WWUTT 884 Elihu Rebukes Job?

In our study of the book of Job, we're introduced to a new character named Elihu, a young man who hasn't spoken up yet, but now he speaks, to prepare Job to hear the words that God is going to speak when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing, and if this is ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Elihu Is Introduced as a New Speaker in Job

Thank you, Becky. Well, being Thursday, we come back to our Old Testament study of the book of Job. And we're really shifting gears today in this study, because we're going to get introduced to a new character who hasn't even been mentioned in everything that we've read in Job so far.

31 chapters, and the young man Elihu doesn't even get mentioned until chapter 32. We'll talk about why here in just a moment. But he precedes the word of the Lord when God speaks to Job, which will come up in chapter 38.

So from chapter 32 through 37, we have the words of Elihu. And there are many who think that Elihu may actually be the author of Job, since he was present there writing down the words of the things that people were saying.

Job and his friends, we've come to the end of their discourses. Job and his three friends, they're done talking. The words of Job were ended at the conclusion of chapter 31. And as it's going to say here at the start of chapter 32, no one would respond to him again after that, because Job saw that he was right in his own eyes.

And this really sparked Elihu to finally speak up. So here's what we've got. Job chapter 32, starting in verse 1. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu, the son of Barakel the Buzite of the family of Ram, burned with anger.

Now, before going on, already we know more about Elihu than we know of any of the other characters in this story. We don't know that much about Job's friends, except about the lands where they came from.

We don't even know much about Job's background, except for some things that he has said about himself. But here we know that Elihu is the son of Barakel the Buzite of the family of Ram. Now, we have a Ram mentioned in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, but that would have been a different Ram.

That was much later. He was a descendant of Jacob. And the events that we're reading about here in Job happened at the same time as the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or possibly preceding even Abraham.

Nevertheless, we know more about Elihu's genealogy than any other character in this story. And the reason for that is likely because Elihu is the author. Job had talked about how people thought his words were so wise, they would write them down.

Elihu may be just such a young man who has been present for this entire thing and writing down the things that he heard, coming not only from Job, but also from his friends. And so now that Job has justified himself, Elihu burns with anger, a man who fears God.

And he speaks up and rebukes Job because of the statements that he has made. So what we're going to have here as we go on to read Elihu's words, this is split up into various sections. Right now, we're kind of in the introduction, being introduced to this character named Elihu.

But then what's coming up next is Elihu is going to say to everyone why he feels like he needs to speak. Job's done talking. So it's not like Elihu has interrupted Job. Before Job started in on his last discourse, he interrupted his friends, cut them off, not even going to let you talk anymore.

But here it's clear to us at the conclusion of Job 31 that Job ended his words. And his friends, as it says in 32 verse 1, ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. So Elihu is sitting there and he's watching all of this and it's pretty evident to him.

Nobody else is going to speak anymore. So now Elihu, burning with anger, is going to speak up to rebuke Job for the attitude that he has justifying himself before God instead of humbling himself before God.

God has certainly humbled him, but he won't humble himself. And so this is why Elihu finally speaks up. So he's going to explain at the start of this speech why he is talking now. And I think it really conveys the humility by which Elihu enters into this conversation.

He says he's a young man. Everyone else is older and experienced. He hasn't felt like he can talk. But now that everybody is silent, he can't keep silent. For he is speaking up with a passion for God and to rebuke Job for some of the things that he has said.

But first of all, at the start of this, Elihu explains why he's talking. And then the next portion, chapters 33 through about 34, Elihu challenges Job and disputes some of the claims that he has made.

Then Elihu reminds Job of his place before God. That's in chapter 35. And then he goes into talking about God's majesty. And that's going to be the rest of Elihu's speech from 36 through 37. And then God speaks up in chapter 38.

Elihu Speaks from Humility and Claims the Spirit of God Is Moving Him

Now, because God does not commend Elihu's words, there are a lot of scholars that just don't know what to make of him. I mean, obviously, he's a little bit better spoken than Job's three friends, because the Lord rebukes Job's three friends and says to sacrifice for their sinfulness and the way that they've spoken.

But Elihu isn't mentioned. In fact, he's not mentioned in the in the postlude at all. The epilogue of the story, he isn't talked about for the first 31 chapters of Job. And here he speaks up, but it's like no other character really acknowledges that he's there.

Even God doesn't say anything about Elihu. I think one of the ways that we should understand Elihu is that he's kind of like a prophet. Not exactly, not in a formal sense, because God hasn't told him to speak or what to say.

And then God eventually does speak himself. But this is somebody who is kind of a forerunner to the words that God is going to say, which is kind of what a prophet does. Or you think about John the Baptist's relationship to Christ.

