Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, November 21st, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Commentaries
Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary Hole's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Hole, Frank Binford. "Commentary on Job 32". "Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/fbh/job-32.html. 1947.
Hole, Frank Binford. "Commentary on Job 32". "Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/
Whole Bible (44)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (4)
Introduction
Job 32 - 37
Silence having fallen upon all four disputants, a fresh speaker appeared, and he too is introduced to us in a way that shows we are considering a history and not a romance. He was descended from Buz, who was a nephew of Abraham, as Gen_22:21 shows. In those early days after the flood, when population was small, the duplication of names would not be common.
Now Elihu is a name with a meaning, which is given to us as, "God Himself." If we bear this in mind, and then read verse Job_32:6 of Job 33.0 , we shall see that he intervened to play the part of a mediator, and so become a type though a faint one of the true Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God Himself. Elihu was truly a man, formed out of the clay and he stood before Job on God's behalf, according to the desire that Job expressed in Job_9:33 .
In Job 32.0 we have, what we may call, Elihu's apology for speaking at all. As a much younger man he had been content to listen to all these controversial speeches and in result was moved to wrath against all four. Job had justified himself without justifying God, while the others had condemned Job without being able to answer his arguments. He acknowledged that normally men should increase in wisdom and understanding as they increased in years, but neither greatness of reputation nor age guaranteed this, since wisdom really comes to man through his spirit and as the fruit of the "inspiration," or "breath" of the Almighty. If the three friends had succeeded in convicting Job, they would have prided themselves on their own wisdom; only God could do it. The closing words of verse Job_32:13 have been translated, " God will make him yield, not man."
Elihu also had the advantage which he mentioned in verse Job_32:14 . He had not been involved in the wordy warfare, hence he could view it all impartially, and speak in a way that would not be flattering to any of the contestants. Moreover, having listened to all that had been said, he was so full of matter that it had to find an outlet and burst forth from him.
So in the opening verses of Job 33.0 , we find him making two claims. First, he asserts that his words will be marked by uprightness and purity, as becomes one who has his being and life from God. Second, that though he would speak on God's behalf, he himself was a man, "formed of the clay," just as Job was, and hence, though Job had said of God, "Let not His fear terrify me" ( Job_9:34 ), what he had to say, as interpreting God's ways, would bring no terror to Job's spirit. Even as our Lord Jesus became a Man, thus bringing God to us without any sense of terror.
In verse Job_32:8 , Elihu began to challenge Job in a direct way. He had heard what Job had contended, and he summed it all up as being a repudiation of any accusation brought against him as to transgression and iniquity, which of necessity involved, either directly or indirectly, an accusation against God of hard dealing, if not injustice. In thus summing up the whole position we can see, we think, that Elihu was not far wrong. The world being as it is and what it is, if perfection be claimed for man, then obviously all the wrong that exists must be blamed upon God.
In answer to Job, Elihu's first point is the supreme greatness of God. Hence striving against Him is futile. It is man who is accountable to God, not God accountable to man. Let us in our day never forget this.
But then in the second place, though God gives no account of His matters, He does speak to man, though so often man does not perceive it. And, having stated this, he proceeded to indicate ways in which God does thus speak. He may speak in a dream or a vision. He has often done so, as Scripture records, and evidently He does so still, particularly with simple saints, who know but little of the Bible, and possibly have but little of the Bible in their native tongue. Where saints are instructed in and by the Bible a superior form of guidance - dreams, in which God speaks, are comparatively rare. And, if God does thus speak to a man in a dream: to what end is it? To alter his course and to humble his pride into the dust. A salutary word for Job; and for all of us.
God may also speak to a man by granting him some merciful deliverance when he is threatened by disaster or war. This is mentioned in verse Job_32:18 , and many of us can look back to occasions when we received mercy of this sort, and we were conscious at once that God had something to say to us in it.
And yet again, God may speak through pain and sickness, which is so vividly described in verses Job 32.19-32.22 , until the sufferer is brought face to face with death itself. We can see how Elihu's description of this exactly fitted the case of Job, and indeed not a few of us, though our cases have not been nearly as extreme as Job's. How often has a careless sinner, when smitten thus, been led to turn to God and awakened for his eternal salvation. How often too has a saint had to look back to a time of severe sickness as an occasion of much spiritual blessing.
These times of emergency are the opportunity for the one whom Elihu called a "messenger," an "interpreter," who can show what it is that God has to say in these things. Though such are not common, as indeed we know, they are of great value, and Elihu called them, "one among a thousand," which indicates rarity. There may be many who can commiserate and sometimes condemn the afflicted one, as did Job's three friends. To give the mind of God is another and a greater thing.
When the interpreter has arrived what has he to say? He shows to a man his uprightness; which is of course, to judge himself and hence honestly to take his place before God as a self-confessed sinner. This Job had not as yet done, but it is that to which he was led when the end of the story is reached. It is the end we must all of us reach if we have to do with God at all. Have we, all of us, reached it?
When that point is reached, what is the result? An exhibition of grace on God's part, resulting in deliverance from going into the pit, and that, because God Himself had found a ransom. The word translated "ransom" here simply means a "covering," akin to the word translated, "atonement" in the Old Testament. Before Christ came God covered before His holy eye the sin of the repentant sinner, waiting for the time when full propitiation should be made in the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ. Hence that word about "the remission [ passing over see, margin] of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" ( Rom_3:25 ). These past sins were those of pre-Christian saints; Job's among them.
Verse 25 had special reference to Job's case; but verses 26 - 30 have a wide application. The ransomed sinner stands before God in righteousness and with joy and, as the next verses show, he can happily confess both his sin and his deliverance before men, as the marginal reading of verse 28 shows. Elihu's words here were instruction to Job and designed to lead him to honest confession before God. They are equally true for us, and that in a far more ample and perfect way, as we look back to the accomplished work of Christ.
In these remarkable words Elihu was certainly acting the part of the interpreter with Job, by showing what is the good design of God in His dealings, so adverse apparently, with men. He aims at delivering them from the "pit" of self-esteem and complacency in this life, and the "pit" of judgment and condemnation in the life to come. Having interpreted God's ways thus far Elihu evidently paused to see if at this point there was anything Job wished to say.
There being no response on Job's part, Elihu resumed his discourse and, as Job_34:2 indicates, had a larger audience in view. He addressed himself also to the three friends and any other bystanders, challenging them as to whether they had the wisdom and knowledge that would enable them to try words: and choose what is good and right. He knew well that the effect of sin is to pervert man's judgment and blind him to what is right.
In keeping with the larger audience he began to speak about Job rather than to Job as previously he had done. Job does not appear to have said, "I am righteous," in so many words; he had rather inferred it by singing his own praises in the way recorded in Job 29.0 . But, turning back to Job_27:2 , we note he did definitely say, "God hath taken away my judgment." Hence his attitude clearly was, "Should I lie against my right?"
His "right" was, he maintained to be free of these calamities and he did not intend to say otherwise. His wound did indeed seem to be incurable but he maintained it was not provoked by any transgression on his part. Verses Job_32:5 and 6 sum up Job's position, as Elihu saw it. He had not claimed to be sinless, but he did claim that he was guilty of no transgression that justified God in inflicting upon him such woes. In effect it came to this, that he was right, and God was wrong.
Elihu now shows that in all this Job had really allied himself with the wicked. The scorning of men he might drink up like water, but he could not so treat the judgment of God. The absolute perfection and rightness of all God's ways is what Elihu asserts; a matter of the greatest importance, seeing He is supreme in all the earth. He has "charge over the earth," so that He has "disposed the whole world." Verse Job_32:14 has been translated, "If He only thought of Himself, and gathered unto Him His spirit and His breath;" then the result would be that all flesh would expire together and man return to the dust. Such is the greatness as well as the rightness of God.
Hence the argument of the succeeding verses. Should government be in the hands of the unjust? And if in the hands of the ALL-Just, is what He orders to be challenged? Men would not speak thus to kings or princes. Much less then to God. What He orders must be right.
Elihu proceeds to speak of the searching judgment of God, which is quite impartial, the rich being amenable to it equally with the poor Moreover there is "no darkness, nor shadow of death," where those who work evil may hide themselves. He went on to assert that God's judgments are always right and that He acts as seems good in His sight, breaking in pieces and overthrowing mighty men, yet on the other hand hearing the cry of the afflicted. He may give quietness to the afflicted and who then can disturb it? He may hide His face from the wicked and who then can behold Him? And this is true whether a nation be in question or only an individual.
The rest of this chapter is more directly a word to Job. It would have been more becoming if he had humbly accepted the chastisement, admitting that there was iniquity with him, of which he was ignorant, and as to which he needed God should teach him, so that he should put right what was wrong. Instead of that he had challenged God's judgment in favour of his own mind, and in so doing he had added to his sin rebellion against God.
Job 35.0 . It would seem that at this point Elihu paused again, and no answer being forthcoming, he proceeded further to expose the drift of Job's arguments. In claiming that he had committed no sin that called for the enduring of such extreme sufferings as had come upon him, he had elevated his own righteousness above God's, and inferred that there was no profit in a life of piety. The answer to this would be of profit to Job's companions as well as himself.
The answer Elihu gave was based upon the supreme greatness of God as the Creator. Further than this he could not go, but that knowledge he had in common with all men after the flood. From that primeval knowledge the mass of mankind soon departed, as Rom_1:20 , Rom_1:21 , declares. Yet the men we listen to in this book were exceptions to this sad rule, and they retained this knowledge, and argued from it.
God was far above His heavens, and so great that nothing wrong, perpetrated by puny man could hurt Him, and nothing that was right could be any addition to Him. Our wrongs may be of damage to our fellow-men, and our right actions be of profit to them. And if we wrong our fellows, they cry out in complaint, yet God is forgotten. No one thought of God who is Creator, and who can lift up the spirit and give songs even in the night of sorrow.
The God, who gives the songs in the night, teaches man whom He made; beings of a far higher order than the beasts and birds, able to have intercourse with Him, whether in songs of joy or cries of need. Verse Job_32:10 mentions the songs and verse Job_32:12 the cries. And why do men cry and yet receive no answer? The answer is, because of pride: and in verse Job_32:13 , Elihu diagnoses the root cause of it all as vanity , which is abhorrent to God, a thing which He completely disregards. Is not this instruction for us? Do we not see here an explanation of many an unanswered cry and prayer?
These things Elihu said in order to drive the point home to the heart of Job, as he did in the last verse of the chapter. Job had opened his mouth "in vain," or "in vanity," and hence though his words had been abundant they had been without knowledge. The excellence of Job's outward life had betrayed him into an inward spirit of vanity, which lay at the root of his lack of a true knowledge of himself. This we shall find Job himself confessed, when we reach Job_42:3 .
Again it looks as if Elihu paused for a moment to see if Job had any reply to make, but none being forthcoming, he resumed his discourse the finish of which occupies Job 36.0 and Job 37.0 . He commenced by saying that he had yet words to say on God's behalf; and as we read these two chapters we shall notice that he had little more to say to Job about his utterances, but he rather dwelt on the greatness and power of God, and on His righteous dealings with the sons of men. He would "ascribe righteousness" to his Creator.
He proceeded to extol the way in which God, who is perfect in knowledge, deals both with the wicked and the righteous. From the latter He does not withdraw His eyes; that is, He keeps them ever under observation, and ultimately He exalts them as kings. Yet, before that happy end is reached, He may permit them to be "bound in fetters" and "holden in cords of affliction," just as poor Job was at that moment. And, if He does permit this, it is for a purpose, as is shown in verses Job 32.9-32.11 . Notice, it is the righteous who are thus dealt with, for even an Abraham and a Job, though righteous, were not sinless, and God's disciplinary dealings are exerted towards such, rather than those who shut God out of their lives.
The arguments of the three friends had led to the conclusion that Job was not a righteous man. Elihu seems rather to admit that he was righteous, and that, because he was, God had permitted this severe discipline to come upon him; and in verse Job_32:16 he does apply what he is saying to Job, for after all the deep-seated pride and vanity of the human heart is the greatest offence of all.
