JOB 33
OPENS WITH...ELIHU TRIES TO TEACH & CHALLENGES JOB
Verses 1-7 tells us Elihu to Job: "I am your spokesman before God."
"But please, Job, hear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
Now, I open my mouth;
My tongue speaks in my mouth.
My words come from my upright heart;
My lips utter pure knowledge.
The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
If you can answer me,
Set your words in order before me;
Take your stand.
Truly I am as your spokesman before God;
I also have been formed out of clay.
Surely no fear of me will terrify you,
Nor will my hand be heavy on you."
But please, Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words…
Elihu again demonstrated his gift for speaking without saying much. These first seven verses of the chapter are mainly a wordy, windy introduction.
The Spirit of God has made me … Truly I am as your spokesman before God…
We see here also the touches of pride that marked Elihu and many young men since him. He was anxious to demonstrate to Job and to the three friends of Job that he was just as good, just as spiritual, and just as wise as they were.
Indeed, we can say that Elihu thought of himself as just a little more good, spiritual, and wise as Job and his three friends. He believed that he could be an effective spokesman for Job before God, even as Job had cried out for before (Job 9:32-33).
MASON says it well, "It is obvious that Elihu does have some glaring faults: he talks too much; he repeats himself; he is enormously conceited. Worst of all, like the other friends, he seriously misreads Job's problem as being one of unrepented sin, and as a result he condemns a righteous man. Despite all the good that might be said of Elihu, the fact remains that he really is an astonishingly pompous little windbag. He takes the entire first chapter, for example, plus portions of the second, simply to clear his throat and announce that he has something to say."
Surely no fear of me will terrify you, nor will my hand be heavy on you…
Elihu wanted to assure Job that he had nothing to fear from his offer to be Job's spokesman before God.
Verses 8-11 tells us Elihu says of Job: "You think you are without sin."
"Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
'I am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
Yet He finds occasions against me,
He counts me as His enemy;
He puts my feet in the stocks,
He watches all my paths.'"
Elihu claimed to have listened to Job carefully, and now reported what he says he heard. He said that Job claimed to be pure, to be without transgression, to be innocent, and sinless (there is no iniquity in me).
This means that young Elihu had not heard Job carefully. Though Job did strongly (and rightly) argue that he was a generally godly man who was blameless and upright, he did NOT claim to be sinless or without transgression. Job certainly knew that he was a sinner in a general sense and could NOT be considered righteous compared to God.
He also did not understand why Job protested his general innocence. "In reality Job's defense of his righteousness is a defense of God. It is a defense of God's faithfulness, and in the end this is the only leg a believer has to stand on.
Verses 12-18 tells us Elihu to Job: "Perhaps God spoke to you in a dream."
"Look, in this you are not righteous.
I will answer you,
For God is greater than man.
Why do you contend with Him?
For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
For God may speak in one way, or in another,
Yet man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,
Then He opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction.
In order to turn man from his deed,
And conceal pride from man,
He keeps back his soul from the Pit,
And his life from perishing by the sword."
Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words…
Here Elihu spoke the truth on some points. He was correcting in telling Job that God did not owe him (or anyone else) an explanation for what He does, and that Job was wrong to demand such.
For God may speak in one way, or in another…
Elihu's thought is here is that perhaps God had spoken to Job already but Job did not perceive it. It could have been through a dream or through a vision of the night that God warned Job to repent (He keeps back his soul from the Pit), but Job was NOT paying attention.
Verses 19-28 tells us Elihu to Job: "God spoke to you in your sufferings, to save your soul from death."
"Man is also chastened with pain on his bed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
So that his life abhors bread,
And his soul succulent food.
His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners."
"If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
Then He is gracious to him, and says,
'Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom';
His flesh shall be young like a child's,
He shall return to the days of his youth.
He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.
Then he looks at men and says,
'I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
And it did not profit me.'
He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit,
And his life shall see the light."
Elihu had just suggested that God spoke to Job in a dream; now he suggests that perhaps God spoke to him through his physical suffering. Again, Elihu (in is overly wordy way) told Job that God did send a messenger of some sort; Job's problem was that he did not receive it. The message is: "Job, the problem is that you are a sinner and are blaming God. If you would give glory to God and repent, everything would get better."
Though this section could NOT rightly be applied to Job and his situation, it is still a powerful and beautiful description of how God speaks to man, and what God does in the life of the converted man or woman.
- Man condemned and being drawn down to the Pit (Job 33:22)
- Man's need for a messenger (Job 33:23)
- Man's need for a mediator (Job 33:23)
- Man's need to see God's justice and uprightness (Job 33:23)
- God being gracious to man (Job 33:24)
- God calling for man to be delivered from the Pit (Job 33:24)
- God finding a ransom for man (Job 33:24)
- God restoring man to youth, as if born again (Job 33:25)
- Man's heart to pray to God once converted (Job 33:26)
- God's delight in converted man (Job 33:26)
- Man's confession and public repentance (Job 33:27)
- Man once redeemed, now seeing and living in the light (Job 33:28)
Verses 29-33 tells us Elihu pleads with Job to listen to him.
"Behold, God works all these things,
Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
To bring back his soul from the Pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life."
"Give ear, Job, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will speak.
If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
If not, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."
Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom…
Perhaps Job stirred to respond to young Elihu; perhaps the older suffering Job simply rolled his eyes at the younger man. Whatever Job's reaction, Elihu felt the need to tell Job to "Hold your peace" and felt he had to assure Job that he would teach him wisdom - as if Job could NOT judge for himself whether Elihu's words were wise.
Since Job was NOT interested in CONFESSING AND REPENTING the way Elihu and his friends thought he should, Elihu would continue.