Job 32-37: The Man Named Elihu

Job 32:2 "Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God."

In these six great chapters of the book of Job, we meet a man by the name of Elihu. He is truly an enigma* in the book of Job, and even the best of theologians sometimes don't know what to do with him. Whereas all of the other characters in the book of Job are either judged or justified at the end of the book, Elihu remains a mystery. Was his advice good? Or was it awful? Well, it might take some digging to find out.

In the first few verses of chapter 32, we get Elihu's introduction, which greatly helps us interpret his speeches. The text says that Elihu was very mad at Job because he sought to "justify himself rather than God." In other words, according to Elihu, Job was favoring himself amidst his affliction rather than God. Job knew that he was just, so he concluded that there must have been something wrong with God since he was enduring all of this pain. With these thoughts in Elihu's mind, he begins his speeches.

Rather than attempting to summarize all of Elihu's words (which would be mighty task beyond a mere morning devotional), I would like to highlight some of his main points, which will lead us into a greater understanding of his argument. After contending for his turn to give Job some counsel, he asks Job "Why do you contend against him, saying 'He will answer none of man's words'?" (Job 33:13). Elihu is arguing here for Job to stop questioning God. He argues that God is speaking to Job, although he is not realizing it (33:15-18). Next, in chapter 34 Elihu argues that God is just, and because of this Job "adds rebellion to his sin" (34:37) as he does not respond correctly to God's justice. But Elihu does not stop there. He continues by asking Job: "Do you think this to be just?" In other words, Elihu is once again convicting Job for attempting to justify himself instead of God. In the next two chapters, we see Elihu continuing to flesh out his already-given points as he proclaims the character of God, concluding by asking Job to ask God to "teach us what we shall say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of darkness" (37:19). In other words, Elihu's conclusion was for Job to ask God how he ought to respond to his affliction, rather than take matters into his own hands.

Oofda, that was harder than I thought it would be. Did all that make sense? Probably not. Nevertheless, let us realize that Elihu's words here are confusing. However, I think that his ultimate, main point is that Job does not have the right to justify himself before God (Job 32:2). Elihu seems to hold firm to God's character amidst Job's affliction, but rather than stating that Job's sin is what got him here, Elihu's beef with Job is that he is seeking to justify himself rather than God. Rather than contending for God's justice, Job is focused on his own, and I think that that is Elihu's main point in all of these chapters, although I certainly could be wrong.

Well, if we are concluding that what was named above was Elihu's main point, we must regard that it was a good one. None of us, under any affliction, ought to justify ourselves above our God. Although we may be blameless like Job was, we ought to uphold God's character above our own. We cannot say that God has failed us when our circumstances say that he has; we must have this thing called faith even when we cannot see his sovereign plan.

*According to Google, an enigma is "a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand."