Seated with kings
- 36:1-4 Elihu speaks ‘utterances’ on behalf of God (the Hebrew noun occurs 34 times in Job, of a total of 38 in the OT): Elihu promises ‘blameless knowledge’: “Truly, my words are not false“:
- Genuine prophecy never mixes right and wrong (Ja 3:11), it separates them (Heb 4:12).
- Thus, Elihu asks for patience (tenacity) to ‘bear with him’, v2: Not to excuse error, but to rightly discern the content of the message (cf Acts 26:3). Since Elihu is not easily interpreted, following this blog in paraphrasing his reasoning may need the same patience.
- 36:5-7 responds to 9:4 and 12:13,16, where Job agonized that despite being sovereign, God does not seem to come to our aid in time (9:22-24; 14:13), not even to the godly (19:25-27). Elihu answers:
- God does indeed rule with might, though not to oppress the afflicted, but to rescue them. The only question is how He rescues. He does not loathe anyone but wants His kindness to lead all to repentance, v5 (cf Ro 2:4). Therefore, much injustice is not rightened until the wicked will be denied (eternal) life, v6, i.e. until a final judgement (cf 2Thes 1:5-9).
- In the meantime, believers take comfort in the fact that God never ceases to watch, and though the righteous suffer, they have been “seated with kings on the throne forever“ (v7): An imperishable throne, not in a triumphalist or utopian worldly sense, but spiritually so that we may master life even in most difficult circumstances, cf Eph 2:6; Rev 5:10; Jn 14:2.
How to apply this promise when adversity hits us
- 36:8-10 God also uses adversity to open our ears to instruction, v10 (cf v15): Nothing grabs our attention as effectively as when things do not go the way we wished.
- 36:11-14 Two ways to respond to adversity – either we listen to God, or we don’t. The latter leads to ignorance, anger, and debauchery (vv12-14); the former to (lit.) ‘the good’ and to what is ‘delightful’, v11. Translating these as ‘prosperity’ and ‘pleasantness’ gravely risks to miss the whole point, though:
- Elihu did not preach the modern ‘prosperity gospel’ with its false promise of health and wealth for all who muster enough ‘faith’ in it. Neither did he repeat the theology of Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar that all suffering is deserved punishment. No, he rejected it! The ‘good’ and the ‘pleasing’ are not alternatives to unnecessary hardships, but products of listening to God in such fiery trials!
- 36:15-16 Moreover, Elihu’s interpretation of what had happened to Job is that “He also allured you…” (ESV; lit. perf. tense):
- God is in control, He can even use adversity to lead you into a “broad place with no restraint”, a pasture without fences.
- God’s purpose of adversity for believers is not stoicism, but to open their ears and to comfort them inwardly even when outwardly they face hardship or oppression (cf Ps 23:5; 78:19).
The root of Job’s grudge and its danger
- 36:17 (literally): “And the judgment of the wicked thou (Job) hast fulfilled, judgment and justice are upheld — because of fury” (YLT). Interpretations diverge widely. One extreme translation makes Elihu say: “But now you are being punished as you deserve.” (‘Good’ News Translation) – as if Job deserved his afflictions for some wrong and, more specifically, for arguing against God like the wicked.
- Some commentators go down the same alley. However, the plot and Elihu as its likely narrator* made one thing clear from the start: Job did not suffer afflictions as punishment for any crimes (2:3; 2:10).
- An example of how differently Job argued than the wicked is that he never questioned the benefits of seeking to please God (31:3). Even in his most severe trials, Job rejected any such atheistic sentiment in the strongest terms (21:14-16).
- Therefore, to say that Elihu condemned Job would make his claims of ‘perfect knowledge’ and of being with Job (v4) the epitome of conceit. If Elihu had been so conceited, exempting him from God’s verdict about Job’s other ‘friends’ (42:7) would be weird, to say the least.
- A more plausible translation of v17 is offered, e.g. by NASB: “But you were full of judgment on the wicked; judgment and justice (take) hold (of) you.”**This is what Elihu addressed:
- In prosperity, Job had no occasion to become persuaded that God deserves our complete trust also in afflictions. Initially, Job professed such trust (2:10). But that mustard seed of faith was tried in a furnace beyond the pain of material losses:
- Job was not tempted towards apostasy (hebr. pesha, 34:37) by God’s punishment of sinners who deserve it (31:6). He was tempted by the fact that God delayed such justice while Job’s deliverance from his adversaries was postponed, 27:2; 30:20; 34:5.
- Condemned even by his former friends, Job began to question whether he had fooled himself when he did delight in God in better times (34:9).
- That is what Elihu was sent for: To preserve Job, by speaking to him the right words of encouragement and rebuke, and each at the right time (cf 1Pet 4:12-13).
- 36:18 is obscure; a good translation is probably JPS Tanakh: “For beware of wrath, lest thou be led away by thy sufficiency; Neither let the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside.” (where some take “ransom” for “bribe”)
- 36:19 Your own resources cannot keep you from distress.
- 36:20 Longing for doomsday won’t help either.
How to persevere in adversity
- 36:21 Previously, Elihu warned Job of following Israel’s rebellion of unbelief (cf 34:37), where people relying on their own righteousness worship in vain what and how they see fit, v19 (cf Gal 3:4). And like the NT (e.g. Eph 5:8; Mt 25:1-4), Elihu now asks the believer to “Be watchful (hebr. shamar, to keep, watch, preserve)… for this you have chosen…:
- i.e. remember that you committed to not turn to iniquity; this (i.e. to be watchful***) you have chosen (cf 2:10; 6:10; 10:14; 17:9; 23:10-12; 27:6; 28:28)
- You chose watchfulness, rather than affliction, i.e. rather than to be a slave of sin: The Hebrew word ‘only‘ here is the same as “cords of affliction” in v8, and as the one for the slavery in Egypt, Ex 3:7, and for the abuse of Hagar as a slave by Abraham’s wife, Gen 16:11
- In short, Elihu did not accuse Job of choosing iniquity. Unlike Eliphaz (4:7-8; 15:4-5), Elihu reminded Job of faith and of his vow to persevere in it: “You have chosen to not turn to iniquity that only enslaves; so be careful accordingly and don’t give up now”.
