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Before we dive back into Elihu’s speech, I want to remind you of why he was angry.  The author says …he burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.  He burned with anger at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. 

What is interesting is that the author allowed the emotions of Job’s friends to be revealed through their words and attitude, but he told us straight out what Elihu was feeling.  Now, just because Elihu is angry doesn’t mean he’s right.  Nor does it mean he’s wrong.  We don’t know why the author divulged this.  And because there has still been no commentary – either from the author or from the LORD – we’re still best advised to simply listen with discernment to what he says. 

Elihu, like Job’s other friends, charges Job with iniquity.  But his charges are new and distinct.  In chapter 34, Elihu focused not on what Job did before his calamity but on what he has said since then.  “You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression…’”  Turning to the jury of Job’s friends, he reminds them: “Job has said, ‘I am in the right…’”  “He has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God…’”  “Would that Job were tried to the end, because he answers like wicked men,” he concludes.  “For he adds rebellion to his sin.”

Remember this when Elihu turns again to Job and asks “Do you think this to be just?  Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’ that you ask, ‘What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?’”  Elihu’s answer, of sorts, fills the following three chapters.  Listen to how he justifies his position.  Discern, as you have all along, how well he grasps the God whom you have met in Scripture. 

And finally, pay close attention when you turn to chapter 38, because there is yet another speaker who wishes to enter the fray. 

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 35 through 38.  Now let’s read it!

Before we dive back into Elihu’s speech, I want to remind you of why he was angry.  The author says …he burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.  He burned with anger at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. 

What is interesting is that the author allowed the emotions of Job’s friends to be revealed through their words and attitude, but he told us straight out what Elihu was feeling.  Now, just because Elihu is angry doesn’t mean he’s right.  Nor does it mean he’s wrong.  We don’t know why the author divulged this.  And because there has still been no commentary – either from the author or from the LORD – we’re still best advised to simply listen with discernment to what he says. 

Elihu, like Job’s other friends, charges Job with iniquity.  But his charges are new and distinct.  In chapter 34, Elihu focused not on what Job did before his calamity but on what he has said since then.  “You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression…’”  Turning to the jury of Job’s friends, he reminds them: “Job has said, ‘I am in the right…’”  “He has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God…’”  “Would that Job were tried to the end, because he answers like wicked men,” he concludes.  “For he adds rebellion to his sin.”

Remember this when Elihu turns again to Job and asks “Do you think this to be just?  Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’ that you ask, ‘What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?’”  Elihu’s answer, of sorts, fills the following three chapters.  Listen to how he justifies his position.  Discern, as you have all along, how well he grasps the God whom you have met in Scripture. 

And finally, pay close attention when you turn to chapter 38, because there is yet another speaker who wishes to enter the fray. 

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 35 through 38.  Now let’s read it!

After lamenting his loss of place in chapters 29 and 30, Job, in what will be his closing statement, again calls up the word “integrity” to plead his cause: “Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!”  “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit…if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes…if I have raised my hand to the fatherless…if I have made gold my trust…let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” 

And then Job and his friends fall silent.  One of the intriguing aspects of this book is the way information is handled.  You know why Job has suffered.  Job does not.  Job’s friends don’t know what you know, nor do they know that Job is innocent. 

And none of us knows – or at least no one acknowledges – that there is one more actor hiding just offstage.  Elihu, like you, has been sitting in the corner listening.  Waiting, like you, for resolution.  The author has hidden him from view for reasons known only to him.  Even more curious is the introduction that he receives.  Listen to the opening of chapter 32:

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.  Then Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger.  He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.  He burned with anger at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.  Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. 

Before you read this in context, and hear what Elihu has to say, I want you to think about your initial inclination toward Elihu.  What does the author present that makes you likely – or unlikely – to value what he says?  The LORD has been silent for 30 chapters, so all options are on the table.  Trust that the author knows what he’s doing, and dive in.    

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 31 through 34.  Now let’s read it!

After lamenting his loss of place in chapters 29 and 30, Job, in what will be his closing statement, again calls up the word “integrity” to plead his cause: “Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!”  “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit…if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes…if I have raised my hand to the fatherless…if I have made gold my trust…let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” 

And then Job and his friends fall silent.  One of the intriguing aspects of this book is the way information is handled.  You know why Job has suffered.  Job does not.  Job’s friends don’t know what you know, nor do they know that Job is innocent. 

And none of us knows – or at least no one acknowledges – that there is one more actor hiding just offstage.  Elihu, like you, has been sitting in the corner listening.  Waiting, like you, for resolution.  The author has hidden him from view for reasons known only to him.  Even more curious is the introduction that he receives.  Listen to the opening of chapter 32:

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.  Then Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger.  He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.  He burned with anger at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.  Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. 

