Monday - Job 32 – Elihu Introduces Himself & His Answer

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ob and his friends had exhausted their speculative minds and had ended their respective soliloquies. Now, for 6 chapters we will read the monologue of a young man named Elihu (Job 32-37). While Elihu receives no condemnation from God, he doesn't exactly get a great commendation either (Job 38:2). Elihu came closer to answering Job respectfully, helpfully, generously and correctly than had his 3 old friends. Still, ultimately only God's answer is satisfactory.

If we assume that Job wrote this book, then it would also be safe to assume that he wrote it after the events were all passed. If this is the case, then the first 2 verses of this chapter are a bit easier to understand.  Job would naturally be pretty hard on himself after the fact, if God plainly revealed to him all of the whys and the wherefores concerning this whole drama.  These 2 verses refer to the opinion of Job's friends and of Elihu respectively. Job's friends quit talking to him because (in their opinion) he wouldn't admit that he was guilty. And, Elihu was angry (in part) because he perceived that Job was adamant in defending himself (in Elihu’s estimation) against God. 

Give Elihu credit for sitting quietly and waiting for his elders to run out of words before he piped up. Also, recognize that the same criticisms that we have had for Job's friends came flowing readily out of Elihu’s mouth.  Additionally, take note of the fact that he credited God with any wisdom that he had (Job 32:8). And, 2 more observations: Elihu was speaking from a place of very deep emotion & his opinion was not a personal attack (Job 32:21-22).