Job 31-42

Job 31

We’ve reached the end of Job’s argument on why his calamity was undeserved. Here he makes an appeal to his righteous life and gives specifics (this seems a continuation of a similar line of defense in Job 29.
The particulars of being righteous according to Job (and I think God would similarly conclude based on Job 1:8, etc.) are:
- Not looking (especially lustfully) at women
- Being honest
- Not being adulterous
- Not paying regard to concerns from those “lower” than me
- Sharing generously with the poor
- Not trusting in money
- Not being enticed to worship the Sun or moon
- Not cheering for the downfall of my enemy
- Helping the sojourner
- Sharing my sins openly
- Paying my fair share for things

We’re introduced here to a fifth speaker who hasn’t yet shared something. He’s not listed at the beginning of the book as being present (so was not featured then) and said he waited to speak later because he was younger and assumed others had better things to say. Then he pointed out that he wasn’t impressed and so is ready to speak himself (wait for it after this long introduction in chapter 6).
The gist of Elihu’s concern is that Job justifies himself rather than God and the 3 friends couldn’t give reasons for why Job is wrong though they claim he is. Job 32:2-3
I love the statement that flattery and favoritism would bring swift retribution from The LORD (Job 32:22). It’s a challenge for us to heed in a sadly overly-flattering generation.

Elihu is conspicuously not rebuked by God at the end of Job. Further, his closing chapter (Job 37) sounds remarkably similar to God’s opening chapters of dialogue (Job 38–39). For these reasons, I believe Elihu speaks rightly in his dialogue and therefore pay closer attention to Job 32–37 in order to best discern God’s thoughts in all this.
With that preface, I see Elihu speaking God’s thoughts in Job 33 and showing how everything God does is “to bring back his [man’s] soul from the pit.” Job 33:29–30. And the ways God speaks such warnings include dreams and visions (33:14–18) and sickness (33:19–22). If this be so, may we not gloss over dreams, visions, and even sicknesses.

Job 34 sounds similar to Job’s 3 friends, at least to me. Definitely sees fault with Job by saying Job doesn’t want to follow God (34:7-9) and that Job, “adds rebellion to his sin,” (34:37)
In Job 35:16, Elihu sounds a lot like God in Job 38:2. Another potential indicator that Elihu speaks the words of God.

“He [God] delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity.” Job 36:15. What a beautiful way of showing how God brings us trials to actually liberate and teach us.
I find it profound to consider Job 37:13 where we are told that God causes lightning for 1 of 3 reasons: (1) for correction, (2) for the land, (3) for love. I take these like so:
- CORRECTION – as in 1 Samuel 12:7. There have been a few times where I’ve noticed thunder come at times where some wickedness coincided, and I think we need to have eyes to see this sign from the LORD.
- FOR THE LAND – I think of Acts 14:17 or maybe Genesis 8:22. Basically, it’s part of the regular nourishing of the crops at appropriate seasons (usually in early and latter rains, to borrow biblical phraseology for the seasons we call spring and fall).
- FOR LOVE – this one was a head scratcher for me, but my Bible gave a helpful cross reference to put it in perspective: 1 Kings 18:45. There, after 3.5 years of drought, God in kindness brought thunderstorms which brought rain. The drought was God’s judgment, so the breaking of the drought was a sign of his love where they probably deserved it to last much longer.
- All to say, may we have eyes to see that things like thunder speak to greater things the LORD wants to reveal.

Here we get to the best part. We’ve heard the words of man, and with the exception of Elihu, we’ll see God rebuke it all in a moment. But now there can be no mistake what God thinks, because he will share it directly. May we all cut down the time of man’s wisdom and get quicker to Gods direct word (by going to Scripture chiefly).
Job 38:22-24 – this adds a further dimension to what I said above about the lightning. God’s love and judgment could be seen in how a storm enters a battlefield and may change the course of the battle. Joshua 10:11 is a prime example of this, where more died by hail than by the sword in the battle.
Job 38:41 has always touched me. God provides for baby ravens (which are unclean birds, see Lev 11), when they “cry to God for help.” What an absolute precious thought for his children when we cry to Him for help in a sincere heart of trust and need.

I was so blessed by Job 40:12 where God indicates that part of His sovereign position is to “look on everyone who is proud and bring him low”. When this is me, God won’t let me stay there (I’m part of “everyone”). Or if this is others, either way I can rest on God bringing the correction we all need.
Pretty sure behemoth is a dinosaur. What other animal has a tail like a cedar and could be, “the first of the works of God” (40:19)?
Similarly, Leviathan in Job 41 seems dragon-like. The point of introducing these animals is that man has no control over them, yet here is God who made them and has power over them. God is trying to humble Job with these examples.

In 42:8, God says Job spoke rightly. I’m amazed and humbled to consider that God makes the statement only after Job repents and essentially says “I know nothing.“
I am also amazed that the heated dialogue all seems to come to a halt immediately after God shows up, and Job prays. In fact, we are told that Job’s fortunes were restored, “when he had prayed for his friends” 42:10. What a lesson for us to consider. The turning point was prayer, and specifically prayers of forgiveness for his friends. Though I guess we could say the real turning point was when God showed up, and those things were part of the effects of God showing up.