DBG - June 14 - Job 32-34

In this chapter Elihu appears and begins his speech.

vs. 1-5 – This opening section of prose sets the stage for the final accusation against Job.  We note in vs. 1 that the other friends have ceased from speaking because they could not convince Job that he was not righteous.  Enter Elihu.  He has not been mentioned heretofore, likely because of his youth (vs. 4).  In these cultures, there is status that comes with age and the younger would keep silence while their elders spoke.  He has observed the accusations and defenses between Job and his friends.  He is now moved to speak after Job finished his defense.  He believed Job is self-righteous (vs. 2) and that the friends condemned Job without proving his guilt (vs. 3, 5).  His speech is often considered the most correct of any of the men in this book.

vs. 6-22 – Elihu begins by explaining his silence as he observed the back and forth between the others.  He respected their age and experience, but he failed to see how that had added in their cases.  His heart and mind are bursting with responses to his observations.  The friends had failed to convince Job of his supposed sinfulness. 

In this chapter Elihu begins deconstructing Job’s arguments.

vs. 1-7 – Elihu begins to address Job in a kindly manner.  He desires to be mediator that Job has looked for.  He does so, humbly confessing his own humanity. 

vs. 8-13 – Elihu has heard that accusations against Job and his defenses.  His friends were convinced that he was guilty of gross sin yet could not prove it.  Elihu moves beyond that and addresses the way Job has defended himself.  He identifies Job’s self-righteousness and calls him out for accusing God of mistreating him.

vs. 14-22 – Job had claimed that God had no purpose in his suffering nor revealed its reason.  Elihu counters this by highlighting ways that God deals with man.  The first is by special revelation in dreams and visions such as was common in those days.  The second, that God used chastening to direct and correct man.  This, he observes, is another subtler form of special revelation.  It is the hand of God controlling the affairs of this world to guide His children to His will. 

vs. 23-28 – Elihu shows yet a third way that God communicates to man, and that is through a third-party mediator.  Some see this as an angel, and others as a person so specially used by God.  This person appears by divine appointment and guides man to the truth.

vs. 29-33 – Elihu has effectively proven that God works with man in a myriad of ways.  Job did not have to hear the voice of God directly.  There were other means that God could and would guide him.  To say that God was not working would be false.  Could Job prove this claim false?  No, he must remain silent in agreement with it.

In this chapter Elihu examines how Job defended himself.

vs. 1-4 – Elihu now addresses Job, his friends, on any other onlookers to hear his next words.  He wants all the hear and understand his coming words.

vs. 5-30 – Elihu turns his attention to Job’s defense and errors that he made.  He points out Job’s own claims that he was righteous and that he was being treaty unfairly.  He counters those statements by pointing God’s character.  God is not evil and is certainly righteous in all His doings.  In fact, God’s actions prove His righteousness. 

vs. 31-37 – Elihu shows that much of Job’s arguments have been based on ignorance.  Instead of seeking wisdom or answers, Job had argued from silence.  Why had God made him suffer?  He did not know.  Did he seek answers?  Sort of.  He spent much of the time refuting his friends’ accusations of his sinfulness

Sometimes the people with the worst perspective in a debate are the one engaged in it.  They get lost in the intellectual thrusts and parries of debate.  Often it is an outside observer that has the best sense of what is actually occurring.  Such is the case with Elihu.  Having observed the back and forth between Job and his friends he comes in with a entirely different angle.  The practical lesson here is one that is seen throughout Scripture: we benefit from seeking the counsel and input of others.  That could be as simple as advice sought from wise friends or the exhorting of Christian brethren amongst themselves. 

Our hymn today is “Upheld My God, by Thine Own Hand”, written by John Needham.  It appears in his 1768 Hymns Devotional and Moral under the heading “God, the preserver of men.”  I hope that you identify the many references to Job in this work.

Upheld my God, by thine own hand,
Of grace the monument I stand:
To thee unceasing thanks I owe,
From whom my blessings constant flow.

Why did not the uncertain womb
Which gave me life, provide my tomb?
With thousands more I might have fled,
Born in the number of the dead.

Why in the frequent dubious strife
'Twixt threat'ning death and newborn life,
Did I, weak babe, the shock sustain,
And stand where millions have been slain.

‘Tis thou, O Lord, didst keep my breath,
And make me conq'ror over death:
To thee the triumph I resign,
And all the glory, Lord, be thine.

Guardian of men! thy gracious name
My childhood and my youth pro-claim:
'Midst death's thick flying darts, thy pow'r
Has brought me safe unto this hour.

When sore temptations have beset,
And hellish foes have spread their net,
Protected by thy friendly care
I have escaped the dang'rous snare.

O may thy goodness me inspire
To do whate'er thou shalt require
Then in new troubles I will flee,
And find my refuge, Lord, in thee.