Verse Job_32:18 was addressed to Job. We must remember that in that far distant day, nearly two millenniums before Christ appeared, life and incorruptibility had not been brought to light, as 2Ti_1:10 shows; and hence an eternal salvation was not known as we now know it. If we today were to quote this verse we should do so to an unbeliever.
Elihu's warning to Job, however, was timely, particularly verse Job_32:21 . In shrinking from the "affliction," he had turned to the "iniquity" of maintaining his own righteousness. But affliction is to be preferred to iniquity, as we are reminded in Peter's first Epistle "He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin" ( Job_4:1 ). The early Christians might escape suffering by sinning and so may we, if it is only a question of what may come upon us from the world or the flesh or the devil.
Having thus warned Job, Elihu turned afresh to dwell upon the greatness of God as evidenced in creation, and upon this theme the rest of his discourse dwells. Particularly did he consider the control exercised by the Creator on that which lies wholly out of man's control the clouds, the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the snow, the frost. As these things came before his mind, he had to confess that his heart trembled and was deeply moved.
In our day men have made many discoveries and gained control of a sort over a few of the subtle powers that lie in God's wonderful creation, but the things Elihu mentioned they cannot master. When, as he put it in verse Job_32:9 , "Out of the south cometh the whirlwind; and cold out of the north," the cleverest of men can only accept the situation and seek shelter or warmth, as the case may be.
Elihu recognized that God ordered the weather with wise purpose, and what He sends may be, "for correction," i.e, discipline for wrongdoing; or, "for His land," i.e., to maintain the ordinary productivity of the earth; or, "for mercy," i.e., to effect some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
Job did not know, and none of us know, how God exerts His supreme power. The Lord Jesus displayed His Godhead power when He stilled the wind and waves on the Lake of Galilee. He did so in mercy. Elihu ended his words with the assertion that with God, the Almighty, is "terrible majesty," and yet all His doings are in justice . Hence, however wise of heart any of us Job included may consider ourselves to be, our attitude before Him should not be that of criticism and questionings but of fear.
Verses 1-99
Job 32 - 37
Silence having fallen upon all four disputants, a fresh speaker appeared, and he too is introduced to us in a way that shows we are considering a history and not a romance. He was descended from Buz, who was a nephew of Abraham, as Gen_22:21 shows. In those early days after the flood, when population was small, the duplication of names would not be common.
Now Elihu is a name with a meaning, which is given to us as, "God Himself." If we bear this in mind, and then read verse Job_32:6 of Job 33.0 , we shall see that he intervened to play the part of a mediator, and so become a type though a faint one of the true Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God Himself. Elihu was truly a man, formed out of the clay and he stood before Job on God's behalf, according to the desire that Job expressed in Job_9:33 .
In Job 32.0 we have, what we may call, Elihu's apology for speaking at all. As a much younger man he had been content to listen to all these controversial speeches and in result was moved to wrath against all four. Job had justified himself without justifying God, while the others had condemned Job without being able to answer his arguments. He acknowledged that normally men should increase in wisdom and understanding as they increased in years, but neither greatness of reputation nor age guaranteed this, since wisdom really comes to man through his spirit and as the fruit of the "inspiration," or "breath" of the Almighty. If the three friends had succeeded in convicting Job, they would have prided themselves on their own wisdom; only God could do it. The closing words of verse Job_32:13 have been translated, " God will make him yield, not man."
Elihu also had the advantage which he mentioned in verse Job_32:14 . He had not been involved in the wordy warfare, hence he could view it all impartially, and speak in a way that would not be flattering to any of the contestants. Moreover, having listened to all that had been said, he was so full of matter that it had to find an outlet and burst forth from him.
So in the opening verses of Job 33.0 , we find him making two claims. First, he asserts that his words will be marked by uprightness and purity, as becomes one who has his being and life from God. Second, that though he would speak on God's behalf, he himself was a man, "formed of the clay," just as Job was, and hence, though Job had said of God, "Let not His fear terrify me" ( Job_9:34 ), what he had to say, as interpreting God's ways, would bring no terror to Job's spirit. Even as our Lord Jesus became a Man, thus bringing God to us without any sense of terror.
