II. ELIHU’S THIRD CORRECTION
AND REFUTATION OF JOB
In chapter thirty-five we have Elihu’s third correction and refutation of Job.
A. Correcting Job Further
by Checking with Him concerning His Answer
Elihu corrected Job further by checking with him concerning his answer (vv. 1-3). Elihu asked him if he considered his answer to be just. Then he asked Job, "Do you say, My righteousness is more than God’s,/That you say, What advantage is there to me,/What do I profit, more than if I had sinned?" (vv. 2-3).
B. Elihu’s Refutation of Job before His Friends
In verse 4 Elihu said, "I will respond to you with words, /And to your companions with you." This indicates that Elihu was refuting Job before his friends.
1. Charging Job to Look unto Heaven
and Behold the Skies
Elihu charged Job to look unto heaven and behold the skies, which were higher than him. "If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him?/And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?/If you are righteous, what can you give to Him,/Or what does He receive from your hand?" (vv. 6-7). Here Elihu was telling Job that whether he sinned or was righteous, that did not affect God.
Elihu’s talk was vain. There was no need for him to charge Job in this way.
2. Teaching Job That Men
Cry Out to God because of Oppressions
and Cry for Help because of the Mighty Arm
Elihu continued by teaching Job that men cry out to God because of oppressions and cry for help because of the mighty arm (v. 9). But according to Elihu, no one says, "Where is God my Maker,/Who gives songs in the night,/Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth/And makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?" (vv. 10-11). Elihu then said that God does not answer their cry because of the pride of evil men. He said further that God does not hear and regard an empty cry (vv. 12-13). Why did Elihu not charge Job and his friends to pray? Why did he not charge them to praise their Maker?
Elihu went on to say that Job had said that he did not behold God, that his cause was before God, and that he had to wait on God. According to Elihu, because God had not visited in His anger nor regarded such great arrogance, Job had opened his mouth in vanity and had multiplied words without knowledge (vv. 14-16). Elihu accused Job of speaking vanity, but what about his own words? As we read this chapter, we can see that there was no reality in Elihu’s words.
In his further talk to Job, Elihu was still unable to answer Job concerning the purpose in God’s dealing with him, as the apostle Paul did in declaring to the New Testament believers that the affliction that the believers are suffering works out for them an eternal weight of glory, which is the God of glory to be their glorious portion for them to gain and enjoy unto eternity (2 Cor. 4:17).
(Life-Study of Job, Chapter 26, by Witness Lee)
