Why? To Prevent Something Worse?

Job has suffered and he is still suffering by the time that we get to Job Chapter 32. His three friends say that he’s brought this on himself. They say that he’s reaping what he has sown. Job said that’s not true. Job defends himself. There is a younger man who has been there at least for part of the time, if not all the time, that they’ve been arguing. He’s a younger man and he’s about to speak.

His name is Elihu. He’s very angry, but he hasn’t said anything this whole time. Now that they’ve said their part, he says his. Job’s three friends thought that they were right. Job thought that he was. This man Elihu said that both of you are wrong. Perhaps Job thought that he got the last word in. The Bible says in Job chapter 31 verse 40, “The words of job are ended.”

Maybe he thought that the case was closed. Sometimes we think that, don’t we? Sometimes we think that what we say is final and that it settles a matter, but nothing you say is the last word on anything, and Job is about to learn that. So what did the younger Elihu say? What was his view of what happened to Job?

He believed that Job’s three friends were being simplistic. They said that Job was sinful and that God was punishing him. On the other hand, he believed that Job was being too defensive because Job said I am not evil. And Job crossed the line because he said it’s not right for God to do this to me. So Elihu’s thinking is different. It’s outside the box of this arguing in circles like these men have been doing. So beginning in Job chapter 32, Elihu begins by saying I can’t hold back any longer.

Beginning in Job chapter 32, verse one, the Bible says, “So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram, against Job was his wrath kindled because, he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, yet had condemned Job. Now, Elihu had waited till Job had spoken because they were elder than he. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled. And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, ‘I am young and you are very old. Wherefore I was afraid and did not show my opinion.  I said age should speak, and the multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding” (Job 32:1-7).

That’s the King James version. The New King James Version reads in verse eight: “But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.” He says in verse nine, “Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. Therefore, I said, hearken to me and I will also show my opinion.”

So his opinion was: I don’t agree with either side. I don’t agree with Job and I don’t agree with his three friends. And the Bible explains why. It tells us what his reasoning was in verse two. The Bible says that he was angry with Job because Job justified himself rather than God. Now, that states really what this book is about in the end because Job had a right to defend himself.

These men were wrong in what they said about Job, but Job didn’t have the right to say the things that he said about God. So in the end, he was more concerned about defending himself than he was about defending God. Now, at the same time, the Bible tells us why he didn’t agree with Job’s three friends.

The Bible says in verse three he was angry at them because they found no answer and yet they had condemned Job. They just kept on saying the same things. So this young man sat and listened to what Job’s three friends said about Job. Remember that Eliphaz said that he’d seen a vision in chapter five?

And you remember also that Elihu began to say some very harsh words and level some specific charges against Job. But this young man saw through all that. He didn’t listen to accusations without proof. Now some people would have. They would’ve said, “Well, they said that he did this, or they said that he did that.”

Well, the Bible tells us to be just. The Bible tells us to listen to evidence and not just to hearsay. On the other hand, he didn’t completely side with Job because he felt sorry for him or because he liked him or because he remembered his days as a rich man. And it’s interesting here as to why Elihu has been quiet all this time.

It’s because he said younger people should listen to older people first. How our society needs to put that in practice today. Young people need to listen to older people instead of interrupting them. Notice that Elihu did not interrupt. He waited until they were finished. But there are exceptions sometimes. Sometimes older people are wrong.

And this is the exception to the rule. And when this happens, there’s a right and a wrong way to approach it. So Elihu didn’t interrupt. He didn’t laugh at, he didn’t disrespect them. He didn’t break the order of things. He submitted; he controlled himself. And it is a huge mistake for the young to lead the old in any society.

So Elihu continues in verse 12. He said yes, “I attended to you.” In other words, I listened to you. “And behold, there was none of you that convinced Job or that answered his words.” So you’ve not proved anything. You’ve done a lot of talking, but you’ve not proven your case. Then in verse 14 he says “Now he has not directed his words against me, neither will I answer him with your speeches.” And in verses 17 and 18 and 19 he says, “I will also answer my part. I will show my opinion, for I am full of matter. The spirit within me constrains me. Behold my belly is as wine which has no vent. It is ready to burst like new bottles. In other words, he was so anxious to speak he was ready to explode. He’d listened patiently until they finished, and now he said it’s my turn.

He says I’m not going to side with either one of you. I’m going to be impartial here. In verse 21: “Let me not, I pray show partiality to anyone nor let me flatter any man for I do not know how to flatter else. My maker would soon take me away.” Elihu is saying I’m trying to be fair, and it doesn’t matter who you are, how much you have or what your name is.

I’m going to look at the facts. So in Job chapter 33, Elihu begins to address Job. So let’s read beginning in Job chapter 33, verse six. “Behold, I am according to your wish in God’s stead. I am also formed out of the clay.” The New King James says, “Truly I am as your spokesman before God. I also have been formed out of the clay.”

So Elihu is saying here: you wanted a mediator. Here I am. You see, that’s what Job wanted in Job chapter nine, verse 33. Remember that Job said I’m crying out to God, but He won’t answer me. And on top of that, I can’t find anybody to represent me to God. I can’t find, as the King James says, a “days man” and notes and other translations would say a mediator or a go-between or an umpire.

Well, here’s Elihu and Elihu said, I’m that man. I’ll be your go-between. I’ll represent your case to God and I’m going to speak on behalf of God to you. I’m not here to crush you. He says in verse seven I’m here to help you. The new King James says in verse seven, Surely no fear of me will terrify you, nor will my hand be heavy on you.”

But then he says, Job, here’s what you said, and here’s what I’ve got a problem with. He quotes Job in verse eight through 11. Elihu says I heard you job. “Surely you have spoken in my hearing and I have heard the sound of your words saying, I am pure without transgression. I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me. Yet, he finds occasions against me. He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks, he watches all my paths.”

And Elihu looks at Job and he says very plainly in verse 12: look in this, you are not righteous. You’re wrong job. You shouldn’t have said that. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

That’s the first thing that he says to him to get Job’s attention. You’re wrong and you need to remember who you are. We’re men of clay. We’re human beings. God is greater than you. He’s greater than us. And in verse 13, he reminds him of something that is a very important point to remember about the problem of evil in this book and the problem of evil in general.

Mark this verse. Job chapter 33, verse 13. Elihu asked job, “Why do you contend with him?” Now you see, all this time Job has been asking why is God doing this to me? He said several times in Job chapter three: why? Why? Why is this happening? Why is God doing this? Why am I not dead already? Why didn’t I die at birth?

The Bible says here that Elihu turns that question on Job and he says. I want to ask you why. Why are you criticizing God? Why are you arguing with God? The Bible says in verse 13 that he continues: “For He,” that is, “God does not give an accounting of any of his words.” That is central. That is very, very important.

God does not owe you an explanation. He does not owe you a reason or an answer. This is a key to the whole problem of evil, if not the key to this entire problem. God doesn’t owe us an explanation. God does not owe us an answer to our question “Why? Lord.” That is one of the great points made in this book of Job and that is how this book ends.

God never gave an answer. He never gave an explanation about why Job was going through all these things. God is basically saying in the Book of Job, I’ve given you enough. I’ve given you more than enough to know that I’m the Creator, that I am God, and there is no reason or circumstance in this life, regardless of how painful it might be, that would justify us in denying that.

So again, justice, a practical matter here, I would urge you to mark that in some way in your Bible. I have those words highlighted in yellow (verse 13) because he makes a very powerful point there. But Elihu is saying to Job: even though God doesn’t owe us an explanation or an answer, let me suggest some possibilities to you here. Let me talk to you about why perhaps God allows suffering. Let me talk to you about your response, also, Job.

So in verses 14 through 17 of Job chapter 33, he says that sometimes God allows suffering to keep something worse from happening. And that is a very interesting point. Have you ever thought about that?

When you ask the question, why is all this happening? What possible good could come out of this? It may not be because something good necessarily is on the horizon. It may be because something bad would’ve happened if that trial or if that tragedy had occurred. Suffering doesn’t always happen to punish us.

You see, he’s correcting Job’s three friends there because they said that God was punishing Job for what he had done. This young man Elihu said that’s not necessarily true in every case. Suffering is not always punitive. Sometimes it is preventive. It is designed to keep us from a further tragedy in life and sometimes an even worse situation.

That’s what he says in verse 17. He’s saying in the verses before this that God does cause or allow suffering in man’s life for this reason (verse 17), and the King James says “that he may withdraw man from his purpose.” The footnote there says “his work” and “hide pride from a man.” The New King James Version says that God does this in order to “turn man from his deed and conceal pride from a man.”