In verse Job_32:8 , Elihu began to challenge Job in a direct way. He had heard what Job had contended, and he summed it all up as being a repudiation of any accusation brought against him as to transgression and iniquity, which of necessity involved, either directly or indirectly, an accusation against God of hard dealing, if not injustice. In thus summing up the whole position we can see, we think, that Elihu was not far wrong. The world being as it is and what it is, if perfection be claimed for man, then obviously all the wrong that exists must be blamed upon God.
In answer to Job, Elihu's first point is the supreme greatness of God. Hence striving against Him is futile. It is man who is accountable to God, not God accountable to man. Let us in our day never forget this.
But then in the second place, though God gives no account of His matters, He does speak to man, though so often man does not perceive it. And, having stated this, he proceeded to indicate ways in which God does thus speak. He may speak in a dream or a vision. He has often done so, as Scripture records, and evidently He does so still, particularly with simple saints, who know but little of the Bible, and possibly have but little of the Bible in their native tongue. Where saints are instructed in and by the Bible a superior form of guidance - dreams, in which God speaks, are comparatively rare. And, if God does thus speak to a man in a dream: to what end is it? To alter his course and to humble his pride into the dust. A salutary word for Job; and for all of us.
God may also speak to a man by granting him some merciful deliverance when he is threatened by disaster or war. This is mentioned in verse Job_32:18 , and many of us can look back to occasions when we received mercy of this sort, and we were conscious at once that God had something to say to us in it.
And yet again, God may speak through pain and sickness, which is so vividly described in verses Job 32.19-32.22 , until the sufferer is brought face to face with death itself. We can see how Elihu's description of this exactly fitted the case of Job, and indeed not a few of us, though our cases have not been nearly as extreme as Job's. How often has a careless sinner, when smitten thus, been led to turn to God and awakened for his eternal salvation. How often too has a saint had to look back to a time of severe sickness as an occasion of much spiritual blessing.
These times of emergency are the opportunity for the one whom Elihu called a "messenger," an "interpreter," who can show what it is that God has to say in these things. Though such are not common, as indeed we know, they are of great value, and Elihu called them, "one among a thousand," which indicates rarity. There may be many who can commiserate and sometimes condemn the afflicted one, as did Job's three friends. To give the mind of God is another and a greater thing.
When the interpreter has arrived what has he to say? He shows to a man his uprightness; which is of course, to judge himself and hence honestly to take his place before God as a self-confessed sinner. This Job had not as yet done, but it is that to which he was led when the end of the story is reached. It is the end we must all of us reach if we have to do with God at all. Have we, all of us, reached it?
When that point is reached, what is the result? An exhibition of grace on God's part, resulting in deliverance from going into the pit, and that, because God Himself had found a ransom. The word translated "ransom" here simply means a "covering," akin to the word translated, "atonement" in the Old Testament. Before Christ came God covered before His holy eye the sin of the repentant sinner, waiting for the time when full propitiation should be made in the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ. Hence that word about "the remission [ passing over see, margin] of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" ( Rom_3:25 ). These past sins were those of pre-Christian saints; Job's among them.
Verse 25 had special reference to Job's case; but verses 26 - 30 have a wide application. The ransomed sinner stands before God in righteousness and with joy and, as the next verses show, he can happily confess both his sin and his deliverance before men, as the marginal reading of verse 28 shows. Elihu's words here were instruction to Job and designed to lead him to honest confession before God. They are equally true for us, and that in a far more ample and perfect way, as we look back to the accomplished work of Christ.
In these remarkable words Elihu was certainly acting the part of the interpreter with Job, by showing what is the good design of God in His dealings, so adverse apparently, with men. He aims at delivering them from the "pit" of self-esteem and complacency in this life, and the "pit" of judgment and condemnation in the life to come. Having interpreted God's ways thus far Elihu evidently paused to see if at this point there was anything Job wished to say.
