announce yet another sermon on Job, a young daughter asked her father, “Daddy was I five or six when Pastor Chuck started preaching on Job?”


We started these “Conversations from the Ash Heap” in the last decade (November of 2009); we should be done by the end of this decade.


Just kidding.


Sort of.


It’s good for us to take a trip back to the beginning for a few moments to remind ourselves of the awful plight of this man and the display of his enduring faith through all of the hellish nights of pain and loneliness. Warren Wiersbe paints the scene for us, “There the city garbage was deposited and burned, and there the city’s rejects lived, begging alms from whomever passed by. At the ash heap, dogs fought over something to eat, and the city’s dung was brought and burned. The city’s leading citizen was now living in abject poverty and shame. All that he humanly had left were his wife and three friends, and even they turned against him.”


Throughout the book Job has forcefully defended his integrity. But in so doing he has also questioned God as to why he should be treated so harshly. Hearing this, Elihu interprets Job’s avowals of innocence as him saying, “I am more righteous than God!” Hartley writes, “…while Job has not uttered those exact words (I am more righteous than God), he has so fervently defended his innocence and so vigorously accused God of treating him unjustly that he seems to have claimed for himself a righteousness that surpasses God's.” (Page 463)


35:1 Then Elihu continued and said, 2 “Do you think this is according to justice? Do you say, ’My righteousness is more than God’s’? 3 For you say, ’What advantage will it be to You? What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’”


The New Living Translation renders verse 3 this way, “For you also ask, ’What’s in it for me? What’s the use of living a righteous life?’” Elihu’s misrepresentation of Job’s words comes strikingly close to the charges of Satan from chapter one: “Job only serves You God because of what he can get out of it.”


And The Message puts verse three this way, “And then you say, ‘It doesn’t make a bit of difference whether I’ve sinned or not.’” Elihu seems to be saying that Job believes, “What is the point of sinning or not sinning?” Mason writes, “Once again Elihu puts words into Job’s mouth, and in the process not only misquotes him but grossly misrepresents his position.”


35:4 “I will answer you, and your friends with you. 5 Look at the heavens and see; and behold the clouds—they are higher than you. 6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, or what does He receive from your hand? 8 Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, and your righteousness is for a son of man.”


Bradley writes, “If it is true that because God is so great and so high, the innocence or guilt of a petty human being is a matter of profound indifference to his Maker, on the ground that it can bring Him neither gain nor loss, we are landed, we see at once, on a very gloomy shore…”


Professor Elihu in effect says, “Job if you can't affect the nearest cloud for good or evil, how can you affect God? If we can't reach the visible heavens, how can we reach to the invisible?”


Read again this passage from The Message: 35:4 “Well, I’m going to show you that you don’t know what you’re talking about, neither you nor your friends. 5 Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look. See those clouds towering above you? 6 If you sin, what difference could that make to God? No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him? 7 Even if you’re good, what would God get out of that? Do you think he’s dependent on your accomplishments? 8 The only ones who care whether you’re good or bad are your family and friends and neighbors. God’s not dependent on your behavior.”


It seems to me that Elihu, in wanting to call attention to the impartiality of God, has instead drifted toward a theology of indifference on the part of El-Shaddai.


Is God impartial? Yes. Is God indifferent? Absolutely not! I think Elihu would be surprised to meet the Jesus of Luke 19:41, “When He saw the city He wept over it.” Francis I Anderson writes, “Elihu doesn't have a sufficiently personal understanding of God to believe that God can be delighted with a good man, and grieved by sin.”


35:9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry for help because of the arm of the mighty. 10 But no one says, ’Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night, 11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ 12 There they cry out, but He does not answer because of the pride of evil men.”


The progression of thought seems to be this:
1. People cry out and complain because bad things are happening to them
2. But, unlike the beasts and the birds, they don't necessarily cry out to God
3. Our Maker has given us more wisdom and knowledge than the beasts and birds, but it doesn’t seemed to have helped
4. And when they do pray, their prayers are not answered because of the pride, not of the oppressor, but of those being oppressed


And did you catch that portion of verse 12? “…He does not answer, because…” We’ll come back to that.


35:13 “Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, nor will the Almighty regard it. 14 “How much less when you say you do not behold Him, The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him! 15 “And now, because He has not visited in His anger, nor has He acknowledged transgression well, 16 so Job opens his mouth emptily; He multiplies words without knowledge."


“An empty cry” (verse 13) is how Elihu characterizes all of the praying of Job, and is obviously (according to Elihu) the reason why Job has not been healed! David Guzik writes, “Elihu saw that God had not yet answered Job, at least not in any way that Job had hoped. Therefore he said ‘Job opens his mouth in vain.’ The idea was, ‘Job, if you were really a godly man, then God would have answered you by now. The fact that He hasn’t shows your ungodliness.’”


(In actuality God was regarding the prayer of Job and regarding it with great concern!)


"He does not answer, because…"


Elihu’s theology of prayer is reduced to a simple mechanical formula. To him, God is no more majestic than the vending machine in the company break room. Your bag of Doritos didn’t fall out the chute when you hit D-8? Well the Vending Machine did not answer because you obviously didn’t put in the right amount of money or you didn’t push the right buttons. Or perhaps you didn’t shake the machine correctly. It’s as simple as that.


There is no mystery, there is no majesty; all is scrutable and all is fathomable.