- 36:22-25 Who is a teacher like God, and who can give instructions to Him? Ask yourself these questions, if you want to understand why He has been worshiped by those who were before us.
Knowing God
- 36:26 Behold the greatness of God, namely that He and His being from eternity are beyond our comprehension,
- 36:27-28 …and yet He sustains us with rain, both literally (e.g. 5:10; Lev 26:4; Mt 5:45) and spiritually (cf Ps 65:9-10; 72:6; Isa 55:10-11; Joel 2:23; Heb 6:7-8).
- 36:29-32 And can anyone understand His judgements how He distributes such blessed rain clouds or the blows of His lightnings and thunders? cf 37:12-16
- 36:33 Even cattle (i.e. the dumb and brutish) acknowledge that God’s crashing thunders (i.e. his judgements) reveal God’s wrath over all unrighteousness (Ro 1:18).
In 37:1-13, Elihu concludes that reading the “book” of nature suffices to learn of the wrath of God’s judgements (cf Ro 1:18-20), but that their justice is beyond us to comprehend (v5; cf Ro 11:33-35):
- 37:1 In his judgements (symbolized by rolling thunders), God is heard and feared by the saints no less than by the “cattle” described above (36:33).
- 37:2-5: Hear this thundering rightly so that you too may hear what it reveals of God! (hebr. simu samowa, lit. hear to hear), i.e.:
- 37:6-13: Snowstorm, frost and whirlwind are symbolic here for how God’s judgements interfere with our own plans, but they accomplish His decrees, v12, be they for our correction, or for love, v13
37:14-21 applies this insight to Job’s complaints against God’s apparent injustice:
- 37:14 “Hear this, o Job…”, you who did a good job, “…stop and consider the wondrous works of God (i.e. instead of insisting on your own merits)”!
- 37:15-16 (For) what do we know in comparison?
- 37:17-18 You who are subject to global warming and frost: Who are you? Can you “spread out” the atmosphere [lit. “cast metal”; what mirrors were made of] so that it reflects just the right amount of sunlight to maintain ambient temperatures on earth?
- 37:19-21 Enlighten us how to draw up your case against the creator. Who would ever accuse God, except to be swallowed up? We cannot see God eye to eye: Our eyes cannot look into the sun without being burned.
- 37:22 Not until He will come in glory: “Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with awesome majesty”.
- To the children of Israel, he came (same verb) from Sinai, Deut 33:2, i.e. north of Egypt where they came from, but Elihu is speaking of the heavenly Zion:
- E.g. Ps 48:2 and Isa 14:13 similarly locate the heavenly Jerusalem “in the far north” (Mount Zion, the city of the great King), as if to never confuse the immutable heavenly Zion with Israel’s earthly theocracy, or with Mount Sinai in the south (Heb 12:18-22; Rev 14:1).
- In the “far” north, perhaps because only the polar star appears to man as fixed (26:7): In the present order, everything is subject to change, and our inability to see God is temporary. This will change when He returns in glory (1Jn 3:2; 1Th 4:16-17; 2Th 1:10; Rev 22:4). The NT calls it Christ’s return, because to do God’s will, He had to first come to seek and find the lost (Ps 40:7-10; quoted by Heb 10:7) because:
- 37:23 “we cannot find Him“: ButHecomes to findus (Lk 19:10).
- Biblical epistemology nowhere advocates agnosticism, but since the work of God is gibberish to man when left to himself (Eccl 3:11; 8:16-17), we need God to reveal it to us how Christ and His work are our salvation (42:5; cf e.g. 1Cor 2:10-12; 2Cor 4:6)
- 37:24 People fear God in the right way only when humbled by such dependence on Him and on His perfect righteousness (cf Ps 40:1-3). By contrast, conceit and being wise in their own eyes blinds people and leads their followers astray (cf Ps 40:4).
Conclusion
By faithfully proclaiming what the Holy Spirit had entrusted to him (36:1-4), Elihu prepared Job to hear and be brought back to life by the voice of God himself for everyone to see His glory: Very much like those who obeyed Jesus to remove the stone from the tomb of Lazarus, Jn 11:39-40. Job’s “tombstone” was his doubt of God’s justice: Being ignorant of the righteousness from God, and seeking to establish his own (Ro 10:2-3), Job could not yet unreservedly trust God. When tested in the fire of injustice, disease, and by the loss of everything, including the betrayal by his former friends, he did not yet own what it takes to solely depend on God’s sure promise of free grace, because this grace did not yet mean anything to him: He wanted justice. As the next chapter will show, Elihu accomplished his mission.
*Elihu’s presence from the beginning was not mentioned until chapter 32, and after accomplishing his mission after chapter 37, he leaves as quietly as he came, proving his faithfulness by how he gives all credit for Job’s new life to God alone.
**Job undoubtedly began to despise his pharisaical ‘friends’ (32:1). However, as the unfolding plot is about to show, God used Job’s affliction to take away that attitude (36:15-16): God blessed Job by cleansing him of all self-righteousness at the root of his own religious contempt of others, to make him a co-worker, even for their genuine conversion (42:7-9).
***Some read it in the sense: “For iniquity you have chosen instead of (bearing with) affliction”. But since that was in essence the false accusation by Job’s adversaries which also Elihu rejected (32:3), this cannot be right.
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