Hello everyone! Welcome to today’s Bible study on Job 32 – Elihu prepares to speak. According to Bible scholars, the events of the book of Job took place approximately before 2100 B.C.
I encourage you to turn to Job 32 in your Bible. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and study Job 32 with me. I mention this in all the Bible Studies because it is through the Holy Spirit that we get fresh revelation and knowledge to understand the word of God. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know. All the scriptures that you find highlighted in purple in this post are from the NKJV.
In the Bible Study on Job 31, we read about Job asserting his righteousness with his final discourse to his three friends namely Bildad, Zophar and Eliphaz. Well, in this Bible study on Job 32, we will read about Elihu preparing to speak of God’s justice to Job and his friends. The next five chapters in the book of Job from Job 32-37 cover Elihu’s discourse.
Without any further delay, let us study together Job Chapter 32, shall we?
Elihu’s Indignation Against Job And His Friends
1So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. 3 Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 4 Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. 5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.
In Verses 1-5 of Job 32, we are introduced to the character called Elihu in the book of Job. Elihu was the son of Barachel, a Buzite, a descendant of Ram. In Hebrew, interestingly, the word Buzite means contempt. And the name Elihu in Hebrew means “My God Is He”. Now, Job’s three friends, Bildad, Zophar and Eliphaz remained silent and stopped answering Job because Job said that he was righteous. They knew that they could not persuade Job to listen to them and repent. However, Elihu’s indignation was stirred up against Job because he justified himself and not God. He was angry with Job’s friends who tried to convince Job to repent without knowing what sin Job had committed and had blamed Job for his current situation.
All this while, Elihu waited and didn’t reply to Job or his friends because he was younger than them all. He let them, who were older than him, speak out of respect for their age.
Elihu Wants To Give His Opinion
6 So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said:
“I am young in years, and you are very old;
Therefore I was afraid,
And dared not declare my opinion to you.
7 I said, ‘Age should speak,
And multitude of years should teach wisdom.’
8 But there is a spirit in man,
And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
9 Great men are not always wise,
Nor do the aged always understand justice.
10 “Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me,
I also will declare my opinion.’
In Verses 6-10 of Job 32, Elihu spoke and said that he was younger than them all and remained silent even though he had a lot to say about what was going on in Job’s situation as well as the discourse betwen Job and his three friends. He, further, said that he had assumed that those older were wise and he found out that not all old men are wise. Listening to them, he found that age and wisdom don’t go hand-in-hand . And, elders do not always understand justice. Therefore, he beseeched Job and his friends to listen to his opinion for he wanted to tell them plainly (directly) what he thought.
Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends
11 Indeed I waited for your words,
I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say.
12 I paid close attention to you;
And surely not one of you convinced Job,
Or answered his words—
13 Lest you say,
‘We have found wisdom’;
God will vanquish him, not man.
14 Now he has not directed his words against me;
So I will not answer him with your words.
In Verses 11-14 of Job 32, Elihu said that he waited for their words (Job’s friends’ words) and listened to the reasons that they gave Job about his suffering. He listened while they were searching out excuses to blame Job. He paid close attention to every word that they said. However, he observed that none of them were able to neither convince Job nor refute his reasoning. None of them gave satisfactory answers to Job. He warned them of exalting themselves with wisdom and of justifiying God punishing Job because they were convinced that God is dealing with Job and punishing him for his sins. And, they told Job about their convictions.
Elihu said that Job had not spoken against him, therefore he is not offended at Job’s discourse thus far. He added that even if he were to answer Job, he wouldn’t answer him (Job) with the arguments of Job’s three friends. He said that, unlike Job’s friends, he spoke to defend the truth and not to take revenge on Job.
Elihu Is Determined To Speak
15 “They are dismayed and answer no more;
Words escape them.
16 And I have waited, because they did not speak,
Because they stood still and answered no more.
17 I also will answer my part,
I too will declare my opinion.
18 For I am full of words;
The spirit within me compels me.
19 Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent;
It is ready to burst like new wineskins.
20 I will speak, that I may find relief;
I must open my lips and answer.
21 Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone;
Nor let me flatter any man.
22 For I do not know how to flatter,
Else my Maker would soon take me away.
In Verses 15-22 of Job 32, Elihu said that Job’s friends have nothing more to say. However, he shall answer. He cannot stay quiet any longer than he has. He is so uncomfortable with everything that happened that he must speak to relieve himself of the torment of keeping quiet when he knew the truth. Further, he said that he won’t be partial to Job or his friends. He said that he wouldn’t flatter anyone because he knew not how. And, if he did flatter he knew that God would surely take him away soon from the earth for flattery is a sin deserving of heavy judgment from God.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of the bible study lesson on Job 32. It is a quite short study and we are introduced to Elihu, Job’s fourth friend/observer who remained silent all this while. It must have taken great patience to remain silent amidst all the heated discussions between Job and his friends. I hope you learnt something from this free bible study and found it helpful in your Bible study journey.
If you have any comments or questions for me, kindly leave them in the comments box below. I highly appreciate it. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Until Next Time!