Previously on Bible Book Club
In Job 32-34, a young man named Elihu appeared out of nowhere to testify in our ongoing trial. He was angry. Angry at Job for justifying himself rather than God, and angry at the three friends for condemning Job without proving their case.
In his first speech, Elihu argued that God isn’t silent. That He speaks through dreams, visions, suffering, and even through a heavenly messenger who intercedes and provides a ransom. Without realizing it, Elihu described the very mediator Job had been crying out for since Chapter 9. In his second speech, Elihu defended God’s justice, arguing that God is too great, too sovereign, and too all-knowing ever to be unjust.
Job 35-37 Introduction
Elihu started well but couldn’t stop there. He misquoted Job, broke his promise not to condemn, and by the end called for Job to be “tested to the utmost,” the very thing Satan asked for in the heavenly courtroom. So the question remains: Was Elihu a friend or a foe?
The commentators are divided. You may want to reserve your judgment until the end of these chapters because we’re not done with him yet. Elihu’s next two points are going to refute Job’s claims that God did not care and that God is too powerful
In Job’s arguments to his friends in Chapter 30, he said God didn’t care about him.
Job 30:20 I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me. You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.
Not only did Job think God didn’t care for him, but Job implied God doesn’t care whether a man is wicked or blameless. In Job 9:22, Job said that God destroys them both. Job’s underlying complaint is this: God, if you don’t distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, then you don’t care about righteousness. And, if you don’t care about righteousness, do you care about me? Elihu’s response to Job is harsh as he addresses his point to Job and his three friends
Scene 1: Elihu’s Third Point, God Is Not Uncaring
Job 35:1-8
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.
How does Elihu define the relationship between human righteousness and God?
Elihu’s point is simple: your goodness adds nothing to God, and your sin takes nothing from Him. God is too great to be affected by either. Your righteousness benefits the people around you. Your wickedness hurts the people around you. But God doesn’t owe you anything in return for your good behavior.
Elihu is telling Job to stop treating his relationship with God like a transaction. He is not owed blessings because he is faithful, so he should stop accusing God of not caring just because he is good and not blessed. That is the retribution principle his friends were arguing for.
Elihu doesn’t know it, but he’s making the same argument God made in the heavenly courtroom. Satan’s accusation in Chapter 1 was that Job only loved God because of what God gave him. Take away the blessings, and the faith falls. It’s transactional. Elihu is saying the same thing from a different angle: Righteousness was never a payment that God owed you a return on. Therefore, Job shouldn’t think that God doesn’t care for him if he is not blessed.
Elihu is right. However, he should talk to Job’s friends, not Job. Elihu says Job asked, “What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?” But Job never said that. Those are Elihu’s words, not Job’s. Job said things in despair that sounded close, such as:
Job 9:22 22 It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
But Job is describing what he sees happening, not declaring what he believes about God. Job’s actual position is the opposite of what Elihu claims. Job says he is righteous, and this suffering makes no sense. He isn’t arguing that there is no point in being good. He is arguing there is a point, and that’s exactly why his pain is unbearable.
Elihu is right that faith isn’t a transaction. But Job never said it was. Job isn’t demanding payment for his righteousness. He is demanding an explanation for his suffering. Those are two very different demands. Elihu would have been better off addressing his argument to Job’s friends alone. But Elihu has one more point for Job about why God does not answer his cries. Job has frequently complained that God does not hear or does not answer his cries for relief. Elihu answers that Job’s case is not exceptional.
Scene 2: Why God Does Not Answer
Job 35:9-16
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.”
Why does Elihu claim God does not answer some cries for help?
Elihu claims God does not answer some cries for help because people cry out for the wrong thing, and their cries are shallow and prideful. Everyone cries out when they are suffering. They want it to stop. They want to be rescued. But they don’t necessarily want a rescuer.
Elihu states that there is a difference between the cry from pain, “make it stop, fix this, get me out,” and the cry for God, “I need you. I want your presence, not just your intervention.” God wants us to cry out for the latter. He wants more than an on-call emergency service. He wants a relationship.
Then Elihu applies his words to Job specifically. He says this is his case. He opens his mouth with empty talk. Elihu accuses Job of crying selfishly for a verdict, for his own justification, for his pride, and he is not crying out for God.
Poor Job. How did Elihu listen to all of Job’s speeches and not see his heart? Job has made so many faith-affirming statements:
Job 13:15 15 Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.
Job 16:19 19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.
Job 19:25 25 I know that my Redeemer lives.
One lesson we are learning over and over in the Book of Job is this:
- Listen, before you speak
- Listen, before you judge
- Listen, after you speak
- And more often than not, the wisest thing is not to speak at all.
Songs in the Night
There is one more interesting thing to learn in this section about “songs in the night.” Elihu said in verse 10:
Job 35:10 10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
And David mentioned God’s song at night in Psalm 42:
Psalm 42:8 8 By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me — a prayer to the God of my life.
