Chapters 34, 35, 36, 37
JOB
Leon L. Combs, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.
Chapter Thirty Four
In this chapter we hear the second speech from Elihu on the justice of God that focusses on the central issue of whether or not God is fair. He speaks to a wide audience in verses 2-15 and in verses 16 -38 he speaks directly to Job.
Job 34:1-4
Then Elihu continued and said, (2) "Hear my words, you wise men, And listen to me, you who know. (3) "For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food. (4) "Let us choose for ourselves what is right; Let us know among ourselves what is good.
So he continues his part of this discussion concerning the suffering of Job and the justice of God. He is not making this effort just for his edification but he wants them to carefully hear what he has to say so that they can decide if he is correct. So he asks them to hear and to listen much as a university professor thinks that what he has to say is very important so that the students must then carefully study all that he has to say. He addresses the wise men and those who have knowledge. He may be speaking only to the three friends but it seems more likely that he is speaking to a wider audience of the elders of the city. He wants their ears to listen carefully much like one would savor the taste of an elegant meal. One would then roll the words around in their brains as they put them all together into the total message. He wants everyone to choose for themselves what is right and for all to know what is good. “Right” means that which is legally correct before a court and “good” means what is morally sound in their community. I like to differentiate between moral behavior and ethical behavior. Morality is behavior that a particular community has judged acceptable according to their rules. Ethical means that behavior that is judged by some external source, in my case that means according to the Bible. Morality usually changes with time as the community determines among themselves what they will accept. It is not certain which of these behavioral judgements they mean but probably they mean what is accepted behavior from their perspective.
Job 34:5-9
"For Job has said, 'I am righteous, But God has taken away my right; (6) Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.' (7) "What man is like Job, Who drinks up derision like water, (8) Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, And walks with wicked men? (9) "For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing When he is pleased with God.'
Elihu now discusses what Job has said about his situation. First he states that he is righteous or in the right so that he has justice on his side as Job said in: "Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated. (Job 13:18) The second point Elihu says was made by Job is that God has taken away his right as he said: "As God lives, who has taken away my right, And the Almighty, who has embittered my soul, (Job 27:2) The third point is that Job has said that God has called him a liar by putting suffering upon him: "You [God] have shriveled me up, It has become a witness; And my leanness rises up against me, It testifies to my face. (Job 16:8) The fourth point made by Elihu is that Job has said that his wound is incurable as charged by Zophar: "But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last." (Job 11:20) Elihu continues to state that Job believes he is not guilty of any transgressions against God and He has persecuted him without cause.
Elihu then asks the people if they have ever seen anyone like Job before. He says that Job has swallowed the lies of others who have derided God much like Eve believed the lies of Satan. Eliphaz had accused Job in a similar fashion: How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water! (Job 15:16) Elihu states in verse 8 that Job has lined himself up with others who work iniquity and even walks with the wicked ones. He is not explicitly stating that Job is wicked but he is very close to saying that. He is in essence stating that Job does not follow those who are blessed: How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! (Psa 1:1) Elihu further states that Job has said there is no profit when he has a pleasing attitude toward God. Job can certainly not be pleased with God when he has such a twisted understanding of Him. Job has stated that God has shown favor on the wicked and described the prosperity of the wicked:
· Job 10:2-3 "I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me. (3) 'Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?
· Job 21:7-9 "Why do the wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful? (8) "Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes, (9) Their houses are safe from fear, And the rod of God is not on them.
At this point Job has believed the ancient lie of Satan that God is cruel and has tormented him. Satan has masqueraded as God and Job has believed the lie. Jesus will later tell us that Satan is the father of lies: "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
The three friends had accused Job of secret sins but Elihu has used the pubic record to prove what Job has said.
Job 34:10-11
"Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to do wrong. (11) "For He pays a man according to his work, And makes him find it according to his way.
This section concludes Elihu’s statements to the audience. He first states his central issue in a negative manner in verse 10. His premise is that God cannot do any wickedness or wrong. Then in verse 11 he states his issue positively by stating that God repays people fairly as He repays a man according to his works and even makes the man’s path suit his actions. This is opposite from what Job has stated and is one major reason for the anger of Elihu:
Job 9:22-24 "It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.' (23) "If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. (24) "The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
Job 34:12-15
"Surely, God will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice. (13) "Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world? (14) "If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, (15) All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.
Elihu now puts forward his issue in a theological manner. He states that God cannot act wickedly or pervert justice in any manner because He alone is God. He is not some god who has been appointed governor of the universe by someone greater than He is. He asks rhetorically who put Him in charge of the whole world and gave Him this authoritative position. If he was some sort of subagent then it is possible that such a being might go rouge and do some awful things once he had this assigned power. But Elihu and his audience know that God is the only omniscient being and if He perverts justice then there is no such thing as justice. Therefore since He is the One in charge of everything He determines what to do and it is done. As the Supreme Being He has also given life to everything and could cause that breath of life to return to Him so that all flesh would perish and man would then return to dust from which he came: Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Gen 2:7) Elihu then has concluded his speech to the group by saying that Job has challenged the very essence of God.
Job 34:16-20
"But if you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words. (17) "Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One, (18) Who says to a king, 'Worthless one,' To nobles, 'Wicked ones'; (19) Who shows no partiality to princes Nor regards the rich above the poor, For they all are the work of His hands? (20) "In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a hand.
The word “you” is singular here so Elihu has turned his attention to Job. Elihu is accusing Job of saying that God hates justice and that he condemns Him so he makes several points concerning how God judges. First, he makes the point that God is righteous and all powerful and rules with His code of ethics that nobody should question. A king rules without needing information from those below him and nobody below the king can call him worthless and nobody can call a noble wicked. God rules with no partiality to anyone and does not regard the rich above the poor since all people are the product of His creation. Second Elihu makes the point that God’s judgment is certain with no influence from anyone else. Nobody can influence God to plan when he dies. A person dies without giving God any input into the time. To make his point Elihu says that when people are sound asleep at midnight God can shake them into death so they do not advise God. The midnight judgment would later occur among the firstborn in Egypt (Ex 12:29). As further proof of the judicial power of God, he says that even the mightiest people are taken away without advising God of the proper time.
Job 34:21-28
"For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps. (22) "There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. (23) "For He does not need to consider a man further, That he should go before God in judgment. (24) "He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, And sets others in their place. (25) "Therefore He knows their works, And He overthrows them in the night, And they are crushed. (26) "He strikes them like the wicked In a public place, (27) Because they turned aside from following Him, And had no regard for any of His ways; (28) So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—
The third point Elihu makes is that God has complete and perfect knowledge of all that everyone does so His judgment is based upon facts. God is omniscient and knows all the paths of all men. There is no place in all the cosmos where a person can hide from God. Those who sin against Him cannot hide those sins and He does not need any time to consider His judgment as do our courts and police. Even the most powerful people in the world are given proper justice without inquiry. In other words there is no second chance for He has perfect records of all their works and they will all be properly judged without any further input by us or any other agent. Overthrowing them in the night has the implication that the people are not even awake to try to influence God.
The fourth point Elihu makes is that God will judge in public (v 26-28). By not following Him they show that their goals are all self-centered and they show that by acting negatively toward the poor and afflicted. All through history we see the poor and afflicted people suffering when the rich are living high. This is not to endorse the “social gospel” but certainly is a cry to reach out to help anyone that is truly in need and is brought to our attention by God. A Christian should take care of real needs of fellow Christians who come to him in need. It is not appropriate for a Christian to just tell another Christian to “go in peace”:
James 2:15-17 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, (16) and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Job 34:29-33
When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, That is, in regard to both nation and man?-- (30) So that godless men would not rule Nor be snares of the people. (31) "For has anyone said to God, 'I have borne chastisement; I will not offend anymore; (32) Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will not do it again'? (33) "Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it? For you must choose, and not I; Therefore declare what you know.
The fifth point about God’s justice is that He is not to be condemned even when He seems to not be in control due to our not seeing Him in action. As He desires, He is invisible so nobody can see what He is doing in regard to individuals and nations. Nevertheless we can be assured that He will not allow godless men to rule or to set traps for people continuously. Elihu tells Job it is not proper for anyone to chastise God as he has done. In verse 31 Elihu asks if anyone has told God that they are being chastised by Him. Of course the inference that this is exactly what Job has been doing and Elihu says that it is inappropriate to so complain to God. He then tells Job to tell God that he will not offend Him anymore. He then tells Job to ask God to teach him what he does not understand so that he can interact properly with Him. He also tells Job to repent when he tells him to say he will not do it again. In verse 22 Elihu states that God will not pay Job back on his terms since he has rejected a proper understanding of his relationship with God. He then tells Job that he must choose these actions and not him. He now hopes that Job will declare as correct what he has been teaching him.