Job 32-33 - Youth Answers Age

1 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. 5 But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:

“I am young in years,

    and you are old;

that is why I was fearful,

    not daring to tell you what I know.

7 I thought, ‘Age should speak;

    advanced years should teach wisdom.’

8 But it is the spirit in a person,

    the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.

9 It is not only the old who are wise,

    not only the aged who understand what is right...

12     I gave you my full attention.

But not one of you has proved Job wrong;

    none of you has answered his arguments...

17 I too will have my say;

    I too will tell what I know.

18 For I am full of words,

    and the spirit within me compels me;...

33 “But now, Job, listen to my words;

    pay attention to everything I say...

4 The Spirit of God has made me;

    the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 Answer me then, if you can;

    stand up and argue your case before me...

8 “But you have said in my hearing—

    I heard the very words—

9 ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;

    I am clean and free from sin.

10 Yet God has found fault with me;

    he considers me his enemy.

11 He fastens my feet in shackles;

    he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

12 “But I tell you, in this you are not right,

    for God is greater than any mortal.

13 Why do you complain to him

    that he responds to no one’s words?

14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—

    though no one perceives it.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,

    when deep sleep falls on people

    as they slumber in their beds,

16 he may speak in their ears

    and terrify them with warnings,

17 to turn them from wrongdoing

    and keep them from pride,

18 to preserve them from the pit,

    their lives from perishing by the sword.

19 “Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain

    with constant distress in their bones,...

23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,

    a messenger, one out of a thousand,

    sent to tell them how to be upright,

24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,

    ‘Spare them from going down to the pit;

    I have found a ransom for them—

25 let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;

    let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—

26 then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,

    they will see God’s face and shout for joy;

    he will restore them to full well-being.

27 And they will go to others and say,

    ‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right,

    but I did not get what I deserved.

28 God has delivered me from going down to the pit,

    and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’

29 “God does all these things to a person—

    twice, even three times—

30 to turn them back from the pit,

    that the light of life may shine on them.

31 “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

    be silent, and I will speak.

32 If you have anything to say, answer me;

    speak up, for I want to vindicate you.

33 But if not, then listen to me;

    be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 32-33

Commentators seem to differ widely as to what to do with Elihu. Some regard him as a rather brash young man with the cocksure arrogance of youth who speaks up to tell the older men what they were doing that was wrong, while others seem to see him as merely repeating in other words the arguments of these friends, without adding much.

But I would like to differ with these latter commentators and agree with those who see Elihu as having a very important part in this book. Let me point out certain things about this young man as we are introduced to him: First, when you come to the end of the book and you read the rebuke that God gives to the three friends of Job, you will note that Elihu is not included. He is not rebuked for what he says, and he does not have to ask Job to pray for him, as they do. The second thing is that he is given an obvious, prominent part in this drama. His message occupies the next five chapters, and he is allowed to give one of the major discourses of this book. And third, he always speaks with courtesy and sensitivity to Job, despite the strong feelings that he admits he has. The other friends were caustic and sarcastic in their approach to Job, but this young man is very courteous when he addresses him. He recognizes the depth of Job's suffering, and he always speaks with understanding.

The fourth, and probably most important, thing is that Elihu claims to speak not as the other men did from their experience, but he claims to speak from revelation. That is what we read in verses 8-9. Elihu says, "It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding."

It is not the accumulation of years of experience that makes people wise; it is what God has taught them through the years. And this is a very important point. God can teach a young man or woman as much as an older man or woman. And when we speak from the wisdom of God, then we can truly be wise, regardless of what our calendar age may be. I know we who have lived a long time tend to think it is the years that have made us wise! If we are wise at all, it is not only because we are older.

I am reminded of a schoolteacher who applied for a job and was turned down for another younger teacher who only had three years of experience. The first teacher protested to the principal, "I've had twenty-five years' experience, so why was I passed over in favor of this younger one?" And the principal said, "Well, I have to disagree with you. You haven't had twenty-five years' experience. You've had one year's experience twenty-five times." It is quite possible to go through life repeating the same way of thinking and never learn wisdom. So Elihu is right here. It is not simply the elderly who are wise, because God gives wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, grant me the wisdom not simply of age, but of revelation that comes from You. In this time of uncertainty, when voices are crying out so many different messages, may I look to You alone and trust Your Holy Spirit within me, pointing me toward the path I should take. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: God's deep wisdom is timeless, and available to us at any age or stage of life. Do we perhaps settle for empty conventional wisdom, or do we hunger to hear from God?

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