(A) Introduction.

Elihu invites Job and his friends to join him in getting to the truth about the patriarch's situation. However, what follows isn't exactly a dialogue but a monologue. Elihu certainly has plenty to say and, to be fair, he makes some good points but he, like Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, is unwilling to admit that Job is undeserving of the disasters that have overtaken him. He concentrates far more on God's attributes than on Job's suffering and the questions that arise from it.

(B) The justice of God. See ch34.

(1) The accusation. 34v4to9.

Elihu charges Job with being disrespectful to God for claiming that God does not treat him in the way that he deserves. Job in saying, "It profits a man nothing when tries to please God," condemns himself out of his own mouth. God cannot be unjust and so Job is joining forces with evildoers and wicked men in making such accusations.

COMMENT:

(a) If you take the view of all the protagonists in the debate that in this life the righteous are blessed by God and the wicked suffer at his hand then Job is correct to accuse God of injustice. It is very unlikely that either Elihu or his friends were any better than he was - yet he was suffering and they were not. Elihu was wrong to condemn Job who shared his theology but could not square it with his experience.

(b) There is a complete failure in the book of Job and, indeed, much of the Old Testament to appreciate that God's commitment to justice conflicts with his desire for men to be free and responsible for their actions. This desire explains why God allowed the awful atrocities of the 20th century. There was nothing just about the Holocaust. Millions of Jews did not deserve to be sent to the gas chambers. But it wasn't God who put them there - it was wicked men. God, on the whole, leaves men free either to do good or ill. He does not micro-manage the affairs of men.

(c) Job is at fault for failing to see that it is important to be righteous and please God for its own sake regardless of whether one is fortunate or unfortunate. We should try and please God in this life regardless of the outcome in the short term. The medieval stone masons were prepared to do good work in the inaccessible parts of a great cathedral where their craft would never be seen or admired. They did their work to the glory of God rather than for the praise of men. Jesus encouraged this attitude when he instructed his followers to eschew praying on street corners to be seen of men but rather to pray in secret away from the public eye. Jesus also said that when we give to charity our left hand should not know what our right is doing.

However, we need to remember that even the great apostle Paul thought he would be of all men most miserable if Jesus had not risen from the dead and there was no hope of future reward.

(d) We are not so unlike Job! There is a tendency to expect our Christian service to produce tangible blessing in this life. We look forward to God crowning our efforts with success! There are even Bible references that encourage us to think like this: Let us not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal6v9. Yet, men and women have laboured in Sunday School teaching for years and years without seeing a single convert! Jesus spoke to his disciples about reaping what other men had sowed. Only at the last Great Ingathering at the end of time will reaper and sower rejoice together.

(2) Elihu sides with God rather than Job.

The young man makes six uncompromising points about God:

• God cannot do wrong. 34v12.

• God is not answerable to a higher authority. He takes sole responsibility for both good and bad. v13.

• Man is totally dependent upon God for life. v14and15.

• God is impartial. He does not favour the powerful. "The mighty are removed without human hand." v18.

• Nothing his hid from God - he punishes the wicked and cares for the needy. v21, 26 and 28.

• We cannot make terms with God. We are in no position to strike a bargain with God - to promise to be better if only he will do something about our affliction. v31to33.

COMMENT:

What Elihu says is good in parts!

(a) God is good; he is in charge; he does know everything that goes on; we cannot do deals with him as an equal. The last point is particularly relevant as people still try, one way or another, to negotiate with God.

(b) It is also true that God exercises a degree of control over the affairs of men. He is working his purposes out - wicked men die - wiser councils prevail.

We can see in the Old Testament how God preserved and protected his people by raising up a series of deliverers - like Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Mordecai, Esther and Cyrus.

In the Christian era nothing has for long halted the spread and success of the Gospel. Hitler, Stalin and Mao tse Tung made determined efforts to stamp Christianity out - but with no success. Today there is wonderful church growth in many parts of the world including China, several African and South American countries.

(c) It is not true that God manages everything. Wicked men do prosper for many years and make life miserable for good men. Many Christians perished in Stalin's Gulags or starved to death because of his disastrous agricultural policies.

God expects men to deal with many of the world's problems. He no longer sends manna from heaven but leaves the world's hungry to charities like Oxfam, Tear Fund, War on Want and the Red Cross.

(3) Job is at fault. v34to37.

Elihu came to the conclusion that Job is mistaken - "His words lack insight." v35. Indeed, his wicked words deserve to be punished further - if that is possible! Elihu roundly and heartlessly condemns Job: "To sin he adds rebellion; scornfully he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God."v37.

Job had every right to question God if the Theology of Elihu and the other friends was correct. The only way Elihu and the others could justify Job's treatment was to demonstrate how much worse Job was than themselves. They never attempted to do this because they knew that in doing so they would have signally failed.

(C) The aloofness of God. See ch35.

