Job 34 Meaning: It’s a sad reality that in our times of suffering, it’s all too common – as we’re grasping for answers and struggling to be content with our situation – to suspect that God has gotten something wrong. We might ask, “why, God?” And sometimes – though we would be embarrassed to say it – that question is really revealing that in our hearts we’re questioning God’s justice – we’re questioning whether he’s doing right in our situation.

And we’ve seen Job do just that in this book that we’ve been studying. And what we’re going to see today is that this relatively new character – Elihu – take great issue with Job’s assertion that god is being unjust.

So, let’s turn our attention to Job 34.

And Elihu here begins this chapter with an appeal for Job and his three friends to listen to him.

KJV Job 34:1 [Furthermore/Then] Elihu [answered/continued] and said,

2 [Hear/Listen to] my words, [O ye/you] wise men;

And we’re not given any reason to believe that Elihu is being sarcastic or disrespectful in any way. He is addressing these men – probably all four of them – Job and his three friends – as “wise” and ones that have “knowledge.”

And Elihu acknowledges that what he says is open for their evaluation.

3 For the ear [trieth/tests/assesses] words,

So, just like a person can taste food and determine whether it’s good or not – Elihu claims that these men should be able to listen to what he’s saying and determine whether or not it’s right.

And then he encourages all of these men – and himself included – to believe and practice what is right in terms of what he’s been saying and what he will be saying in this chapter.

4 Let us [choose/evaluate] [to us/for ourselves] [judgment/what is right]:

And I admit to personally being on the fence regarding how to think about Elihu. It’s more comfortable to not come down on what he’s saying as either right of wrong.

But if Elihu were sitting right here, he would strongly disagree with that approach. Elihu doesn’t want you and me to be neutral about what he’s saying. It’s either right or wrong. And he asserts that we are able to evaluate what he says and to render a judgement.

And if Elihu is right – then he wants Job and his friends to adopt his mindset and thoughts about Job’s situation.

And the words that Elihu wants Job and his three friends to test are now what Elihu will be talking about in the rest of this chapter.

And just like Elihu’s first speech, in this – his second speech – he’ll be starting with what he’s heard Job saying.

5 For Job [hath said/says],

[‘] I am [righteous/innocent]:

6 Should I lie [against/concerning] my right?

my wound is incurable

So, Job has maintained that he is righteous and innocent of all crimes that he thinks would move God to punish him in the way that Job perceives himself to be being punished. And that much is fine for Job to say.

But Job has gone further than that. And he’s claimed that God has taken away his judgement or his justice.

And we all closely identify with Job’s struggles and feelings and temptations. And I think that we would tend to overlook statements made