Elihu’s Second Speech: Is God Fair? Job: The Wisdom of the Cross [Job 34]

{pray}

After Elihu’s first speech neither Job nor the three comforters speak. We can’t know what they made of it, but perhaps their silence indicates their taking in what this young man has to say and maybe even storing it up in their hearts. It’ll be a little while yet before the greater voice is heard, the voice of God, then Job will see clearly, but there is a work of grace going on in his heart already.

That is a great assurance for us today, that even if we don’t hear from God the work of His grace is going on and working around us and in us. Therefore we must learn to bow in humble obedience before God whom we cannot by nature worship perfectly…that is precisely what Job needs to learn.

In his second speech Elihu focuses on the central issue of the justice of God. We saw (when we studied 32) that this was the driving force that provoked him to speak in the first place. What he has said in the first speech about God speaking is really preliminary to what he now says in the second speech. It goes to the heart of the book of Job: is God fair?

The speech falls into two main parts. In verses 1–15 he speaks to a wider audience, and then from verse 16 onward he speaks directly to Job. This structure is similar to what we saw in his first address, in which chapter 32 was addressed to the comforters and chapter 33 to Job.

In this address, as in the last, we are to picture Elihu at the microphone (as it were) with Job immediately in front of him, but the three comforters and probably other significant local people are also listening. Perhaps the community elders were there too to listen to this great ongoing debate. Elihu will say essentially the same thing in the first part as in the second, but in the second it becomes fuller and more personal, concluding with a heartfelt appeal to Job and a warning lest he not heed Elihu’s words.

To the Wider Audience [Job 34:1-15]

In this first part Elihu identifies the critical issue (vv. 2–4), then levels the most serious accusation against Job (vv. 5–9), before stating the central truth (vv. 10, 11) and giving the key reason in support of this (vv. 12–15). Speaking, as it were, loudly and publicly, he puts on the table all the key elements of the debate. In the second part he will expand on these things to Job himself.

The Critical Issue Is the Justice and Goodness of God (vv. 2–4)

Then Elihu answered and said:

“Hear my words, you wise men,

and give ear to me, you who know;

for the ear tests words

as the palate tastes food.

Let us choose what is right;

let us know among ourselves what is good.” (vv. 1–4)

Elihu addresses the “wise men” and calls them “you who know” (v. 2), that is, men of learning. While he may be speaking just to the three comforters, his low opinion of them suggests he is speaking here to a wider audience, perhaps including the community elders. He is speaking potentially to any wise and knowledgeable listener. In verse 3 he uses an image Job himself has used in 12:11 (“Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?”). “See what these arguments taste like!” Elihu says in essence. It is an invitation not just to listen once but to turn the arguments over and over as one might with some unfamiliar food, working out which arguments taste good.

In verse 4 he states the one agenda item for discussion: “Let us choose [literally, decide or discern for ourselves] what is right … what is good.” The word “right” or “justice” is a major theme of the speech, as is its opposite, to “do wrong” or “be wicked.” The word “good” has the sense of morally good. We are to think together about God’s government of the world and whether he governs it rightly and fairly and whether we can be happy and confident about the goodness of his government. There are few more important questions in the world. Is God fair in how He rules?

The Most Serious Accusation Is That Job Has Accused God of Not Being Just and Good (vv. 5–9)

[I won’t read all these verses just draw out points]

For Job has said, “I am in the right,

and God has taken away my right;

in spite of my right I am counted a liar;

my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.”

What man is like Job,

who drinks up scoffing like water,

who travels in company with evildoers

and walks with wicked men?

For he has said, “It profits a man nothing

that he should take delight in God.” (vv. 5–9)

In verses 5, 6 Elihu sums up what Job has said in four claims. First (v. 5a), Job says he is “in the right” (v. 5); that is, he has justice on his side. Job has indeed said this, and repeatedly (see, for example, 10:15; 13:18).

Second (v. 5b), he protests that “God has taken away my right” ’ that is, God has denied him justice. This is exactly what Job has said, for example in 27:2 (“As God lives, who has taken away my right …”).

Third (v. 6a), Job laments that God counts him “a liar,” branding him as guilty by inflicting suffering on him. Job has said as much in 16:8 (“And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me”).

Finally (v. 6b), he feels his “wound is incurable” and there is no hope for him. Although Job will finally repent of this, at this point Job has believed the primal lie of Satan—that God is not good but is a cruel and evil tormentor. Satan has masqueraded as God and has persuaded Job of this.

This is the lie many believe when they can’t understand why bad things happen. Like what’s happening in Ukraine, which is horrific. Some will ask why does a good God allow such bad things to happen? And they’ll conclude that God must not be good then…this is where Job is.

