Big Idea - The second act of the drama opens with Job looking back at his life before disaster struck and comparing it with his current life. We see that Job's suffering not only impacted his personal life but it destroyed his standing in the community. It caused him to lose face on a grand scale. He concludes with a final speech where he makes an oath that if he has committed any kind of wrong against anyone, then He calls on God to bring the appropriate judgment on him. If God does not judge, then he is not guilty. A new character, Elihu, then comes on the scene—the voice of youthful idealism. Unlike Job's other friends, Elihu has a much higher view of God and much better theology. Elihu's main point is that Job must uphold God as just and righteous. Job is trying to defend his reputation at the expense of God's reputation, and that cannot be. This is true, and Elihu seems to be a voice of wisdom. But, we see that his argument in the end also falls short. We know that Job's suffering is not God's judgment or punishment, but Elihu cannot escape the conclusion that suffering must be God's judgment upon sin. In fact, Elihu goes so far as to say that everything that happens to us is ultimately an act of judgment - either blessing on the good or punishment on the wicked. We know this cannot be true, but it still leaves the question, "How can God be a just and righteous God if bad things happen to good people?"

We do not get the full answer until God speaks in the next scene, but we can draw one important conclusion here. The problem in the thinking of Elihu, Job, and all his friends is that they are trying to define God's justice in terms of every life event that happens to them. God is just, but does that mean that every event in life is an act of God's judgment? The answer must clearly be no. God's justice cannot be explained in terms of the merit system. Everything that happens to us cannot be viewed in the light of God's blessing or judgment. To put it another way, is everything in life a matter of getting what we deserve, or is it a matter of simply dealing with what we get? There are many problems with this idea that everything in life is a matter of getting what we deserve. The first is that it sets up a social hierarchy that is in itself extremely unjust! Job experiences the social isolation that this thinking creates when we assume anyone in bad circumstances is a bad person and should be cast out of society. Second, it assumes judgment is immediate, but the Bible views God's judgment made at the end of the race, not each step along the way. God is slow to anger, and He is patient with sinners. He gives every opportunity for repentance and is full of forgiveness toward all who turn back to Him.

Third, God loves his enemies, and He blesses those who curse Him. He even sent His Son to die, not for the righteous, but for His enemies. So, God sends rain on the good and the evil. That explains why God does not always judge the wicked, but why does he allow suffering on the good? Elihu is the only one who tries to tackle this problem. He argues that God can use suffering to speak to and teach us. Ultimately, his answer breaks down because he connects all suffering to God's judgment. But there is still some truth in what he says. God can use bad things to bring about good things. This is not so much an explanation of why God allows suffering in the world, but it points to the truth that even the worst things in our life can bring about the best things in the end. Suffering is probably not God's judgment, but it can always be God's tool to help us grow.