The turn

The speeches of Eliphaz, Bildad, Zofar and Job show us how we ourselves would speak. It is wisdom, but human wisdom and speaks of human experience. It is a wisdom without divine perspective. It is wisdom without God, even when God is spoken of. Job, in our story, has not yet reached the point of recognizing his own inadequacy. Indeed, he himself says only at the very end of the book:

“By hearsay I had heard of you, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I reject my gossip and repent in dust and ashes.”
Hi 42:5-6

Accordingly, everything Job says in chapters 3-31 he later dismisses as “gossip,” and confesses that he did not actually know God – except “by hearsay.” An amazing realization, which is only then followed by the “but now my eye has seen you!”.

Job and his friends all talk about God, but it is Elihu (chs. 32-37) who speaks for God. Only Elihu has the perspective of God and has seen himself as dependent on God. So what is so different about the words of Job and his three friends? Job and his friends have a “self-righteousness”. What Job knew “by hearsay” about God, he reliably put into practice. Because he knew:

“Behold, God will not reject the righteous, nor take the wicked by the hand.”(Hi 8:20)

And elsewhere he says:

“Behold, the fear of the Lord, it is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding.”
Hi 28,28

In fact, Job was very religious. But he did not really know God. Job reckoned with God, but was not familiar with Him. Job was blameless in his ways, but there may have been a bit of self-interest involved. After all, God should not reject him! The more Job speaks out, the more his self-righteousness crystallizes:

“Far be it from me to agree with you. Until I pass away, I will not let my righteousness depart from me. I hold fast to my righteousness and will not let it go!”
Hi 27:5-6

Job thinks he is in the right with God and says at the end of his speeches:

“The Almighty answer me! Where is the writ that my adversary has written? Verily I would lift it on my shoulder, wrap it around my head as a wreath. I would inform him of the number of my steps, like a prince I would approach him.”
Hi 31:35-37

He thinks he is in the right because he was blameless. This is how he rises above God. This now becomes the background when Elihu initiates the turnaround.

Job’s conversations with his friends form the largest part of the book. Chapters 3-31 form Job’s lament and then three rounds of discussion follow. Job’s friends really take their time. Despite the many wise words, no solution or understanding is expressed in the conversations. Elihu, who speaks for the first time in chapter 32 – and is not one of Job’s three friends – summarizes:

“Then the wrath of Elihu son of Baracheel the Busite, of the family of Ram, was kindled; on Job his wrath was kindled, because he thought he was right with God; but on his three friends his wrath was kindled, because they found no answer, and yet condemned Job.”
Job 32:2-3

These are key verses in the Book of Job. This is where the story turns. Elihu brings in a new aspect. He heard all the conversations (so he was there the whole time!) and realizes that neither Job nor his friends are starting in the right place. Why had all this happened? Why did Job have to suffer all this? Job acquits himself. He thinks he is just. Job’s friends pronounce him guilty, although they too have no idea why Job has to suffer and endure all this. Elihu recognized all this as fundamentally wrong and his anger flared. Because he was a disciple than Job’s friends and Job himself had waited until now. But then he had to speak and stand up for God. After Elihu’s speeches, God answers Job, questioning the many speeches and answers as well:

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, “Who is it that darkens counsel with words without knowledge? Gird up thy loins like a man! I will ask thee, and thou shalt teach me!”
Job 38:1-3

End of the talks! Now an account is demanded from Job. From God Himself. First Elihu speaks, then God himself comes to speak. And what happens when a person suddenly stands before God? We will consider this further. Elihu had a keen observation. Something, in fact, was lost on Job and his friends. Caught in their own reflections, they had forgotten what is here now (read and discuss):

“But they do not say, Where is God, my Maker, who gives praise in the night?”
Job 35:10

The service of Elihu

Structure: E (32:1-37:24) The ministry of Elihu

When Job and his friends have finished speaking, Elihu speaks up. Nothing has been heard of Elihu until now. However, he tells us that he listened to the speeches. So, apart from the three friends, there were probably other people there, including Elihu. The name Elihu means “my-God-is-He.” This is exactly how Elihu speaks. He speaks of his God, and acknowledges that this God is really God (!), namely above all:

“God is greater than a man.”
Job 33:12

Job had justified himself. His three friends had declared Job guilty. All had thought out from the human point of view, which was raised to the truth. All of them had placed themselves above God. But now, with Elihu, comes the turning point. Elihu points out where Job and his friends went wrong. Elihu speaks for God. The central statement is: God is greater than a man. The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (cf. Hi 28:28, Ps 111:10, Prov 1:7, Prov 9:10). But where do we go from this beginning?

Elihu reports that God does care, and does make Himself known, often and in various ways(Job 33:14-22). If man should then hear, or if he had some help there to help him on the way back to God, then man would react like this:

“He shall plead with God, and he shall receive him graciously, and he may behold his face with joy; and God shall restore unto man his righteousness. He shall sing before men, and say, I had sinned and perverted that which is right, and he hath not recompensed me. He hath redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and my life may behold the light.”
Hi 33:26-28

Job is not yet there, but Elihu shows that true knowledge does not exalt itself, but recognizes itself as deficient and God as righteous in everything (cf. Ps 14:1-3, Rom 3 :23).

Exchange questions

• Elihu said: God is greater than a man. How and where do we see this?
• Why is self-righteousness a great temptation?
• What is the difference between religious self-righteousness and living faith?