Unlike the comforters, who accuse Job of secret sins for which they have no evidence, Elihu focuses on the public evidence of the things that Job has said. On the basis of Job’s words he makes his accusation in verses 7–9. He is horrified by these things and accuses Job of drinking up “scoffing like water” (v. 7b); this metaphor would seem to mean that Job has scoffed or mocked at the goodness and justice of God because he has drunk in such views from others and has believed their lies, rather as Eve believed the snake’s lie in the garden, she drank in his lie. In 15:16 Eliphaz had accused Job of drinking in “injustice like water.”

But whereas Eliphaz accused Job of making injustice his diet, Elihu accuses Job of making mockery of God his diet. Eliphaz’s accusation is untrue, but sadly Elihu’s is true, as Job himself will later admit.

By scoffing like this, Job has lined himself up with “evildoers” and “wicked” people (v. 8). Elihu is not saying that Job is himself wicked, just that by speaking like this he sounds as if he were (rather as Job himself had said to his wife in 2:10, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak”). Job’s keeping company with wicked men is defined in verse 9 as being because of what he has “said”—that “It profits a man nothing.”

Job has indeed said or implied this. In 9:22 he accuses God of destroying “both the blameless and the wicked” (so what’s the point of being blameless?). In 10:3 he accuses God of showing “favor” to the plans of the wicked (so why not be wicked to get the favor of God? Cf. Psalm 73:1–15). In 21:7–16 he has given an eloquent description of the prosperity of the wicked. Near the end of the Old Testament period unbelieving Jews will be saying much the same: “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them” (Malachi 2:17). Which is a lie from Satan himself.

So here is Elihu’s central accusation against Job. This is a good point to pause and ask ourselves about Elihu’s tone. Critics often say he is harsh and unfeeling and shows no understanding of Job’s predicament. But this is to take the viewpoint of our human-centered preoccupation with ourselves.

We might do better to see Elihu as one who cares with overwhelming passion for the honor of God. To Elihu anything that attacks God’s honor is a terrible thing and eclipses any extenuating circumstances caused by human suffering. Perhaps this is why we find it so hard to accept the rightness of Elihu’s concerns and arguments, we are so preoccupied with out own rights and wants that we don’t like it when God does or allows things we don’t like and we conclude are wrong…but...

The Central Truth Is That God Cannot Do Wrong (vv. 10, 11)

Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:

far be it from God that he should do wickedness,

and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

For according to the work of a man he will repay him,

and according to his ways he will make it befall him. (vv. 10, 11)

In verse 10, With a renewed appeal to any wise listeners, he states his central truth, first negatively and then positively. Negatively (v. 10b, c), he cannot entertain even the idea that the Almighty God might “do wickedness … do wrong.” Positively (v. 11) he affirms the doctrine of just judgment: God repays people fairly and justly according to their works and “ways.” It is precisely this that Job has denied, for example in 9:23, 24.

What Elihu says here sounds very like what the comforters have affirmed. For example, in chapter 8 Bildad has asked, “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?” (8:3). But whereas Bildad’s concern is narrowly with the punishment of the wicked, Elihu’s is broader. He is arguing, not just for God’s fair punishments, but for God’s good and fair government or rule of the entire world in every respect.

The Key Reason Is That God Is God! (vv. 12–15)

Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,

and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

Who gave him charge over the earth,

and who laid on him the whole world?

If he should set his heart to it

and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,

all flesh would perish together,

and man would return to dust. (vv. 12–15)

In verse 12 Elihu restates his truth, prefaced by “Of a truth” or “Surely” for emphasis; he implies this idea is unthinkable. This raises the question of why it is unthinkable, why this axiom is true. In verses 13–15 Elihu gives perhaps the most deeply theological core of his answer: it is unthinkable to think God is unfair or unjust or does wrong because God is God!

His government or rule of the world is not a responsibility delegated to him by some superior deity (as Baal’s by El in Canaanite religion); no one put him in charge of the world. Had they done so, we could conceive of him carrying out his responsibility in an unjust and irresponsible way, rather as a local governor might twist the justice of a fair administer and use his rule unfairly on a local level. But God is God; he is the supreme Governor of the world. If he is not just, then there can be no such thing as justice; but (by implication) the very existence of our ideas of justice mean that justice exists and must reside with the supreme God. It’s very theological.

So if someone asks you why does God do such and such, you can answer “because God is God.” That’s good theology.

In verses 14, 15 he develops this thought by getting us to think about our absolute dependence upon God for life and breath. We are utterly dependent upon him, and he is not in any way dependent upon us. To challenge the justice of his rule is to challenge his person, and that is a very foolish and dangerous thing to do.

By challenging the goodness and justice of the Sovereign God, Job is challenging the very being of God, for goodness and justice are inherent with his being and his power. In using this argument, Elihu is preparing the way for God’s speeches in chapters 38–41.