He was the one who was crying out in the wilderness, make straight the paths of the Lord. And so Elihu kind of serves that function here in that particular way. I don't think that we should dismiss Elihu's words as being like Job's friends because God doesn't rebuke Elihu.

Just because God doesn't commend him, that doesn't mean, well, you know, Elihu's words are useless. Rather, again, I think this speaks into the humility of Elihu. If he's the author of this book, and I truly believe that he is, then he's not out to commend himself.

Even if God did commend Elihu, it is not for Elihu to write this into the story because he wants God to be glorified, not for himself to be congratulated. So, again, I think that that just speaks into the humility of Elihu.

Elihu's words are wise words. They come from somebody who fears God. And so that's the way that we should read and receive these words. Job 32, well, let's see. I think I just finished the genealogy. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.

Okay, now verse 3. 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. It's really a great summary of everything that we've read in the last 31 chapters.

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. And Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite, answered and said, I am young in years, and you are aged.

Therefore, I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. I said, Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom. But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

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. Behold, I waited for your words. I listened for your wise sayings while you searched out what to say.

I gave you my attention, and behold, there was none among you who refuted Job or who answered his words. Beware, lest you say, We have found wisdom. God may vanquish him, not a man. He has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your speeches.

They are dismayed. They answer no more. They have not a word to say. And shall I wait because they do not speak because they stand there and answer no more? 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, I must speak that I may find relief. I must open my lips and answer. I will not show partiality to any man or use flattery toward any person, for I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.

Now, in some of what Elihu has said here, we actually kind of have hints of the fact that he's been learning from Job. Maybe he's speaking kind of rhetorically, or maybe he's actually conveying that he's learned from this man, because some of what he says is similar to what Job said earlier regarding Job's right to speak.

And Elihu used similar terminology, talking about the breath that he has, the spirit that is within him. Same thing that Job said earlier when he said that it was his turn to speak. And now Elihu has used those words.

So he's learned something from Job here, and has said, if Job, even though he is more aged and experienced than I, if he can use this to give explanation for why it's his turn to talk, then I can call upon that same reasoning.

That's kind of what Elihu is doing here. He's full of words. He's ready to speak. The spirit within me constrains me. Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent. Like new wineskins ready to burst, I must speak that I may find relief.

And he says, I will not show partiality to any man or use flattery toward any person. So he's not saying this to earn Job's approval, nor is he saying this just to rebuke Job's friends and show that he's on Job's side.

He is trying to measure everything that has been said without showing favoritism or flattery to any person. So now Job chapter 33. But now hear my speech, O Job, and listen to all my words. Behold, I open my mouth, the tongue in my mouth speaks.

The words declare the uprightness of my heart, and what my lips know, they speak sincerely. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Answer me if you can. Set your words in order before me.

Take your stand. Behold, I am toward God as you are. I too was pinched off from a piece of clay. Behold, no fear of me terrify you. My pressure will not be heavy upon you. Now note that Elihu has said that the words that he is saying come from the Spirit of God.

So I said earlier that he's not a prophet in the formal sense. Not a prophet in the sense that God has spoken to him and has said, now go speak to my people. That's what a prophet did. God spoke to a prophet, the prophet would speak to the people what God had said.

But in this particular case, it's not an audible voice from God that has told Elihu what to say. But he is confirming here that he is speaking from the Spirit of God. So his words are God's words, even though it's not a formal God-to-prophet relationship, if that makes sense.

So think of what Peter said in 2 Peter 1. No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

And here Elihu seems to know that. He seems to understand that the Spirit of God is what is pushing him to speak. And so this is another reason why Elihu doesn't get congratulations for his word when God speaks up.

Because it has been God's word. Elihu is setting the stage. It's like he's preparing Job's heart for God to speak. God doesn't just erupt into the situation and destroy everybody with his words. But rather, Elihu is tilling the soil.

He is conditioning Job's heart to hear what God is actually going to say from the mouth of God toward the end of this book, lest it be so weighty upon Job that he cannot stand it. Elihu even qualifies the gentleness of his words compared to if God were the one speaking here when he says, I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.

So you're hearing this from the mouth of a man, my tongue that speaks to me. It's the Spirit of God that has made me say what I am saying to you. But this is still coming from a man. I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.

Behold, no fear of me need terrify you. You don't need to be afraid of me. My pressure will not be heavy on you. But the Lord's words, when he speaks up from the mouth of God, are going to be way more weighty.

But Elihu, and this is all according to the grace of God, compelled by the Holy Spirit that is within him, is preparing Job and softening his heart for the word that is going to come with much greater pressure when it is spoken.