There being no response on Job's part, Elihu resumed his discourse and, as Job_34:2 indicates, had a larger audience in view. He addressed himself also to the three friends and any other bystanders, challenging them as to whether they had the wisdom and knowledge that would enable them to try words: and choose what is good and right. He knew well that the effect of sin is to pervert man's judgment and blind him to what is right.
In keeping with the larger audience he began to speak about Job rather than to Job as previously he had done. Job does not appear to have said, "I am righteous," in so many words; he had rather inferred it by singing his own praises in the way recorded in Job 29.0 . But, turning back to Job_27:2 , we note he did definitely say, "God hath taken away my judgment." Hence his attitude clearly was, "Should I lie against my right?"
His "right" was, he maintained to be free of these calamities and he did not intend to say otherwise. His wound did indeed seem to be incurable but he maintained it was not provoked by any transgression on his part. Verses Job_32:5 and 6 sum up Job's position, as Elihu saw it. He had not claimed to be sinless, but he did claim that he was guilty of no transgression that justified God in inflicting upon him such woes. In effect it came to this, that he was right, and God was wrong.
Elihu now shows that in all this Job had really allied himself with the wicked. The scorning of men he might drink up like water, but he could not so treat the judgment of God. The absolute perfection and rightness of all God's ways is what Elihu asserts; a matter of the greatest importance, seeing He is supreme in all the earth. He has "charge over the earth," so that He has "disposed the whole world." Verse Job_32:14 has been translated, "If He only thought of Himself, and gathered unto Him His spirit and His breath;" then the result would be that all flesh would expire together and man return to the dust. Such is the greatness as well as the rightness of God.
Hence the argument of the succeeding verses. Should government be in the hands of the unjust? And if in the hands of the ALL-Just, is what He orders to be challenged? Men would not speak thus to kings or princes. Much less then to God. What He orders must be right.
Elihu proceeds to speak of the searching judgment of God, which is quite impartial, the rich being amenable to it equally with the poor Moreover there is "no darkness, nor shadow of death," where those who work evil may hide themselves. He went on to assert that God's judgments are always right and that He acts as seems good in His sight, breaking in pieces and overthrowing mighty men, yet on the other hand hearing the cry of the afflicted. He may give quietness to the afflicted and who then can disturb it? He may hide His face from the wicked and who then can behold Him? And this is true whether a nation be in question or only an individual.
The rest of this chapter is more directly a word to Job. It would have been more becoming if he had humbly accepted the chastisement, admitting that there was iniquity with him, of which he was ignorant, and as to which he needed God should teach him, so that he should put right what was wrong. Instead of that he had challenged God's judgment in favour of his own mind, and in so doing he had added to his sin rebellion against God.
Job 35.0 . It would seem that at this point Elihu paused again, and no answer being forthcoming, he proceeded further to expose the drift of Job's arguments. In claiming that he had committed no sin that called for the enduring of such extreme sufferings as had come upon him, he had elevated his own righteousness above God's, and inferred that there was no profit in a life of piety. The answer to this would be of profit to Job's companions as well as himself.
The answer Elihu gave was based upon the supreme greatness of God as the Creator. Further than this he could not go, but that knowledge he had in common with all men after the flood. From that primeval knowledge the mass of mankind soon departed, as Rom_1:20 , Rom_1:21 , declares. Yet the men we listen to in this book were exceptions to this sad rule, and they retained this knowledge, and argued from it.
God was far above His heavens, and so great that nothing wrong, perpetrated by puny man could hurt Him, and nothing that was right could be any addition to Him. Our wrongs may be of damage to our fellow-men, and our right actions be of profit to them. And if we wrong our fellows, they cry out in complaint, yet God is forgotten. No one thought of God who is Creator, and who can lift up the spirit and give songs even in the night of sorrow.