So, having stated the issue, having summarized and accused Job, and having put truth and central reason on the table, Elihu now turns and addresses Job in person.

To Job (vv. 16–37)

The Accusation Is That Job Has Condemned the Righteous, Mighty God (vv. 16, 17)

If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.

Shall one who hates justice govern?

Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty … (vv. 16, 17)

Turning from plural to singular verbs, Elihu speaks to Job, v. 16, He denies Job’s complaint that the one governing the universe “hates justice” and accuses Job of trying to condemn “him who is righteous and mighty” (v. 17). These two attributes of God, his justice and his power, are inseparable. The one who is supremely mighty must be, by definition, the source and embodiment of justice.

Job Is Wrong Because God Does Judge Justly (vv. 18–30)

Elihu continues by spelling out in some detail the way in which the mighty, righteous God exercises his judgment.

He Judges with No Favorites (vv. 18, 19)

… who says to a king, “Worthless one,”

and to nobles, “Wicked man,”

who shows no partiality to princes,

nor regards the rich more than the poor,

for they are all the work of his hands? (vv. 18, 19)

First, because God is supremely powerful, he is not influenced by power in others. Others can be pressured by powerful or rich people into showing favoritism toward them; [Like this past week New York’s mayor lifted the Covid vaccine mandate for athlete’s, Kyrie Irvin, his decision was influenced by the rich and powerful]; not so the Almighty God. When powerful and rich people behave wrongly, he has no hesitation in condemning them. Because of God’s sovereign power, we may be sure his judgment is without favoritism; it is not in any way contingent upon human influence.

He Judges with No Uncertainty (v. 20)

In a moment they die;

at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,

and the mighty are taken away by no human hand. (v. 20)

Second, God’s judgment is not uncertain. When Elihu says that “in a moment they die,” he is not saying that God’s judgment is always immediate, but rather that its suddenness makes it very clear this is God at work. “At midnight,” the time when people are asleep and feel secure, they die (as did the firstborn in Egypt, Exodus 12:29). Their judgment happens “by no human hand,” no visible human agency, as proof that this is the judicial action of God.

He Judges with No Ignorance (vv. 21–25)

For his eyes are on the ways of a man,

and he sees all his steps.

There is no gloom or deep darkness

where evildoers may hide themselves.

For God has no need to consider a man further,

that he should go before God in judgment.

He shatters the mighty without investigation

and sets others in their place.

Thus, knowing their works,

he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed. (vv. 21–25)

Third, God judges with perfect knowledge. He has “eyes” that see “all” the “steps” of a person (v. 21). There is no possibility of hiding, not even in the “deep darkness” (v. 22). God doesn’t need “to consider a man further,” that is, to spend a long time investigating a man, before the case can come to trial (v. 23), as happens so often in human cases when the police take months, if not years, to accumulate all the evidence they need. God can execute “judgment” (v. 23), shattering even the most powerful people “without investigation” (v. 24) because he already knows all the facts. So the judgment of God is perfect not only because of his omnipotence [all-power] but also by virtue of his omniscience [all-knowledge].

He Judges with No Secrecy (vv. 26–28)

He strikes them for their wickedness

in a place for all to see,

because they turned aside from following him

and had no regard for any of his ways,

so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,

and he heard the cry of the afflicted—(vv. 26–28)

Fourth, he will judge publicly, “in a place for all to see” (v. 26). There will be nothing secretive about his judgment. When men and women turn “aside from following him” (v. 27) and therefore become agents of social injustice (v. 28), he will give them the punishment they deserve, and he will do so publicly, so that the whole universe will see his justice.

He Will Judge Even If He Delays (vv. 29, 30)

When he is quiet, who can condemn?

When he hides his face, who can behold him,

whether it be a nation or a man?—

that a godless man should not reign,

that he should not ensnare the people. (vv. 29, 30)

But it is the fifth feature of God’s judgment that is the climax of Elihu’s case. What are we to say when God is “quiet,” when he “hides his face” and doesn’t seem to do anything about injustice (v. 29)? This, after all, is Job’s problem. Elihu claims that when God is “quiet,” it is still unacceptable and wrong to “condemn” him for injustice (as Job has done) (v. 29).

For when “he hides his face” he is invisible (“who can behold him …?”), and we cannot tell what he may be doing behind the scenes (v. 29). Neither on a global level nor on a personal level can we condemn God for his in action. Verse 30 seems to mean that we can still trust that God is working to ensure that godless people do not continue forever to reign and to trap and ensnare people.

The point here is that God’s apparent inaction does not contradict his justice. “It indicates that during a period marked by God’s ‘silence and inactivity’—that is, between a cry for help and an intervention by way of answer—it is not permissible … to censure God, as Job has done.” “God’s slowness to act does not deny his sovereignty,” nor his justice.

