Job 32 A NEW VOICE IS HEARD When the "words of Job (were) ended," there must have been a silence that was oppressive and heavy. Silence in itself has a message. It may be that there is nothing to say, or nothing worth saying. Silence imposed or inserted in a speech can make a whole audience of people uncomfortable as they wait with baited breath for what is coming. As a tool of speech, it can force people to pause and consider what has already been said, or wonder what will be said next that is of such great importance as to have called for a prolonged pause. There is another reason as well for silence. A stalemate has been reached and two opposing voices or opinions have both been vented verbally, and neither has given way to the other. So, they have run out of words in their effort to convince the other side to say, "You are right, and I am wrong." This is the setting of the last verse of chapter 31 and the first part of chapter 32.
Into this standoff of older, argumentive old men, is raised the voice of one who had been sitting by the whole time listening to the discourse between them. He had heard the who dialogue from beginning to end. Eliphaz, the oldest of the four, considered himself the voice of experience. Bildad thought he knew what was needed to be said because he was the man who brought a historical context of tradition into the situation. Zophar claimed religious piety was what Job lacked, and the three of him had not been able to convince Job of his guilt of abhorrent sin. Job, on the other hand, had not convinced them of his innocence. So, there they were, four speechless older men, sitting and waiting in fear for God to intervene and speak to vindicate their position. But God did not speak.
Into this impasse in which the others sat and waited in silence, the opportunity came for Elihu to speak after a respectful waiting time. He spoke up in an attempt to break the silence and bring some sense into the situation. He is the only one of the group whose background is given. His forbearers were from Abraham's brother who had a son named Buzz. This may have been written down by the author of the book of Job to give credence to his right to speak frankly and at such length. He had more to say in his four monologues that the others. But at least he had the respect to wait until they had all run out of words.
There are times when we become impatient and frustrated with long speeches that don't seem to have a point that relates to a present need. Some people even speak with passion about nonsense. When they are finished, we wonder what they had said, and what was the point of them getting upset and ventilating in such an aggravating tone of voice.
Job's friends had nothing more to say to Job, and he had nothing more to say to them. He wasn't going to invent some sin to satisfy their claims, and they were not about to surrender to his claims of innocence which he made - even to God. It was into this setting Elihu introduced his point. For Job to question God's justice horrified him. The simplistic opinions of the three friends gave no sensible answer to Job nor any relief to him personally. His general point of view was that suffering may reveal some sin or fault, or it may be to keep a person from sinning and going a wrong direction in life. It may also be a means of training a person for what is ahead. It may even be an act of mercy from God to preserve a person from something that could be of even greater sin.
In Elihu's opinion, Job's suffering would not go away until he realized his present sin was an attitude of bitterness against God for what he was allowing Job to go through, and for his arrogant attitude when he defended his innocence. By waiting in silence to express himself because he was a younger man than the others, he had time to gather his thoughts into a coherent frame of reference. He also showed he was a man of respect who lived up to the meaning of his name, "He is my God." There seemed to be a real God- consciousness in him.
Right from the beginning of the whole event, this younger man took an appropriate position of "holding his peace," until no one could say he was imposing himself into a conversation when he shouldn't have, or he was taking a position that was not his right to have. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. In the gatherings of the Lord's people, it is often better to wait for awhile until one is sure the Holy Spirit is directing him to speak. His words need to be right words, spoken in a right way, at the right time in a meeting. Some people nervously jump into a space of silence because they think the wait is too long and they are impatient. The problem with that it that they may not really have anything to say but are making a noise that is discordant with that which has gone before. Also, sometimes what a person has to say when they jump ahead is simply a repeat of what someone else has said, or prayed, or is the same thing they always express
- the same words, the same tone of voice, the same redundancy they always use.
Sometimes silence in an assembly meeting is because of the impact of an appropriate prayer that has moved the hearts of the Lord's people to quiet contemplation. Other times silence after a well-sung hymn of praise and adoration to the Lord, has moved people to being close to tears and they want to consider again the words they have just sung to our Lord's glory and honor, and it has created a desire for a few minutes of personal meditation. Other times silence may be because of the lack of preparation of heart, or because there is "dearth in the land."
When there was "no answer" from Job's friends, apparently, they conceded that he was a hopeless case because he would pay heed to their opinion, or perhaps he was right. It was into this silence Elihu jumped, but it seemed like he had a wrong attitude himself. He was angry. He had done right by waiting as a young man until the older men had their say. He was right by showing respect for them in spite of their simplistic and hard-hearted words. He was right in not jumping in with a rebuke even though the older men displayed neither godliness or wisdom. To that extent he was right and had the spiritual sense to realize that even though they had learned very little in all their years of living, the three friends had a right to be heard first.
From the perspective of a bystander who had heard all that was said previously, Elihu begins to speak with anger and tells these three men they are not necessarily wise because they are aged. They didn't understand the fundamentals of justice that come from the "Almighty." He had waited for some sensible words that would show Job what was wrong, but they couldn't do it. They did not give Job a reasonable answer to his problem, so now he would. Even though in his impetuous anger of youthful self-confidence, he does say what is true. It is God alone who has the right to deal with Job. Elihu took the same position as Job had. God had allowed this to happen, so the answer to the problem had to come from God.
To us Elihu seems to be a bit full of himself as he tells the old men he is not impressed at all by what they said. It must have been humiliating to the three older men to have this "young upstart" upstaging them with his own power of oratory. "You had your say. Now I will have mine." He said, "I am full of matter (words)," and he certainly was. He was like a man who was wanting to reply to a preacher, and he said, "Let me at it before I bust."
Whether it was his own "spirit" that compelled him to speak or the Holy Spirit, or both, there was no question in Elihu's mind that what he had to say must be said. That is not always a bad condition to be in. When one has the word of God behind his messages, and the principles of life and scriptural communication to guide him in his speaking, it is well to listen to him. God does speak through human lips to declare his counsel. Elihu had been a good listener before he spoke. He knew what Job had said previously. He knew it was the Almighty who gives understanding to recognize truth when it is spoken and the ability to live it out daily. He also knew all real wisdom comes from God. But for some reason, he didn't really use it for himself.
In order for wisdom to be real to us, we have to practice it as well as know it. Elihu was certainly smart and seemed to be a very intelligent young man. He was also respectful in the social sense and had a reverence toward God that was commensurate with his age. And he also had the power of logic and deduction to speak without flattery or partiality. He thought if he did not speak truth "without respect of persons," God would judge him.
We need wisdom to be part of our life, not just knowledge. True wisdom is very practical. It makes us courteous and respectful toward other people. It comes when we have a right understanding of God and His sovereignty, and comes to us as a gift from God when we are humble. We don't necessarily have wisdom because we are well educated and/or are old. We may not be without it just because one is young, if he or she is a person God can trust with the responsibility of having wisdom. A person of wisdom understands that we may fail, but God never does. If people show partiality or flattery to get what they want or to please people, that indicates a lack of wisdom.
The introduction to the fourth man on the scene, puts a whole new and different perspective on the scene and the problem that still existed there. We can learn from this, that the unexpected events of life, and the unexpected appearance of someone we didn't really count on, may be an important and timely help to us when we are in a dilemma.