In the ancient world, the day meant light, safety, and goodness. The night meant danger, suffering, and the unknown.
What is the meaning of “songs in the night” in Job 35?
A song in the night is a song of worship in suffering, when it makes no sense to worship. The 19th-century pastor Charles Spurgeon preached one of his greatest sermons about this very phrase. There is only one who can give us peace in suffering. Listen to Spurgeon:
The great cause of a Christian’s distress, the reason of the depths of sorrow into which many believers are plunged, is simply this — that while they are looking about, on the right hand and on the left, to see how they may escape their troubles, they forget to look to the hills whence all real help cometh; they do not say, “Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?”
The Christian gets his songs from God; God gives him inspiration and teaches him how to sing...Do not go to this comforter or that, for you will find them “Job’s comforters” after all; but go thou first and foremost to thy Maker....he it is who can teach thee how to sing.
Our Darkest Trials
In our darkest trials, if we take them to the Lord, He will give us a song in the night. A peace to praise and a hope to sing. For those who are at this moment trying to faithfully sing in a dark night, and for everyone else, because we all face trials at some point, see Charles Spurgeon’s entire sermon here.
Job claimed in Chapter 9 that God is too powerful. His whole argument is that God’s overwhelming power makes a fair hearing impossible. God will “crush me with a storm” and “overwhelm me with misery.” That’s why Job keeps crying out for a mediator. He needs someone to stand between him and this terrifyingly powerful God so he won’t be obliterated just trying to make his case. Elihu’s response in Chapter 36 is the only accusation from Job that Elihu doesn’t refute. He agrees with Job. God is powerful.
Scene 3: Elihu’s Fourth Point, God Is Powerful
Job 36:1-15
1 Elihu continued: 2 “Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said in God’s behalf. 3 I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker. 4 Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you.
5 “God is mighty, but despises no one; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose. 6 He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights. 7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous; he enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever. 8 But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, 9 he tells them what they have done— that they have sinned arrogantly. 10 He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. 11 If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. 12 But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.
13 “The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help. 14 They die in their youth, among male prostitutes of the shrines. 15 But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction.
16 “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. 17 But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have taken hold of you. 18 Be careful that no one entices you by riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside. 19 Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress? 20 Do not long for the night, to drag people away from their homes. 21 Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction.
How does Elihu’s view of God’s power differ from Job’s?
Job perceives God’s power as a barrier that keeps God from him. It blocks him from getting justice. Elihu says no, God’s power is actually the guarantee of justice. Elihu is right. The irony coming in our next psalms is that when God does finally show up in the storm, it’s the most overwhelming display of power in the entire book. Everything Job feared.
And yet Job isn’t crushed. He’s restored. The power that Job thought would destroy him turned out to be the very thing that brought him peace in his suffering, because he experienced God’s presence.
Does Elihu have perfect knowledge?
The commentaries are divided on whether Elihu has perfect knowledge, offering three distinct perspectives:
- Pro-Elihu scholars read this as a source of prophetic authority. Elihu is doing what the friends failed to do. He represents God’s case, and his words about God in the next chapter are inspiring.
- Critical scholars read it as arrogant. For Elihu to say his knowledge is perfect is a little much! I am sure there was some scoffing from the elders. Certainly, no one but God could make that claim.
- Scholars in the Middle see Elihu as sincere but immature.
Elihu Expands His Theology on Suffering
First, Elihu says God is mighty but does not despise anyone. But he will destroy the wicked and honor the righteous, because God is just. Then Elihu builds on what he has said before.
Does Elihu believe that all suffering is a punishment for sin?
Elihu says suffering is not a punishment. It is a way God reveals sin and redirects us back to Him. And he lays out two types of sufferers:
- The first group listens to God, repents, and lives in prosperity.
- The second group doesn’t listen and dies without knowledge.
The pro-Elihu scholars see this theory as a significant improvement over the three friends’ theology. The con-Elihu scholars argue that the underlying theory is still retributive. Their reasoning is that Elihu’s theology does not explain innocent suffering like Job’s. Remember, Job does not need to be redirected. God declared him righteous. One point we can agree on is that God does sometimes use suffering to redirect us to Him. And that point goes to Elihu.
In the next part of his speech, Elihu applies his theology of suffering to Job, and this creates more division amongst the commentators.
- Is Elihu being compassionate to Job, inviting him to the comfort of a laden table?
- Is Elihu accusing Job? You are laden with the judgment due to the wicked.
- Is Elihu warning Job? Be careful that no one entices you,
- Or is Elihu judging Job? Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction.
Truthfully, reading the commentaries was a ping-pong match. There are conflicting ways to interpret Elihu’s words, and I can’t tell you which side wins. Is Elihu a friend or foe? I will say he is an improvement over Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
What evidence suggests God might have approved of Elihu’s speeches?
