Year 1, Week 3, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 3, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Job 32-34.

Today’s reading introduces us to the words of a new character, Elihu. Elihu has been present during the entire conversation between Job and his friends. Now that Job and his friends have exhausted their words, Elihu believes that it is his turn: “Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger.” (Job 32:2-5). Elihu has deferred to the “aged wisdom” of Job and his three friends, but he seethed in his silence. The first five verses mention four times that Elihu “burned with anger.” 

But this angry young Elihu believes he has the wisdom that has not yet been stated: “It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.’…I also will answer with my share; I also will declare my opinion. For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me. Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins ready to burst.” (Job 32:9-10,17-19). Elihu has held his breath long enough; any longer and he will implode. So Elihu explodes on Job and his friends. Elihu is angry with Job’s friends because “they had found no answer,” and he is angry with Job because “he justified himself rather than God.”

I am not completely sure what to make of Elihu. The Scripture does not explicitly tell us if his anger was righteous or unrighteous. While Job’s three friends are clearly rebuked at the end of the Book, Elihu is not included in that assessment (see Job 42:7-9). Elihu, in fact, does seem to make some better points as he navigates the positions taken by Job’s friends (which declared that Job is suffering because of his sin), as well as Job (which was that he is innocent and being treated unfairly). I conclude that Elihu is not altogether different from the other three friends, and in the final analysis, he is not of much help either. None of the characters really know what is going on with Job, for you and I, as readers of the account after the sorry, are privy to information that the characters in the story did not possess. No body came up with the explanation that Job was suffering by the permission of God, at the hands of Satan, when he quipped: “Does Job fear God for no reason?” (Job 1:9).

Therefore, I am struck by what today’s reading reveals about God’s assessment of human wisdom. God’s Word underscores the deficiency of human wisdom. The account of Job, particularly, the bulk of the Book, which unfolds the conversations of Job, his friends, and now Elihu, spends most of its time trying to demonstrate who has the adequate wisdom to explain the ways of God. While mankind is made in the image of God, we should not think that such high dignity includes the innate ability to understand God and His ways. God has given mankind the capacity of reason, and yet, aspects of the reality of an infinite, eternal God are beyond what mere human reason can sort out. The creature cannot fully comprehend the Creator: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:6).

And yet, one of the flaws of the human condition is the assumption that we intrinsically possess wisdom. It is natural to want to make sense out of life; but we must face our native limitations in determining ultimate meaning on our own. Not really knowing what is going on, does not really inhibit us from explaining what we think it going on. Like Elihu, we can not only suffer from anger, but also hubris: "If you have understanding, hear this; listen to what I say.” (Job 34:16). And yet, the Apostle Paul, even while under the inspiration of the Spirit in writing the Letter to the Romans, was stumped as he wrestled with the nature and ways of God: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33).

But to say that God and His ways are beyond our own ability to discover, is not to say that God is undiscoverable. God is discoverable. But the reason that we can understand anything at all about God is that He has revealed Himself to us: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29). We are not left in the darkness; God has revealed Himself. Therefore, we can know what God has revealed. However, beyond what God has revealed, we should refrain from declaring our expert analysis: "Never be wise in your own sight.” (Romans 12:16).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe