Job has said many words that need to be addressed. In Job 32-33 Elihu responds to Job who has contended that God was silent throughout his suffering. God is not silent in suffering but is speaking through suffering. Trials are protective and corrective, not punitive, transforming us and moving us closer to the image of God. But there is another charge that Job has made concerning God during his suffering regarding the justice of God. Open your copies of God’s word to Job 34 and you will notice the second message Elihu has for Job and those who are with them.
The Charge (Job 34:1-9)
You will notice in Job 34:2 that Elihu is addressing the wise and knowledgeable ones. They have been unable to explain to Job what God is doing. But Elihu now takes on something else Job has said. In verses 5-6 and in verse 9 we see Elihu restate what Job has said. In verses 5-6 he says that Job is proclaimed his own righteousness and declared that God has not been right to him. God has been unjust toward him. Now we know that Job has been righteous. This is a central pillar in the book. Job is not suffering because he has done something. Job fears God and turns away from evil. So Job is righteous. But Job believes God has been unjust toward him because he has suffered though he is righteous. Here is one example where Job has said this:
“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me. Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the work of Your hands, And to look favorably on the plan of the wicked?’” (Job 10:2-3 NASB)
Elihu challenges Job for saying that God is unjust and oppresses. God does not look favorably on the plan of the wicked. Go down to Job 34:9 where he quotes Job as saying that it does not profit a person to delight in God. Job did say this in a couple places like in Job 9:22. Job said that God destroys the blameless and the wicked. The implication was that there is no point or benefit in serving God. So it is important to see as we go forward what Elihu is addressing. Elihu is again addressing what Job said during his suffering. So Elihu is going to give four answers to Job’s charge. In this study these answers are going to give us hope and strength during our trials and suffering.
But before Elihu answers Job, he tells Job that this kind of thinking makes him like the wicked. You see this in Job 34:7-8. You see Elihu say this again at the end of this speech. Look at Job 34:36. “Would that Job were tried to the end, because he answers like wicked men.” Elihu tells Job that you are talking like those who are wicked, like those who are without God. You cannot say that God looks favorably on the plans of the wicked. You cannot say that there is no profit in making God your delight. So let’s see how Elihu corrects Job’s words.
God Does Not Do Wrong (Job 34:10-15)
The first point Elihu makes is that God does not do wrong. He does not do evil. He does not do any person wrong. No one can stand before God and say that they were mistreated by God or treated unfairly. No one will get away with anything. No one will be unjustly treated. No one will be condemned wrongly (cf. Job 34:11). The Almighty will repay a person who what they have done. But I want you to listen to the ground of this critical argument. Look at Job 34:13. “Who gave God authority over the earth? Who put him in charge of the entire world?” Who told God to run the world? Who told God that he is in charge of what happens on the earth? No one did.
What is the point that Elihu is making? The point is if I put you in charge of something, then I can come along later and question what you are doing. I could say to you that this is not how you do it. This is not the right way. But no one can do that to God because he is in charge over the entire world. No one gave him authority. He is THE authority. Therefore, no one can tell God that he is doing this wrong. No one can charge God with injustice for how he runs the world. No one can tell God that he has taken away my right. God is the definition of justice. God is righteousness. No one can tell God that he is not doing what is right. Friends, no one can ever say before God that he has done me wrong. No matter what happens, God has not done you wrong and has not be unjust toward you in any way.
Now here is an important thought that Elihu wants to give to Job. Look at Job 34:14-15. If God wanted to kill you, he could. Obviously God is not trying to destroy us through trials and suffering. If that was what he wanted to do, God then would simply remove his Spirit and we would all be dead. Do not say that God is trying to destroy you. He is not.
God Is Not Partial (Job 34:16-20)
Elihu’s second point is that God is not partial. Can you condemn God, who is righteous and mighty, as one who hates justice? Who are we to condemn God? Who are we to tell God that he is being unfair to me? No one can point their finger at God. We cannot condemn God who declares worthlessness and wickedness in kings and princes. God shows no partiality to princes. God does not regard those who are in positions of power any differently to those who are not. God does not favor the rich over the poor. Why not? Elihu says because they are all the work of God’s hands. God has no favoritism to any person regardless of social standing, ethnicity, race, economic stature, power, or any other metric. God runs the world the same for all people because all people are the work of God’s hands. All people die. The rich do not avoid death. The powerful do not dodge the end of life. In a moment, they all die (Job 34:20). No one is special when it comes to how God runs the world. God is not partial, giving favoritism to others but hating on you.
