Read Job 35
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think this is just?
You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,
and what do I gain by not sinning?’
4 “I would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.
5 Look up at the heavens and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.
6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.
9 “People cry out under a load of oppression;
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’
12 He does not answer when people cry out
because of the arrogance of the wicked.
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.
14 How much less, then, will he listen
when you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him
and you must wait for him,
15 and further, that his anger never punishes
and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;
without knowledge he multiplies words.”
Go Deeper
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.
Questions
- What does this chapter tell us about humans?
- Are you in the practice of praying on your knees? When was the last time you prayed on your knees?
- How can you practice humility today?
A Quote
“The utmost evil, is Pride…It was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” – C.S. Lewis
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5 responses to “Job 35”
2 “You say . . .”
Elihu begins many of his criticisms of Job with the words, “you say”. Trying to use his words against him.
This reminds me of the beautiful song, “You Say” by Lauren Daigle. This about what God says to us. That’s what really matters!
Thank you so much for referencing this, Erik!
A beautiful, powerful song (and longtime personal favorite). I really needed to hear this today….
And it is underscores a critical point:
Job is not defined by what others say of him.
Any more than we are — or by what we say of ourselves.
We are all who GOD says we are.
“The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me. In You, I find my worth, in You, I find my identity.
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh, You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh, I believe
What You say of me
Oh, I believe
Taking all I have, and now I’m laying it at Your feet
You have every failure, God, You have every victory
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh, You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh, I believe
What You say of me
I believe.”
Grateful and thankful
We should be thanking God for the good He does for us. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Phil 4:8). But when we “suffer” we commonly think only on how we are being wronged and in our self-pity some of us question God. This is so wrong. We just need to be thankful.
God thank You for Your Love!!! I am beyond grateful for my life. God thank You for these minutes of this day and the love I can share in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elihu doesn’t seem to understand that God welcomes our wrestling. He can handle our brutal honesty and lament. He actually welcomes it. He cannot resist our cries and stores our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8). God intimately sees, treasures, and remembers every sorrow, pain, and grief His children experience.
Presumption, Pride or Presence?
By the time we arrive at Book of Job 35, we’ve already endured lengthy cross-examinations of human suffering. Job has had to endure endless critique from those closest to him of his repentance, his posture and his theology.
Most recently, Elihu accused Job of being “spiritually tone deaf.” And now he’s decided to go after Job’s spiritual expression.
This poor man can’t ever get a break! No matter what he says or does, he’s always, always wrong.
Wrong in how he suffers. Wrong in how he speaks. Wrong in how he cries out.
And what makes this all the more sad and confusing is that his friends are really trying to serve well and speak wisely.
The study questions for this chapter turn our attention toward pride and self-righteousness, asking us to examine our posture before God.
But it occurs to me Job 35 is not only about the pride of the sufferer. It also exposes (again) the misplaced confidence of the observer.
So maybe the real pride here is not arrogance of belief but arrogant assumption. Presuming we’re qualified to scrutinize and judge anyone else’s suffering — why they go through it, how they go through it, and what they should do differently to end or get past it.
Because again and again, Job’s friends point us to two potential fatal flaws in response to suffering:
• How easy it is to misunderstand and misjudge it.
• How hard it is to adequately comfort those going through it.
We move from listening to evaluating. From witnessing pain — to interpreting it. From carefully curating our own responses to suffering — to hyper-scrutinizing the sufferer.
But the suffering of others is never ours to “solve.” They don’t need explanations or answers. Because usually those come wrapped up in presumption.
And presumption doesn’t comfort.
Presence does.
Perhaps the kind of humility we need here looks less like kneeling… and more like restraint.
Restraint from assuming we understand someone’s spiritual condition. Restraint from equating unanswered cries with hidden fault. Restraint from filling silence because silence makes us uneasy.
Perhaps one way to practice humility is not simply to bow lower… but to speak less.