Job 35

Elihu continues, asking Job:

Do you think this to be just?
Do you say, “It is my right before God,”
that you ask, “What advantage have I?
How am I better off than if I had sinned?”

Job 35:2-3

Elihu answers with the observation that Job’s sins do not hurt God, and his righteous acts do not enhance God — but his acts affect others. (Job 35:4-8) Regardless of Job’s goodness, God owes him nothing — and it’s not about Job anyway. That is to say, our motivation for righteousness should not just be what we get out of it, but how others benefit. (At least that’s how I read these verses. I’d be interested to hear what others think.)

Elihu then goes on to describe how people cry out under oppression but in their pride fail to seek or even acknowledge God, and so God does not pay any regard to their empty cry. (Job 35:9-13) Turning his attention back to Job specifically, Elihu continues:

How much less when you say that you do not see Him,
that the case is before Him, and you are waiting for Him!
And now, because His anger does not punish,
and He does not take much note of transgression,
Job opens his mouth in empty talk;
he multiplies words without knowledge.

Job 35:14-16

If God is silent toward Job, it is because Job has been asking the wrong questions and asking them in pride. Job has arrogantly put together a legal defense and challenged God. But not recognizing God’s silence as mercy and restraint, Job has continued digging his hole deeper and deeper.

How often I have done the same! In my discontent (for whatever reason) I “cry out” to God, but with an underlying attitude of resentment. And then I grow more discontent at what I perceive as stonewall silence from God. May I listen to Elihu and learn from Job’s experience! Perhaps a little humility when approaching the Almighty would be in order…

Job 34

Elihu continues:

Hear my words, you wise men,
and give ear to me, you who know;
for the ear tests words
as the palate tastes food.
Let us choose what is right;
let us know among ourselves what is good.

Job 34:2-4

Some may consider Elihu to be somewhat arrogant in his assessment of his own wisdom, but as Dizzy Dean once said, “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up.” He speaks sincerely and he is well motivated, seeking what is true and right and good. He wants his audience to pay attention, confident that when they hear what is right, they will recognize it as such.

He goes on to again summarize Job’s position:

For Job has said, “I am in the right,
and God has taken away my right;
in spite of my right I am counted a liar;
my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.”

Job 34:5-6

Job has set himself as being in the right and that therefore God must be wrong and unjust. So Elihu then gets right to the heart of the matter:

Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:
far be it from God that He should do wickedness,
and from the Almighty that He should do wrong.
For according to the work of a man He will repay him,
and according to his ways He will make it befall him.
Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

Job 34:10-12

Elihu declares that God will not do wickedly and will not pervert justice, so God cannot be in the wrong — Job is. The rest of the chapter drives this point home. God is the Creator. (vv. 13-15) God is the One Who is righteous and mighty. (v. 17) God is the One Who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor. (v. 19) God is the One Who sees everything and needs no investigation to pronounce judgment. (Job 34:21-26) Who, then, has a right to condemn God?

Men of understanding will say to me,
and the wise man who hears me will say:
“Job speaks without knowledge;
his words are without insight.”
Would that Job were tried to the end,
because he answers like wicked men.
For he adds rebellion to his sin;
he claps his hands among us
and multiplies his words against God.

Job 34:34-37

And in this Elihu hits the nail on the head. He sees that, in contrast to Job’s initial response in Job 2:10, where Job did not sin with his lips, Job subsequently turned his words against God in his own self-justification.

So, again, what about us? How might we be like Job? How might we feel ill-used by God? How might we set ourselves up as judges of God? (Hint: If you think you do not do this, and especially if you think you’ve never done this, you are probably mistaken and you should probably take a deeper look…) How might we need to listen more closely to Elihu?

Job 33

Having chastised the friends for their failure to answer Job, Elihu shifts gears to address Job directly. He tells Job to listen up (v. 1) and that his words are sincere. (v. 3) He puts Job on alert, saying, Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand. (v. 4) But he also tries to reassure Job, saying that he (Elihu) is also a man and will be gentle (unlike some of the cruel words from the three friends):

Behold, I am toward God as you are;
I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.
Behold, no fear of me need terrify you;
my pressure will not be heavy upon you.

Job 33:6-7

Elihu says that he has heard what Job has said (v. 8 — which is again somewhat in contrast with the three friends, who seem never to have really listened), and he rather succinctly summarizes Job’s argument:

You say, “I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
Behold, He finds occasions against me,
He counts me as His enemy,
He puts my feet in the stocks
and watches all my paths.”

Job 33:9-11

He then directly states that Job is wrong: Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against Him, saying, “He will answer none of man’s words”? (vv. 12-13) In response to Job’s contention that God is silent and doesn’t answer, Elihu makes a very interesting argument. He says that God does speak in at least two ways: through dreams (Job 33:15-18) and through suffering (Job 33:19-22), and that in both cases His intent is to warn man, to turn him away from sin and to save him from destruction. (Job 33:17-18, 29-30)

He goes on to say that in the latter case (suffering), there may also be a mediator…to declare to man what is right for him, and He is merciful to him, and says, “Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom…” (vv. 23-24), with the result that the suffering man turns back to God in gratitude for redemption. (Job 33:26-28) It is perhaps easy for us to see Christ as such a Mediator, and that Christ Himself is the Ransom. I doubt, though, that Elihu had that all fleshed out in his mind. (Even the Apostles did not understand that until after the Resurrection.) Nevertheless, he points to God’s mercy, and he sees suffering not as punishment ending in death, but as discipline and as a call to repentance and humility (which Job has lacked), not as a pathway to destruction but as a pathway from destruction.

So, counter to Job’s perception, God is not silent. Rather, He is speaking quite loudly through Job’s suffering. But Job cannot hear Him because he is not listening properly — his pride has plugged his ears. Job needs to reframe the entire question, to see his suffering through a different lens, and to accept it as an opportunity to hear from God and to be shaped by God.

Elihu here offers a radical rethinking of suffering, which bears some serious consideration. Take some time to meditate on suffering as God’s call. Meditate on the Cross. And meditate on Romans 8:16-17: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

Job 32

Today we meet Elihu, a younger man who has been sitting by quietly, listening to the debate between Job and his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Out of respect, Elihu has been deferring to the older men, but now that the friends have no further answer, Elihu can no longer keep silent. He is angry at all four of the older men — at Job for justifying himself at God’s expense, and at the three friends for failing to answer him.

First, I’d like to commend Elihu for his deference to his elders — something sorely lacking in our current culture! He has waited patiently, expecting wisdom from the older men. (Job 32:6-7,11) But now that the friends have exhausted their arguments without refuting Job, he speaks up, so I also want to commend him for his courage and boldness in doing so.

Although Elihu has honored the older men, he recognizes that old age and experience does not necessarily produce wisdom. (That requires actually learning from one’s experience — and mistakes — something some people never seem to do.) Today’s speech thus serves as a rebuke to the friends and an appeal for them to listen to this young upstart, who just cannot constrain himself any longer. (Job 32:18-20)

Spoiler alert: Elihu talks continually for 6 chapters (Job 32-37), so we’ll be hearing from him for the next five days, and although God rebukes Job’s friends, Elihu is not included in that rebuke (Job 42:7-8), which sounds a bit like an implicit endorsement. Stay tuned…

Job 31

Job makes his final appeal and closes his argument today. He continues to maintain his innocence, declaring that, were he guilty of any of various evils, he would accept his due punishment. But since he knows himself not to be guilty of those things, he remains defiant.