For all these reasons—God’s sovereign impartiality, God’s definite judgments, God’s omniscience, God’s public judgments, and God’s inscrutability when he delays—it is a wrong and terrible thing to accuse God of wrong. It is therefore natural that Elihu should close by calling upon Job to repent.

Job Must Repent of What He Has Said about God (vv. 31–33)

For has anyone said to God,

“I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;

teach me what I do not see;

if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more”?

Will he then make repayment to suit you,

because you reject it?

For you must choose, and not I;

therefore declare what you know. (vv. 31–33)

Verse 31 is not asking a theoretical question. Elihu is making a definite suggestion. Job is encouraged to put up his hands and admit that he has said things he ought not to have said and then to pray to God to teach him the things he has not understood (v. 32a) before pledging himself not to say these things again (v. 32b).

The meaning of verse 33 is not easy to unpack. Perhaps we might paraphrase it, “You can’t expect God to roll over and admit you’re right. You must decide to repent of what you have said. You know that’s the right thing to do.” Elihu is appealing to Job’s conscience. Before long his appeal will be heeded and Job will indeed repent of exactly the words of which Elihu says he needs to repent. Elihu’s accusations are accurate and precise.

Job’s Trial Must Continue Until He Repents (vv. 34–37)

Men of understanding will say to me,

and the wise man who hears me will say:

“Job speaks without knowledge;

his words are without insight.”

Would that Job were tried to the end,

because he answers like wicked men.

For he adds rebellion to his sin;

he claps his hands among us

and multiplies his words against God. (vv. 34–37)

Finally Elihu spells out the seriousness of the issues, these final words stress for us, as for Job, the great importance of what we say about God and his justice and goodness. Of what Job has said thus far, the verdict will be that Job speaks “without knowledge … without insight” (v. 35). This is the conclusion of Elihu’s case.

But what are we to say about verse 36, where Elihu seems to call down a curse upon Job? Commentators are quick to condemn Elihu for being insensitive and cruel here. But they may have missed the point. When Elihu says that Job ought to be “tried to the end” he may refer—not to Job’s sufferings but to the contest of arguments in which they are involved.

The trial of arguments cannot end until Job admits that he is wrong in what he has said about God. This is confirmed by verse 36b: it is “because he answers like wicked men” that he must be “tried to the end.” What Job is saying is very serious. Indeed he “adds rebellion to his sin,” perhaps by undermining piety in others and encouraging them to rebel against God.

It stresses the importance about what we say about God, we may not be guilty of speaking wrong things about God’s justice and goodness as Job as done, but often people are guilty of speaking very casually about who God is. God is not our buddy we rub elbows with… He is God above all else and He deserves our complete and absolute surrender and reference.

He “claps his hands,” which seems to indicate an impious and ungodly gesture (some rude, scornful gesture with his hands), and “multiplies his words against God.” It is not that Job once let slip an unjustified remark about God, but that he goes on and on saying bad things about God’s justice and goodness. It is this sustained attack on the good name of God that Elihu cannot endure. It is for this that he must challenge Job to repent.

Conclusion

I suspect our problem with Elihu—and the problem of many commentators—is with his intensity. It is easy to mistake his intensity for cruelty, insensitivity, or arrogance. But the plain meaning of the text is that Elihu is intense because the issues are serious. As one commentator puts it, “Elihu argues this point so intensely because he seems to fear that Job, in hardening his heart to God’s disciplinary judgment, stands in danger of the final punishment, death. Therefore, he wants to convince Job to relinquish his complaint and submit himself to God.”

The central fact is that Elihu is right about the justice and goodness of God. And to say anything against His justice and goodness is to align ourselves with the snake in the garden. Elihu directs Job to humble himself before God for his sins, and to accept the punishment. Also to pray to God to reveal his sins to him.

Matthew Henry said, “A good man is willing to know the worst of himself; particularly, under affliction, he desires to be told wherefore God contends with him.”

Friends, It is not enough to be sorry for our sins, but we must go and sin no more. And if we are blood bought children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we should love to speak with our Father, and to tell him all our mind and we should accept when our Heavenly Father disciplines us.

Elihu reasons with Job concerning his discontent under affliction. We are so ready to think every thing that concerns us should be just as we would have it; but it is not reasonable to expect this.

Elihu points out the sin and folly in what Job has said. Have we not said and done foolish and sinful things, especially when under affliction? But our affliction or anyone’s troubles does not mean God is not fair…God is fair...

God is righteous in all his ways...

God is holy in all his works…Psalm 145:17 tells us

As Christians we should say...

Let my Savior, my wise and loving Lord, choose every thing for me. I am sure that will be wisest, and the best for his glory and my good. Have you said that?