“He does not answer, because…”


Elihu would have been much wiser to say, “Hey Job I don’t know why the answers haven’t come, but I want you and your wife to know that my friends and I are interceding for you. Oh, and can I maybe help out by changing your bandages? Or maybe me and my buddies could take some food to a few of the families that lost loved ones on that horrible day…”

At Ash Heap Seminary God only “seemed” to be distant. Just over the horizon and just beyond the view of the students a supernatural storm cloud was beginning to take shape.

In the struggle to understand it is so easy to lose sight of the love of God. Job’s ash heap existence had swallowed up any evidence of the mercy of God. But what if the ash heap was only the mercies of God in disguise?  What if His healing comes through tears?  What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know He's near?  These last few lines are the lyrics from the song "Blessings" by Laura Story.  Perhaps this YouTube video/song will minister to your heart: "Blessings" by Laura Story

The Hungry Sheep Look Up…And Are Not Fed (Job Chapter 34)

With his body aching from an incurable disease and his heart still broken over the loss of his children, Job asked his wife to drive him to church. He tried to worship as he sat in his wheelchair near the back of the sanctuary, but the words and music seemed so agonizingly devoid of the presence of God.

When the music faded away Pastor Elihu strutted to the pulpit and spoke these words in an impassioned manner to the First Congregational Church of Uz,

34:34 After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, 35 ’Job speaks out of ignorance; his words lack insight.’ 36 Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked. 37 for you have added rebellion to your sin; you show no respect, and you speak many angry words against God.’’

Job couldn’t believe what he was hearing. To say that Elihu’s words were cold and cruel would probably be too kind. As his wife wheeled him out of the church, Job scrawled this little poem on the back of his church bulletin,

I went to church today
I wanted to get fed
I expected Manna from above
My hopes were crushed instead

For all of Elihu’s insight into the mind of God for Job’s tragic experience, in the middle part of his address to the Sheik of Uz (chapters 34 and 35), this young pastor-philosopher appears to lose all sense of compassion for the man on the ash heap. Although he gets back on track in chapters 36-37, the wheels have completely fallen off his sermon. FI Anderson writes, “He is no longer reasoning with Job with a view to helping him; he is attacking Job in order to score a point. For all their lucidity (eloquence), his words are devoid of pastoral concern.” Swindoll writes simply, “…Elihu, roused to anger, goes for the jugular.”

Notice verses 36-37 from the Amplified Version, “Would that Job’s afflictions be continued and he be tried to the end because of his answering like wicked men. For he adds rebellion (in his unsubmissive, defiant attitude toward God) to his unacknowledged sin; he claps his hands (in open mockery and contempt of God) among us, and he multiplies his words of accusation against God.” And the same two verses from the New Living Translation, “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.’’ And Young’s Literal Translation clearly brings out the viciousness of Elihu’s attack, “…Transgression among us he vomiteth…” Adam Clarke wrote in his commentary, “This is a very harsh wish: but the whole chapter is in the same spirit; nearly destitute of mildness and compassion.”

Much of what is said in this chapter has been dealt with in previous sections of Job, so we are just going to take a closer look at the words of Elihu in vs. 34-37. I attached the rest of the verses from the version called “The Message” at the end of the devotional.

A few centuries ago a poet by the name of John Milton (1608 to 1674) wrote a straightforward poem that spoke volumes to the apparent poor state of affairs between the ministers and the laity during his day. Battling the corrupt clergy in the Church of England he penned a satirical poem titled “Lycidas.” One of the lines simply reads,

The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.

Phillip Keller, in his book “A Shepherd Looks At the 23rd Psalm,” laid out in stark detail how utterly dependent the sheep are upon the shepherd for their very survival. Under the care of a good shepherd, the sheep thrive. But under the ill-treatment of an uncaring or lazy shepherd, the sheep suffer. More than one part of that book spoke to my heart about my care and management of the flock that God had entrusted to me during my time as a pastor. I would like to quote a long section from the chapter “Thou Anointest My Head with Oil”:

"Summer time is fly time…Only those people who have kept livestock or studied wildlife habits are aware of the serious problems for animals presented by insects in the summer.

To Name just a few parasites that trouble stock and make their lives a misery: there are warble flies, bot flies, heel flies, nose (nasal) flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats and other minute, winged parasites that proliferate at this time of year. Their attacks on animals can readily turn the golden summer months into a time of torture for sheep and drive them almost to distraction.

(Don’t read this next section if you are eating!)

Sheep are especially troubled by the nose fly, or nasal fly as it is sometimes called. These little flies buzz about the sheep’s head, attempting to deposit their eggs on the damp, mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose. If they are successful the eggs will hatch in a few days to form small, slender, worm-like larvae. They work their way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head; they burrow into the flesh and there set up an intense irritation accompanied by severe inflammation.

For relief from this agonizing annoyance sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, posts, or brush. They will rub them in the soil and thrash around against woody growth. In extreme cases of intense infestation a sheep may even kill itself in a frenzied endeavor to gain respite from the aggravation. Often advanced stages of infection from these flies will lead to blindness.

Because of all this, when the nose-flies hover around the flock some of the sheep become frantic with fear and panic in their attempt to escape their tormentors. They will stamp their feet erratically and race from place to place in the pasture trying desperately to elude the flies. Some may run so much they will drop from sheer exhaustion. Others may toss their heads up and down for hours. They will hide in any bush or woodland that offers shelter. On some occasions they may refuse to graze in the open at all.

All this excitement and distraction has a devastating effect on the entire flock…Some sheep will be injured in their headlong rushes of panic; others may be blinded and some even killed outright.

