Elihu further answered and said:
“Hear my words, you wise men;
Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.
For the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.
Let us choose justice for ourselves;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
As a tangent, I can't but help but feel that in today's society, words seem to mean less. It is so easy to send an email where it is informal, casual and often filled with misspelled words and poor grammar. I'm guilty of this. Or text messaging where everything is truncated into short hand abbreviations and other moves to say keystrokes.
Elihu, agree or disagree with him, recognized that words have weight.
For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
But God has taken away my justice;
Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
What man is like Job,
Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walks with wicked men?
For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
That he should delight in God.’
Very pointed pokes by Elihu. He restated Job's lament. Yes, a good key to communication; reflect back the content and emotion of what you have heard!
But the second half is a pretty severe beat down of Job. Not such a good thing to do in communicating with someone who is suffering.
Leaving aside the head slap, what theological point does Elihu bring up next?
Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
For He repays man according to his work,
And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
Surely God will never do wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
Who gave Him charge over the earth?
Or who appointed Him over the whole world?
If He should set His heart on it,
If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.
Bottom line from Elihu: God is not evil and won't do injustice and so Job's claims that God is unfair is rebutted.
Elihu continued ...
If you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words:
Should one who hates justice govern?
Will you condemn Him who is most just?
Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’
And to nobles, ‘You are wicked’?
Yet He is not partial to princes,
Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor;
For they are all the work of His hands.
In a moment they die, in the middle of the night;
The people are shaken and pass away;
The mighty are taken away without a hand.
More defense of God "the most just."
The strong defense of God's justice resonates with the intellectual part of me.
But I must say, I am moved by the word pictures of the fragility of human existence in the last part of the last two paragraphs .
If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.
.....
In a moment they die, in the middle of the night;
The people are shaken and pass away;
The mighty are taken away without a hand.
image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Sand_sculpture.jpg/250px-Sand_sculpture.jpg
I can craft my life ... but fast or slow, it will be swept away.
For His eyes are on the ways of man,
And He sees all his steps.
There is no darkness nor shadow of death
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
For He need not further consider a man,
That he should go before God in judgment.
He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.
Therefore He knows their works;
He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
He strikes them as wicked men
In the open sight of others,
Because they turned back from Him,
And would not consider any of His ways,
So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him;
For He hears the cry of the afflicted.
When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?
And when He hides His face, who then can see Him,
Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—
That the hypocrite should not reign,
Lest the people be ensnared.
Theologically, God is considered omniscient.
Recently, some theologians in the open theism movement contract the meaning of omniscience away from God knowing the future. I'm not sure that is a valid move logically. Because since Elihu argues for a linkage between God's justice and God's omniscience (e.g. God's justice can only happen because God is omniscient). Thus, would taking away God's knowledge of the future be injurious to God's justice?
I have sympathy with open theism's attempt to address free will and theodicy but I am concerned it might compromise God's justice. Thoughts anyone?
Elihu sums up this part of his monologue with more hits on Job.
For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastening;
I will offend no more;
Teach me what I do not see;
If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?
Should He repay it according to your terms,
Just because you disavow it?
You must choose, and not I;
Therefore speak what you know.
Men of understanding say to me,
Wise men who listen to me:
‘Job speaks without knowledge,
His words are without wisdom.’
Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost,
Because his answers are like those of wicked men!
For he adds rebellion to his sin;
He claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.
One of the things we have to remember when we call the Bible, God's word: there are human words and actions which may run counter to what God wants. And so those negative things are in the Bible to show us deeds and ideas that are wrong which we should learn to avoid.
I think Elihu makes some good theological point but he seems less than helpful in the sympathy dimension. But he hits an important point here at the end: Job speaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom. Job is without knowledge of some parts of Job 1-2. Now, would that knowledge make him feel any better? I don't know. Maybe not. And because of his deep physical and emotional pain, he is brutally honest with God and so should we expect his words to be "wise?" The point maybe not so much about answers to suffering but expressing how a faithful man wrestles with suffering.
Lord, I look around the world and see wickedness in every corner. I have to trust that you see all of this and will one day bring about justice. Grant me wisdom to do what little I can where I can to bring justice. Enable me with insight to know when to share theology with people in love and when to simply share love. Amen.
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