God Sees Everything (Job 34:21-28)
Third, Elihu tells Job that God sees everything. God cannot be unjust because there is nothing God has overlooked. There is nothing that it outside of his knowledge or understanding. I do not know if you are into the popularity of following court cases and trials. Podcasts have exploded seeing our law system at work. One thing you may notice if you ever follow these things that there are times when certain evidence is omitted from trial for various reasons. Sometimes people will wonder if the introduction of certain evidences or the omission of certain evidence caused a partial outcome that seemed to be unfair or partial. But here is the thing. That does not happen with God. There is not information that God lacks so that we would say that God is being unjust or treating us unfairly. God has all the information. God not only knows all things and sees all things, he is wisdom and knowledge. Look at verse 22. There is not enough darkness to hide your actions from God. There is nowhere you can go to hide what you are doing. God judges perfectly because he has perfect knowledge. God runs the world perfectly because he knows and sees all things.
Look at verse 23. God does not need to perform an investigation, gather all the facts, and then make his judgment. Those are things we have to do. God shatters the mighty without investigation (Job 34:24). This does not mean that he is being unfair. Rather, God is the ultimate righteous judge because he does not need to investigate for his knowledge is perfect. No one can tell God that he got it wrong.
God Cannot Be Challenged (Job 34:29-37)
Finally, God cannot be challenged. Look at verses 29-30. Even if God is quiet or delays, we still cannot condemn God. Delayed justice does not mean that justice is not coming. God has shown this over and over again in the scriptures. Nations and peoples were worthy of judgment. But God would delay his judgment because of his own ruling purposes. Usually, the reason God would wait was to give nations an opportunity to repent. God is running the world to save people. But sometimes we look at the quietness of God and think he does not see, he does not know, and will not act. Friends, we are so grateful that God delays his justice so that we had an opportunity to turn to God and become his child. But we get so angry and will challenge how God runs the world when he delays his justice to try to save someone else. We want God to judge everyone else immediately but show long-suffering and patience toward us. Elihu says that when God does not seem to be doing anything (“hides his face), it is not a lack of knowledge nor a sign of injustice. God is at work, even when we do not know what is happening beyond our sight.
But now Elihu concludes his point about God’s justice to Job with an important question. Look at Job 34:31-33. Notice this thoughtful question: “Should God repay you on your terms when you have rejected his?” (Job 34:33 CSB). Does God have to repay us on our terms when we do not accept God on his terms? Shall we tell God that the way he runs the world is wrong and he needs to do things the way we think? Will we tell God how to answer prayers? Will we tell God what suffering should be and how long we must endure it? Will we tell God the way our lives are supposed to go? Will we tell God how our family life should be? You see Elihu’s point. You do not accept how God runs the world. You are not accepting that he cannot be challenged in anything that he does. You cannot reject what God is doing and then expect him to do something for you.
Friends, people are tempted to do this all the time. We want to reject God and the way he runs the world. We want to reject God and what he says for salvation. We want to reject God and his message to sacrifice all that you have to follow him. But then we want God to help us and do what we want after we have rejected his rule and authority. We cannot throw our hands in the air and proclaim that there is no profit in delighting in the Lord and then be upset that God is not doing what we want.
Life Message
There is a great temptation to challenge and blame God in our suffering. Nothing that we experience in this life is God being unfair to us. God is not partial. All kinds of people go through all kinds of suffering and difficulties. As rare as the syndrome is that our daughter has, we are not the only ones who are going through this. But what I really want to challenge us to think about is why do we think our suffering is unfair or unjust? What makes us charge God with wrong? I think the real honest answer is that we have a particular expectation of how we think our lives are supposed to go. We think we have control of our destiny and have the power to make our lives be what we want them to be. But this is telling God to repay us on our terms rather than accepting his terms for how he runs the world.
I want to leave us with an example which is recorded for us at the end of John’s gospel. In John 21:18-19 Jesus tells Peter that Peter’s life is not going to go how he expects. He is going to be bound and taken where he does not want to go. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death Peter would experience. Did God do anything wrong to Peter? Was this unfair or unjust? The apostle James was killed by Herod in Acts 12. Did God do anything wrong to James? Was this unfair or unjust? No, not at all. No matter what we experience and how God speaks to us in our suffering, God does not do wrong. God is not unfair. God is not partial. No one can challenge God about how he runs the world because he made the world. No one can challenge God about how he directs your life because he made you. We must submit to his direction and follow him wherever he leads us, even if it is through the valley of the shadow of death.