The God, who gives the songs in the night, teaches man whom He made; beings of a far higher order than the beasts and birds, able to have intercourse with Him, whether in songs of joy or cries of need. Verse Job_32:10 mentions the songs and verse Job_32:12 the cries. And why do men cry and yet receive no answer? The answer is, because of pride: and in verse Job_32:13 , Elihu diagnoses the root cause of it all as vanity , which is abhorrent to God, a thing which He completely disregards. Is not this instruction for us? Do we not see here an explanation of many an unanswered cry and prayer?
These things Elihu said in order to drive the point home to the heart of Job, as he did in the last verse of the chapter. Job had opened his mouth "in vain," or "in vanity," and hence though his words had been abundant they had been without knowledge. The excellence of Job's outward life had betrayed him into an inward spirit of vanity, which lay at the root of his lack of a true knowledge of himself. This we shall find Job himself confessed, when we reach Job_42:3 .
Again it looks as if Elihu paused for a moment to see if Job had any reply to make, but none being forthcoming, he resumed his discourse the finish of which occupies Job 36.0 and Job 37.0 . He commenced by saying that he had yet words to say on God's behalf; and as we read these two chapters we shall notice that he had little more to say to Job about his utterances, but he rather dwelt on the greatness and power of God, and on His righteous dealings with the sons of men. He would "ascribe righteousness" to his Creator.
He proceeded to extol the way in which God, who is perfect in knowledge, deals both with the wicked and the righteous. From the latter He does not withdraw His eyes; that is, He keeps them ever under observation, and ultimately He exalts them as kings. Yet, before that happy end is reached, He may permit them to be "bound in fetters" and "holden in cords of affliction," just as poor Job was at that moment. And, if He does permit this, it is for a purpose, as is shown in verses Job 32.9-32.11 . Notice, it is the righteous who are thus dealt with, for even an Abraham and a Job, though righteous, were not sinless, and God's disciplinary dealings are exerted towards such, rather than those who shut God out of their lives.
The arguments of the three friends had led to the conclusion that Job was not a righteous man. Elihu seems rather to admit that he was righteous, and that, because he was, God had permitted this severe discipline to come upon him; and in verse Job_32:16 he does apply what he is saying to Job, for after all the deep-seated pride and vanity of the human heart is the greatest offence of all.
Verse Job_32:18 was addressed to Job. We must remember that in that far distant day, nearly two millenniums before Christ appeared, life and incorruptibility had not been brought to light, as 2Ti_1:10 shows; and hence an eternal salvation was not known as we now know it. If we today were to quote this verse we should do so to an unbeliever.
Elihu's warning to Job, however, was timely, particularly verse Job_32:21 . In shrinking from the "affliction," he had turned to the "iniquity" of maintaining his own righteousness. But affliction is to be preferred to iniquity, as we are reminded in Peter's first Epistle "He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin" ( Job_4:1 ). The early Christians might escape suffering by sinning and so may we, if it is only a question of what may come upon us from the world or the flesh or the devil.
Having thus warned Job, Elihu turned afresh to dwell upon the greatness of God as evidenced in creation, and upon this theme the rest of his discourse dwells. Particularly did he consider the control exercised by the Creator on that which lies wholly out of man's control the clouds, the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the snow, the frost. As these things came before his mind, he had to confess that his heart trembled and was deeply moved.
In our day men have made many discoveries and gained control of a sort over a few of the subtle powers that lie in God's wonderful creation, but the things Elihu mentioned they cannot master. When, as he put it in verse Job_32:9 , "Out of the south cometh the whirlwind; and cold out of the north," the cleverest of men can only accept the situation and seek shelter or warmth, as the case may be.
Elihu recognized that God ordered the weather with wise purpose, and what He sends may be, "for correction," i.e, discipline for wrongdoing; or, "for His land," i.e., to maintain the ordinary productivity of the earth; or, "for mercy," i.e., to effect some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
Job did not know, and none of us know, how God exerts His supreme power. The Lord Jesus displayed His Godhead power when He stilled the wind and waves on the Lake of Galilee. He did so in mercy. Elihu ended his words with the assertion that with God, the Almighty, is "terrible majesty," and yet all His doings are in justice . Hence, however wise of heart any of us Job included may consider ourselves to be, our attitude before Him should not be that of criticism and questionings but of fear.