The only evidence that might prove that Elihu is better is God’s lack of criticism of him. In a few chapters, God will rebuke the three friends, but God says nothing about Elihu. Some take this to mean Elihu didn’t deserve rebuke, so perhaps God approves of this young man’s attempt. Others take this as Elihu not being worth rebuking, so perhaps God simply ignores this young man’s immaturity.
A Lesson for Us
I think, no matter how you read Elihu’s words, there is a lesson here for us. Because at the other end of Elihu’s words is a suffering man. And the last thing a sufferer needs is more painful ambiguity. If we are unclear, then our words will be unclear, and we have accomplished nothing. So why speak at all? We would be better off sitting with them and listening until God gives us words that will breathe peace into their suffering.
Scene 4: Elihu’s Closing Argument, God Is Great
Job 36:22-33
22 “God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? 23 Who has prescribed his ways for him, or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’? 24 Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song. 25 All humanity has seen it; mortals gaze on it from afar. 26 How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.
27 “He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; 28 the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. 29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? 30 See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. 31 This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. 32 He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. 33 His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.
Job 37:1-24
21 “At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. 2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. 4 After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. 5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. 6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ 7 So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor. 8 The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. 9 The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. 10 The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. 12 At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. 13 He brings the clouds to punish people, or to water his earth and show his love.
14 “Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. 15 Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? 16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge? 17 You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind, 18 can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19 “Tell us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness. 20 Should he be told that I want to speak? Would anyone ask to be swallowed up? 21 Now no one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean. 22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. 23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress. 24 Therefore, people revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?”
Eliphaz’s Focus Shifts
Elihu is still talking, but as he closes, his focus shifts. Nearly all the commentators agree that this is Elihu’s big moment. He stops talking about Job and his friends and turns his attention to God. He looks up. And what he sees inspires him, and his words reveal an accurate understanding of God.
Elihu is doing what Job did in chapter 28, the Wisdom Poem. Elihu, like Job, points us beyond the world of human suffering to the God who controls the world. The shift in Elihu’s dialogue is like a storm that comes out of nowhere, which is most likely what was happening, and maybe it forced him to look up.
How does the physical environment change during Elihu’s final argument?
As Elihu is speaking, a storm is brewing, and the sky is growing ominous. As Elihu sees the dark clouds mounting in the sky, his description of God grows powerfully with them until the storm that looms over them becomes the voice of God to them.
Elihu begins by describing God’s power over nature. Elihu’s point is that no one can comprehend God, His reasons, or His works. God is so great that He is beyond our understanding. He creates the rain, the snow, the seasons. All nature has a purpose. It can punish, feed the land, or provide in love.
Next, he turns his focus back to Job. Elihu instructs Job about four things:
- Job should be in awe of God.
- Job cannot approach God; he is too glorious.
- Job cannot find God; he is beyond his reach.
- And because of all this, Job must fear God.
In these words, Elihu’s speech has great value. Elihu has prepared Job for his encounter with God. And with that, Elihu is no more. He comes out of nowhere and disappears into nowhere.
Everyone who speaks has spoken: Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu. Four men, 12 speeches, dozens of accusations, thousands of words. All are silent. What did we learn? Not one of them was a comfort to Job. Not one of them even came close to understanding his perspective.
Recall back in Chapter 16 when Job cried out, “You are miserable comforters, all of you!” We talked about the Hebrew word nacham, which means to breathe deeply or to sigh with someone in their grief.
How can you be a true comforter, not a “miserable comforter”?
A true comforter enters your pain with you. Elihu is no different than Job’s friends. He has a new angle, but the result is the same. More words about God, theories about suffering, and corrections. Warren Wiersbe puts it so well in Be Patient, his commentary on Job:
“The best way to help discouraged and hurting people is to listen with your heart and not just with your ears. It’s not what they say but why they say it that is important. Let them know that you understand their pain by reflecting back to them in different words just what they say to you. Don’t argue or try to convince them with logical reasoning. There will be time for that later; meanwhile, patiently accept their feelings—even their bitter words against God—and build bridges, not walls.”
This is what Job needs. Bridges, not walls. Instead, he gets four walls closing in on him.
We do not want to be called “miserable comforters” like Job’s friends. That would be a sin on our part. For Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Paul is clear: our goal when others suffer is to comfort them. God comforts us in our trouble so that we can comfort others in theirs. Our suffering is not wasted. Our pain has a purpose.
According to 2 Corinthians, what is the purpose of Christian suffering?
We must learn from our own suffering what a hurting person actually needs. They don’t need a lecture, a theory, or a theology exam. Someone who is suffering needs presence, compassion, and a deep sigh beside them in the ashes.
Job’s friends didn’t do that. Elihu didn’t do that. But we can.
In our next chapters, the storm arrives, and God finally breaks His silence.
Group Discussion Questions for Job 35-37
- Have you ever tried to comfort someone who was suffering, but your words made things worse instead of better?
- Is there a trial in your life right now where you need to cry out for God’s presence rather than just His intervention?
- Has God ever used your own suffering to prepare you to comfort someone else?
