Author: Scott Walter

In today’s reading, Yahweh finally speaks! After so many monologues, dialogues, and back-and-forths, Job (and we) finally get to hear from God. God’s response comes from what is described as a whirlwind or a storm, a common way of describing His unimaginable power and presence. God delivers an amazing and poetic collection of reflective questions for Job to consider and contrast against his own humanity. Did you pick up on a little sarcasm from God in verse 21 when He points out Job’s human limitations? This passage is a reminder to us of how little we truly reflect upon all that God is capable of. God’s response to Job is a helpful instruction that we should all follow–to creatively and humbly contemplate His sovereignty every day.

God peppers Job with question after question. Before He is willing to provide any answers, God tells Job He has some questions for Job to answer first (v. 3). Honestly, this was probably not the response Job or his friends were hoping to hear. Reading these words from God today, it’s easy to assume they are coming from a place of anger. At first glance, it can almost feel as if God is belittling Job, but if we read it like that we have missed the point. Our tendency when we bring our concerns before God, we usually spend the majority of our energy selfishly making demands, instead of first reflecting on how great He is. What if Job had done that?

God’s response to Job, while a firm rebuke, is more of a loving declaration of who He is, and how He is over every aspect of creation. Like a good father, God’s response to Job is ultimately an invitation back to worship His glory. As a response to God’s appearance in this chapter (after we have read for so many weeks without God being present), let’s be reminded of how amazing it is to be loved by the one true God, who also intentionally cares over the universe we live in.

Often in life, we view ourselves as the main character in every story. If not every story, we definitely at the very least view ourselves as the main character in our own story. We do what we want to do; we orientate our lives around our individual passions, goals, and dreams. If someone cuts us off while driving, we are quickly prone to frustration at what an inconvenience that was for us, without maybe ever considering that the other driver may have been in a rush or in an emergency. We are often more concerned with what other people can give us rather than what we can give other people. Ultimately, we are self-serving in our fleshly nature.

However, when we follow Jesus we are pledging allegiance to a whole new way of life. God becomes the main character in our story, and we revolve our lives around His purposes, His authority, His desires, and His will for our lives. This authority that God possesses as our Creator and Lord is displayed so majestically all throughout the book of Job. Specifically in Job 37 we see that His authority and purposes will never make total sense to us. He is a holy and sovereign God, who knows what is best far more than what we might think is best. Verse 5 says that, “He does great things that we cannot comprehend.” It goes on to describe storms that the Lord commands and allows to fall on the Earth. 

All of creation bows at His directives. He is not just the main character in our story, but He is the main character over all of creation. The clouds, the moon, the sun, are all under His control, and so are we. In many ways the storm that Elihu describes is a picture of the destruction, trials, and chaos we all experience on this side of eternity. For the audience of Job, it was also a physical reminder that even if snow falls, and they can no longer farm and work, that God will continue to provide and be faithful in the midst of both physical and spiritual hardship. He will continue to do whatever He discerns will bring Him the most glory, and we get to submit under His loving authority. He will accomplish everything He intends to accomplish on Earth for no purposes of His can be thwarted. His directives can flow from love or correction, but it’s ultimately all for His glory and our good, even when we cannot understand His wondrous works.

Thus, this chapter serves as a compelling reminder to trust God in the midst of the storms, and trust that He always remains in control of every detail, for there is nothing we experience here on Earth that hasn’t passed through the sovereignty of God’s hand. Therefore, not only can we trust Him, but verses 23-24 tell us that we also ought to fear Him and worship Him in response to His majesty, power, and righteousness.

Today’s reading marks the turning point in Elihu’s final discourse with Job. In verses 1-21, Elihu continues in calling Job to repent of the sin he thinks he must be unrepentantly walking in, and invites Job to humble himself and call out to God for help. In the world as Elihu supposes it to be, he has totally ruled out the possibility of Job’s innocent standing before God. Job is clearly in sin and, by having continued to delay repentance, he determines that Job has actually incurred further judgement by not repenting. Ultimately, this kind of counsel drove Job crazy. It demanded that he forsake his integrity and make a show of repentance just to please his friends, a lose-lose situation that finally causes Job to break down and cry out in anger to God. 

In verse 22, Elihu’s posture towards their present situation seems to take a sharp and unpredicted turn. Where before he speaks definitively in regard to the nature of Job’s plight, here he begins to speak with open acknowledgement of the unknowable nature of our God. His words also become markedly more dramatic and anticipatory, almost as though something around the group has changed physically to motivate the observations he is now making. In light of the remaining chapters in Job, many scholars suggest that something powerful is implicitly happening here—Elihu is describing in stately detail what he is watching unfold before his eyes. Later in Job, we will read about God riding in on a cyclone to meet with Job. Perhaps Elihu is watching God ride in from the heavens in all of his glory, or perhaps is watching the storm begin to form and seeing glimpses of this glory as it happens. 

