Job’s three friends, Eplihaz, Bildad and Zophar, failed
to convince him that he was punished because of his sin and wickedness. Silenced
by Job’s insistence that he did not sin and would not acknowledge any wrong on
his part, they gave up on him. They were put off by what they felt was Job’s self-righteousness.
In Job 32, we see the introduction of a new character of a younger man, Elihu by
name. Up to this point he was observing the debates between Job and his three
friends. Verse 2 gives us some background information about him. He was a Buzite
and his father was Barachel. He came from the line of Ram, and based on deduction
from Ruth 4:19-21, he could well be King David’s ancestors. The name Elihu
means “My God is he.” We see him being presented as an impetuous man, for just
in the opening five verses, three times the word anger was used to describe his
feeling toward Job and the three friends.
The crux of Job’s argument was that
God had wrongly judged, smote and inflicted him with a terrible affliction.
Without specific mention to Job’s experience, Elihu tackled the question of “Can
God’s justice be protested?” Elihu was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar because
they did not have any answer for Job, yet they had the audacity to condemn him.
He had waited in vain to hear some wise counsel from the three older men but
they did not come. He was exasperated that they did not have adequate answers
to Job and his perplexity concerning God. His anger arose because he felt how
inept they were with their reasonings. Elihu was appalled that they could not
silent Job’s charges against God.
In
verses 6-22, Elihu gave reasons why he was qualified to speak out. Up till now,
he had been a silent bystander, listening to their argument. Being young, he
did not want to intrude in the discussion between the older men. He felt that they were older and should be
able to impart wisdom to others. But on hearing their arguments, he concluded
that wisdom does not always accompany age. Wisdom is a gift of God. He presumed
on his right to speak because of his God-given insight and asked for their indulgence
to hear his thoughts. The arguments of the three friends, he felt, were not providing
Job with a convincing answer to his perplexity.
Elihu
felt that all three of them should not be excused for their ineptness and
refused to let them get away. Feeling that he would be able to disarm Job’s
insistence, he expressed his desire to make his opinion on the issue known. Elihu
felt compelled to speak out and insisted that he would speak fearlessly and
sincerely without partiality. He insisted that his concern was for the truth to
be known and would not resort to flattery because it was not in his nature to
do so. Besides his fear of God would restrain him from doing so.
God is the source of true wisdom. According
to James 3:17, “…wisdom from
above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full
of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” Gray hair and experience do not automatically make one wise. It is
being connected with the All-knowing, All-wise God that we are imbued with
wisdom, and enabled to walk wisely. God wants to educate our conscience so that
it can be the informed inner voice to guide us in the journey of life. Our conscience
can be educated by our constant reading, understanding and living out His Word.
The Word of God keeps us in contact with the ever-present Spirit of truth. God
is nearer to us than we know. He is not far off. So, stay in touch with Him!
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