Only the strict attention to the behavior of the sheep by the shepherd can forestall the difficulties of “fly time.” At the very first sign of flies among the flock he will apply an antidote to their heads. I always preferred to use a homemade remedy composed of linseed oil, sulfur and tar which was smeared over the sheep’s nose and head as a protection against nose flies.

What an incredible transformation this would make among the sheep. Once the oil had been applied to the sheep’s head there was an immediate change in behavior. Gone was the aggravation; gone the frenzy; gone the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep would start to feed quietly again, then soon lie down in peaceful contentment.” (Pages 114-116)

All week long the world (and this world’s emperor) attempts to discourage, depress, demoralize, dispirit, dishearten and destroy the sheep. They are assaulted by “fly time” all week long! The sheep come longingly to church to be fed and encouraged and strengthened and to have the oil of the Holy Spirit poured with compassion upon their broken hearts and minds.

Matthew reminds us of the tremendous compassion that Jesus had for the sheep, “And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36). AT Robertson writes of this verse, “A sad and pitiful state the crowds were in. Rent or mangled as if by wild beasts…They were harassed, importuned, bewildered by those who should have taught them…The masses were in a state of mental dejection. No wonder Jesus was moved with compassion.”

Having worked at least part time in secular employment during most of the years that I was a pastor gave me an intimate view of the struggles of working people in the work-a-day world. Many times I have entered my place of employment and sensed the touch of the Holy Spirit burdening my heart for people struggling with “fly time” and wanting respite from things ranging from petty annoyances to lifelong joy-draining and faith-debilitating struggles. You hear first hand of their struggles in every day life – a daughter suffering from cancer, a grandson afflicted with a debilitating and undiagnosed disease, or a family struggling financially.

As a result, there was a deepened sense that when the sheep arrived at church on Sunday, they needed to be encouraged, strengthened and uplifted.

How desperate Job was to hear an encouraging word from the lips of his friends. He so wanted to hear something – anything that would encourage his heart. He had been beaten down in body and spirit and longed for the waters that would have quenched the thirsting in his spirit. He ached for the presence of God.

But all he received was a sheep-beating from Pastor Elihu.

In John chapter 21 Jesus met the disciples on the shores of Galilee for breakfast. Following the meal Jesus went for a walk with Peter. Three times the Great Shepherd importuned Peter, “Feed my sheep!”

The hungry sheep look up…and are not fed.

May the words of Milton never be found to be true of our churches and ministries.


Chapter 34 from The Message:
1 Elihu continued:
2 "So, my fine friends—listen to me, and see what you think of this.
3 Isn’t it just common sense—as common as the sense of taste—
4 To put our heads together and figure out what’s going on here?
5 "We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right, but God won’t give me a fair trial.
6 When I defend myself, I’m called a liar to my face. I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.’
7 Have you ever heard anything to beat this? Does nothing faze this man Job?
8 Do you think he’s spent too much time in bad company, hanging out with the wrong crowd,
9 So that now he’s parroting their line: ‘It doesn’t pay to try to please God’?
10 "You’re veterans in dealing with these matters; certainly we’re of one mind on this. It’s impossible for God to do anything evil; no way can the Mighty One do wrong.
11 He makes us pay for exactly what we’ve done—no more, no less. Our chickens always come home to roost.
12 It’s impossible for God to do anything wicked, for the Mighty One to subvert justice.
13 He’s the one who runs the earth! He cradles the whole world in his hand!
14 If he decided to hold his breath,
15 every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.
16 "So, Job, use your head; this is all pretty obvious.
17 Can someone who hates order, keep order? Do you dare condemn the righteous, mighty God?
18 Doesn’t God always tell it like it is, exposing corrupt rulers as scoundrels and criminals?
19 Does he play favorites with the rich and famous and slight the poor? Isn’t he equally responsible to everybody?
20 Don’t people who deserve it die without notice? Don’t wicked rulers tumble to their doom? When the so-called great ones are wiped out, we know God is working behind the scenes.
21 "He has his eyes on every man and woman. He doesn’t miss a trick.
22 There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough, to hide those who do evil.
23 God doesn’t need to gather any more evidence; their sin is an open-and-shut case.
24 He deposes the so-called high and mighty without asking questions, and replaces them at once with others.
25 Nobody gets by with anything; overnight, judgment is signed, sealed, and delivered.
26 He punishes the wicked for their wickedness out in the open where everyone can see it,
27 Because they quit following him, no longer even thought about him or his ways.
28 Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor; the cry of the afflicted got God’s attention.
29 "If God is silent, what’s that to you? If he turns his face away, what can you do about it? But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling,
30 so that those who hate God won’t take over and ruin people’s lives.
31 "So why don’t you simply confess to God? Say, ‘I sinned, but I’ll sin no more.
32 Teach me to see what I still don’t see. Whatever evil I’ve done, I’ll do it no more.’
33 Just because you refuse to live on God’s terms, do you think he should start living on yours? You choose. I can’t do it for you. Tell me what you decide.
34 "All right-thinking people say—and the wise who have listened to me concur—
35 ‘Job is an ignoramus. He talks utter nonsense.’
36 Job, you need to be pushed to the wall and called to account for wickedly talking back to God the way you have.
37 You’ve compounded your original sin by rebelling against God’s discipline, Defiantly shaking your fist at God, piling up indictments against the Almighty One."

Once, Twice; Twice, Thrice:Love’s Unrelenting Pursuit (Job 33:14-33)

Corrie Ten Boom lived in Holland during WWII but was imprisoned by the Nazi’s in the concentration camp known as Ravensbruck for her family’s involvement in concealing Jews in their home. Members of her family died as a result of what the Germans had done. But the love of God pursued them into the pit of hell. Corrie’s sister Betsie died in the concentration camp on December 16, 1944. Among her last words to her sister were these, “We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.”