In the face of a marked change in the literal atmosphere, and in view of the majesty of God’s ability to write the very laws of nature and “[draw] up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist,” Elihu starts to recognize that he doesn’t know quite as much about God as he thinks that he does. Doesn’t this happen to us? We get close to finally putting God in a neat little box, thinking we have drawn close to relative understanding, and then we are shown even a small glimpse of God’s glory and all of our understanding is shattered in comparison to His stately majesty. When we get in the presence of God, we start to know how little we actually know, and we see, like Elihu, that if God can direct the rain and the lightning that we probably don’t need to be the ones who have it all figured out anyways.

This chapter is a continuation of the conversation between Job and his friend, Elihu, who is counseling him in response to Job’s claim that he is innocent and did not sin. In Job 35, Elihu specifically addresses the topic of self-righteousness. He sees Job as being prideful for believing himself to be “without transgression,” and while we do not have a transcript of every action Job has ever performed, we can remember from chapter 1 that Job is a man with a heart full of repentance and reverence for the Lord (Job 34:6). He always made sacrifices on behalf of his family in case they had “sinned, and cursed God in their hearts” (Job 1:5). We recollect on these earlier portions of the text because Elihu is accusing Job of being self-righteous; however, we know this is not who Job is.

Elihu makes two main points in this chapter. Firstly, as humans we do not have the ability to change God. From Elihu’s perspective, our sinful or righteous acts do not affect God, but only humans (Job 35: 8). Secondly, “God does not hear an empty cry” or the prayers of the wicked, and he critiques people for not seeking God in humility but instead approaching Him with “the arrogance of the wicked” (Job 35:12-13).

Since Elihu has made false claims in the past, let’s compare these with God’s Word. To the first point, it is true that God’s character does not change because of our actions, but the Bible does tell us the impact of our actions. Romans 1:18 says that “the wrath of God is… against all the godlessness and wickedness of people” and Romans 12:1 says that we can offer our lives to God and it will be “holy and pleasing” to Him. To the second point, Jesus tells a parable of two people who pray in the temple. One character is a Pharisee who pridefully boasts of how righteous he is, and the other is a tax-collector who cries out for mercy. While the story does not tell us whether or not God heard those prayers, Jesus does say that the sinful (yet humble) tax-collector “went home justified before God” (Luke 18:14).

Pride and self-righteousness are key themes of this chapter, so let’s answer these questions to reflect on how they might be in our life.

Elihu continues to speak and inaccurately accuses Job of calling God unjust. Elihu twists Job’s words, brings false accusations against him, and presents the idea that Job is rebellious and lacks knowledge and insight (v. 35). This argument from Elihu conflicts with what we have previously learned about Job. We can assume that this accusation caused Job to feel even more misunderstood by those around him in the midst of his suffering.

While the accusations against Job are not in line with truth, Elihu accurately describes God. A picture of God’s character is presented. It is true that God cannot do wrong. He cannot sin against us. It is not in his character. While things in our life may feel messy or difficult, they are not a result of God sinning. As stated by author and speaker Jackie Hill Perry, “If God is holy, then He can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then He can’t sin against you. If He can’t sin against you, shouldn’t that make Him the most trustworthy being there is?” The characteristics of God we see in Job should bring us peace and a more complete understanding of God.

In the same way, God is omnipotent, and all authority belongs to Him. Should he choose to do so, he could “gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (v. 14b-15). He is fully in control of all happenings of the earth and he sees all things. He sees the depths of our sin and there is no place to hide from him (v. 21-22). While we cannot get away from God, we also cannot turn to him on our own. It is by his Spirit that we are drawn to repentance. While this may seem more ominous than kind, being aware of our sin and being drawn to repentance is a gift. Romans 2:4 further explains this: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” This is our God. He is just and he is kind. He extends grace and mercy and he draws people to himself.

While Elihu is not accurate in his perspective of Job and the events that have taken place so far, we can learn from Elihu’s accurate description of God.

Following his rebuke of Jobs’ other friends, the young and fiery Elihu finally shares his “right” opinion, stating what he believes the others could not. With a new character being introduced, it seems at first that we can have hope. Finally a friend who can speak the truth! It may have been exhausting for you to read chapter after chapter of his friends trying to be significant and not helpful. And rather than Elihu being someone with genuine wisdom, we read about a friend speaking out of arrogance.

Let’s examine Elihu further. We learn a lot about who Elihu believes himself to be: an honorable man who’s wisdom surpasses his years, so Job should heed to him. Then he twists Job’s words, claiming he believes to be “clean and free of sin” (v. 9). And yet Job made sacrifices before God (an act only done by someone trying to atone for their sins), which we learned from Job 1:5. Then Elihu brings up the point that God does speak to us through visions. He goes as far as to say that God actually did send someone to Job–it was just not received. If Job did receive it then God would bless him. And there it is folks: the black and white teaching all of the friends. 

What can we learn from Elihu’s message here? As with many of the words given by Job’s other  friends, it’s not that they’re giving him entirely false advice, it’s just incomplete and not applicable to Job right now. But in many ways, it is for us. Verses 22-28 paint this picture of a mediator saving someone from going in the pit because there is an alternative payment and now they can be redeemed and walk in the light. This is the Gospel! While Elihu probably didn’t fully understand this prophecy he was telling, we can remember the truth of these words today. In the midst of a chapter that is discouraging for us to read of yet another friend failing Job, we have the blessing of being reminded of the newness of the Gospel, so let it not be overlooked! Sit in the truth of what we now get to put our hope in today.

Today, the back-and-forth dialogue between Job and his three friends ends, and finally we meet someone new! Elihu enters the scene, burning with anger towards Job and his three friends. He criticizes Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar for their responses to Job. He claims he has refrained from speaking because he was younger and assumed they would have more wisdom to offer. In verses 7-9, Elihu reminds us that true wisdom comes from God alone. Yes, God can use life experiences to grant wisdom, but age in and of itself does not always equate to wisdom. Elihu then goes on to insist (several times in fact) that he must make himself heard or he will burst.

Can you relate to Elihu? Have you ever felt like you were going to explode and needed to speak your mind? What do we do in that situation? God’s Word has a lot to say regarding our tongues. Proverbs 18:21 tells us the tongue holds the power of life and death. Proverbs 10:8 and Ecclesiastes 5:3 both tell us that a fool can be identified by their many “babbling words.” Jesus warned us of the influence in our words when he said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

Clearly, our words are powerful, and we must “proceed with caution” before carelessly speaking our minds. This seems like a daunting and impossible task; we cannot tame our tongues in and of our own strength. There is hope, though, and His name is Jesus. Matthew 12:34 tells us that from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. As we abide closely with Jesus, He completely transforms our hearts (John 15) so that what is flowing out of our lives and our mouths is reflective of Him.

We will all have “Elihu moments” where we want to speak our mind. Thankfully, we are not in this battle alone and we have the Holy Spirit as a guide and helper to give us discernment on when to speak and what to say. We can rely on Him daily to change our hearts and to help us tame our tongues. 

In Job 31, Job tells his peers that his trials are not due to disobedience. He makes it clear that he fears the Lord. Job is also bold, explaining to his friends that if he has wronged God, he welcomes God’s judgment and justice.

However, a recurring theme throughout this chapter is Job’s adamance that he has not wronged the Lord, and he believes the Lord will find him blameless (v. 6). Job’s own peers have accused him of disobedience, claiming he deserves punishment. However, Job knows in his heart he has been obedient and faithful to the Lord. Even though Job’s life looks miserable and others view his suffering as punishment, Job cares most about God and His righteous judgment. He trusts God’s view of his life. Even though we don’t always understand what the Lord is doing in our lives, we should follow Job’s example and, even in the midst of suffering, seek the Lord and only Him—not the approval or commentary of others. 

Job chooses to view his circumstances in an optimistic light, letting the Lord be in charge of his life and strengthen him, no matter what turmoil comes his way. Even as he declares his innocence, he does so with humility. He doesn’t take advantage of women or degrade and abuse his servants because he knows every human was created by God, and God doesn’t show partiality—God made Job just like He made everyone else (v. 15). In faith, Job surrenders to suffering even though he believes himself innocent. Similarly to Job, we can prepare to have our faith tested and our life stripped away for the Lord even if we don’t understand why. Instead of seeing pain as punishment, let’s allow trials to condition our hearts for faithful obedience to God as we seek His plan for our lives, not the plan we prefer or believe we deserve.  

As we go into today, let’s pray for humility to endure suffering with faith, asking God to guide and strengthen our faith and devotion to Him. Let’s consider fasting from something we love or think we need, or spend more intentional time with the Lord in His word, seeking His instruction for us. Like Job, let’s worship God today, allowing our trials to make us more reliant on Him and more like Him.