Before you read this in context, and hear what Elihu has to say, I want you to think about your initial inclination toward Elihu.  What does the author present that makes you likely – or unlikely – to value what he says?  The LORD has been silent for 30 chapters, so all options are on the table.  Trust that the author knows what he’s doing, and dive in.    

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 31 through 34.  Now let’s read it!

In yesterday’s reading Job went on the offensive, though not against his human friends.  He accuses God of neglect, asking, “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know Him never see His days?  Some move landmarks, they seize flocks…they thrust the poor off the road… Meanwhile like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game…they lie all night naked, without clothing…hungry, they carry sheaves…

Now after an opening retort from Bildad, Job’s friends are silent today.  But what Bildad says in his very brief statement is provocative: “Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in [God’s] eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm?” 

Consider whether Bildad’s witness is credible: “How can a man…who is a maggot…be right before God?”  Remember that Bildad and his companions are representing the wisdom of the ancient world – it may or may not represent the LORD’s wisdom.  Remember that Job keeps pushing the question of God’s justice before them even as they demand validation through Job’s confession of hidden iniquity.  Remember what Job knows; what his friends know; and what you know, from the initial chapters. 

Listen then as Job is again aggressive: he “will teach you concerning the hand of God,” before whom the underworld stands naked; who stills the sea and shatters the forces of chaos.  He knows the cosmos bows to Him, he knows what becomes of the wicked in God’s courts and he, Job, knows that he stands in righteousness, “and will not let it go.”

He also knows where wisdom can be found and will share the secret with his friends, and with us.  In a passage that could stand on its own outside of the story, chapter 28 settles around the question, “Where can wisdom be found?  And where is the place of understanding?  Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.”  Meditate on this investigation and consider its inspired worth.  Who, and only who, knows the way to wisdom? 

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 25 through 30.  Now let’s read it!

In yesterday’s reading Job went on the offensive, though not against his human friends.  He accuses God of neglect, asking, “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know Him never see His days?  Some move landmarks, they seize flocks…they thrust the poor off the road… Meanwhile like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game…they lie all night naked, without clothing…hungry, they carry sheaves…

Now after an opening retort from Bildad, Job’s friends are silent today.  But what Bildad says in his very brief statement is provocative: “Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in [God’s] eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm?” 

Consider whether Bildad’s witness is credible: “How can a man…who is a maggot…be right before God?”  Remember that Bildad and his companions are representing the wisdom of the ancient world – it may or may not represent the LORD’s wisdom.  Remember that Job keeps pushing the question of God’s justice before them even as they demand validation through Job’s confession of hidden iniquity.  Remember what Job knows; what his friends know; and what you know, from the initial chapters. 

Listen then as Job is again aggressive: he “will teach you concerning the hand of God,” before whom the underworld stands naked; who stills the sea and shatters the forces of chaos.  He knows the cosmos bows to Him, he knows what becomes of the wicked in God’s courts and he, Job, knows that he stands in righteousness, “and will not let it go.”

He also knows where wisdom can be found and will share the secret with his friends, and with us.  In a passage that could stand on its own outside of the story, chapter 28 settles around the question, “Where can wisdom be found?  And where is the place of understanding?  Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.”  Meditate on this investigation and consider its inspired worth.  Who, and only who, knows the way to wisdom? 

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 25 through 30.  Now let’s read it!

“I hear censure that insults me, and out of my understanding a spirit answers me…”  - Job 20:3

Zophar has some sharp words for Job at the opening of today’s reading, in response to Job’s complaints that everyone – his relatives, his friends, and God – has failed him.  Try to picture Zophar’s posture, as you would an actor on stage, when he tells Job, “You’ve insulted me…” 

Job’s response pushes in a deeper, darker direction, and his burgeoning argument hits a crescendo in chapter 23.  Giving full voice to the lament within him, he asks: “Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?  Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes.  Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.”  Furthermore, “They say to God, ‘Depart from us!  We do not desire the knowledge of your ways…’” 

Feel Job’s torment in these chapters.  He is no longer concerned with justifying himself to his friends, asking rhetorically, “is my complaint against man?”  ‘No,’ we hear.  It is against God; it is against the injustice that Job has witnessed from both directions – he suffers, while the wicked prosper.  This is what Job wants his friends to wrap their heads around – and so we’re forced to wrestle with it, too. 

At this point, it might feel like we’ve walked far enough into the dark woods and now it’s time to turn back.  For some time we’ve come upon no fresh water, no clearing has materialized, and the crest of each hill just presents even darker valleys.  The forest is getting thicker, and the hour is getting late.  It feels like if we go much further, we will not be able to find our way back to the safety of camp. 

But we can, and should, keep walking with Job, for he cannot turn back.  The story drives further, relentlessly, toward an unknown destination.  Our trust is that the payoff, whatever it is, will be worth it.

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 20 through 24.  Now let’s read it!