Although Job has argued against his three “friends” and refuted their notion that the wicked are always swiftly and surely brought down, throughout his discourse he has fundamentally shared the same “good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people” worldview. The friends have argued that the world does operate that way, and therefore Job must be guilty of something. Job, on the other hand, has argued that the world should operate that way but does not, and therefore God must be guilty. That is, he is contending that God is treating him unjustly and isn’t doing what he should be doing. Hence, Job considers himself to be a better arbiter of justice than God is. (And lest you think Job is alone in that notion, think again…)

As for this chapter in particular, I won’t go through all the different things that Job contends he is innocent of, but this chapter is well worth contemplating for self-reflection. That is, although Job may be innocent of all these evils, it is worth asking, “Am I?” Ask yourself that question, verse by verse. (Fr. Ben has encouraged us to take advantage of the Rite of Confession, preceding that confession with self-examination. This chapter might be a good place to start, as Job’s descriptions may evoke things we might not otherwise think about…)

Job 30

Yesterday, Job looked back at his glory days. Today he laments his current miserable condition:

• Job 30:1-15 — Job’s utter reversal of social standing
  • Younger men, whose fathers Job would have disdained, laugh at him (vv. 1-8)
  • The rabble, the lowest of society, abhor him and spit at him (vv. 9-14)
  • His honor and prosperity are gone (v. 15)
• Job 30:16-23 — Job’s physical suffering at God’s hand
  • He is constantly in pain (vv. 16-18)
  • God has cast him into the mire and he is filthy (v. 19)
  • God ignores his cries for help (v. 20)
  • God has turned cruel and will bring him to death (vv. 21-23)
• Job 30:24-31 — Job’s lack of help
  • Despite having given help previously, he receives no help from others (vv. 24-25)
  • He hopes for good, but receives evil, for light, but gets darkness (v. 26)
  • He is in constant affliction and cries for help, but no one answers (vv. 27-28)
  • He is an outcast and left to suffer alone (vv. 29-31)

What a contrast between Job’s former glory (Job 29) and his current plight! He is now utterly insecure. He is bereft of his children. He feels that God has abandoned him and afflicted him. He is an outcast from the community, mocked and derided. He is at the bottom of the heap, utterly alone and humiliated.

This contrast between Job’s former glory and his present humiliation reminds me of Christ, how He gave up His position of glory in heaven alongside the Father to take on human flesh:

[T]hough He was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:6-8

In his humiliation Job stands as a type of Christ, a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do. Clearly, the scale of Christ’s humiliation dwarfs that of Job. And Job’s suffering is entirely involuntary in marked contrast with that of Christ’s willing self-sacrifice. Nevertheless, Job’s treatment hints at what Christ endured for us in obedience to the Father. Neither Job nor Christ deserve their suffering, yet it is the will of the Father. Both Job and Christ ask God for a different path — Let this cup pass from Me. (Mt. 26:39) Both Job and Christ feel abandoned — My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? (Mt. 27:46) But where Job defiantly resists his suffering, Christ humbly submits — …not as I will, but as You will. (Mt. 26:39)

The verses immediately preceding the above passage from Philippians read thus:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…

Philippians 2:3-5

That is to say that we need to follow Christ’s example, to have His mindset of humility. In His suffering Christ identifies with us. In our suffering and in humility we have an opportunity to identify with Christ. Let’s not miss that opportunity.

Job 29

Job continues his discourse, reminiscing about (or, rather, longing for) “the good ol’ days”, before everything he enjoyed was ripped away from him: Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me… (v. 2) Given Job’s integrity, I think we can accept at face value his description of his prior position and actions:

• Job 29:2-6 — Job’s relationship with God
  • God watched over him (v. 2)
  • God provided light, guiding his path (v. 3)
  • God was his friend (v. 4)
  • God was with him (v. 5)
  • Job was blessed (v. 6)
• Job 29:7-11 — Job’s high standing as a leader in the community
  • He was honored by young and old alike (vv. 7-8)
  • Princes and nobles deferred to him (vv. 9-10)
  • Everyone approved of him (v. 11)
• Job 29:12-17 — Job’s acts of charity and justice
  • He helped the poor, the orphan, the dying, the widow (vv. 12-13)
  • He was clothed in righteousness and justice (v. 14)
  • He helped the blind, the lame, the needy, the stranger (vv. 15-16)
  • He opposed the unrighteous and rescued their victims (vv. 17)
• Job 29:18-20 — Job’s security and glory
  • He felt secure and prosperous (vv. 18-19)
  • He was strong (v. 20)
• Job 29:21-25 — Job’s position as a wise counselor, a chief, a king
  • People listened to him and sought his counsel (v. 21, 23)
  • They accepted his word as final (v. 22)
  • He provided encouragement and comfort (vv. 24-25)
  • He was a chief and lived as a king (v. 25)