In the first part of the verse, Elihu talks about the deed or the purpose or the works of man. Now, that refers to the plans that we have and the activities that we pursue. Sometimes we get excited in life and there’s nothing wrong with that plan. There’s nothing wrong with that activity, but sometimes it may not be for the best.

Sometimes it might lead to a bad situation, and Elihu is saying that sometimes God puts a roadblock in front of us so that we’re not able to pursue those works. It’s a very interesting point here, and it’s really worthy of your meditation. In the last part of the verse, he talks about pride: to keep man from becoming prideful.

It may not be that a man is prideful and that God is punishing him for his pride, but that tragedy may occur in order to keep us from becoming prideful. These are very interesting points here, and in verse 18, he says something else to Job that we need to consider today, and that is that sometimes God might allow this suffering to keep us from danger and even from death.

In verse 18, he says “He,” that is, God “keeps back his soul from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword.” How does God do this? By allowing hardships in our lives. Sometimes bad things happen to good people to keep us from danger, to keep us even from death, and that danger may not be the sword like it is here in Job chapter 33, verse 18, but there are dangers that we face in life.

And sometimes we need to remember that a delay in our lives or a very hard trial in our lives may be designed to keep us from further danger and even from death. Some kind of stressful emergency may keep you from a fatal car accident. A painful illness may keep you from a worse illness.

And then Elihu goes into this even deeper. Beginning in verse 19, he says, “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed and with strong pain in many of his bones so that his life abhors bread and his soul succulent food. His flesh wastes away from sight and his bones stick out, which once were not seen.” He’s basically describing Job here. But he says in verse 22, yes, “his soul draws near the pit and his life to the executioners.”

Remember, the pit here is death. And what happens to this sick man? The Bible says he draws near to the pit. He draws near to dying. Elihu is saying maybe this is what God is doing with you. Maybe this is why God has let you come so close to dying. Here in verse 23 he said, “If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand to show man his uprightness, then he is gracious to him and says, deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be like a young child’s. He shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray to God and he will delight in him. He shall see his face with joy, for he restores to man his righteousness. Then he looks at men and says, I have sinned and perverted what was right, and it did not profit me. He will redeem his soul from going down to the pit and his life shall see the light. Behold, God works all these things twice, in fact, three times with a man to bring back his soul from the pit that he may be enlightened with the light of life. Give ear Job. Listen to me, hold your peace and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me. Speak: for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me. Hold your peace and I will teach you wisdom.”

In chapter 34, Elihu continues. He says in Job chapter 34 verse five, “For Job has said, I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice. Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.” So Elihu says, Job, here’s what you said, and here’s where you’re wrong. So in chapter 34, verse seven, he says, “What man is like Job who drinks scorn like water? Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity and walks with wicked men? For he has said it profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.”

In verse 7 says that Job drinks scorn like water. Now to scorn means to scoff. It means to complain. And he’s saying, Job, that’s what you’re doing. That has become second nature to you. That’s like drinking water. And then he says, you’re following in the footsteps of bad men. That’s what he’s saying in verse eight. You’re in the company with the workers of iniquity; you’re walking with wicked men.

And then he quotes Job again in verse nine. He says for he has said it profits a man nothing that he should delight in God. Now, I’m not saying that he’s quoting him necessarily word for word, but that’s the basic thought that Job had.

That was his complaint. What good is it to serve God if you end up like I am? That is exactly the problem of evil that you read about in Psalm 73 where Asaph said that he got to the point of where he said: what good is it? Evil people have it good, and I’m trying to live the right kind of life and I have all this trouble. Is it worth it to serve God? He was beginning to question that.

And so Job is doing the same thing. He had begun to question this. He was going down the road that Satan had said in the very beginning. Now Job is so distraught, Job is so discouraged that he’s beginning to talk like this. But Elihu comes back in verse 10, and he says God does not do wrong.

God does not treat us unfairly Job. Beginning in verse 10 he says, “Therefore, listen to me. You men have understanding.  Far be it from God to do wickedness and for the Almighty to commit iniquity, for he repays man according to his work and makes man to find a reward according to his way. Surely God will never do wickedly nor will the Almighty pervert justice. Who gave him charge over the earth, or who appointed him over the whole world? If he should set his heart on it, if he should gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together and man would return to the dust.”