In essence she was saying that God is working in places we do not think He is, in ways we do not think He is and in times we do not think He is.

Peering back into years and decades gone by we do see God’s tapestry and handiwork in the smallest of circumstances. But from the perspective of the present it’s sometimes hard to see how our circumstances could possibly fit into God’s plan.

But they do.

In this section of Job, Elihu essentially says to the one so tormented and afflicted, “You may not realize it Job, but God IS speaking and working! And in more ways than you can comprehend.”

33:13 “Why do you complain against Him That He does not give an account of all His doings?”

“God, WHY is this happening to me?” is a cry often found on the lips of his saints. And most of the time the answer seems to be, “Trust me.” “Our part is not to strive with God,” writes JFB in their commentary, “but to submit. To believe it is right because He does it, not because we see all the reasons for His doing it.”

According to Keil and Delitzsch it is remarkable that, without the use of any synonyms, the writer uses the word “pit” five times in this portion of chapter 33. It is the Hebrew word “shachath.” Note these phrases:

“He keeps back his soul from the pit” (vs. 18)
"Then his soul draws near to the pit” (vs. 22)
“Deliver him from going down to the pit” (vs. 24)
"He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit” (28)
“To bring back his soul from the pit” (vs. 30)

The pit (or death) is seen as a region without any ray of light (see Job 3:5 10:21, 22).

The sinful nature of man drives him ever-onward toward the pit, the underworld, the unseen places of everlasting darkness and torment. Were it not for the unrelenting pursuit of the hand of God in our lives we would hurl ourselves headlong into this awful place.

These are some of the verbs used to describe the actions of Unseen Love:
“He opens…” (vs. 16)
“He seals…” (vs. 17)
“He turns man aside…” (vs. 17)
“He keeps him from…” (vs. 17)
“He keeps back…” (vs. 18)
“He chastens…” (vs. 19)
“He reminds…” (vs. 23)
“He delivers…” (vs. 24)
“He accepts…” (vs. 26)
“He restores…” (vs. 27)
“He redeems…” (vs. 28)
“He does…” (vs. 29)
“He brings back…” (vs. 30)

God is an active God who relentlessly pursues the heart of mankind. Adverse circumstances may simply be the Hand of love reaching out to get our attention.

33:14 “Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices (perceives) it.”


God is speaking…and no one notices it. What a tragic statement.

“God,” says Elihu “IS working in your life Job! You just don’t notice or perceive it.” The root word for perceive (shuwr) is used 23 times in the Old Testament – 16 times in Job alone. But notice this: 11 times that the word is used in Job, it is found in the speeches of Elihu! The word contains the idea of “going round for inspection” or gazing.

Do you get the idea that God is trying to say something to Job?

And maybe to us?

Elihu’s first speech/sermon could be boiled down to a couple of bullet points:

First (in verses 15-18), God speaks by dreams (and sometimes those dreams are terrifying – remember Pilate’s wife? [Matthew 27:19])

Secondly (in verses 19-22) God speaks through pain (with Job it was a never resting fever that racked his ghostly frame).

Here are the verses for the first point:
33:15 “In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, 16 then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, 17 that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride; 18 He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing over into Sheol.”

Note verse 17 from the version called The Message, “To turn them back from something bad they’re planning, from some reckless choice…”

God is the Divine Keeper Backer! He is constantly working and striving to rescue souls from some reckless course.

Here are the verses for the second point:
33:19 “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, and with unceasing complaint in his bones; 20 so that his life loathes bread, and his soul favorite food. 21 his flesh wastes away from sight and his bones which were not seen stick out. 22 then his soul draws near to the pit and his life to those who bring death.”

Note verse 21 – it’s literally, “The normally seen flesh and skin can’t be seen and the normally unseen bones are prominently sticking out!”

I want to emphasize strongly that I am a firm believer in divine healing and the fact that God is active in the world today performing miracle after miracle through his servants to touch those afflicted with disease and disabilities. And ultimately, Job is a book about divine healing! (It just takes a while to get to that part [chapter 42, but note also vs. 25 in this chapter]). But I also believe that God sometimes trains and corrects and shapes and molds us through pain and suffering.

Portions of the following are hard verses to interpret and there is a wide variety of opinion on what exactly they mean.

33:23 "If there is an angel as mediator for him, one out of a thousand, to remind a man what is right for him, 24 then let him be gracious to him, and say, ’Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’; 25 let his flesh become fresher than in youth, let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’; 26 then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, that he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man. 27 he will sing to men and say, ’I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it is not proper for me. 28 He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life shall see the light.’”

The angel of verse 23 is the opposite of the death angel (those who bring death) mentioned in verse 22.

I wonder how many times our lives have been directed by the ministry of these unseen heavenly beings?

We have dwelt so much on the negative, but notice these positive results of God’s dealings: physical healing (vs. 25), spiritual healing (vs. 26), emotional healing (vs. 27) and destiny healing (vs. 28).

33:29 “Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, 30 to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life. 31 Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; keep silent, and let me speak. 32 Then if you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you. 33 If not, listen to me; keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

This portion of chapter 33 begins with “God speaks once, twice.” And it ends with, “Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man…” (vs. 29 ESV).

Once, Twice; Twice, Thrice... The language points to the idea of an ongoing persistence. It simply means that God works over and over and over and over again. He is unrelenting in his love.

