Job 35 Commentary: Sometimes we get the idea that God reacts to our sin or righteousness in predictable ways that make sense to us.

We might look at the effect and assume the cause. What I mean by that is we might witness ourselves or others being blessed and we assume that the cause for that blessing is that we somehow pleased God and that obliged him to do something good for us.

Or we might observe the cause and then assume what the effect will be. Under that system, we might see others sinning and we assume that God is going to really deal with them in this life. Because after all that makes sense to us. That person is sinning against God. That’s a personal offense to God. And he certainly won’t let that slide!

But those assumptions are faulty. God is above mankind and doesn’t need to immediately respond to us in kind. You’ve heard of the phrase, “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” But you’ve never heard it from the lips of God.

And that is going to be the point of Elihu – the character in the book of Job whose words we’ve been taking in for the last several lessons in this book.

So, let’s turn our attention to the 35th chapter of the book of Job. Job chapter 35.

And here we see Elihu beginning this short chapter by asking a question intended to challenge something that Job said.

KJV Job 35:1 Elihu [spake moreover, and said,/continued and said,/answered:]

2 [Thinkest thou this to be right/Do you think this is according to justice/Do you think this to be just],

My [righteousness/right] [is more than/before] [God’s/God]?

So, Elihu is saying that Job apparently asserted that he is more righteous than God. Either that, or Job is maintaining that he is right or righteous – and he’s doing that before God’s presence. Or Job is demanding his right – his fair hearing – in God’s presence.

And so, Job is asserting either that he’s more righteous than God or simply that he is righteous in God’s sight. But Elihu wants to challenge that assertion because of a few more statements that Job has made that seem to contradict what Job has insisted on.

How could a righteous man say the following things?

3 [For thou saidst/For you say/But you say],

What [advantage will it be unto/will it profit] thee? and,

So, basically, Job – according to Elihu – is questioning how it even profited him to not sin.

How does that work?

Well, in Job’s mind, God works like this: you do good, you get good. You do bad, you get bad. Like my illustration at the start of this message.

What has Job done in his life? Good or bad? Good!

So, what does Job – in his mind – deserve as a result? Good or bad? Good.

But what has Job received from God’s hand? Good or bad? Bad.

But in Job’s mind, what kind of action calls for God to bring bad things into your life? Good works or bad works? Bad works call for bad things from God.

So, Job is looking at that situation and saying, “If I’m going to receive bad from God, then why did I strive to live such a righteous life? I might as well have done evil and I would have received the same result from God.”

And Elihu of course does not agree with Job on that point. And really – I’m pretty sure that Job under normal circumstances would have disagreed with that sentiment – that it doesn’t matter if you’re righteous of