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Job 30-32: Elihu's Unexpected Wisdom
January 30, 2026 · 15 min
Discover the surprising insights from Elihu, who challenges Job and his friends with youthful boldness.
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The Mystery of Suffering and Job's Lament 0:11 Good morning, and welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we continue our journey through the book of Job. We're gonna be looking at chapters 30 through 32 today. Verse 4 of0:23 chapter 31. Does he not see my ways and count all of my steps? Okay. I'm being very candid. The book of Job is a challenging 1. It's not just a story, an account, a narrative, I believe0:34 it's true, of a man who lost everything, went through tremendous suffering, and then had it restored. It's also a look at man's limited understanding0:47 of God. Even the best of men cannot grasp what God is always doing. And so what the book of Job shows us is what we don't know. It does0:58 enlighten our understanding to know that we don't understand everything. So in today's, reading, our passage today, we have the conclusion of Job's response to his 3 friends. And1:10 then what appears to come out of the blue, we see a fourth individual, Elihu, who has been apparently there kinda the whole time. He makes his speech. He's a younger guy, and he makes a long1:22 speech. This comes after Job's 3 seasoned friends kinda throw in the rhetorical towel, then Elihu steps up. Not only, does1:34 he take on Job, but he takes on Job's 3 friends saying that they failed. They failed to convince Job that he was suffering as a result of his sin. Now just a1:46 little background on Elihu, we're gonna look at him later, but let me give you this background. He was a descendant of Butz, the nephew of Abraham. He is, as I mentioned, younger1:58 than Job's 3 friends who had been teaming up on Job. And and, apparently, this was not just Job and his 3 friends sitting in his living room, going back and forth for several2:09 days. Apparently, a crowd had gathered, and people were listening to this dialogue that were taking place, and Elihu was apparently there. And when Job's 3 seasoned friends,2:22 gave up, then Elihu stood up and said he could no longer remain silent, and he laid the foundation then for his speech. Now today, we're gonna focus primarily2:35 on Job's final remarks in his defense against his friends. And we're gonna see later that Job's friends were wrong in their application of the truth. We've talked about this before. They spoke truth.2:47 It was just misapplied. And we're also gonna see in today's passage that Job was a good man, but he was not good enough. Verse 30, chapter 1 chapter 30 verse 1.3:00 But now they mock me, men younger than I whose fathers I disdain to put with the dogs of my flock. Now the allegations had been made in the course of these conversations that3:11 Job's suffering was because he took advantage of others. And he addresses that here in in chapter 30, making the point that the mercy and the kindness that he extended to others, to the3:23 poor, to to to the widows, to children, had not been shown to him. Rather, he was being kicked when he was down. Verse 9. And now I am their taunting3:35 song. Yes. I am their byword. They abhor me. They keep far from me. They do not hesitate to spit in my face because he, that is god, has loosened my bow3:47 strings and afflicted me. They have cast off restraint before me. So the perceived absence of god and his favor in the life and3:59 affairs of Job makes him pray for those whose hearts are gripped by evil and the evil 1. When he says that the the loosened my bowstrings, literally, he's saying that, you know, my4:10 tent straps have been loosened, the stakes of my tent, and my everything's collapsing and around me. And so you have these these folks taking advantage of that situation. Now remember, over in chapter 1,4:23 Satan, when he's challenging, Job's situation, he goes before God. He says, well, you put a hedge of protection around him. Well, that hedge of God's providential care and favor4:35 has a restraining effect upon those who would want to do harm to God's children. I dropped down to, to verse 20. I cry out to you, but you do not4:47 answer me. I stand up, You regard me, but you have become cruel to me. With the strength of your hands, you oppose me. So as good as Job4:59 was, he he did not understand what was happening to him. Alright? He he believed that he was being targeted by god, but5:10 we know because we see the whole account. We saw and, of course, Job will see this later, but it wasn't God that was targeting him. It was in fact Satan. Have I not wept for5:22 him who was in trouble? Is verse 25. Has not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I looked for good, evil came to me, and when I waited for light, then came darkness.5:34 And here again, Job is saying that I've shown mercy and kindness, but it has not been shown to me in the time of my need. I think he's that that's kind ofJob's Oath of Innocence and Moral Integrity 5:47 a stinging rebuke to his friends as well. In chapter 31, Job concludes his final defense with a solemn oath of innocence. Alright? He's he's pledging his innocence here and and and makes this5:58 sweeping moral inventory in which he enumerates sins he has not committed and invites the judgment if any of the accusations made against him are in fact true.6:11 Verse 1, chapter 31. I have made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young woman? For what is the allotment of God from above and the inheritance of the almighty from on high? Is6:23 it not destruction for the wicked and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does he not see my ways and count all of my steps? God sees everything. He's he takes account of what we're doing. If I have6:34 walked in falsehoods or if my foot has hastened deceit, let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity. If my step has turned from the way, the way of6:46 God, or my heart walked after my eyes, or if any spot adheres to my hand, then let me sow in another eat. Let them take from me what I have. Yes. Let my harvest be6:58 rooted out. If my heart has been enticed by a woman or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, meaning he taking advantage of his neighbor's wife, then let my wife grind for another, and let7:10 others bow down over her. For that would be wickedness. Yes. It would be iniquity deserving of judgment. For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction and would root7:22 out all my increase. So in these first 12 verse verses of chapter 31, Job speaks to his moral integrity and his honesty, and I'll tell you, it's impressive and worthy of emulation.7:35 In fact, this standard