Perhaps you are weary of God’s dealings with you. We may view ourselves as compliant and obedient to the voice of the Heavenly Father. But the person that we perceive to be the most gentle and yielding may in fact be the most stubborn in the sight of God! He sees things differently.

Perhaps you are even complaining about the way that “life is treating you.” Are you seeing the hand of man as simply that – the hand of man? Or do you believe that Divine Love is relentlessly guiding your circumstances and is weaving all things together for your ultimate good?

An appointment with God lay directly ahead for Job.

And it may be right around the corner for you.

Keep on plodding and don’t give up!

Got Circumstances? (Job 33:1-12)

The killing fields of Pol Pot’s Cambodia.
The gas chambers of Hitler’s Germany.
The car accident that takes the life of a son or daughter (while the drunk driver escapes without a scratch).
The senseless drive-by shooting of a ten year old boy.

And the ghostly shadow and disease ridden body of the Sheik of Uz.

Is God good?
And does God care?

Our theology tells us that He is and that He does (and that He is and does all of the time).

But to Job (and to so many “Jobs” down through the ages) at times it “seems” that He is not good and that He does not care. For all practical purposes it appears that the God of Glory has abandoned Mr. and Mrs. Job.

Their prayers have gone unheeded and their tears have gone unnoticed. (Or so it seems)

Three rounds of dialogue with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar haven’t yielded an ounce of comfort. And Job comes extremely close to believing that a life of integrity spent loving God doesn’t matter.

Francis I. Anderson writes, “The full answer to Job’s suffering cannot therefore be found in questions about justice. Beyond justice there is a benevolence in God that calls men to trust Him. More simply stated, the issue is whether a person can continue to believe that God is really good. Then he will be able to sing in the dark no matter what happens. The search for an explanation by tracking Job’s sufferings to their origin and cause has failed. More light will be gained in the search for their outcome and goal.”

This then is the direction that this young, brash preacher by the name of Elihu is taking us.

33:1 “However now, Job, please hear my speech, and listen to all my words. 2 Behold now, I open my mouth, my tongue in my mouth (palate) speaks.”

Unlike the Comforters, Elihu addresses the main character by name. And he asks that Job would listen attentively to all that he had to say in the same way that he had listened so attentively to Job (32:11). Whereas the Comforters tossed sincerity and impartiality aside during the heat of the argument, Eliphaz determined that he wouldn’t follow their course. (They also seemed to forget that they were visiting a very sick man in the hospice wing of Uz Memorial Hospital and were not having a theological debate in seminary)

Note how the version called The Message puts verse 1, "So please, Job, hear me out, honor me by listening to me.” Whether it be a coworker or a boss or our spouse or children or our neighbor, we give honor to someone when we listen attentively to what they have to say.

33:3 “My words are from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips speak knowledge sincerely.”

Some word historians conjecture that the word “sincere” came from a Latin word (or words) meaning “without wax.” Apparently in Roman time, if marble sculptures had any small flaws, the blemishes could be hidden by using wax as sort of a caulk. But people wanted to know that what they were about to purchase was “sin-cere.” So sometimes the buyer would have their sculpture sit in the hot sun for a time before the actual purchase to see if wax began to melt out of any imperfections. While engaging Job, Elihu wanted to be “without wax” or sin-cere – forthright, honest and genuine.

33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 5 Refute me if you can; Array yourselves before me, take your stand. 6 Behold, I belong to God like you; I too have been formed out of the clay.”

In the phrase, “The Spirit of God has made me…” perhaps Elihu is simply saying, “Hey Job, I’m just like you!”

Note the word “array” in verse 5. One of the lexicons explains this word as being a verb of preparation, a setting in order with sort of a militaristic tone. Elihu is asking Job to “prepare your word-weapons.” Between Elihu and Job, this was to be linguistic combat – a verbal war of words.

In verse 6 Elihu again emphasizes the fact that “I’m just like you.” Note the words, “I too have been formed out of the clay.” “Formed” carries the idea of “pinched;” so we have the picture of a potter grabbing a slab of clay and pinching off a chunk to begin to shape his masterpiece.

In this verbal combat in the land of Uz, it was clay versus clay.

33:7 “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.”

Elihu at times did get a little wrapped up in himself. When they heard this statement of Elihu’s, I imagine Job and the three comforters just rolled their eyes and muttered, “Oh brother!”

33:8 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your words:”

One of the marks of a good listener is their ability to restate (back to the one who had just spoken) what they heard them say. They may say something like, “Ok, I think this is what you are saying, am I hearing you correctly?” So Elihu, in the following verses, summarizes what he had heard from Job during the long debate with the Comforters.

33:9 “’I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent and there is no guilt in me. 10 Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. 11 He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’”

Part of Elihu’s synopsis (particularly verse 11) is almost a word for word recital of what Job had stated earlier in chapter 13, “Why dost Thou hide Thy face, and consider me Thine enemy?...For Thou dost write bitter things against me, And dost make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. Thou dost put my feet in the stocks, and dost watch all my paths…” (24-27)

Hartley writes, “(Job) never asserts that he has not sinned. His position is that he cannot recall having committed any transgressions that would require such harsh punishment.” And Poole writes, “Remember, (some of the words of Job) shocked the friends (and Elihu); perhaps Job never crossed the line of explicitly accusing God of malice or dishonesty -- but he sure came close to it and it was hard for the four not to come to the conclusion that he had. But Trapp reminds us, “Only out of the greatness of his grief and the unkindness of his friends did job finally cast out some rash and harsh words against God.”