Given that Job is providing an accurate description of himself and his position (and with God’s own assessment in Job 1:8, we have every reason to believe him), one wonders what sin(s) the “friends” could possibly imagine Job to be hiding! There just simply isn’t anything there, so it is hard to blame Job for lamenting his losses.

Job 28

Job continues his discourse, but changes gears abruptly. He paints a picture of men searching for gold, silver, iron, copper, and sapphires, mining deep into the earth for precious things. But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (v. 12) He sees that wisdom is priceless, exceeding the value of precious metals or jewels. From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? (v. 20) He recognizes that God knows the way to wisdom. And [God] said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (v. 28)

I love the mining metaphor, how people work so arduously to obtain resources from the earth, yet wisdom is not to be found this way. The world spends a tremendous amount of energy seeking natural resources, and their value is enormous. And we pour time and money into education, seeking knowledge and expecting a payoff. But what is priceless? Wisdom. And where do we find real wisdom and understanding? Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.

(By the way, Job is not alone in his assessment of both the value of wisdom and where to find it, as we shall see, especially in Proverbs. See Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 8:10-13; 9:10 for starters.)

Job 27

Yesterday Job spoke of God’s unsearchable greatness. Today Job continues his discourse, turning his attention back to himself — and holding that same Almighty God responsible for his afflictions. (v. 2) But it is all part of the same argument he is making in his own defense against his friends.

In Job 27:2-6, Job steadfastly continues to maintain his innocence. He refuses to say that the friends are right, maintaining that to do so would be to lie and to violate his integrity. (He is, of course, right about that. It is ironic that in urging Job to confess his sin, they are really urging him to make a false confession, which would itself be sin.) All of this argues strongly in favor of Job in that it shows how dearly Job holds his righteousness and integrity. He would not sacrifice it on the altar of public opinion and relief from his friends’ accusations. (By the way, Jesus says something similar in John 8:55: If I were to say that I do not know [the Father], I would be a liar…)

In Job 27:7-12, Job turns it all back onto his friends, only now he sees them as enemies. (At least, that’s how I read verse 7.) He wishes that they become as the wicked and suffer accordingly. And he asks whether God would hear their cry in their distress (v. 9), and whether they would continue to take delight in the Almighty and to call upon God at all times. (v. 10) (I rather doubt they would…)

Finally, in Job 27:13-23, Job describes the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty. (v. 13) Interestingly, here Job’s description diverges from some of what he has said before. He does not describe the wicked as prospering and going through life without seeing any negative consequences for evil. Instead, his description is somewhat similar to what we have heard from Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. I find that curious. Perhaps he is acknowledging that the wicked eventually suffer consequences (though perhaps not as surely and swiftly as the friends contended), and so maybe he is backing off of his earlier “prosperity of the wicked” argument. But I doubt it. Instead, I am guessing that he is warning his friends (now considered enemies) of what will (or should) come their way with a “crime doesn’t pay” speech. In any case, he is reaffirming his own call to righteousness and his rejection of wickedness.

So, again, what about us? Do we steadfastly and wholeheartedly pursue righteousness? Do we treasure it and hold fast to it? Do we guard and protect our integrity with all our strength? Do we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? (Mt. 6:33) On the flip side, how do we regard sin? Do we utterly reject it in any form? Do we abhor it as God does? Or do we sometimes cozy up to sin, and treasure it instead of righteousness? Are we somehow casual about either righteousness or sin? Job certainly wasn’t casual about either one — and neither is God.