Verse 16: he reminds Job again to remember who he’s talking about. He says, “If you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the sound of my words. Should one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn him who is most just? Is it fitting to say to a king, you are worthless, and to nobles, you are wicked? Yet he is not partial to princes, nor does he regard the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. In a moment, they shall die. In the middle of the night, the people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand, for his eyes are on the ways of man, and he sees all his steps.”

Verse 23: the King James version says, “For he will not lay upon man more than right, that he should enter into judgment with God.” The New King James Version says, “For he need not further consider a man” and the American Standard Version similarly says, “For he needeth not further to consider a man.”

Beginning in verse 24 and going down through verse 30, he shows that God dispenses justice when and how he decides. In verse 24, this young man, Elihu says, “He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry and sets others in their place. Therefore, he knows their works. He overthrows them in the night and they are crushed. He strikes them as wicked men and the open sight of others, because they turn their back from him and would not consider any of his ways. But if a man turns from his sins, is he in a place to tell God how to deal with him?

Look at verse 31. “For has anyone said to God, I have born chastening? I will offend no more. Teach me what I do not see. If I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Should he repay it according to your terms? Just because you disavow it, you must choose and not I therefore speak what you know.” In verse 34, he challenges Job again.

He says, “Men of understanding say to me, wise men who listen to me, Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom. Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost because his answers are like those of wicked men. For he adds rebellion to his sin, he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”

Now, that is a strong rebuke. What he’s saying here is that Job has gone from bad to worse. He started out accusing God and then he ended up charging God and saying that God was being cruel to him. Now that’s what we read in chapter 30. Now, Elihu is not talking about what Job did before these sufferings came.

He’s not taking the side of those three men. Those three men said that Job was a sinner, that he was a hypocrite basically, and God was punishing him. But Elihu was saying something different and very interesting. He’s saying that Job didn’t suffer because he sinned, but he is sinning because he suffered.

A lot of Bible interpreters have noticed and made that point, and that’s exactly right. Job did not suffer because he sinned, but he’s sinning because he suffered. In chapter 35, he rebukes Job again. The Bible says in verse two that he says this: “Do you think this is right? Do you say, my righteousness is more than God’s? For you say, what advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have more than if I had sinned? I will answer you and your companions with you. Look to the heavens and see and behold the clouds, they are higher than you. If you sin, what do you accomplish against him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give him or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects a man such as you and your righteousness a son of man. Because of the multitude of oppressions, they cry out. They cry out for help because of the arm of the mighty, but no one says, where is God my maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beast of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven? There they cry out, but he does not answer because of the pride of evil men. Surely God will not listen to empty talk, nor will the Almighty regard it, although you say you do not see him. Yet justice is before him and you must wait for him. Now because he has not punished in his anger nor taken much notice of folly, therefore, Job opens his mouth in vain. He multiplies words without knowledge.”

 So again, he’s saying, Job, you’ve gone from bad to worse. So in verses five through eight, he says, do you think you’re going to affect God? Do you think that you’re going to change God? If you sin, do you think that you’re going to hurt God?

That’s not going to happen. And if you’re good, what are you doing for him? Are you helping him? Are you benefiting him in some way? That’s not going to happen either. And in verses nine through 13, Elihu talks about the question of why God does not deliver people in trouble oppressed people. He says, “Cry out,” but they don’t cry out to God and they don’t cry out from a pure heart.

In verses nine and 10, he says, it’s sad that people suffer. They’re in pain, but they don’t turn to God with all their heart. They cry out to God. They’re tormented, they’re miserable, and they complain, but they won’t even really think about God. Or they may pray to God, but they’re not sincere about it. And he goes deeper into this in verses 12 and 13 because he deals with the question: why doesn’t God hear them?

It’s because there is pride in their heart. Now again, Elihu is not describing Job’s character before all these hardships struck his life. What he’s saying is, now that you’re having all these troubles, beware that you’re not being prideful about this. And in verse 15, he says, Job, here’s what you’ve done.

God has not punished you to the point of taking your life evidently. That’s what he means in verse 15 when he says “because he has not punished in his anger.” That is, God has not gotten angry and just killed you. And because God hasn’t done that, you feel even more emboldened to criticize him and to talk about things that you really don’t understand.

