Job 36
Elihu continues, saying, Bear with me a little… 🙂
In Job 36:5-16 Elihu reminds Job of God’s wisdom and how He deals with the wicked, the afflicted, the righteous, and kings. He declares God’s justice and His righteousness in dealing with men. He says that God opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity (v. 10), graciously giving men every opportunity to repent. Importantly, he says that God delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity. (v.15)
Then in Job 36:17-23 Elihu again focuses on Job, recognizing that judgment has come on Job, so Job needs a better response and should stop doing the things he has been doing: Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing… (v. 18) Do not long for the night… (v. 20) Take care; do not turn to iniquity, for this you have chosen rather than affliction. (v. 21) God is in the right and has been trying to teach you, Job, so listen up and stop insisting that He is wrong. (vv. 22-23)
In Job 36:24-33 Elihu turns his attention back to God, telling Job to [r]emember to extol His work (v.24) and again describing God’s greatness as displayed in creation.
Elihu consistently defends God’s character, insisting that God is inherently right, and that anyone saying otherwise (i.e., Job) is wrong. Unlike the “friends” he does not accuse Job of some gross prior iniquity, but he does see that Job’s pride has led him down a false path. He therefore urges Job to reconsider his arguments, to turn away from his position in humble repentance. We would do well to listen.
Nothing to add to what John has written, but let me reinforce one point that John has made:
“Importantly, he says that God delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity. (v.15)”
If we are suffering, there may be a divine reason for that suffering and there may be a lesson in it for us to learn. Just that…
Um, well. For the most part, Elihu has been a refreshing change from assertions that “evil results from sin in our lives, so quit whining, Job, and confess!” (my simplified version of his so-called friends).
However, …
This little section of Job 36 seems to affirm the usual take on Job’s situation. And as John has pointed out many times, there are ample examples in life that sinners do not get what they deserve and those who “hearken and serve” God do not always “complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness”, whether they “return from iniquity” or not.
Has Elihu wandered off his map?
It does rather seem that way, doesn’t it? But I think there is a subtle difference here, and that goes to the origin and purpose of Job’s suffering. The “friends” all see Job’s suffering as punishment for some (exceedingly bad!) hidden sin that Job had previously committed. Elihu sees Job’s suffering (and perhaps all suffering?) as God’s call to a deeper relationship, and that Job’s current problem is not some previous sin, but his ongoing pride and insistence that God is in the wrong. Yes, Elihu upholds the notion of punishment for the wicked and reward for the righteous (and, ultimately, so do we with Heaven and Hell), but he also sees God’s grace, urging Job to hear His voice in the suffering.