So now verse 8,. Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words. You say, I am pure without transgression. I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me.

He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths. This is Elihu summarizing what Job has said. And now verse 12,. Behold, in this you are not right. Elihu is saying this to Job.

So once again, let me repeat that. Elihu is summarizing Job's words and then saying that he's not right. So here's what he says, what he summarizes Job has said. Verse 9,. You say, I am pure without transgression.

I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me. He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths. Behold, in this you are not right.

I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying he will answer none of man's words? For God speaks in one way and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man.

He keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. So Elihu is saying here that God speaks into the conscience. That's basically what he's saying. Not that all men receive visions and voices from God.

He's speaking very metaphorically here, but he's talking about how God speaks into the conscience to keep a man's soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. Contrast that with people who do claim that God has spoken to them in visions and voices.

What is it that they usually say? It's typically not to rebuke somebody for sin. It's typically some sort of health or wealth or prosperity sort of a message that they want to give. But Elihu is saying here that God does speak to turn a man back from his wanderings, that he would come to the path of righteousness.

You are being rebuked here, and it's something that you need to listen to, although it is not God's voice from heaven that has come. Something is still being communicated here by God. Verse 19, man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones so that his life loathes bread and his appetite the choices food.

His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near the pit and his life to those who bring death. If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him and says, Deliver him from going down into the pit.

I have found a ransom. Let his flesh become fresh with youth. Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor. Again, that's all the angel or the mediator that would be speaking on behalf of a man. Elihu goes on, then man prays to God, and he accepts him.

He sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says, I sinned and perverted what is right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.

And then Elihu says in verse 29, behold, God does all these things. So Job had been saying before, where is a mediator who will plead my case before God? Elihu is saying to Job, there has been a mediator who's been doing this the entire time.

It's been an angel. It has been someone, one of a thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him and says, deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. Someone has ransomed Job's soul from the pit.

He's not gone down to death. Therefore, there is a mediator who is mediating for Job. If you're still alive, there's a mediator for you. If you are alive and you fear God, as Job does, and we've heard that, then there's someone mediating on Job's behalf.

Now, Elihu says an angel. It's true that Hebrews chapter 1 says that angels are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. But in this particular sense, I do believe that Elihu is referring to Christ.

It's just that we don't know Christ yet by that name because he's not become incarnate. The Son of God has not become incarnate, which doesn't happen, of course, until the New Testament. We have those references in the Old Testament to the angel of the Lord, and there are many scholars that will say that these are Christophanies.

They are appearances of Jesus, but because he is not incarnate, he doesn't go by that name, and so he's just called the angel of the Lord. Not an angel of the Lord, but the angel of the Lord. An angel, a spirit being.

And so Elihu refers to Job's mediator that way here, which would be the Son of God. So it's not a Christophany because it's not an appearance of Christ, but it is a Christ mention that comes up here in Elihu's explanation to Job.

Let's finish this up and then we'll conclude for today. So again, verse 29, Elihu says, Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with a man. You have been delivered over and over again from the grave because of a mediator that is ransoming you, that is mediating on your behalf before God to bring back his soul from the pit that he might be lighted with the light of life.

Pay attention, O Job, listen to me, be silent, and I will speak. If you have any words, answer me, speak, for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me, be silent, and I will teach you wisdom. And that's where we're going to conclude, chapter 33.

So maybe by next week we'll even be able to finish up all of Elihu's words here. We'll see how far we get. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5 says that there is one mediator between God and man, and that is the man Christ Jesus.

And in 1 John 2, we are told that we have an advocate before the Father, and that is Jesus Christ the righteous, someone who is speaking favorably on our behalf before God. If you are a follower of Christ, that's what you have, a mediator before God the Father himself.

You have access to God through Jesus Christ, and amen for that. Let's finish with prayer, that we may pray to God through our mediator, Christ Jesus. Heavenly Father, we thank you for considering our need, that we were but dust, clay, nothing, falling apart, wasted away, good to be sent back into the ground.

Yet you have considered our need and sent your son Jesus to die for our sins, so that now through Christ we can call upon you as Father, and we know that you hear us, because he is mediating for us. He is advocating before the Father.

What delight this should give to our flesh today, to our bones, to our spirits, that we should be enlivened all the more, knowing that our sins are forgiven in Christ, and God is for us. So who can be against us?

Give us life to our bones today as we go throughout our day, praising God with all that we are and all that we do. In Jesus' name, amen.

Closing Exhortation, Prayer, and Program Sign-Off

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word when we understand the text.