So Job and his three friends argued about why Job suffered. Elihu focused on what to do about it, the response that we should have. His view was, if you can’t see a reason, then you better leave that with God. His approach was more practical. He’s saying to Job, you need to humble yourself before God. You need to turn to God with all your heart and he will deliver you from your suffering.

Now, Job’s three friends had basically said the same thing, but they meant it in a different way. They meant that job needed to repent of the sins that he had committed before all these troubles began. So Elihu, though he disagreed with their position and Job’s charge against God, took an element of truth from both sides and then he gave his view.

Now that brings us to chapter 36, and Elihu is saying, here, let me speak just a few more words, so just bear with me and I will show you that there are yet words to speak on God’s behalf. You see, Elihu is saying to Job, I’m speaking on God’s behalf to you. I’m representing God here. Now, I don’t see in that that he’s saying that he’s inspired or he’s a prophet.

He’s just saying this is God’s viewpoint here, and this is why many people believe that Elihu in a sense was a forerunner to God. He spoke just before God did. And I’m not saying that everything that Elihu said was exactly right, but there is something interesting and that is that God corrected Job for what he had said that was wrong. God corrected his three friends because they had said some things that were wrong. But he does not say one word of correction to Elihu. So that’s why many people believe that Elihu is kind of laying the foundation here for what God says in His response. In verse 16 of Job chapter 36, we find another important principle that Elihu gives here.

Elihu states what he implied earlier in chapter 35 verses 11 and following, and that is Job, if you had humbled yourself instead of getting mad about all this, you might’ve been healed by now. Things might have been different. Look at verse 16. Indeed, he would have brought you out of dire distress into a broad place where there is no restraint, and what is set on your table would be full of riches.

And then in verse 18, he gives Job a very strong warning. He says, “Because there is wrath”—he’s talking about the wrath of God—beware lest he,” that is, God, “take you away with one blow”. He’s saying, Job, you better be careful here about what you’re saying because God may just get angry and take your life. He may just go ahead and kill you.

So you better be thankful. You better be careful that you’re still alive because if you continue down this road, God might just strike you down. He says if God decides to do that, even a great ransom will not deliver you. In other words, no amount of money will change God’s mind if He decides to do that.

So he’s saying, Job, you better settle down and you better be humble about this. And in verse 22, he tells him, “Behold, God is exalted by his power: who teaches like him?” What a question that is. Who can teach like God? God doesn’t just teach in words. He teaches by experiences that He puts us through in life.

He teaches us by hardship. He’s saying, Job, you need to consider this. And then he illustrates that by beginning to talk about the creation in verse 24. Now, this is very important. Because when God answers Job out of the whirlwind beginning in chapter 38, the first thing that God talks about and the last thing that he really talks about is His creation.

Now all of these men have appealed to nature, God’s creation, to make their point. Job’s three friends talked about God’s creation and they said, Job, this proves that we’re right. Job refers sometimes to God’s creation to justify himself. Elihu comes along and he says you need to look at the creation.

But Elihu is not trying to justify job or condemn his three friends. Elihu is saying there are things about the creation that we just don’t understand. We just don’t know why or how God does these things, and in that way, he truly was a forerunner of God. So he talks about the lightning and the snow and the rain.

Why are these things here? Sometimes he says that God shows his power. God shows who’s in charge, and sometimes he sends those things to such an extent that men can’t go outside and work and do anything. That’s what he says evidently in verse six. In verses 10 through 12, he talks about the strong wind and the cold and the frost and the rain.

Why does God send these things? In verse 13, we have a very insightful statement. He says “He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.” God does this. Sometimes he uses the weather to correct people, to chasten people, sometimes to benefit the land, sometimes for mercy to give people food, to give water to drink.

He’s saying Job, you cannot even begin to understand all the parts of God’s creation. You can’t begin to answer the questions about why and when and how and where God does all these things. And if you can’t even answer those questions about the simple creation that you see around you, then you’re not in a position to criticize God about what he allows on this earth.

Now, that is exactly what God is going to say to Job in Job chapter 38 through 42. So I would encourage you to read Elihu’s case that he makes in chapter 32 through 37, and then immediately read what God says in chapter 38 through 42.

Thank you for listening to My God and My Neighbor. Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 in Cookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Study at your level. Aim higher and get in touch with us today.