33:12 “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, for God is greater than man.”

Note the first part of this verse (“Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this”). At times, we need Elihus in our own lives who will have the courage to say to us, “You are not right in this.” We need people who will look us in the eye and tell it like it is. To paraphrase Trapp, “Someone who flatters is simply a courteous murderer.” God puts certain individuals into our lives who will speak the truth, and speak it even if it may not be done out of love. We certainly do need people who will love us unconditionally and show us tremendous compassion in our trials and troubles. But we also need the “without-wax” people (John Wayne cowboy types?) who will level with us.

My family and I pastored a church in North Dakota in the 1980’s and had a wonderful time of revival and grew to love the people. A few years later the Lord led us to pastor a church in northern Wisconsin where again God did wonderful things and we fell in love with the congregation. But in between the church in North Dakota and the church in Wisconsin, we pastored a home missions church for three years where we seemed to have entered “The Great Tribulation” (and the last half where the world is in total chaos and turmoil). To put it simply, it was a very, very painful time (but necessary). Somewhere during the second or third year at that church, an older gentleman who attended off and on came to visit me. During our conversation, he said simply this, “If you had half the personality of your wife, this church would grow!”

I was mad enough to spit BB’s.

But he was right. Not in his conclusion as to how to get the church to grow, nor in his conclusion that I should try to be someone I wasn’t (the two previous pastors were very gregarious whereas I was more the studious type). But during those difficult times my attitude had gone south and people could sense it.

It was either at that meeting or a subsequent one that, after we both had our say, we began to pray for one another. And suddenly the love of God began to flood our hearts in such a marvelous way that we hugged each other as the tears flowed down our faces.

Individuals may say things to us in a manner that conveys anything but an attitude of love. But what they say may be true and it is in those “gut-check” moments that we should simply pray something like, “Lord, I don’t like what that person had to say, but is it true?” (“Oh the gift that God would give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”) And if our prayers are genuine and earnest, the Holy Spirit will definitely reveal to us if we need an attitude check-up. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:15, “…and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.”

Finally, notice the second part of verse 12, “…for God is greater than man.” Francis I Anderson writes, “The truth that God is greater than man is so obvious as to be banal (devoid of freshness or originality, something that is trite).”

But I disagree. When going through dispiriting circumstances, we often need to be reminded of the greatness and majesty of our God.

It’s as if this young preacher is saying, “Job, I know you’re going through a horrible time, and I can’t imagine the depth of your sorrow and pain. But somehow, someway, somewhere God has a plan in all of this! All you see right now is death and destruction and disease, but God is greater than your current situation!”

It is when our circumstances are “clothed with worms and a crust of dirt” (Job 7:5) that we need to see Him is clothed in radiant splendor.

Got circumstances? And are they “clothed in a crust of dirt?” Remember, God is the Grand Architect of Circumstances. Take time to worship Him who guides the universe. The song, “Revelation Hymn” speaks of the glory and majesty of God (click on the link at the left for a YouTube video of this song).

Mr. Mentos-in-Coke and the Lost Art of Listening (Job 32:11-22)

“He is insightful one moment, and insipid the next.” That’s Swindoll’s pointed summary of this young man by the name of Elihu. Filled with perception at one turn, and then shortly thereafter overflowing with blandness. One moment the sermon’s a stem winder, the next it’s a real yawner (a count-the-number-of-ceiling-tiles-during-the-sermon type of yawner). Elihu's a real enigma.

32:11 “Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say. 12 I even paid close attention to you; indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, not one of you who answered his words.”

After each of Job’s speeches the Comforters probably huddled up and said something like, “Ok guys, let’s figure out how to respond to this line of reasoning.” Note the word “pondered” in verse 11. It means “to weigh mentally, to consider something deeply and thoroughly” (“ponder” and “pound” come from the same root word and both connote “giving weight to”). The Comforters didn't respond immediately; they took time to think about what Job had said and how to refute his arguments.

But even though Eliphaz, Bildad and Elihu were deliberate in their response, Trapp’s synopsis of their line of reasoning is not too flattering, “…for the which you have eviscerated your brains, and well nigh cracked your sconces, but all to no purpose; since you hover in generals…you brought only such reasons as were not cogent (coherent), and used such discourses as did never come at the business; which was no better than a laborious loss of time.”

Eviscerated brains, cracked sconces and a big waste of time. Wow.

Note these phrases of Elihu, “I waited for your words…I listened to your reasonings…I paid close attention…” Even though Elihu was young (and brash), he had developed the trait of being a good listener and had given the most sincere attention to the Comforter’s reasonings. But when it was all said and done, he looked around with incredulity and wondered aloud, “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got???”

More on the “lost art of listening” at the conclusion.

32:13 “Do not say, ’We have found wisdom; God will rout him, not man.’”

This is a difficult verse to interpret; but perhaps Barnes hits the correct note in his commentary, “That is, this (Job’s trial) has been permitted and ordered in such a manner that it might be manifest that the truths which are to convince Job come from God and not from man. You were not permitted to refute or convince him, for if you had been you would have been lifted up with pride, and would have attributed to yourselves what belongs to God. This is in accordance with the entire drift of the book, which is to introduce the Almighty Himself to settle the controversy when human wisdom failed.”

32:14 “For he has not arranged his words against me, nor will I reply to him with your arguments.”

To use a well-worn phrase, Elihu doesn’t have a dog in this fight – he is not speaking out of a desire for revenge. At times the Comforters had become sarcastic in their approach, even going so far as to say that Job’s kids got what they deserved. Elihu wisely abandoned that line of attack.

32:15 “They are dismayed, they no longer answer; Words have failed them.”

The New Living Translation puts it, “You sit there baffled, with nothing more to say.”

“Words have failed them…” All of their arguments and all of their reasonings have become not unlike the ash heap around them.

Note especially the word “dismayed.” It means “demoralization stemming from frustration” and was used of the panic of the Israeli army before the giant Goliath in I Samuel 17:11 (“When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid”).

The word is also used in Jeremiah 48:1 “Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ‘Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.’” Misgab means “strong or high fortress, an inaccessible place.”

As the fortress of Misgab was “dismayed” (demoralized and destroyed), so the fortress arguments of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar collapsed. The Comforters had begun so confidently and their theology had seemed so unassailable. But now their systematic theology was no more than, as Trapp colorfully puts it, incoherent discourse from cracked sconces.

Job’s life may have crumbled to ashes, but so has the Comforters’ cherished theology. Job sat on the ash heap of his former life; the Comforters sat on the ash heap of their former collapsed theology.

32:16 “Shall I wait, because they do not speak, because they stop and no longer answer?”

The law firm of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had never lost a case. But this time there is no rebuttal, there are no closing arguments; just a look of bewilderment on the face of Elihu at the sight of a “dismayed” theology.

32:17 “I too will answer my share, I also will tell my opinion.”

Barnes comments, “There is a delicate expression of modesty in the Hebrew which does not appear in our translation. In all this we may discern a degree of courtesy, and a delicate sense of propriety (on the part of Elihu).”

32:18 “For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.”

Note the contrast between verse 15 (“…words have failed them”) and this verse (“I am full of words…”). Elihu seems to be a rich storehouse of words. On the phrase “I am full of words…” Francis I Anderson, quoting Rowley, states tersely, “None would dispute that!” It seems that some commentators have a favorable view of Elihu (e.g. Barnes), while others have a more critical view (e.g. Anderson). And it also seems that commentators are divided as to whether Elihu was just filled with himself or whether he was truly filled with the Spirit of God. But perhaps it was a little of both (not unlike some of our prophetic messages heard in churches today).

32:19 “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, Like new wineskins it is about to burst.”

Elihu is Uz’s version of a “YouTube-Mentos-in-Diet-Coke.” He is without a doubt ready to blow, and ready to blow big-time!

32:20 “Let me speak that I may get relief; let me open my lips and answer.”

Wine makers normally would put a tiny hole in the wineskin or in the cask to prevent the cask or wineskin from bursting. Unless Elihu speaks, he is going to explode. And when he does speak he comes at the baffling predicament of Job from a completely different angle. So perhaps what we have here is sort of the new wine in the new wineskin (Elihu) versus the old wine in the old wineskins (Eliphaz/Bildad/Zophar).

32:21 “Let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man. 22 For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.”

The word “flatter” comes from an old French word meaning “to lick” or “to stroke.” To flatter is to praise insincerely – especially in order to win favor.

Barnes writes, “The conviction that we are soon to appear before God, where all are on a level, and where every mask will be stripped off, and everything appear as it is, would prevent us from ascribing to others qualities which we know they do not possess, and from giving them titles which will only exalt them in their own estimation, and hide the truth from their minds.”

Note these verses from Proverbs on the subject of flattery:

Proverbs 28:23 “He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.” The Message puts it, “In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated far more than bootlicking flattery.”

Proverbs 29:5 “A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.” The Message puts it this way, “A flattering neighbor is up to no good; he’s probably planning to take advantage of you.”

Back to the “lost art of listening.” Someone has penned, “I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Did you catch that? If not let me put it this way, “I know you think you thought you knew what you thought I said, but I’m not sure you understood what you thought I meant!”

I am not sure who penned those but they certainly are a little humorous (and more than a little hard to follow).

Do we communicate well, and are we good listeners? For all of Elihu’s faults, he did seem to really listen well.

Gill writes this in his commentary, “Elihu waited for them (the words of the Comforters), as for the rain, and the latter rain, to be revived, refreshed, and edified therewith…he endeavored to get into the sense and meaning of their words; not only attended to what they did say, but to what he thought they meant to say: some are not so happy in their expressions; and yet, by what they do say, with close attention it may be understood what they aim at, what is their drift and design; this Elihu was careful to attain unto, not barely to hear their words, but penetrate, if possible, into their meaning.”

Do we fail when it comes to the art of listening? We would do well to emulate Elihu.

Wisdom From An Uneducated Toy Maker (Job 32:1-11)

It is not an exaggeration to say that, while an unnerving silence hung over the ash heap, at any moment the Comforters expected something horrific to happen to Job – perhaps even an event along the lines of a chapter-one calamity. Hartley writes, “Job's avowal of innocence is so audacious and final that it leaves the Comforters speechless. All are terrified, waiting for an answer from the heavens. But God remains silent.”

32:1 “Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.”

Whenever there was a debate in the Land of Uz, whoever failed to make a reply was declared the loser. So to everyone in AshHeapville it seemed that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (and by extension God Himself) have lost.

But perhaps “stalemate” would be a better way to describe the tense atmosphere at the ash heap. No one can see how both God AND Job can be right. To paraphrase Trapp, Job is viewed as stubborn, contentious, self-conceited and opinionated. But from Job’s point of view Job is merely resolute and tenacious and true to himself.

But it is now that the story takes an unexpected twist. Standing just offstage an unannounced fifth man suddenly appears…the long-winded young gun by the name of Elihu.

More than one commentator characterizes Elihu as “comic relief” – someone who would pierce the tense atmosphere. Youthful and bombastic is how Hartley characterizes him. There is a fair amount of speculation as to his identity: perhaps a relative of Abraham, perhaps the writer of the book of Job, or even perhaps the prophet Balaam in his youth. Whoever he is, he certainly does seem to provide a theological bridge leading up to the appearance of God in chapter 38.

32:2 "But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God."

One thing is for sure: Elihu may have been young and pompous and bombastic, but he was really MAD. So mad that his nose caught on fire! Four times in vs. 2-5 it is stated that “his anger burned.” Trapp translates it literally, “Then burnt the nose of Elihu...” It wasn’t the smell of burnt toast at the ash heap, it was the smell of burning and flaring nostrils! His anger had been simmering for a long, long time, and when the opportunity finally came, it boiled over.

Swindoll tells us that these four speeches of Elihu in the Biblical text (chapters 32-37) are longer than 12 of the Old Testament books and 17 of the New Testament books! This bombastic, long-winded bystander was mad and he decided to get it all out.

His nose-on-fire anger was directed first toward Job. Why? Because “he justified himself before God.” Or as Barnes puts it, “He understood Job…as being more willing that aspersions should be cast on the character and government of God, than to confess his own sin.” Poole writes, “He took more care to maintain his own innocence than God’s glory.”

32:3 "And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job."

What an incredible summation of the Comforters stance in the Book of Job, “They had found no answer and yet had condemned Job!”

The Graybeards have utterly failed to comfort Bag-O-Bones.

32:4 “Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned. 6 So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, ‘I am young in years and you are old; therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.’”

In his commentary, Adam Clarke wrote, “How young he was, or how old they were, we cannot tell; but there was no doubt a great disparity in their ages; and among the Asiatics the youth never spoke in the presence of the elders, especially on any subject of controversy.”

The word “young” means “small of days” or “insignificant”; “old” comes from a root word meaning “stooped for age.” There is apparently a wide gulf in their ages. The Comforters were the ancients and conceivably had a widespread reputation for being sages or men whose wisdom was renowned. They were men of great experience and great wisdom.

32:7 “I thought age should speak, and increased years should teach wisdom. 8 But it is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. 9 The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice. 10 So I say, ’Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.’ 11 Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say.”

One of the former church members at Hawthorne Assembly of God, the most learned professor Grant Gonyo used to say, “We are too soon old and too late smart.” Trapp writes, “There are beardless sages and grey headed children.”

Note the words “wisdom” or “wise” and “understanding” or “understand” in these verses. Although synonymous, here is how the Theological Wordbook of the OT defines each:

Old Testament “wisdom” (hakam) is quite distinct from that of other ancient world views. It was practical as distinguished from the ivory tower theoretical wisdom of the Greeks. In the non-Hebrew cultures the energy or power to become and remain moral was seen to reside in the intellect. Knowledge was virtue, and according to Plato, if a person had perfect knowledge he could live the good life. However, the emphasis of OT wisdom was that the human will was to be subject to God. Therefore, Hebrew wisdom was not theoretical and speculative -- it was practical, based on revealed principles of right and wrong and was to be lived out in daily life. The source of all wisdom is a relationship with a personal God who is holy, righteous, and just. That wisdom lead to a fear of the Lord (which in actuality is just the beginning of wisdom). Wisdom could then be defined as a simple trust in God and the avoidance of sin.

The word “understanding” (bîn) could also be seen as “insight.” The verb refers to knowledge which is superior to the mere gathering of data. “Bîn” is a power of perceptive insight. While understanding is a gift of God, it does not come automatically. The possession of it requires a persistent diligence. It is more than IQ; it connotes character. One is at fault if he doesn’t have it and in fact, not to pursue it will incur God’s punishment.

Job did not need someone to spew theories and speculations about the reasons for his suffering. He definitely needed someone to provide some practical, perceptive insight. It would surprisingly come from this young man named Elihu.

We’ve come a long way since chapter 2 and verse 13, “Then they (the Comforters) sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that {his} pain was very great.”

They would have been much farther ahead had they simply continued to say nothing, and instead helped to scratch his itching mass of sores with a broken piece of pottery.

In his book “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough,” Harold Kushner relates a touching story of how one uneducated elderly man could bring comfort when the educated professionals could not:

“Many years ago, when I was young, a business associate of my father’s died under particularly tragic circumstances, and I accompanied my father to the funeral. The man’s widow and children were surrounded by clergy and psychiatrists trying to ease their grief and make them feel better. They knew all the right words, but nothing helped. They were beyond being comforted. The widow kept saying, “You’re right, I know you’re right, but it doesn’t make any difference.” Then a man walked in, a big burly man in his eighties who was a legend in the toy and game industry. He had escaped from Russia as a youth after having been arrested and tortured by the czar’s secret police. He had come to this country illiterate and penniless and had built up an immensely successful company. He was known as a hard bargainer and a ruthless competitor. Despite his success, he had never learned to read or write. He hired people to read his mail to him. The joke in the industry was that he could write a check for a million dollars, and the hardest part would be signing his name to it at the bottom. He had been sick recently, and his face and his walking showed it. But he walked over to the widow and stared to cry, and she cried with him, and you could feel the atmosphere in the room change. This man who had never read a book in his life spoke the language of the heart and held the key that opened the gates of solace where learned doctors and clergy could not.” (When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough” pg. 109-110)