In this passage Elihu paints a picture of God that Christians must find repellent. The young man has a view of God that is not born out by either the Old or New Testament. None the less it is a view that is held by many today.

Elihu makes the following points about God's sovereign detachment:

(1) God is not affected by either our sins or our righteousness. He asserts: "If you are good, is this some great gift to him?" Living Bible: 35v7. We can neither make God glad or sad by our actions. He is so far removed from us we can have no influence upon him.

(2) Our actions will have a much greater affect upon our fellow men than upon God. 35v7.

(3) Instead of appealing to God for help we should use our God given intelligence - an intelligence far greater than that bestowed upon any other living thing - to solve our own problems.

(4) God is not going to respond to men's pleas. See 35v13. He knows better than us and has decided what he is going to do before ever we approach him. Our pleas are empty and God pays no attention to them. Elihu is very much the Hyper-Calvinist!

(5) If God is unimpressed by the cries of the righteous how much less is he going to respond to Job? God has already decided Job's case - he is wicked and he must suffer. Elihu believes that Job's claim that the wicked go unpunished is nonsense. So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words." v16.

COMMENT:

Elihu's comments conflict with much of Scripture:

(a) God is not detached! Nothing could be clearer: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

(b) God is saddened by those who are estranged from him. Jesus' amazing parable of the Prodigal Son reveals the vulnerability of God the Father - longing for his son to return from the Far Country.

Whenever a sinner repents and returns to the Father - he is glad and the whole of heaven glad with him. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents.

(c) We can appeal to God to help us with our problems. All the great men of Scripture appealed for God's help. Even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed to be reassured that he was in God's will and his Father sent an angel to strengthen him. Lk22v43. But God will also help those who are not great! When the Philippian jailer called out to Paul and Silas, "Sirs what must I do to be saved?" Paul did not say: "Sorry old chap you can't do anything; it's all been decided who will be saved and who will be lost." No, Paul told the jailer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved - you and your household." Acts16v29.

(d) God will answer our prayers. Jesus made this quite clear. He told his disciples: "If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children - how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." Mt7v11.

(e) Final judgment is passed on nobody until after death. Repentance is possible to the very last hour. The dying thief exercised faith and found salvation only hours before his demise.

(D) The retribution of God. See ch36v1to21.

God's commitment to retribution is rather at variance with what Elihu said about God's aloofness.

(1) The principle adopted by God. See36v5to15.

God is sufficiently interested in humanity to punish the wicked and prosper the righteous. Elihu is no different from Job's friends in advocating this. He makes the following points:

(a) God is not capricious. He doesn't toy with men. He must act according to his righteous nature. See v5.

(b) The principle God acts upon is to punish the wicked and uphold the righteous. "He enthrones them with kings, and exalts them forever." v7.

(c) God afflicts wicked men to get their attention. "He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil." v10.

(d) If the unrighteous respond to affliction by repenting ultimately they will be blessed. "They will spend the rest of their days in prosperity." v11.

(e) Those that refuse to repent die in their youth.. Sadly some never cry for help. Their affliction results only in bitter resentment.

COMMENT:

(a) There is some truth in what Elihu says. Affliction can be therapeutic. It can stop a man in his tracks and force him to take stock of his life. Suffering can lead to repentance and new birth. An earthquake shattered the confidence of the Philippian jailer and made him cry out for salvation. Very many have called out to Jesus in deep trouble and found him ready, willing and able to save.

However, a catastrophic series of events can have the opposite effect and confirm a man in his hatred of God. Many people turn against God when a loved one dies prematurely.

It is possible to argue that pain is a blunt instrument to bring men to God. There were two thieves suffering an agonising death on the cross with Jesus; one trusted him and the other cursed him.

(b) Elihu is, of course, asserting that Job suffers because he deserves to. His misfortunes provide him with the opportunity to repent. In this Elihu is wrong. Suffering does not invariably afflict the unrighteous or blessings accrue to the righteous in this life. Between the two thieves on the cross was a third man - who had done no wrong whatsoever.

Neither Elihu nor any of Job's friends provide actual evidence for their assertions. Indeed, the evidence indicates that many good men suffer misfortune and many bad men live a charmed life.

(2) Elihu's appeal. See ch36v16to21.

This passage is so difficult to translate you could almost make it mean what you liked. It is a case that one translator's guess is as good as another's!

It seems Elihu is telling Job:

(a) That God is attempting to entice him away from trouble to freedom and comfort. God is whispering in Job's ear!

(b) That as long as he remains preoccupied with his grievances against God and his friends he will make no progress.

(c) Not to wish for wealth to relieve his affliction or wish for darkness to hide his wickedness.