that he sets in verse 1 that I've made a covenant with my eyes, why then should I look upon a young woman? He's talking about lusting after a woman or looking at anything that would would cause him7:45 to do that. This is the standard that Jesus set in Matthew chapter 5 verse 27, where he said, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you7:57 that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. See, Job is setting a standard. This is the he's living by a8:09 standard that Jesus set for us in the New Testament under grace. Alright. In verses 13 through 23, he speaks of how he's treated others, valuing them based not upon8:21 their position in society or their possessions, but on the fact that they were created by god. Now don't miss this. This is very important. Verse 15, did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did8:33 not the same 1 fashion us in the womb? This what Job was laying out here, this is very important. Alright? Job is laying out here the foundation of true equality,8:45 and it is found in the fact that we are all created by God. We have the same creator. Now the removal of this understanding of this common origin and this divine value is the8:57 root is the root of inequality that is lamented by so many today. But here's the irony. Those who are marching against inequality, well, that's the9:09 same crowd that's been marching against the inclusion of god and his word in society, primarily in our schools, teaching our children that they have value as their neighbor does because they're created9:21 in in the image of God. You see, if you reject God, the fact that he created us and that's where our value comes you're not gonna have equality. You can have God and9:33 then equality, but you can't have equality without God. In verses 24 through 28, he speaks of his devotion toward God, that his trust is in god, not in his9:45 wealth, and he is not drawn in by the cultural trends of idolatry of that day. Verse 24, if I have made gold my hope or said to find gold, you are my confidence. If I have rejoiced9:57 because my wealth was great and because my hand had gained much, if I have observed the sun, this is the idolatry when it shines, or the moon moving in brightness so that my heart has10:08 been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand, this also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above. So10:20 we also see that he did not hold bitterness in his heart against his enemy. He freely forgave, and he cared for the stranger and the needy. Job was a good man. There's no question about it. In fact, he's described10:32 as a righteous man, but he's not good enough. He lived by a very high standard, but there was something missing. And today, I think we see it. While there have been rumblings of brokenness in Job,10:44 he has held on to his righteousness and defended himself declaring he could argue his case before God when he really needed to just plead for the mercy of10:56 God. Verse 35. Oh, that I had 1 to hear me. Here is my mark. Oh, that the almighty would answer me, that my prosecutor had writtenElihu's Emergence and the Call to Humility 11:08 a book. Surely, I would carry it on my shoulder and bind it on the like a crown. See, Job was competent in his goodness, and I think that's wherein Job's problem lies. This is not what11:20 God is looking for. This is what he's looking for. The psalmist talk about this in Psalm 34 18. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a11:32 contrite spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, oh god, you will not despise. Alright. In11:44 chapter 32, we are introduced to, as I mentioned, Elihu. Now scholars have long debated his role and his message. Now some argue11:55 that Elihu's speech reflects a later addition to the narrative of Job. I I don't buy that. Others read them as, his12:07 his comments as, as they're presented in the right order, preserved for us to have a greater understanding of what's happening here. And and they, they some say that it serves as a bridge12:19 to the lord's appearance, god's appearance in chapter 38. So but but even among those who take Elihu as a part of the narrative as presented here, There are opinions the the the12:31 opinions are split. Some say ask, you know, or or say is he a prophetic voice who kind of reframes this debate against setting the stage for the Lord to appear, or is he a young man,12:43 overconfident and short on humility? I I think if you read the text, it it it suggests maybe both conclusions. Eli who can speak true things about God's12:55 greatness while missing the deeper mystery of Job's suffering, just like his 3 friends did. And and if God obviously can put truth in the the mouth of Balaam's donkey, he13:07 can put, you know, truth in the mouth of an overconfident young man. Elihu may be more right than Job's 3 friends, but less right than he thinks he is. Alright. We're13:19 gonna wait until next time to take his first speech, or his, the first chapter here in 32, and take his whole speech in its entirety so we can take a look at that. Father,13:31 thank you for your word. And, Lord, we we thank you for what we are discovering in the book of Job. Lord, that not not everything is as we as it appears to be to13:43 us. And 1 thing we know, 1 thing we should understand that we can't understand everything about you, that you your ways are beyond our ways, and some things we just don't understand. But we have the holy spirit,13:54 which Jesus gave to us, that we might grow in our understanding and knowledge of you and your workings. You're an infinite god, and so14:06 our finite minds cannot grasp it. But, Lord, you can lead us into understanding your word. Your word is here for us. And so we continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten14:18 us, grant us the understanding to know how to apply your word to our lives in the world in which we live. And we thank you for that, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.14:30 Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning, and, we're coming close to the end of, the book of Job. Can you believe it? We'll be finishing our second book, and we're gonna move to the book of Exodus. So this would14:42 be a great time to invite someone to join you on this journey. They can find out everything they need to know by going to f r c dot o r g slash bible to prepare14:54 for our journey into the book of Exodus. Until next time, keep standing on the word.15:03 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:15 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Mystery of Suffering and Job's Lament5:44 Job's Oath of Innocence and Moral Integrity10:58 Elihu's Emergence and the Call to Humility
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