COMMENT:

(a) It is true that God can speak to us in our troubles and try to manoeuvre us into a better position. The Book of Judges is an account of the Israelites turning to pagan gods and then suffering at the hand of neighbouring tribes until they renounce their idols and cry to the LORD whereupon God sends them a deliverer. Paul had a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming too puffed up and to keep him reliant on God's grace. Peter had to endure much misery before he learned true humility and was fit to feed Christ's lambs.

(b) It is also true that many respond to affliction negatively and rail on God for letting it happen to them. People will blame God for losses that are down to the wickedness of men!

(c) We need to be very careful not to pass judgment on others. This was the mistake Elihu, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar all made. Job suffered to put his faith to the test and to demonstrate that he was not upright and blameless for what he got out of it.

It is vital to respond positively to suffering and to see how we can benefit from it. But sometimes the stark and troubling answer is, nothing. We may be able to leave an example - like the great cloud of witnesses to triumphant faith in the epistle to the Hebrews. But sometimes as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia Huntingdon's chorea takes a bleak and crippling grip - not even this. There are some awful diseases that contribute nothing but misery and nothing of worth to the sufferer.

| (E) The greatness of God. See Ch36v22toch37v1to24.

(1) A reminder of God's greatness.

Elihu reminds Job of God's greatness: "How great is God - beyond our understanding." 36v26. No one can teach God anything; no one can impose limits upon him; no one can accuse God of doing wrong.

COMMENT:

(a) Yet Elihu himself imposed limits upon God. He claimed to know how God acted: he was just and consequently must punish the wicked and reward the righteous. There remain many like Elihu today. They say, "God is sovereign so he acts just as he pleases - which is, of course, according to my intellectually satisfying Theology.

(b) Elihu was being unfair to Job who did not accuse God of doing wrong. He just wanted to understand why he suffered such misfortune. He wanted reassurance that God was on his case and that he had not been forgotten.

Many who suffer feel like this. They want confirmation that God has not abandoned them and that he loves them. As they enter the valley of the shadow of death they will fear no evil IF God is with them - and he makes this FELT. There are times Christians long to EXPERIENCE God's abiding presence.

(2) Illustrations of God's greatness.

Elihu illustrates God's greatness with reference to a variety of meteorological phenomena:

• The water cycle. Water evaporates to form clouds and then falls back to earth again as rain - abundant showers fall on mankind. See36v27and28. This is something Solomon was aware of. See Ecc1v5to9.

• Thunder and flashing lightning - lightning that illuminates the very depths of the sea! 36v30.

• The violence of the thunderstorm. 36v33 to 37v5.

• Snowfall and torrential downpours of rain. Rain so heavy animals take cover; they remain in their dens. v8.

• The cold driving wind that freezes everything up. 37v9and10.

• The floating, swirling clouds. 37v9and10.

• The hot and humid south wind. 37v17

• Skies of beaten bronze. 37v18.

• The brightness of the sun. "Bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clear." 37v21.

Elihu concludes that as God is great in his mastery of the weather so he is our master - "Beyond our reach and exalted in power." We are not in a position to argue with God. See37v19. He does not need our wisdom. The great controller of the weather is great, too, in justice and righteousness. See 37v23. Job's proper response is to revere God - not to question him!

COMMENT:

Today, the weather phenomena described by Elihu are better understood. The weather is the result of certain laws, processes and properties - although this is not properly appreciated by the majority of people who remain in palpable ignorance about meteorology. It is amazing the number of people who think they know about the weather who know next to nothing.

It is not true that God makes it rain in much the same way as I turn on my tap to fill the kettle with water. One of the reasons rain occurs is because water droplets, ice crystals and water vapour can all exist in the same cloud. Water evaporates from the water droplets and the vapour then condenses on the ice crystals to form snow. Eventually the snow falls, melts and produces rain.

Clouds float because they are made up of such very tiny water droplets they hang in suspension in the air.

South and north winds blow in response to pressure patterns which are governed in part by temperature differences on the earth.

Lightning occurs because negatively and positively charged particles become separated in cumulonimbus clouds. Thunder is produced by lightning.

Weather can be studied scientifically and predictions made about it because it is controlled by known laws.

HOWEVER:

Our weather is governed by certain factors that God had to get right like:

• The size of the earth

• The distance of the earth from the sun.

• The speed at which the earth rotates.

• The angle of inclination of the earth's axis of rotation to the plain of orbit.

• The time it takes the earth to orbit the sun.

• The highly unusual properties of water. Water needs nuclei or particles to condense on to form cloud droplets. It needs different nuclei to freeze on to produce ice crstals. The latter are not common in the atmosphere which allows many droplets to become super-cooled before freezing. These properties are necessary for the formation of precipitation.

If any of the factors above were different from what they are it would have profound implications for our weather making it less conducive for life.

Scientists should display a large measure of humility when discussing the origins of life on our planet. Innumerable factors had to be just right for the earth to be habitable. We all need to show great humility whenever we talk about God. This is a theme developed by God himself when he finally answers Job out of the whirlwind.